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Unless you are very unhappy with your current research, I would consider just continuing your research. From my experiences, I realized that it takes a lot of time to get trained, start your project, and actually see the meaningful results, let alone getting published. If you fairly enjoy and have solid interests in your current research assistantship, I would talk to your adviser or PI about what the lab can do differently to meet your needs. Otherwise, I would take a look at other options in different labs, but with the understanding on whether you can continue the research during your gap years if necessary. Research is very time-consuming.

If you are taking a gap year and are willing to take MCAT in 2015 or later, your latest MCAT date should be on April or May right before you start submitting your AMCAS in following June. You may look into MCAT forum for more details, but usually you can study hard for 3-4 months prior to your MCAT date and do just fine. However, I know some people want to take things slowly, so they study for 5-6 months and do just fine as well. It depends. Or, if you want to avoid 2015 MCAT, you may study MCAT this following spring semester (for the MCAT date in April/May/June) or this upcoming summer (for the MCAT date before your junior year). Generally, if you are studying during the summer, your ECs at that period of time should be minimum or even zero for the maximum output in MCAT. However, if you take this route, your MCAT score will expire in 3 years, so you might not be able to take 3+ gap years.


A few other suggestions.

1) Pursue your Chinese dance hard. Look for competitions or festivals. Look for teaching it to other fellows. That's a unique part of your ECs and I would like to see that shine beyond "just a hobby."

2) You can still mention your contribution. Keep looking into publishing articles, if that's your interest.

3) When you do the mission trip, remember that the trip itself is not too meaningful in the eyes of admission committees. Numerous pre-meds do mission trips, so I would encourage you to look into something beyond like hands-on projects, interviews or surveys, or even research.

4) Look into what your fellow friends are up to. Are there unique activities that you are also interested in? Ask them for more information or contacts or resources. All the activities don't have to be so self-centered, but also can be through collaborations.


What are your interests by the way? What is your passion? Besides the Chinese dance, other ECs seem to be quite ordinary. (Maybe I've read too many bios from Soros and Rhodes websites, though.)
 
Unless you are very unhappy with your current research, I would consider just continuing your research. From my experiences, I realized that it takes a lot of time to get trained, start your project, and actually see the meaningful results, let alone getting published. If you fairly enjoy and have solid interests in your current research assistantship, I would talk to your adviser or PI about what the lab can do differently to meet your needs. Otherwise, I would take a look at other options in different labs, but with the understanding on whether you can continue the research during your gap years if necessary. Research is very time-consuming.

If you are taking a gap year and are willing to take MCAT in 2015 or later, your latest MCAT date should be on April or May right before you start submitting your AMCAS in following June. You may look into MCAT forum for more details, but usually you can study hard for 3-4 months prior to your MCAT date and do just fine. However, I know some people want to take things slowly, so they study for 5-6 months and do just fine as well. It depends. Or, if you want to avoid 2015 MCAT, you may study MCAT this following spring semester (for the MCAT date in April/May/June) or this upcoming summer (for the MCAT date before your junior year). Generally, if you are studying during the summer, your ECs at that period of time should be minimum or even zero for the maximum output in MCAT. However, if you take this route, your MCAT score will expire in 3 years, so you might not be able to take 3+ gap years.


A few other suggestions.

1) Pursue your Chinese dance hard. Look for competitions or festivals. Look for teaching it to other fellows. That's a unique part of your ECs and I would like to see that shine beyond "just a hobby."

2) You can still mention your contribution. Keep looking into publishing articles, if that's your interest.

3) When you do the mission trip, remember that the trip itself is not too meaningful in the eyes of admission committees. Numerous pre-meds do mission trips, so I would encourage you to look into something beyond like hands-on projects, interviews or surveys, or even research.

4) Look into what your fellow friends are up to. Are there unique activities that you are also interested in? Ask them for more information or contacts or resources. All the activities don't have to be so self-centered, but also can be through collaborations.


What are your interests by the way? What is your passion? Besides the Chinese dance, other ECs seem to be quite ordinary. (Maybe I've read too many bios from Soros and Rhodes websites, though.)
I think that all of this advice is spot on - the only thing I would add is that you need some other activity that demonstrates leadership.
 
Down the road I think I can get at least a leadership position for at like the lion dance troupe - would that be fine if it's not medically related? Is there a certain quantity of leadership positions that is recommended?

That is totally fine. Take the initiative and seek for the leadership.

What are other areas where you could similarly take leadership roles? I want to see more about taking initiatives to go above and beyond, because it is your interest and passion. These will show who you are.

Summer research in other labs will be fine. I am not quite sure about martial arts if you would rather spend that time on other meaningful activities. Aim for depth, not breadth. Keep up with participating in major events for your troupe. Teaching will be great and maybe look for something that will take a few hours per week. That is what I did for my music teaching.
 
Quality over quantity. Continue what your doing and gain leadership. GPA+MCAT+LORs get you an interview. Your ECs will make you standout if you can talk about them meaningfully.
 
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