Session 57 In this episode, Ryan takes a question directly from the OldPreMeds.org forums and delivers the answer right here to you. Today's scenario is a perfect example of why grades can't get you an acceptance to medical school. OldPreMeds Question of the Week: The poster is 32 years old dropped out of high school when he was 18; developed weird health issues in his 20's that got him obsessed with biochemistry and medicine; went back to school at 26 and graduated from a community college with 4.0 GPA.; about to graduate from the University of Michigan with BS in Biochemistry with 3.97 GPA. The poster originally wanted to get a PhD in Biochemistry but decided to go for an MD. He spent the summer studying for the MCAT and took it on August 20 and got a 515. His biggest issue is his extracurricular with not a lot of volunteer experience but did quite a bit for a nonprofit donating free pet food to animal rescue groups, zero research experience, and very few shadowing hours. He has not been rejected from all of the schools he applied to but in the event he gets rejected, what should be done? Poster is afraid he'll be too old to make medical school financially worth it. Here are the insights from Ryan: From PhD to MD: Why? You have to figure out a story about why the shift from wanting to be a PhD to an MD. Taking the MCAT on August 20: This is a big red flag because this means you didn't get your score back until late September. 515 is a great score but not getting your MCAT in until late September would mean your application was not complete until that time. By that point, several schools have already looked at all the applications and saving a few spots for the last few that come in which are stellar applications. Extracurriculars: One of the major reasons students are rejected is the lack of clinical experience. When you combine this lack of clinical experience with not telling your story well enough about why you just randomly decided to switch to an MD, schools may be concerned about your desires and motives to be a physician. Major takeaway from this episode: You need to do a better job at telling your story. You need to get more clinical experience and be around sick patients. They need to truly understand why you switched from wanting to get a PhD to an MD. Tell that story. Get that experience. Then reapply next year. Your MCAT score will still be good and you won't be as old. Links and Other Resources: The Premed Years Podcast Session 171: Reapplying to Med School - What You Need to Know to Improve The Premed Years Podcast Session 217 www.medicalschoolhq.net