Ok, officially have decided to take the plunge from JD to MD. I am a 40 yr old single mom of two (ages 13/11). I am enrolling at my Community College to take all prereqs and will be ready to take the MCAT in April 2011. I have already applied to work in an admin position at the local hosital and volunteer once a week at the children's hospital. Kids supportive. My daughter said "fasten your seatbelt, we are going on another ride!" (I just finished law school a few years ago). My mom, sister and brother all live within a few miles once the crazy schedules kick in. I am soooooo excited and just wanted to put it down in writing.

I called the med school to ask how they feel about non-trads as well as community college courses. The admissions staff was very supportive. Most of my law school friends think I am crazy to go back to school again but luckily I have always been one to follow my own dreams and take other people's opinions with a grain of salt. My family is supportive. Any advice for parents of preteen and teens? My plan is summer classes: Bio 1 & lab, Chem 100 (basics), Physics 100 (basics), CPR amd medical vocab. Fall: Bio II with lab, Gen Chem 1 w/Lab, Org Chem w/lab and Physics and Spring: Gen Chem II, Org Chem II, Anatomy & Physics II. I plan to have a tutor for physics. I will have a few weeks to really focus entirely on MCAT review but really the entire year will be prep for MCAT. I will take the mid-April MCAT. Any comments on plan? Is it doable (maybe not ideal) but doable to take Gen Chem & Org Chem at once??? I have not taken any science (except Astronomy lol) since highschool-over 20 years ago...ouch! Tips/study tools for physics? Thanks!!! : )

I have 2 degrees in Chemistry including an MS, and my advice for you is to NOT take gen chem with organic. Because you're attending a CC (and perhaps if you weren't) you need to be thinking of A's grades primarily.Other than that, your premed plan sounds good!

As for advice for parents of preteen/teens, I really don't have much to offer because this depends on your parenting style and the personality of your kids. Some people have 14 year olds that behave worse than 2 year olds and vice versa. Too many varibles, but in my experience as the parent of a teen, I'm REALLY loving life and parenting of a teen. On the rare occasion I have to take her to work or school, she's well behaved and has long since learned how to entertain herself (she's my only child born when I was Chemistry grad student). And now that she's 4 years from being a college student and has a strong academic foundation, I feel perfectly fine with pursuing my academic goals in earnest.

Good luck!

Sounds hectic, but if you're determined to do it, it's doable. I'd actually be more concerned about the number of summer courses than anything else. Have you seen if it's even possible to schedule all those at once? I did just physics over the summer, and we were in class half of the day every day. If there were two classes like that you could do a maximum of two with no time for studying. It seems likely that the classes could overlap if they're all that time-intensive. Maybe the intro classes take up less time, though.

I agree that general chem and organic at the same time is not a great plan. If you really want to get through it that quickly, I have heard of people doing it. As the previous poster said, however, you're putting yourself at high risk for a poor grade in organic chemistry. It's a tough subject for a lot of people, and my only saving grace was an excellent chemistry background. The basic chemistry might prepare you enough, but it's definitely risky.

If you have never had college level chemistry do not take organic and inorganic at the same time. Just the homework alone in inorganic will get you let alone all the molecule memorization in organic. You do not have to take anatomy to get into medical school (unless that has changed). Where I went to undergrad it was the killer course. I would not take the MCAT in April, you probably wont have time to deal with it. Physics is lots and lots of math problems. Take the algebra based unless you are a math whiz - its not necessary. Study for the MCAT by doing lots and lots of test questions.

I personally would not do it at 40, did it at 32. Am 41 now, just finished residency. I have 2 kids 11, 14. In loan repayment which is 1100/month on top of all the other bills. I would seriously think about the money factor. You are looking at least 8-10 years before making money again. Can you afford that starting out at 50? I understand the passion but already having a law degree, it seems silly to start over again. I'm not saying don't do it, just realize the time/money factor involved. Plus it may take 2+ years to get done with pre-req's before even applying.

Is it just me, or has anyone else ever noticed that a 25 year old will tell you "I wouldn't do it at 30". Then a 30 year old will say "I wouldn't do it at 35". And on and on.

I guess when I hear a 40 year old who DID IT say "I wouldn't do it at 40", THEN I'll start listening.

The "money thing" should be a factor no matter how old you are, IMHO. Here's an article about a woman who started at ~34:

http://finance.yahoo.com/college-educati...nuing_education

So should 34 be the age cut off for med school consideration?

Oddly enough, I had just read that article - 2 things I noted

1. "Among the charges: a single $53,870 fee for when her loan was turned over to a collection agency."
2. "After completing her fellowship in 2007, Dr. Bisutti juggled other debts, including her credit-card balance, and was having trouble making her $1,000-a-month student-loan payments. That year, she defaulted on both her federal and private loans."

Not sure what kind of fellowship leads to difficulty with 1,000 a month payments... I'm budgeting for 3,000 a month when I get out for my >300,000 in loans. Like the subject of the article, I started med school in my 30's. It'll be a slog to pay those loans off but clearly defaulting is not the way to go.

I say go for it anytime and anywhere you think you can handle it, regardless of money or age or kids or no kids or blue moon or x, y, z. If you want to be a doctor, be a doctor. That being said, I'm also a believer of no whining when the shiny wears off