My chances Good?Bad?

[KeeblerElf]

Dear experts:
I am 26yo and am attending Loyola University at Chicago. I have a few concerns/questions about my chances of getting accepted into any medical school:

I will be 28yo when I graduate college from Loyola. Is this a not-so-good thing for medical schools?

Also, I went to another university (UIC)prior to Loyola, and I did terribly: I got a few F’s and even got kicked out of the university for not doing well. I was a “ward of the state” child and it was very tough to make it on my own after high school because I did not have family or financial support. Anyway, after I got kicked out, I went to a community college and got my act together as I got straight A’s in all my courses! I applied to Loyola Univeristy and showed them all my past transcripts(UIC & Community College) and was easily accepted. I was even offered 2 scholarships because of my GPA from Oakton Comm. College. Now this is all great, and I am happy yet concerned that because medical schools are competitive, they will hold my UIC past transcripts against me. I am doing quite well at Loyola maintaining a 3.7 GPA and have a 30 on my MCAT. I know you cannot tell me if I will be able to get into medical school, but could you tell me if I have good odds? Should I put in the effort and money?? I considered other career fields but none has interested ever so much like Medicine. I have a great interest in it. I feels it’s a calling=)

Thanks for taking time out to read my essay here.
Keebler Elf

[moderator]

If you would like a consultant from AdmissionsConsultants to answer your inquiry, you have to place it on the Ask AdmissionsConsultants thread.

[thymol_blue]

KeeblerElf,

While you won’t be able to hide your poor grades from UIC, they are not quite the death knell that you are fearing they are. You’ve done well most recently in school and med schools will recognize that — grade trends are important. However, if those Fs you mention that you got were in any of the premed requirements (Bio1,2 Organic1,2 Gen.Chem.1,2 Physics1,2 ) then they will count against you in the admissions competition. If that is the case, I would advise repeating those classes. Other than that it comes down to your personal statement — don’t make excuses about your past performance, acknowledge it and show how you’ve changed since then and talk about why it is so important to you to become a doctor.

[thymol_blue]

Oh, also KeeblerElf, the age thing is not important. They will ask what you’ve done all these years before med school, but it won’t be held against you. There are a handful of 40yr olds regularly in med school classes.

[Author]

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