<p>All the medical school deans/advisers that stop at our school recommend the applicant to take a year off between undergrad/med school. What do people personally think about this? Do you think it helps or does it hurt? Or is it neutral? I know that people say "if you do something meaningful in that year" then it's worth doing but do most people take a year off or do they go straight into med school??</p>
<p>I'm currently taking at least two years (maybe three now!) before applying to medical school. Quite possibly the best decision of my life. A year and a half ago (when I would have had to have applied to medical school), I don't think I really knew why I wanted to go or what I was really getting myself into. I'm a researcher at a lab housed in a Top 5 U.S. Research Hospital. It's fun work, but has helped me realize some important things about medicine, research, and generally the real world. I don't think everyone needs this time off, but for me it's been a great experience in learning about life, what I want out of it, and how medicine (or maybe something else?) could fulfill it. Here are some life lessons that a post-college gap year or two can teach you...</p>
<p>(1) Medical research at top institutions is extremely competitive and fast-paced. There are pluses and minuses to this environment. Pluses (+++), you work in a really interesting environment, great conferences and speakers, collaborative projects between labs (working on many varied things), a nice feeling being part of a greater community (both academic and clinical), great access to top research tools (even if they are quite $$$). Minuses(---) Long hours, lower pay, you're cooped up in lab all day (everyday), all P.I.s do is run meetings, write grants, and publications (success in science=less time to do what you love), also I sometimes find myself in conflict with the motive behind research. In my opinion, many researchers are science-geeks doing the work because they love science rather than the fact that they want to help people (there are of course many exceptions). They also fall prey to the pressure to publish new data. I can't tell you how many P.I.s we collaborate with have accepted data that looked pretty rather than checking to make sure there wasn't something wrong with the experiment (i.e. is this data real...not just what I want it to be?)</p>
<p>(2) It is VERY nice not being in school. If going straight from college to medical school you're basically assigning yourself into 23 years of straight schooling (kindergarten trough residency). You will be nearly 30 before you get your first real job and face real world problems. Despite my less than high salary, I have enough money to pay my rent, all my bills, food, and still have money left over for savings and fun. No debt=very nice. I go out at least once or twice during the week to new restaurants, lounges, night clubs, social events, etc. If you're young, its definitely nice to have the money and the time to be able to do such things. I'm sure some students have the means to do this while in school, but I know I'm definitely not from a family that could afford such things. Finally, it also teaches you the social skills you need in the real world to meet people who aren't on the club basketball team with you or in your orgo class. Believe me, everyone should do this.</p>
<p>(3) There are other careers besides medicine. All of your college friends will go off to many different places. Business, law, medical, dental, graduate school, international fellowships, the workforce (i.e. a "real" job), gap years of their own. You'll talk with them, learn about their experiences, see if you might like their life more than your own. Or, alternatively, see why you really do believe medicine is the best thing since sliced bread. A friend of mine landed a job with a Fortune 500 Company and makes twice my salary. He lives in a very nice apartment in an upscale part of town. He loves the money, but hates the work. Which is hard because he works 60 hours a week. But it's worth it to him, because he's on his way to building the life he wants outside of work. To him, work is work. Lifestyle and economics are a big factor about whether or not you'll be happy in a career and really what you want out of a job. I don't think I thought about this enough before seeing the pressures of living life and relating them to how much my job supports that life and how much I enjoy the job itself.</p>
<p>Anyway, I think a gap year (or two or three) can be great for finding your place in the world. I'm a lot closer to understanding the reasons why I think clinical medicine may be a career that fits with my personal goals. I have time and money to enjoy life and my youth without worrying about school or debt. It's great to go to graduate school after college, but I think it's also equally great to take some time off. I set out with the intention to do two years, but am now pondering three. I'd love to live abroad for a year, work and travel in a foreign country. There are many opportunities for such things through fellowships, grants, government-sponsored programs, even connections that you make at your job. In the end, I'm really glad I have a few years to think about all of the things I can do with my life and have the time and money to enjoy the whole process.</p>
<p>Thank you for your perspective, it's a really interesting take on things.</p>
<p>But a potential negative affect of taking 2 or 3 years off is that one may fall out of line with academics. Don't get me wrong, research can be mentally rigorous, but studying in an academic environment has its own feel that a long break can wear off.</p>
<p>oh definitely! I'd suggest taking classes if you have the time. If you're lucky enough to land a job with tuition reimbursement (most university/lab positions offer this) you can take up to $5300 in classes for free every year (not taxed). I'm taking a graduate school course in the Spring and have been studying for the MCATs this fall. You'll definitely fall out of the swing of studying even with these, but it is a well deserved break. Also, this time off doesn't need to necessarily be in a job. I have friends who have won scholarships/fellowship to earn one-year master's degrees abroad for their gap year. I'm applying for some of those as well right now.</p>
<p>thank you for that insightful response premededout!</p>
<p>Seeing the title of this thread to suit exactly what I’ve been wondering, I have a few questions to ask. I’m an American citizen from Texas studying in Lebanon at the American University of Beirut. Next spring semester I would have completed 90 credits, received my MCAT scores, and will directly apply to medical school in June, hoping to get admitted after 1 gap year, that is, the year of 2012. However, if I would have already completed my application and sent it in, how will they now my intentions and actions during this gap year before entry? Will the information I send in my secondaries change their already established perspective based on the primary I sent?
