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Non-traditional students are more common than ever in the medical school application process. In this context, “non-traditional” can mean many different things, but generally refers to a student who isn’t a science major in their final years of undergraduate study or who switches careers in their 20s or 30s to fulfill the pre-med requirements and apply to medical school.
There are certain challenges that a junior or senior in college with a science major doesn’t face that you should consider as a non-traditional applicant for the best chance at acceptance. I was a non-traditional applicant once myself, and I personally work with over a dozen non-traditional students a year to help them get into medical school. Now I’m going to walk you through the challenges faced by non-traditional students so you can increase your own odds of acceptance.
MedSchoolCoach Physician Advisors work with thousands of traditional and non-trad applicants every year to help them get into medical school. 92% of our clients are accepted into medical school.
What Does “Non-Traditional Med Student” Really Mean?
Here are some of the traits that may define a non-traditional med student:
- Over 26 years old
- Pursued another career before medicine
- Majored in something other than science
- Has a spouse and/or children
- Has taken several gap years, and not just to prepare for medical school (e.g., not just a year off for a post-baccalaureate)
Just a note — more and more, one or two gap years are considered typical, and taking at least three years off has started to become the standard of defining a non-traditional student in some circles.
Read Next: Best Gap Year Options Before Medical School
Some of these points, such as the pursuit of a different career before medicine, may sound vaguely negative. But the truth is that most medical schools appreciate students who have more life experience than the typical college graduate with a science degree.
Non-traditional applicants often have additional skills or talents that enrich the student body, and AdComs know it. This is one of the reasons why the average age of a first-year medical student has crept up over the years (it is now 24) – AdComs are looking for maturity and experience.
One of my colleagues at MedSchoolCoach, Dr. Ryan, recalls sitting in his pre-med advisor’s office to discuss applying to medical school for the very first time. The advisor said, “Hmm, I really think you should think about other career choices,” as he quickly glanced at his transcript.
After an athletic injury during Dr. Ryan’s second year of college, he had to move away from a sports career. He decided he wanted to become a doctor. Needless to say, he left that pre-med advising meeting very discouraged. For Dr. Ryan, it lit a fire and motivated him to succeed, but many non-trad students leave these types of meetings never moving forward.
Here’s Dr. Ryan’s advice to non-traditional students: “If you truly want to become a physician, don’t let anyone or anything get in the way of achieving your dreams. Do your best every day. Work hard. Be passionate. Don’t give up.”
I adopted this mentality myself on my journey to becoming a physician. After graduating college, I had no intention of becoming a physician. I was working on a Master of Public Health degree at Columbia, concentrating on health policy, when I realized that my true calling was medicine.
I knew I had to switch careers and decided to enroll in a post-bacc program to complete my pre-med requirements. Friends and family members raised their eyebrows – they thought I should stick to my chosen field. But I knew this was the right path for me so I stuck with it. Fast forward a bit, I’m now an attending physician in the field of PM&R!
If Dr. Ryan and I can do it, so can you!
Why Medical Schools Value Nontraditional Applicants
People from different age groups with more advanced levels of work experience are vital to a diverse student body. Medical schools realize this fact and enthusiastically search for non-traditional applicants that will allow for a diverse class with many distinctive voices in the room.
Whereas good MCAT scores, applying after junior year, and moving right into a medical program used to be normal, now 3 out of 4 medical school applicants have taken at least one gap year — often more than one.
Medical schools want people with varied perspectives, backgrounds, skill sets, and lots of other things to bring to the table, and nontraditional applicants are one obvious way to diversify their student body to ultimately educate more well-rounded doctors.
For instance, many non-traditional matriculants have kids. Parenting a young child requires you to multitask while caring for another. This applies to medical school and a career as a physician, so you can use this experience to your advantage.
Planning for the Medical School Application Timeline
The medical school application timeline is the same for traditional and non-traditional students, with only a few exceptions.
Before gap years became the norm, premed students needed to take their MCAT by the spring of their junior year in preparation for a summertime application season. However, non-traditional applicants have much more freedom when they take the MCAT, as long as it’s before the summer that they intend to apply.
Non-traditional applicants may have to spend extra time completing prerequisites (maybe applying to a post-bacc program), engaging in relevant extracurriculars, and seeking letters of recommendation when they don’t just have professors you see on a weekly basis.
In general, it still takes about a year to apply to medical school, from taking the MCAT to completing interviews and getting an acceptance. When planning your application, make sure to allow enough time to study for the MCAT, finish the classes you need, fulfill extracurricular hours, and get letters of recommendation. Depending on your walk of life, these may take a while — it’s a big time commitment to add to another full-time career or caring for a family.
