"IN THE PAST, MOST premed students applied to medical school after their junior years in college, spending their final undergraduate semesters juggling interviews and academic coursework. However, this pattern has shifted in recent years. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, 59.9% of all first-year medical students matriculating in 2015 had taken at least one year off after college before starting medical school.
Students choose to take a gap year or longer for a host of reasons. They may want time to strengthen their applications with additional volunteer work or employment. They may want more time to study for the MCAT. They may want to travel, or they may simply want to take a break before diving into the arduous journey ahead.
In any case, delaying application to med school is rarely an easy decision, but there are circumstances that should give you pause before opening an application prior to your senior year. There are three scenarios in which it may benefit you to hold off on applying to medical school until after you complete college:" …