applications and planned deferral - good or bad?

[tanzacat]

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Hey All,

A bit of background: I've been out of school for a year on a fellowship and I don't have any solid plans lined up yet for this next year when I return to the States.

I'm submitting my AMCAS this application cycle. In terms of jobs for next year, I have been interviewing for different research-assistant positions. There are a few positions that I am very interested in (and I would love to work with the PIs), but all of them seem to require a 2-year commitment.

One-year stints seem to be sort of rare, so my options seem to be do nothing this next year (or else get a job that's probably unrelated to my career interests) during the application cycle, or pursue one of these RA jobs and be ready to defer until 2014 (assuming I'm accepted somewhere).

Would medical schools look unfavorably upon an applicant who they know has committed two years to a new position, and is therefore most likely not matriculating in 2013?

The reason why I'm not delaying my applications until next year is because (1) I've already notified my evaluators about my intentions, and the majority have already uploaded their letters of rec.; and (2) my MCAT, which I took in 2009, expire at the end of this summer for most school (and I'd prefer not retaking that again).

Thanks

 

[DAPI]

Hey All,

A bit of background: I've been out of school for a year on a fellowship and I don't have any solid plans lined up yet for this next year when I return to the States.

I'm submitting my AMCAS this application cycle. In terms of jobs for next year, I have been interviewing for different research-assistant positions. There are a few positions that I am very interested in (and I would love to work with the PIs), but all of them seem to require a 2-year commitment.

One-year stints seem to be sort of rare, so my options seem to be do nothing this next year (or else get a job that's probably unrelated to my career interests) during the application cycle, or pursue one of these RA jobs and be ready to defer until 2014 (assuming I'm accepted somewhere).

Would medical schools look unfavorably upon an applicant who they know has committed two years to a new position, and is therefore most likely not matriculating in 2013?

The reason why I'm not delaying my applications until next year is because (1) I've already notified my evaluators about my intentions, and the majority have already uploaded their letters of rec.; and (2) my MCAT, which I took in 2009, expire at the end of this summer for most school (and I'd prefer not retaking that again).

Thanks

Please search next time.

The short answer is schools prefer to accept students for the class they think they are filling, not the following years class So if you come out and tell schools you plan on deferring you will be rejected. If you wait and see if you get accepted somewhere and then request a deferral, most schools will deny your deferral request because you knew when you applied that you would be deferring and thus wasted their time.

 

[Captain Fantastic]

It is entirely fine to ask for a deferral but if they say, "No, sorry. The offer is for this class only," what will you do? While I applaud your strong personal ethic of making a 2-year commitment and sticking with it, you might have to decide between your career as a physician and saving face with a lab. Unless you are legally obligated in some way to stay, I would suggest you accept any offer from any medical school that would have you.

BTW, I wouldn't discuss the deferral until after you have an offer from the school. Bringing it up during interviews is a sure way to kill your chances as I'm sure you could appreciate.

 

[tanzacat]

I appreciate the thoughts. If I do get the job offer, I'll discuss this issue with the principal investigators before accepting or declining. I trust that as faculty at their medical school, they will have good advice about how to best approach this situation during interviews...

I agree with you as well - if there's no deferral offer, I'd definitely accept medical school over the job, and I'll make this clear to the PI as well.

Thanks

 

[boshtrich]

Please search next time.

The short answer is schools prefer to accept students for the class they think they are filling, not the following years class So if you come out and tell schools you plan on deferring you will be rejected. If you wait and see if you get accepted somewhere and then request a deferral, most schools will deny your deferral request because you knew when you applied that you would be deferring and thus wasted their time.

I would tend to disagree with the bolded statements. Many schools are perfectly fine with accepting applicants and giving them a deferral to pursue opportunities they would not be able to do after beginning medical school. I know of several current medical students who were accepted but granted a deferral to do Teach For America or Americorps. This is likely very school dependent, but several schools will see the value in wanting to become a physician but also wanting to pursue various activities that will only help to enhance your education. Waitlists exist for a reason and most of the time schools are more than happy to grant deferrals if it will make you more prepared to be a good doctor.

 

[mimelim]

This is completely school and applicant dependent. Lets assume for a second that you are an All-star applicant, great numbers, great letters, the works. A lot of schools (but not all) will be very understanding and won't hold it against you. A top notch applicant will always be welcome in a future class.