Check out our guides with step-by-step instructions for applying to medical school:
How to Present Your Nontraditional Background As an Asset
When applying and interviewing for medical school, present your non-traditional background as an asset, not a negative.
For example, avoid statements like, “Even though I’m a non-traditional applicant, I’m a really hard worker.” Do say something like, “My non-traditional road to medical school has uniquely equipped me for the hardest parts of being a physician.”
Highlight your life experiences. Give concrete examples that demonstrate factors or events that have personally confirmed and re-confirmed your choice to become a physician.
You’ll have opportunities to discuss what sets you apart from a traditional applicant in your personal statement, Works & Activities section, secondary essays, and interviews. Discuss what skills you have that a college senior doesn’t, what your previous career or educational path taught you about life, and how that knowledge will help you become a better doctor.
Your personal statement, in particular, will be a massive asset to you if you lay out a compelling narrative about how you non-traditionally arrived at a healthcare career path.
Basically, embrace your past and use it to your advantage!
Your personal statement is vital to getting an interview. Our Physician Advisors and professional writers can help you tell your story so that it stands out to AdComs!
Defining Why Becoming a Doctor Is the Only Path Forward
Demonstrate why you know that becoming a doctor is the right career for you. Instead of a train suddenly switching tracks in the middle of a journey, think of your previous experiences as fluidly leading you towards medicine as the only path forward for you. Turn perceived weaknesses into strengths.
Below, I’ve listed some assumed “downsides” of being a non-traditional medical school applicant, only so that you can prepare answers for why becoming a physician is worth it to you despite these concerns:
- Lost time — Non-traditional applicants will practice medicine for a shorter time than most traditional applicants, meaning that the institution’s investment in a non-traditional student may feel like less return on investment than a younger student. I’m not saying this is true; I’m just saying you need to be ready to dispute the veracity or relevance of this claim.
- Extra commitments — Later in life, applicants may have additional commitments, such as a family of their own and more bills to pay, that may interfere with their studies. Prepare to demonstrate your commitment to your medical education in the face of these extra commitments.
- Different experiences — Remember, just because you didn’t go to college as a pre-med and hang out with the other pre-meds and engage with medical clubs on campus doesn’t mean you’d make a worse doctor. Celebrate your different experiences and perspectives that you gained from your non-traditional path.
- Concerns about dedication — Whether or not it’s true, following a career path and then choosing to change to the very demanding career of “physician” may look like you’re not necessarily dedicated to medicine. If you chose to change careers once, what’s to say you won’t do it a second time? Understand and prepare well-reasoned answers to questions like, “How do you know you won’t get restless in a career as a physician?” and, “Why don’t you pursue becoming a nurse, physician’s assistant, or another medically-related career?”
In general, you must be able to communicate not just that you generically want to “help people” (in which case, several other health professions would be faster and more convenient), but why specifically becoming a physician is the only choice for you.
It’s OK that you didn’t major in Biology. It’s fine that you didn’t know you wanted to be a medical professional when you were in kindergarten. You do now. Make that known! Know the value of your non-traditional self, and be able to communicate this value. Medicine needs a person like you.
What Qualities and Experiences Will Make You Most Competitive?
Here, I’ve listed some qualities and experiences that will make you the most competitive applicant, particularly for non-trad applicants:
- A commitment to medicine: Dr. Tina Han’s advice is to always demonstrate your commitment to medicine. As a career changer who had worked in the legal, non-profit, tech, and advertising fields, Dr. Tina had to show medical school admission committees that she was dedicated to becoming a physician. For 3 years, she immersed herself in the medical field whenever she had availability in between full-time jobs and evening post-baccalaureate classes. She volunteered her free afternoons to clinical research projects and her weekends to volunteering in the Pediatric Emergency Department. This experience not only helped to confirm her commitment to medicine, but it also gave her valuable insight into the work ahead.
- Work experience is a desirable strength: Even though Dr. Tina’s career trajectory before medical school appeared unrelated to medicine, every position she held, regardless of the industry, contributed in some way to the physician she is today. As a corporate paralegal, she learned early on the importance of meeting deadlines, being detail-oriented, and how to work some brutally long hours. Working as a grant writer and then a media planner at an advertising agency showed her the importance of clear communication skills and multidisciplinary teamwork. These non-traditional work skills can be the building blocks for success in medical school and beyond. Emphasize your work experiences as a strength.
- Real-life customer service: Physicians who have had other careers or life experiences can provide valuable leadership and customer service experience. Since medicine is becoming more focused on patient satisfaction scores, for better or worse, you’ll need to provide good customer service. Understanding the public’s changing expectations of professionalism, compassion, and personalized care, AdComs will actively seek out students who possess the interpersonal skills necessary to become an effective physician in today’s shifting healthcare climate.