Thanks alot!</p>
<p>You can either write it in your secondaries or you can tell them when you are accepted. Not all schools are willing to grant you a gap year, however.</p>
<p>No you do not have to do that…If you do take a gap year you better keep yourself busy with activities. </p>
<p>If you already have the average EC’s such as:
Shadowing 2-3 docs 60-80+ hrs (Include primary care doc)
Research 1+ yr/few summers
Volunteer in hospital/clinic setting 100+ hrs (Patient Contact
Volunteer/community service (non-related to medicine)
Any leadership roles
Great Personal Statement
Great LOR’s</p>
<p>If you have all this before your Junior year you will be fine, which most applicants have. But, if you decide to take a year off, try to catch up to any of these activities i listed to have a better shot.</p>
<p>Like premededout, my D took a year off between undergrad & med school. Not her choice–her initial MCAT score wasn’t high enough & she had applied only to MD programs. Didn’t get into any of them, so while waiting for the next cycle she worked as a research assistant in a lab at her undergrad university hospital, which is top 10 nationwide in teaching.</p>
<p>Enjoyed the work somewhat–especially the out-of-town conferences–and in fact got published, but didn’t think for a minute that research was her thing long-term. Re-took the MCAT with better results, applied to MD and DO programs, got accepted to a great osteopathic school, and is currently thriving as an M1. So a one-year break from academics didn’t hurt her one bit, in fact it may have recharged the batteries a little bit–who knows?</p>
<p>From the other side…</p>
<p>I am someone that went straight through. I turned 26 the day I received my doctoral hood. I’ll be 29 at the end of residency and 32 at the end of fellowship, before I have my first “real” job (I scoff at the notion that being a resident isn’t a “real job”). </p>
<p>I think the main advantage of going straight through is the transitions are easier. There’s none of this “oh no, I’m going BACK to school” to worry about, there’s no recalibrating your lifestyle as you go from a steady paycheck to living off of student loans, and there’s less chance for that ‘buyer’s remorse’ when med school gets craptacular (as it likes to do at times). The buyer’s remorse is particularly true for those people who leave other careers to return to medical school.</p>
<p>Those benefits noted, I don’t think that going straight through represents anything particularly advantageous. In terms of possible upside, I definitely think that taking a year off has a significant edge but one that’s only based off of potential. A year off, can be used for a huge number of things, but I question how many people fully take advantage of that potential. I also think that there’s an enormous difference in taking a year or two off by design versus those who take a year off against their will (those that have been rejected through one application cycle already). Certainly there’s probably a weariness and looming sense of frustration to the whole year. In particular, if you’re applying in back to back cycles, and you’ve maybe been waitlisted at a few places, there’s a lot of limbo during the summer months as you’re resubmitting, but holding out for movement off the waitlist, all while trying to find a job, make improvements to your applications and everything else. </p>
<p>With that in mind, choosing to take time off presents the best set of circumstances. I also think that quite a few reapplicants would be best served by taking a year off from applying, putting them 2 years back in enrollment. </p>
<p>In the end, I’m perfectly pleased with having gone straight through, and in terms of taking time off before fellowship (which is pretty common) I know what I want to do, love doing it, and I don’t see any reason delaying that total immersion by taking a year to do something I don’t like as much for purely financial reasons (which is what it would amount to really - it’s not like I could take a year off completely to travel or something like that, simply because I need to pay off those loans).</p>
<p>Hi, this is the first time I’m posting on CC. I was curious as to how a GAP year GPA will be considered if I’m submitting my application in June. I just want to prove that I can take a graduate level course and do well in it. But by the time I apply would it be too late to anything about GPA? Just confused as to how to spend my GAP year. So far, I was thinking taking undergrad courses in the summer and then take a few grad courses in the fall while TAing in the dept.</p>
<p>(realize this is an old thread but) interesting that schools are recommending and i am reading that many students are taking a gap year.
