To the OP, let me tell you my situation and you'll begin to feel a whole lot better about just going for it.
I, like you, slacked off in college. For about 6-7 years, I worked in a lab and excelled... each of the investigators I worked for told me that I was exceptionally good at research and had more knowledge and expertise than many post-doctorates that they'd had. Great, right? Not to me, because I had the nagging feeling that because I had slacked off in college, no graduate program would take me because of my age and previous academic laziness. Sound familiar?
Finally, I'd had enough of being a research technician... I had gotten tired of being the "low man" so to speak, and decided that I wanted more. So, I worked up the courage to go back to school to re-take some of the classes that I had slacked off in and to take other classes I knew would at least show the graduate programs that I was serious about advancing myself. A year later, I applied to graduate school (in bioinformatics) and got in.
I'm now at the point, at age 32 (turning 33 in a month), where I've decided I want even more. I have two paths that I'm considering, the first like you is medical school (I'd do pathology, since I'm fairly awkward socially so the less patient contact the better) and the second is going forward and doing a full-blown PhD in bioinformatics. Let me repeat that, I'm going to be 33 in a month and I'm making my plans to follow one of two paths that will either result in 1) finishing medical school and residency at the age of 41, or 2) finishing my PhD and going straight into an industry job at the age of 37 (in health IT or cancer biomarker research, not sure yet LOL).
The point is, you are still young and you can do it. I've taken classes in a few different departments now, and while I'm one of the oldest students around... I am by far not THE oldest. In fact, most people in the classes (all graduate level courses) that I've taken so far have worked a few years and the gone back to school, so they are mostly right around your age (and yes, a few of those classes have been through the medical school to boot). You won't stick out like a sore thumb, if that's what you think... in all likelihood, you'll be right around the average.
I guess what I'd tell you is, if you have a dream don't let age be the reason to stop you from pursuing it. The worst thing you can do is to not try, because then you'll always be left with 'What if?'. Hope that helps.
I, like you, slacked off in college. For about 6-7 years, I worked in a lab and excelled... each of the investigators I worked for told me that I was exceptionally good at research and had more knowledge and expertise than many post-doctorates that they'd had. Great, right? Not to me, because I had the nagging feeling that because I had slacked off in college, no graduate program would take me because of my age and previous academic laziness. Sound familiar?
Finally, I'd had enough of being a research technician... I had gotten tired of being the "low man" so to speak, and decided that I wanted more. So, I worked up the courage to go back to school to re-take some of the classes that I had slacked off in and to take other classes I knew would at least show the graduate programs that I was serious about advancing myself. A year later, I applied to graduate school (in bioinformatics) and got in.
I'm now at the point, at age 32 (turning 33 in a month), where I've decided I want even more. I have two paths that I'm considering, the first like you is medical school (I'd do pathology, since I'm fairly awkward socially so the less patient contact the better) and the second is going forward and doing a full-blown PhD in bioinformatics. Let me repeat that, I'm going to be 33 in a month and I'm making my plans to follow one of two paths that will either result in 1) finishing medical school and residency at the age of 41, or 2) finishing my PhD and going straight into an industry job at the age of 37 (in health IT or cancer biomarker research, not sure yet LOL).
The point is, you are still young and you can do it. I've taken classes in a few different departments now, and while I'm one of the oldest students around... I am by far not THE oldest. In fact, most people in the classes (all graduate level courses) that I've taken so far have worked a few years and the gone back to school, so they are mostly right around your age (and yes, a few of those classes have been through the medical school to boot). You won't stick out like a sore thumb, if that's what you think... in all likelihood, you'll be right around the average.
I guess what I'd tell you is, if you have a dream don't let age be the reason to stop you from pursuing it. The worst thing you can do is to not try, because then you'll always be left with 'What if?'. Hope that helps.