- Answering the “Why now?” question: Every medical school applicant is asked the question, “Why medicine?” But for the non-traditional applicant, the more important question that must be answered is, “Why now?” Dr. Tina was pre-med for her freshman year of college, but she learned she wasn’t ready at that time to make the commitment to medicine. She used the time after graduation for soul-searching and self-reflection. After working in a number of different industries and volunteering in the medical field, she finally discovered she wanted to work with underserved populations, to contribute to a body of knowledge through research, and be a part of an innovative field that is constantly evolving. Once she realized this about herself — and only after those years of soul-searching and self-reflection — she was ready to commit.
What to Do if You Don’t Have All the Prerequisites You Need
Non-traditional students may need to spend extra time getting all the prerequisites to apply to medical school. First off, look up what prerequisites you need based on where you’re applying.
A post-baccalaureate program is a good option for some folks, but not if you work full-time. Post-bacc is basically a non-degree program where you can gain credit hours after already finishing undergrad.
Lifelong learner programs at your nearby colleges can also help you achieve those prerequisites.
Going fully online for college classes or post-bacc could be exactly what you need to complete the courses you require. A lot of online programs cost a pretty penny, but this is one way to overcome the inconvenience of in-person classes in the daytime.
Developing a School List
Much like traditional students, non-traditional students must develop a school list of the best schools to apply to based on their grades, test scores, and unique profiles as students.
Build a personalized school list in minutes with MedSchoolExplorer, a FREE database of US med schools. Filter schools by factors such as location, average GPA & MCAT, MD or DO, and tuition.
Most students apply to an average of 15-30 programs. The typical applicant may receive 1-2 interview offers for every 10-20 institutions they apply to. Every applicant should apply to at least 20. If your application is less competitive, apply to at least 30.
Decide which programs to apply to based on your MCAT scores, your GPA, the culture fit, location, and how their mission and values align with your own. Work smarter, not harder. Don’t apply to schools you have no interest in actually going to, and don’t apply to schools where you have no chance.
Pro tip: Later in this article, I created a list of some of the most nontraditional applicant-friendly programs. Keep reading!
Preparing for the MCAT
Just like traditional students, non-traditional applicants need to score competitively on the MCAT. Typical test-takers require 3-6 months of regular studying before they take the MCAT. There are lots of resources for MCAT prep that you can access right here!
- Check out AAMC’s free planning and study resources for the MCAT.
- MedSchoolCoach offers the most representative third-party practice exams to help you study for the MCAT.
- Add high-yield topics that appear the most on the MCAT to your study schedule for the most effective topical review.
- When applying to MD programs, aim for at least a 511 on the MCAT. For DO programs, at least a 506 will set you up for success. Earning a 515 or higher will put you in the top 10% of applicants.
- If you’re preparing for the MCAT while working a full-time job or raising a family, find just a couple hours a day to work on MCAT prep. Your partner could help you study, or you could use the time to unplug from the world — whichever is better for your unique situation.
Take the MCAT early in the cycle. You should get your test scores back in time to determine whether you’d like to take it again and achieve a higher score.
Need to boost your MCAT? Don’t stress! Students who work with our tutors increase their scores by 12 points on average.
Getting Letters of Recommendation
Traditional applicants often get letters of recommendation (LoRs) from professors, doctors they shadow, and other mentors they encounter along the way through their pre-med journey. Non-traditional applicants may need to put in a little extra work to find strong letters of recommendation.
For example, when you’re getting extracurriculars under your belt, look for mentors you connect with — whether it’s at a clinic where you’re volunteering, a research mentor you’re working under, or a physician you’re shadowing.
Different programs require different types of LoRs. You may have to reconnect with old professors and mentors. You can also form new relationships with post-bacc professors, relevant supervisors from your non-medical career, or mentors from recent extracurriculars.
Some institutions allow leeway for non-traditional applicants who have been out of school for a while, letting them submit non-academic LoRs. Reach out to individual medical programs to learn their standards for LoRs for non-traditional students (every program is a little different).
You can ask some (not all) letter writers to speak to your skills, innovation, and other positive qualities that you developed during your time outside the medical field.
Accumulating Shadowing, Research, and Clinical Experience Hours
You need a competitive number of clinical and shadowing hours. Research experience is not always required to make it into medical school, but it might make you more competitive. Here’s how many hours of each I generally recommend:
- Clinical hours: 100 minimum, 300+ to be competitive
- Shadowing hours: 40 minimum, 100 to be competitive
- Research hours: 0 minimum for some schools, 400 minimum for research-heavy and Ivy League schools, 1,000 to be competitive, 1,500+ for MD/PhD applicants
(Reminder: Shadowing and clinical experience may occasionally overlap, but one is not always the other. Clinical experience is defined by direct patient care. If you’re shadowing a physician, you may not do direct patient care. If you’re working at a clinic, you may not be shadowing a physician. But in some cases, you may be working at a clinic dealing directly with patients and shadowing a physician.)
