They do a great job balancing traditional and nontraditional students in the admissions process. Our class met during orientation week and immediately I had a sense of the great diversity of backgrounds and experiences. By the third or fourth night of going out as a group socially I could say that I knew this group of people better than I knew either of my two graduating classes as an undergraduate. The stories of how people found themselves here, in medical school, are riveting. That pool of life experience and perspective comes into play in subtle ways, and I think it will grow in value as we move into third year rotations. It’s a pretty tight group of people who realize that we’re all working toward the same goal.
I think the school chose a certain kind of person knowing they weren’t going to put their life on hold for four years to go to medical school. I think it tells them they’re doing something right that their students are graduating with high scores and that their students actually have lives. I think that’s a pretty positive sign.
