Meh, I feel like if you take time off you should do it because there's a reason you WANT to do it (and pimping your application doesn't count as a reason). I'd rather start younger (like apok said) and get it all done 🙂 I know quite a few kids who took "time off" to just do BS research to bump their application credentials. It didn't help 😛 I guess what I'm saying is only do it if you really want to (which some of my other friends did)
Then again, if I could go back and do it all over again I wouldn't change a thing because I loved the stuff I did in between graduation and applying.
hmm I'm rambling. 10am saturday is too early for me
I took time off after college because I was debating a lot between MD, MD/PhD or straight PhD and I had a lot of compelling reasons to do all of them. Taking some time, working full time in lab, getting a volunteer position that I think exposed me to meaningful interactions with patients, all helped me make that decision easier. Personally, I've met a lot of medical students and I can usually tell when someone I met took time off after college and another did not. There's a certain level of understanding about how the world works that comes from being out of school for a while...and it's slightly apparent when someone hasn't experienced that.
I'm totally understanding of the reasons and drive to go in straight (and fully supportive of it), but I will say that just getting a job after college, or traveling, is a wonderful, wonderful thing. It also really puts the perspective of 8 years of medical school into focus. Many of your friends will go off to lucrative job positions, take up cool and interesting PhD routes, do some world traveling, maybe enter a "quicker" grad school route (i.e. law school's 3 years). You'll get to see which people are happy and which are not, what type of lives they end up leading, what it's actually like to not have homework anymore, not necessarily have to worry about educational debt, maybe spend most weekdays at a bar or restaurant rather than your room studying. It's very enlightening in understanding what you're actually sacrificing as a medical student, and the other routes that you definitely can take if you want to. Because, let's face it. You're a pre-med, you're smart and ambitious and you can be successful in many other sectors. I think understanding that now has made me feel much more confident in my selection of a career in medicine, and aware of the other options I could have taken instead of becoming a physician.
Medicine is a long, long road. So taking some time off now, when you're young and fresh to the world is not a bad choice at all. Whether you're 30 or 32 when you're a full physician isn't really a big deal. But...Maybe this is my inner-gay man speaking, because I don't have to worry about starting a family anytime soon. I don't want to sound preachy and urge everyone to do it, but it definitely was one of the best decisions I made.
Ooo...and btw. It is BEAUTIFULLLLL in philly today. 75 degrees and sunny. Rittenhouse is packed with sunbather, bikers, Michael Jackson impersonators, and many, many cute fluffy puppies to play with. Summer in Philly always reminds me why I love living here so much. Penn, please read my waitlist letter
🙁 I want to stay!
:: but I'm definitely not an authority.
See you there! I'll be "that indian guy" - are you coming to the penn preview in April? I'm wondering if it makes sense for me to come down for it since I already know I'm going here. 
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