How can a nontraditional student accumulate enough of these hours?
- Find clinical or research extracurricular opportunities through your post-bacc program.
- Check out our free virtual clinical shadowing course for exposure to nearly every medical specialty.
- For in-person shadowing, reach out to as many physicians as possible. Use your alumni association to connect with doctors who graduated from your alma mater.
- Volunteer at local clinics, a hospice setting, or medical nonprofits.
- Consider making clinical experience your full-time job for a while: become a certified nursing assistant (CNA), an EMT, or an ER tech.
- Explore online resources like ResearchMatch or Handshake to find research opportunities.
Use our comprehensive database of extracurricular opportunities for non-traditional pre-meds to apply to the activities that best fit your schedule and needs.
The Best Medical Programs for Non-Traditional Applicants
Interestingly, the MSAR database (Medical School Admission Requirements) has data on the age range first-year medical students at each. Using this data and defining a non-traditional student as anyone over the age of 24 (the average age of a medical school matriculate), we can calculate the percentage of non-traditional students at each school. The following list shows the 7 schools with the highest percentage of non-traditional students.
- Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University — 81% nontraditional matriculants (you need ties to Washington to apply)
- Rush Medical College – 81% nontraditional matriculants
- Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine – 81% nontraditional matriculants
- Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine – 80% nontraditional matriculants
- University of California, Davis, School of Medicine – 78% nontraditional matriculants
- University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine – 77% nontraditional matriculants
- Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University – 72% nontraditional matriculants
See Also: Best Medical Schools in the US and Easiest US Medical Schools to Get Into
FAQs
You need to take the MCAT again if you plan to matriculate 3+ years after your first attempt. Most schools don’t accept MCAT scores that are 3 years old prior to matriculation.
People this year are applying for 2025 matriculation, so that means that the earliest you could have taken the exam is in 2022. If you took it prior to 2022 — good scores or no — most schools won’t accept it. Some schools may prove even stricter.
Non-traditional applicants may have an uphill battle to prove themselves, but non-traditional students are more common than ever in medical school. AdComs value the unique, diverse experiences that non-traditional students bring to the table amongst their student body.
If you’ve done the legwork to complete a memorable application and can properly communicate why you are only now pursuing a career as a physician, then yes, it’s likely a good thing that you aren’t a photocopy of every other applicant. Demonstrate why leaving your first career isn’t an indication you’ll do it again. Show how you’ve used your gap years to broaden your horizons.
The “32-hour rule,” adopted by some institutions like Wayne State and Michigan State School of Medicine, refers to evaluating an applicant’s most recent 32 credit hours of coursework.
Essentially, if you showed a lot of significant improvement during your final 2-3 semesters of undergraduate grades, you might avoid the negative connotation of a poor overall GPA. If you were lazy early in your undergrad and your grades weren’t great, you may be able to demonstrate how you improved near the end of undergrad.
But most schools don’t currently employ the 32-hour rule, so don’t depend on it. In general, you still need strong grades in pre-requirsite courses to be competitive as a non-traditional application. Consider a post-bacc or special master’s program to show AdComs you can handle the rigors of med school.
Non-traditional students can apply for scholarships that are also available to traditional students, but because nontraditional students may need to consider additional costs, it’s wise to look for scholarships specifically aimed at non-trad students.
If you’re interested in serving in the US military as a physician, check out the Health Professions Scholarship Program. This program offers medical students free tuition and a monthly stipend at any civilian medical school in exchange for a service requirement after graduation.
Also, the US military’s STRAP program provides a monthly stipend of $2,122 while you complete your residency in return for signing up for the Army Reserve.
Yes, Harvard actually accepts a high percentage of non-trad applicants. They are considered non-traditional because either the student has an established career outside the medical field, has spent two or more years out of school, or simply earned a non-science undergraduate degree.
Let Us Help You Stand Out from the Crowd
Nontraditional applicants may need an extra set of expert eyes to ensure their application is competitive. To stand out from the crowd, you may need to invest in admissions consulting.
Our Physician Advisors have helped thousands of traditional and nontraditional students get into the school of their dreams. We help with MCAT prep, personal statement editing, interview prep, and so much more.
Ready to boost your odds of acceptance to 92%? Work 1-on-1 with a Physician Advisor to build a custom school list, craft stand-out essays, prep for interviews, and get into medical school!
Cara Thomas MD
Dr. Thomas is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician with extensive experience mentoring premedical students and nontraditional students. She also served on the admissions committee during her residency at Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital in Chicago.
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