Is gatekeeping wrt program admissions true and real?
Greetings,
I selected 'potential student' but 'storytime' and 'rant' may also apply. Preemptive apologies.
I have applied to 3 programs now. I have gotten only one interview, no acceptance. I have patient-facing healthcare experience, I have both my CNA and MA-P licenses. I have volunteer hours, 13 (stress/non stress) echo shadow hours, 4.0gpa across all prerequisite classes and a not-hateful 3.87 cumulative gpa, and glowing letters of recommendation from instructors and former Google manager. Which leads me to my next thing. They all say they want a compelling story. Ok, I have most recently walked away from tech after a ~16 year career as an engineer at Google. I didn't want to be in tech anymore, as epitaphs go, "Helped people buy more stuff" isn't that meaningful/fulfilling, so I wanted to do something w/an actual provision for helping people. I have family and friends with cardiac issues and believe the heart is legitimately the greatest of the organs. Hence the desire for echo specifically and exclusively. I am a 55yo pasty white male. I graduated with the transfer degree spring of 2026 ((w/High Distinction). Presumably this, so everyone tells me, is a compelling story. I actually/genuinely want to be an RDCS more than I wanted the Google gig. I wanted this before I shadowed. Post shadow, I truly don't want to do anything else w/the rest of my viable working life. I'm in excellent physical and mental shape. I'm not an idiot, and have experience in a fast-paced, high stress, long hours, environment.
So wtf is the issue? It "feels" like it's an age thing. Given the litigious nature of our society, there's exactly 0 chance I can ever get this feedback. It's always the "We had an overwhelming amount of stellar candidates." Beyond a 4.0 gpa and a story that involves curing cancer and solving banana blight level issues what is the material issue between my packet and even the lowest scoring accepted candidate? Based on the people at the one interview I did get, it seems that I'm not a early/mid 20s woman. It would be a kindness were I to just be able to know, truly, if one/both/something else, was the actual issue. If it's something I cannot alter it would certainly save everyone a lot of time, energy, effort, and my own mental health from a rejection pov. It does sting.
The latest rejection was delivered today from Johns Hopkins. The issue with this one is even more encumbered. The program director initial told me she wasn't going to be able to consider my application because my transcripts showed Anatomy and Physiology as two discrete courses rather than the more common A&P I and II format. After backfilling all manner of evidence to prove these were the equivalent via TES tool links, screenshots, course descriptions, syllabi, and even a note from my instructor, also the author one of my letters of recommendation. The program director responded that she would consider my application. But now the question is did they really? Or was that just the lowest drama way of "go pound sand!"? And my name was placed on to the rejection bucket w/narry another thought regardless? Or was it actually looked at and evaluated based on some unknown metric, age, sex, and/or just legitimately found wanting? It's also a bit of a letdown given the cachet the Johns Hopkins' name carries, I would have expected she would be intelligent/competent enough to have done some investigation into the A&P thing w/out me having to go through that level of effort to do what should have been her job.
Anyway, is there anyone in the know wrt program applications that can definitively clear up the age/sex thing? The continuing trend of rejection is not something I'm looking forward. Further does anyone know of any other reasonable pathway to getting into an accredited program? Given the 5 year shelf-life on science credits, the annual application windows, and the number viable working life before me, persons my age have an outsized negative impact/penalization w/every rejection. I wish they had a few 'pay-to-win' guaranteed slots for people that meet the prereqs and have money instead of time.
The frustration is true and real.
Any insight/advice would be welcomed.
Thanks!