I’m a current senior trying to decide undergraduate. What are the chances of completing a UPitt neuro major in 3 years and applying to med school?
Why do you want to do this?
Graduating from ug in 3 years may put you at a disadvantage when you apply to med school, as most of those admitted to med school have taken at least one year after a traditional 4 year ug experience to gain more patient facing experience.
It will be difficult to compete with today’s ‘average’ admitted applicant after only three years of undergrad…if you can even maintain a high GPA and complete all of the pre-med requirements by then.
@WayOutWestMom can provide more info.
@Mwfan1921 is right. You will be at a disadvantage applying to med school as a traditional applicant with only 3 years of undergrad.
The med school application process takes a full year. One applies in June to begin med classes the next July/August. If you plan to matriculate directly into med school from undergrad, this means you will applying at the end of your sophomore year. You will only have 2 years to acquire all the experiences, ECs and LORs needed to develop a strong med school application.(You cannot update your application once it’s submitted, nor will adcoms consider any “anticipated” activities that you list on your application.) It also means you need to finish all pre-reqs well before the end of your sophomore year so you have the knowledge base and the time to study for the MCAT. (MCAT prep requires 6-12 weeks of intense study for most people.)
Now if you plan to do 1-3 gaps years post graduation to strengthen your application, then go ahead & graduate early.
But graduating in 3 years is unlikely to speed up your timeline to start med school.
Yeah, I was thinking of completing in 3 years and taking a 1 year gap year. How feasible do you think that would be? I was hoping 1 year out of ug would give me ample time to strengthen my app and graduating in 3 yrs would ensure im not losing time.
@manifestpiano02
I don’t think you understand the timeline for a med school application cycle. You apply in June to begin med school the following year in July/August. The cycle last 12-15 months. Once you submit your application in June, you cannot update it. This means any activities you do during your gap year would NOT be listed on your application and will not be considered by adcomms.
Will you have sufficient ECs to apply to med school without a gap year? To apply at the end of your 3rd year of college?
Supposed it’s possible. But remember you will commuting against individuals who have had 4 (or more) years to develope their EC portfolio.