Peter

2) Age (real age please) 28
3) What's your sign? (curious and contemplating, pre-med, med-student, resident, fellow, god) Matriculating in 2010...not sure where yet, as I am still waiting to hear about financial aid, but it will likely be Pitt, Case Western or Ohio State (unless a very unlikely waitlist comes through). Also, Virgo.
4) Briefly describe your career and or academic history. Including your pre-doctor life (if applicable) and bouts of time in between school. What makes you non-trad?I graduated from college in 2004 with a degree in Computer Science and went to work in the software industry. I worked there for a few years before quitting my job, going back to school full time (had none of the pre-reqs) and making the switch. In the meantime, I was an EMT and have been working as an aide in a hospital on a med/surg floor.

5) What propelled you to switch into the medical field?I discovered pretty quickly that I was not a money-motivated person, and therefore didn't feel terribly motivated by the corporate world. Working in computer science wasn't something that would get me out of bed in the morning. It was a good academic interest but not a good professional interest. In making my decision to switch to medicine, I considered a variety of things (education, for example) but ultimately settled on medicine because I felt it would be the most challenging, intellectually stimulating, impacting, etc.

6) Family status... married? children? how old are they?Single.

7) What's your experience with the MCAT? If you are a successful applicant will you share your academic stats and application highlights? I'm fortunate in that I've always been a good test taker. I only had to take the MCAT once and scored a balanced 37Q (12/12/13). Without a doubt, this is what got me into medical school.

8) Biggest hurdle getting to med school My undergraduate GPA was my biggest hurdle. I was one of those people who didn't take undergrad seriously, and while I didn't do horribly, I came out with a 3.35. Fortunately, I hadn't had any science courses, so I had the opportunity to pull my GPA up pretty substantially with my post-bacc work. My cGPA ended up around 3.51 and my sGPA was a 3.79. I had some clinical research which resulted in poster presentations at national medical conferences, and a variety of volunteer work.

9) Are you going MD or DO? Why? I am going MD because I would like to give myself the best chance at the best residency I can get.

10) Best advice to other pre-meds (non-trad or not)? For both non-trads and trads, I would say an important part of the medical school application process is coming up with your narrative. What's your story, and how does it relate to why you're going into medicine. Everyone looks pretty much the same on paper. Your story is something that can set you apart. Also, during the application process, give yourself more time than you think is necessary for every part of it. Every part of it takes more time than you think it will. Guaranteed.

11) Anything else you'd like to say... or something cool about your story you'd like to share? Not really. Applying to medical school is one of the more obnoxious things I've done in my life, and I hear residency is just as bad. Here's to doing it again in 4 years!