Apply with or without a gap year?

[DrPresident]

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I am currently in my second semester of my junior year. My freshman year GPA is ~3.0, but sophomore 3.55 ish and junior 3.8.... upward trend but still iffy freshman year. I'll be retaking the two classes which hinder me the most, and as far as I read with DO, the grade is replaced when GPA is calculated. Of course, they will still see the retakes and original grades, but my GPA on paper will be higher. My senior year is still up for grabs as far as GPA goes, but it should be similar to this year. MCAT TBA, this summer.

I want to take a gap year. I want to badly. But life gets in the way a little. My undergrad student loans will need to start being paid and I will no longer be under my parent's health insurance if I take a gap year. This will leave me insurance-less and with my debt literally creeping up my rear end. The pre-health committee where I go to school literally will not write a committee recommendation if you don't take a gap year without a GPA of 4.0. I would rather not get a lousy letter from them.

Senior year will allow me to study for the MCAT and will allow my senior year grades to be implemented into my GPA, which will help. But I'm stuck on whether or not I should take a gap year and have those financial issues, or apply and risk not getting in and having to reapply, which I'd rather like to avoid.


SO the point of all this...
A thought crossed my mind:

I don't really care where I go to medical school. Medical school is medical school is medical school is medical school. I'd of course rather go to higher tier than lower tier, but if I end up at Harvard (not that I'd get in) or LECOM, it makes no difference to me in the long run personally. So could it be worth it to apply to only a few schools for the class of 2020 - lower tier schools like LECOM and such? If I gain acceptance, I'll attend. If not, would applying to other schools the following cycle count as reapplying, even if I had not originally applied to them in the first cycle?

I'm not asking what my chances of acceptance are. I feel that with my current GPA and extracurriculars, as well as potential LOC as of this moment, I have a reasonable chance of acceptance to lower tier schools.

Any insight is appreciated.

 

[RavenclawMed]

What will you do during your gap year? More people are taking gap years to strengthen their applications; if you feel that your application could be bettered by a gap year, definitely take one. You want to apply when you feel your application is strongest, and apply only once if possible.

I personally felt I needed a gap year and I'm currently in AmeriCorps. My program allows my undergrad loans to go into forbearance until the program ends. My program also offers health insurance and pays a living stipend. Let me know if you want any more info!

 

[DrPresident]

Please! I'm in a tight financial situation, so a program like that, which will help strengthen my application will certainly be helpful. If you might, please PM me with more information. Thanks!

 

[sameharu1991]

Hmm. I think it would help to know where you are standing in terms of your MCAT score & GPA at end of your junior year to determine if you should even try applying during your senior year. I wouldn't even say LECOM is necessary considered a lower tier. There are other factors that come into play when the school looks to invite students beyond just the stats. These include regional bias, extracurricular activities, interest in primary care and etc. So you have to be prepared to apply very broadly if you are going to take the chance to apply.

With the undergrad student loans, you have a grace period of 6 months after you graduate until you actually start paying. If you are set on finding a gap year position that pays, I would suggest looking for something now. Most research position won't pay students who are only looking to work for 1-2 years unless of course if you have connection/ties. I have seen some students take part time position that are not medically related but use other time to volunteer and use those experiences to add on to the application. If you are looking into having a good chance for DO schools, you might even use this time to shadow DO physicians and get a LOR from one.

With the committee LOR issue, I think most schools can take 2 science & 1 non science in place of the committee package. Like you said, you want to avoid a poor letter as much as possible so look into the school requirements specifically.

I hope that helps~

 

[DrPresident]

Certainly, thank you for your input! Do you, or anyone else, happen to know if medical schools look negatively upon applicants who avoid committee letters, even if the undergraduate institution they attended offers one? I heard that medical schools look negatively on that from a friend, but she had no source, so I'm not sure if it's just rumor or fact.