S2 plans to apply directly from undergrad but makes me wonder:</p>
<p>if a student takes a gap year, or applies and is not successful (so is forced to take a year off) …how do you go about submitting your app? do you go back to your premed office for committee letters again (or for the first time if not a re-applicant) even though not a student at that school any more? or are you on your own.</p>
<p>as a re-applicant do you have to get all new letters again or are those still available from your previous app?</p>
<p>Re-applicants do not have to get all new letters, but they had better:</p>
<p>—make sure the original letters were strong (i.e. not the reasn they were rejected first time around)</p>
<p>—submit additional letter(s) documenting what he’s done since the last application</p>
<p>IIRC, AMCAS does not hang onto letters from the previous year and any prior LORs will need to be resubmitted. If the applicant used a service like Interfolio, the old letters are still there and can be used over again.</p>
<p>Whether a college will require a re-applicant to go through the committee letter process all over again for a resubmission is school-dependent.</p>
<p>And yes, first time applicants who have graduated and are on a gap year are still expected to submit a committee letter from their undergrad. However, if a student has gone on to complete a grad program or has been out of undergrad for a significant period of time (more than a year or two), the adcomms are willing to overlook the absence of a committee letter.</p>
<p>The majority of med school matriculants are not right out of undergrad, this is true. The advice to take an extra year or two is very good, and will strengthen your application if planned correctly. Most pre-med advising committees recommend the gap year.</p>
<p>Here is why - the pre-med requirements build on each other (gen chem before organic for example) and it may not be recommended to do physics, calculus, statistics, and biology at the same time as organic. Biochem, sociology, and psych are also nice before the MCAT. You basically have to double and triple up on sciences your first two years to get in all the prereqs you will need to get in all the classes you need to prepare for the MCAT. Summer courses may help, but their rigor may be suspect. This academic load is very hard when you are also expected to get research experience, study for MCAT, shadow and volunteer.</p>
<p>How are you going to interview in the middle of a busy senior fall semester? You may miss a lot of class (travel, interview all day, travel back, do that several times), and it will be stressful. Interviews are on class days.</p>
<p>The gap year allows you to spread out the sciences, get more volunteer and research experience, then take the MCAT with more time for prep, and interview after you have completed undergrad. Use the planned gap year to further strengthen your application (get a master’s degree in public health, volunteer, do research). You are a more mature, dedicated applicant. You have a better chance.</p>
<p>I certainly hope that medical school admission committees are not discriminating against students going straight through. It is not easy to complete all the requirements with solid stats by the end of junior year especially for students with non-science majors. Taking 1-2 Gap years makes sense. But, for students who have been planning since high school and are ready to apply by June after their college junior year, it would be a disruption for them to do so not to mention the salary differentials. Wouldn’t the summer before entering the medical school be sufficient for total relaxation?</p>
<p>Are there stats showing the ratios of admitted students to applicants w/wo gap year?</p>
<p>i was wondering a similar thing ace… not so much whether the schools would actively discriminate but whether it could make a significant difference in the ec’s and therefore in effect favor someone who took a gap year. S2 is heavily involved in research, heavy course load etc, and will be weaker in shadowing and volunteering…given a gap year he could spend a whole year and apply with 100’s of hours vs coming straight out of undergrad.</p>
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<p>They don’t–unless there is a question about the applicant’s level of maturity. </p>
<p>All applicants are considered on a more or less equal footing, but it’s possible that a gap year applicant might have a superior CV or other qualities to offer which could make them more attractive to the adcomm.</p>
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<p>Some medical schools start very early. There’s a 1-3 week pre- start of class orientation period at most med schools. MS1s report on Tuesday 2nd week of July (July 8th this year) at our state med school, for example. If you graduate from a college on a quarter system or if your school has a mid-June graduation date, that doesn’t leave much time to decompress (or even relocate!) before med school starts. Also before med school starts there are a bunch of hoops to jump through–finger-printing, criminal background checks, a full physical exam, TB tests, lots of paperwork to get clearances to work at off-campus medical sites, get on- and off-site ID cards, etc. And this all needs to be done before reporting for orientation.</p>
<p>MS1 start dates vary by up 8 weeks by depending on the geographical location and the academic calendar used by the school. Historically, Rocky Mtn and Mid-west schools have started earlier than NE or CA schools. </p>
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<p>Not collected in any one place, but you might be able to discern this info by looking at admitted student data on an individual school’s website. If most students are older than 22, they’re either career changers or gap year students.</p>
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<p>This would be a valid deduction only if you defined “gap year(s)” very broadly to include gaps anywhere in the standard education sequence.</p>
<p>I would venture that the majority of gap years are post college anyway.</p>
<p>If my memory serves me well, I remember reading somewhere that, for DS’s college (so a single data point only), roughly one half of the applicants applied from DS’s college are alumni, meaning that they take one or more gap years before applications – if we assume that there are very few reapplicants here.</p>
<p>But I also have the impression that the percentage of alumni applicants from a PRIVATE college tends to be higher, and tend to have more “career changers” later in the college years (and their families tend to have more financial resources so that their children can afford to spend time on “finding the purpose of their lives” in college? LOL.) After all, a student does not have to declare his/her major till the end of sophomore at the college DS was graduated from.</p>
<p>It is well known that alumni applicants actually have a LOWER acceptance rate. This tells me that the academic capability could still be a more important factor than “life experience” in the med school admission. (It could be different for some med schools though.)</p>