<p>My S is currently a sophomore on the pre-med track. He has discussed studying abroad either next summer or his first term of junior year. My thought is that junior year is most critical for getting into medical school. Even though he will take the MCATS the end of junior year, I suspect there are many medical school related things he will need to start taking care of beginning his junior year ( e.g. volunteering, shadowing, getting prepped for application and completing resume, etc).</p>
<p>Anyone have any thoughts on this? Any student out there who has studied abroad first term junior year with no detrimental affects trying to get into medical school?</p>
<p>Sorry to say with competition for med school being high, he will be in the same pool of applicants that have medically related ECs, research, and the like.
Read the threads on how a study abroad program unexpectedly dinged their gpa-for whatever reason-courses the student didn’t have the fundamentals to make an A, took their eye off the ball and didn’t put academics first, to credits that didn’t transfer towards their degree.
Maybe traveling for a month will be less detrimental to his long term goals.</p>
<p>I would not describe D’s going abroad as detrimental but yes, if a student sees their junior year as the big year to get things done then going abroad might be a problem. H and I encouraged D to take the time and she went overseas for eight months with the knowledge that she would take a break after undergrad before going to medical school. It would have been very difficult to pull off a straight shot with all that she wanted to cover outside of the pre-med requirements at a school with a core curriculum like Columbia…though I am sure there are people who manage to do it. For her it was well worth it, not just for having had the abroad experience as an undergrad but also that when looking back now she feels that for her personally it was a good thing to have been a year or two older before starting her medical education.</p>
<p>Regarding study abroad, we think it is great and encourage our kids to do it. DDs school did not allow them to to go abroad until junior year. Some complications of that:</p>
<p>Though all the classes are transferable to her university, her major would only allow two classes in the major. By junior year she had completed all but two general ed requirements and those were intentionally saved for study abroad. DD did only one semester abroad so she could return to her home school and take Ochem. </p>
<p>The details are fuzzy, but she took the MCAT later that summer and we knew she would therefore have to apply after her senior year, no the popular post-junior year option. This turned out to be the perfect big picture choice for her and if not for that o chem class, she would have preferred to stay abroad the entire year.</p>
<p>Her lowest mark on her GPA, a B, came in a science class abroad, it counts in her GPA. Even when you are familiar with the country, it is a bit of a stressor to learn the study & exam styles and how they tend to mark the exams when you are in a new school and a new country. I would definitely make careful choices as to which classes he will take abroad, but I would highly encourage the experience.</p>
<p>I studied abroad the summer between sophomore and junior years. I took a Renaissance art and architecture class in Florence and traveled to various art shows and museums around Italy. I think I got some art credit for it. It had approximately nothing to do with med school and I am absolutely thrilled I had the opportunity.</p>
<p>Part of going into medicine is realizing that a rigorous career like this will require lots of sacrifices, and perhaps this is one your son will have to make if he is serious about going to med school straight from undergrad. Priorities are certainly a personal matter, but with the intense competition for a spot in any med school, it behooves serious applicants to prioritize academics and relevant other experiences above most other things. </p>
<p>What about taking a year off after undergrad? Then he could do all the stuff he’d do junior year during his senior year, and still have time to study abroad.</p>
<p>It seems somewhat unlikely that he will be able to fit in all the stuff he needs for a competitive med school app and study abroad for an entire term. I think his options are a) shorter time abroad b) defer applying for another year. Sure he could give it a shot and apply between junior and senior years after a term abroad, but that also might be a huge gamble if his application isn’t as competitive as it might have been otherwise. Is this something he wants to gamble with? (Lots of people are gutsier than I am!)</p>
<p>My kid couldn’t find a way to do it and apply after junior year so she did a summer Spanish immersion program in Madrid and Salamanca. She also made her lowest grade in college in the course. She had a ball and earned some required hours.</p>
She had a ball and earned some required hours.</p>