1 year left until applications... what would you do?

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[SixStringPsych]

If 5-10 hours per week is all you have left after everything else, use it to relax and slow down.

 

[tarheel1408]

Without knowing your statistics its impossible to say which activity would benefit you the most. That being said, I agree with the previous post; 5-10 hours each week to maintain your sanity by far trumps everything else

 

[Catalystik]

I have one more year until I start applying to med school. I'm weighing my priorities and trying to decide what to do in my spare time during the upcoming year. I know I'll have enough time for school, work, exercise, social, volunteering, etc. so I want to squeeze in 5-10 hours/week to do something extra productive when possible.

I'm a non-trad in a post-bacc, decent gpa, won't know mcat until next year.

Here are some options for what to do. Let's assume I can only do one of these things:

1. Study for the MCAT all year (no idea what I'll get, but let's say doing this would bring me from a 31 to a 34)
2. Increase studying time for the classes that I'll be taking to go the extra mile and maybe get a rock solid letter of recommendation, plus have an easier time when it comes time to really study for the MCAT
3. Increase volunteer hours (added benefit of helping others rather than just myself, seriously adds to mental well being)
4. Start a non-profit (primary benefit of helping others, added benefit of something to talk about in an interview)
5. Other ideas?

I won't share the one that I'm leading towards. I was curious what the SDN community would do in this situation. So what would you do?

Ideally, you'd chose whatever it takes to plug the biggest holes in your application. Without knowing your stats and planned ECs, we can't comment more specifically in a helpful way.

If your anticipated application was completely average in every way, I'd pick the Leadership, #4, provided you can make it leap off the ground, get lots of peers to climb on board, make it grow, and accomplish amazing things in a year's time, while stteing it up to continue once you leave the area.

 

[NYCMS2]

No need to study for MCAT for a year; concentrate your studying into the last 2 months - at that point, you might want to cut back on other things.

Always a good idea to work harder on your classes, grades, LORs; biggest payoff is here.

Unless you have a shortage of vol hours, and assuming you are doing vol work now, there is no need to increase the hours.

Starting a non-profit? Oh please...get serious. Ridiculous - this would take all of your time, not just your spare time.