The most common reason for a gap year is that most students are not ready to apply at the end of their junior year in college and don’t apply until they have completed their senior year. Since the med school application cycle lasts more than a full year–students apply in June to begin med school in August or September of the following year–students who apply at the end of senior year must take at least one gap year of necessity.
During that gap year, students are advised to assume they are rejected from med school until their first acceptance arrives and to behave accordingly by continuing to strengthen their application by continuing to gain clinical exposure, community service and leadership experience, and to remediate any shortcomings their application may have.