However, if things are less than stellar, you will always get the, "why was your trajectory so poorly planned?" REGARDLESS of circumstance. It sucks, but it is very VERY true. Why not just take the MCAT again? Why take the MCAT so early if you have so many other things (3+ years worth of things) to do before entering med school? If you have so much interest in research, why don't you just apply to MD/PhD programs? You likely have very good answers to those questions, but you may not be given the opportunity to give them. The better an applicant you are otherwise, likely the more leeway you will have.

You obviously have drive. You are signing up for the long road, which is atypical (in a good way). But the way the admissions game is not setup for unconventional applicants. It is a risk that is potentially worth taking this year, but you should be prepared for the fact that you may very well need to re-take your MCAT. (and get more LOR later).

 

[GreenStyle]

Ouch on the MCAT.

Having deferred myself and talking to ADCOMs about it, I would say you risk pissing off some people if you apply without bringing it up and attempting a deferral.

It sucks, but I would say re-take the MCAT and apply later.


It is school dependent, but from what I have experienced, people who get the deferrals get it for scholarships or competitive placements in certain programs (Teach for America).

I got mine because of a scholarship, and they immediately told me to take a year off for it.
But for a job, they would have told me to drop the job or drop me from what I took out of it.

Schools are different though.



Good luck.

Edit: I got accepted to medical school, THEN I got my scholarship award. So I went in knowing that I was going to defer.

 

[tanzacat]

However, if things are less than stellar, you will always get the, "why was your trajectory so poorly planned?" REGARDLESS of circumstance. It sucks, but it is very VERY true. Why not just take the MCAT again? Why take the MCAT so early if you have so many other things (3+ years worth of things) to do before entering med school? If you have so much interest in research, why don't you just apply to MD/PhD programs? You likely have very good answers to those questions, but you may not be given the opportunity to give them. The better an applicant you are otherwise, likely the more leeway you will have.

Thanks for the thoughts, and I'm glad to hear medical schools might not be so inflexible. In case you're interested about the trajectory, the short answer is that my plans changed. I took the MCATs early because I wanted to graduate and apply to medical school early. But I ended up picking up another major later on in college, and I found public-health interests to get involved with after graduating. It's not very uncommon, and hopefully the PI will have an objective opinion for me as well.

Also, greenstyle - congrats on the Fulbright. I hope it was an excellent experience for you!

 

[mimelim]

Thanks for the thoughts, and I'm glad to hear medical schools might not be so inflexible. In case you're interested about the trajectory, the short answer is that my plans changed. I took the MCATs early because I wanted to graduate and apply to medical school early. But I ended up picking up another major later on in college, and I found public-health interests to get involved with after graduating. It's not very uncommon, and hopefully the PI will have an objective opinion for me as well.

Also, greenstyle - congrats on the Fulbright. I hope it was an excellent experience for you!

You are absolutely correct, you certainly do not have an uncommon situation. People's plans change, unfortunately our medical school admissions system is not setup well to accommodate. I have found many people in medical school/on adcoms simply assume that if you don't go straight through and do everything textbook there is something wrong. Most use the excuse of, "I have too many applications to review, I can't dig into why they are different." Its sad, and I hope that it will change because a lot of the time the non-traditional/conventional people are the ones that will end up making the best physicians.

As I said before, I know you have good reasons for the path you took 🙂. I really hope that you get a chance to explain it!

 

[DAPI]

I would tend to disagree with the bolded statements. Many schools are perfectly fine with accepting applicants and giving them a deferral to pursue opportunities they would not be able to do after beginning medical school. I know of several current medical students who were accepted but granted a deferral to do Teach For America or Americorps. This is likely very school dependent, but several schools will see the value in wanting to become a physician but also wanting to pursue various activities that will only help to enhance your education. Waitlists exist for a reason and most of the time schools are more than happy to grant deferrals if it will make you more prepared to be a good doctor.

The difference here is TFA is really a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a difference in children's lives whereas a 2 year research stint is a dime a dozen. I looked into TFA and found that most medical schools make accommodation for this specifically because of how, lets say, unique of an opportunity is, just like a fullbright or some other very prestigious award. Research can be done anytime, but these opportunities are much more limited which is the difference IMO.

I do agree with others though. If you have killer stats, schools will be more inclined to grant you a deferral.

Also, telling your research PI that you will dump them after a year if you get an acceptance w/o a deferral could also lead to a sticky situation.