What to do for gap year?

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studentdoctor08

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What types of internships are usually available? Do most people just work in a lab or something? Where can I find such opportunities?

Does teach for America look good?

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Teach for America is two years. If you're interested it is a great program but it is a full commitment. You would have to do 2 gap years and interviewing while working can be really difficult with TFA.

I highly recommend AmeriCorps programs. They look good on apps and there is a huge variety in what you can do with AmeriCorps. They are also mostly 1-year positions so no one can make you feel guilty about leaving after a year. Flexibility for interviews depends on your site coordinator, but I have mostly heard positive things about that and for me it hasn't been a problem.

The key is to find what is weak in your application and address that. If it's community service, then americorps is great. If you need research experience, try to get a research job. If you need clinical experience, see if you can get a job as a CNA.

If your main concern is GPA or MCAT, then I would recommend taking extra courses or focusing a lot of effort on an MCAT retake while doing something less time intensive.

:luck::luck:
 
Those are commitments. Do not do them and then expect great leniency to allow you time off for interviews/MCAT/etc.

If you can find a research job or a healthcare job, those would be the best.

TFA/AmeriCorps are great humanistic achievements. You will be somewhat unique if you do those. Again, I have to stress that it's a long and involved process.
 
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find a job.

if you want to work in research, apply to universities.

if you want to work in healthcare, look for hospitals that are hiring.
 
TFA/AmeriCorps are great humanistic achievements. You will be somewhat unique if you do those. Again, I have to stress that it's a long and involved process.

I applied for my AmeriCorps position and started in 3 days and I haven't had any issues at all with scheduling interviews this fall. But I was very clear with my site supervisor that I would need time off for interviews, so it's not like it was a surprise to her.

Every AmeriCorps position looks different. There are some, like NCCS disaster support that are 10 months long, very intensive and don't have a lot of flexibility. There are VISTAs, who are slightly less involved but still working directly with people. Then there are AmeriCorps state positions, which are often indirect service through working with non-profits, etc. These are the most flexible options.

Then again, n=1 so take the with a grain of salt.

TFA is a way bigger commitment and has way less flexibility.

However, the pay (living stipend) is lowwwww and you really should be committed to the project you are working on.
 
I applied for my AmeriCorps position and started in 3 days and I haven't had any issues at all with scheduling interviews this fall. But I was very clear with my site supervisor that I would need time off for interviews, so it's not like it was a surprise to her.

Every AmeriCorps position looks different. There are some, like NCCS disaster support that are 10 months long, very intensive and don't have a lot of flexibility. There are VISTAs, who are slightly less involved but still working directly with people. Then there are AmeriCorps state positions, which are often indirect service through working with non-profits, etc. These are the most flexible options.

Then again, n=1 so take the with a grain of salt.

TFA is a way bigger commitment and has way less flexibility.

However, the pay (living stipend) is lowwwww and you really should be committed to the project you are working on.

A few weeks ago, a guy was on this forum fuming about his Teach for America principal's obstinacy involving scheduling time off for interviews.
 
I applied for my AmeriCorps position and started in 3 days and I haven't had any issues at all with scheduling interviews this fall. But I was very clear with my site supervisor that I would need time off for interviews, so it's not like it was a surprise to her.

Every AmeriCorps position looks different. There are some, like NCCS disaster support that are 10 months long, very intensive and don't have a lot of flexibility. There are VISTAs, who are slightly less involved but still working directly with people. Then there are AmeriCorps state positions, which are often indirect service through working with non-profits, etc. These are the most flexible options.

Then again, n=1 so take the with a grain of salt.

TFA is a way bigger commitment and has way less flexibility.

However, the pay (living stipend) is lowwwww and you really should be committed to the project you are working on.

What are you doing? I liked a lot of the Americorps programs that I looked at, especially their youth programs.
 
Try a simple one year masters program, not an SMP. The post bacc section on here has some great descriptions of the programs. Give you something to do for that gap year and you will have grades to update the schools with.
 
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