When it comes to the medical school journey, everyone has their own story, but there’s one big challenge most of us have to tackle: the MCAT. In this new series, our Blueprint MCAT alumni share how they crushed the MCAT and made their med school dreams come true!

Meet Andrew, an incoming medical student at Stanford University School of Medicine who applied as a non-traditional applicant six years after graduating from undergrad and increased his MCAT score by 33 points!

Applying to Medical School as a Non-Traditional Student

At the time of matriculation into medical school, I will be eight years removed from completing my undergraduate education. During the application process, I was working a full-time job that required me to work 50-65 hours a week while taking prerequisite courses and studying for the MCAT.

In addition, I am married and during this journey, we welcomed our first child into our family! Juggling all these responsibilities was extremely challenging, but I had an extremely supportive group around me, from my wife to my leadership at work to the instructors for my classes. I stayed motivated knowing that this was what I wanted to do with my life and anything worth doing takes sacrifice.

My “Why”

I have had a lot of experiences through work and life that have helped me realize how important community and relationship-building are to me. In addition, I have always had a passion for science from a young age and I saw medicine as a unique way to bridge all three of those interests together in a career.

I’m not exactly sure where I think my career will go, but I hope to work in an underserved area, build lasting relationships with my patients, and serve my community to the best of my ability.

Juggling MCAT Prep With Work

Being so far removed from college, I was extremely overwhelmed by the material I had to learn in order to succeed on the MCAT. I barely understood the composition of each section and needed someone to guide me through what I needed to study so that I could figure out my strengths and weaknesses. I chose Blueprint over other companies because of the automatic scheduling that Blueprint offers. I absolutely believe that Blueprint was essential to my success on the MCAT and my subsequent success during the medical school application cycle.

As most applicants know, the two most objective metrics used during the admissions process are your MCAT and GPA. My GPA had been set many years ago so the one I could control was how I scored on the MCAT.

Blueprint created a structure that was manageable while working a full-time job, taught me the content in creative ways, and ensured that I was used to taking full-length tests by the time test day rolled around. While I will never know for sure, I believe that scoring a 519 on the MCAT opened the door to many of the schools I was aiming for and ultimately led to a successful cycle!

Words of Advice for Premeds and Future Medical Students

Make sure medicine is truly the path you want to go down as there are many sacrifices that must be made along the way. Shadow physicians and get involved clinically to ensure you understand the rigors and challenges that come with the career. Once you’ve made your decision, commit to working hard on studying, extracurriculars, and your application and let your story and passion speak for themselves!

Blueprint MCAT Prep Review

I would highly recommend Blueprint to anyone who is looking to succeed on the MCAT! I think its blend of a personalized schedule and content delivery is unparalleled!

Whether you’re a traditional applicant applying during undergrad or a non-traditional student balancing MCAT prep and medical school applications with other responsibilities, Blueprint MCAT has the resources you need to reach your goal MCAT score! Get started today by creating your own MCAT study schedule!