"Please explain what you plan to do this year"

[JLeBling]

This is a secondary application question that I am struggling with.

I have graduated already, did a post-bacc, wrote the MCAT, etc.

I have been volunteering a day a week at the hospital for close to a year now and don't plan on stopping anytime soon since it's enjoyable.

I have a budding interest in math/finance, and so I am planning on working full time in finance. Why don't I go into research or clinical work or something like that? Well, the way I see it, there is a very real chance I will not matriculate this cycle. I need to start thinking about what happens if I don't get in. A research/clinical/lab job does not offer me much in terms of career all by itself. I need to pay these ridiculously expensive application fees. But mostly, I'm 23 years old and I need to move out of my mom's house lol!

My dream is to become a doctor, but I'm also being pragmatic. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to broach this in the essay without seeming as if I'm not that serious about medicine. Since I'll be working in finance, it may seem as if I'm going into medicine for the wrong reasons too!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ThisCouldBeYou]

Don't read too much into this question. Just write what your specific plans are. If you plan to continue volunteering, write that. I would not recommend you write about your interest in math/finance because there's nothing specific to say about it and besides, why are you applying to med school if you're interested in math/finance?

 

[Scribblers]

It sounds like to me like it might be appropriate to explore your interest in finance at this stage. If you are feeling that career path more right now, then give it a shot and see where it takes you. You can still come back to medicine a few years down the line if you want to switch careers. One of my fellow scribes followed a very similar path to you and feels that he got a lot out of it: free time and disposable income in the best part of his 20s, and a better sense of his long term life goals. He is now doing very well for himself this cycle knowing that medicine really is the path for him.

Taking time off does not have to mean spending a year devoted only to improving your application. Use the chance to explore yourself a little bit.