 

[sameharu1991]

Certainly, thank you for your input! Do you, or anyone else, happen to know if medical schools look negatively upon applicants who avoid committee letters, even if the undergraduate institution they attended offers one? I heard that medical schools look negatively on that from a friend, but she had no source, so I'm not sure if it's just rumor or fact.

To be honest I think that's a little absurd that they won't write you one because of GPA. But I am not surprised as many pre-med committees tend to discourage students with lower stats from applying in order to keep their good reputation. I was also discouraged by my pre-med advisor at the time that I was applying but I sort of appealed, wrote a really strong personal statement and asked him to reconsider writing me one. And he gladly did and I got accepted to several DO schools this cycle.

I think it's true that med schools strongly prefer committee letters but there are a lot of schools that don't have that option. If you also look at some of the threads in the general pre-med forum in the past - there have been stories where a bad committee letter deterred schools from inviting those students for interview. I think I would talk to the committee in person and maybe explain why you think you are capable of applying and the experiences that you've had in that institution further makes you a strong candidate regardless of your stats. Unless they can tell you they are comfortable writing you a strong letter, I wouldn't take the chance. If they are still resistant about the idea at all, than I would go for that 2 science/1 non science fac letters option. But as I said, look into the schools specifically if they take that option. I would much have stronger letters than a crappy committee letter.

 

[DrPresident]

I am not sure they wouldn't write me one because of my GPA, but rather if I opt out of a gap year. The committee here believes very strongly that gap years are a necessity, and I heard they weren't willing to write a positive one without a gap year. If I have strong LOR from my professors and such, would it look bad to medical schools if I avoid the committee letter, or will they not care?

I do plan on taking a gap year at this point, FYI. But I still don't know how positive the committee letter will be.

To be honest I think that's a little absurd that they won't write you one because of GPA. But I am not surprised as many pre-med committees tend to discourage students with lower stats from applying in order to keep their good reputation. I was also discouraged by my pre-med advisor at the time that I was applying but I sort of appealed, wrote a really strong personal statement and asked him to reconsider writing me one. And he gladly did and I got accepted to several DO schools this cycle.

I think it's true that med schools strongly prefer committee letters but there are a lot of schools that don't have that option. If you also look at some of the threads in the general pre-med forum in the past - there have been stories where a bad committee letter deterred schools from inviting those students for interview. I think I would talk to the committee in person and maybe explain why you think you are capable of applying and the experiences that you've had in that institution further makes you a strong candidate regardless of your stats. Unless they can tell you they are comfortable writing you a strong letter, I wouldn't take the chance. If they are still resistant about the idea at all, than I would go for that 2 science/1 non science fac letters option. But as I said, look into the schools specifically if they take that option. I would much have stronger letters than a crappy committee letter.

 

[MedNation907]

I want to take a gap year. I want to badly. But life gets in the way a little. My undergrad student loans will need to start being paid and I will no longer be under my parent's health insurance if I take a gap year.

Then do it. Personally I would suggest a Medical Scribe position (as that is what I did in my gap year) but anything similar that interests you, and I do suggest it being in healthcare. You will rack up useful clinical experience that will help you gain insight on your future career (trust me shadowing isn't remotely comparable) and substantially help you in the selection/interviewing process. Your student loans have a 6 month forbearance in which no subsidized (the bulk of your loans) accrue. And even if you're not accepted into a school by the time your forbearance is up, you'll maybe have 2-3 months where you are expected to pay a monthly bill that is definitely doable. I wouldn't want to start medical school feeling worn out.

The pre-health committee where I go to school literally will not write a committee recommendation if you don't take a gap year without a GPA of 4.0. I would rather not get a lousy letter from them.

This is odd, borderline absurd if you ask me. However, this would make me very weary even when abiding by their gap year rule. Do they conduct mock interviews? Or provide you with any key for which they evaluate you? This is what my committee did for me and actually notified us of our standing before choosing to use it or not (highest recommendation, high rec, moderate rec, low rec, etc). See if any of these are consistent with your committee, I wouldn't use it in your case without some form of insurance.

Do you, or anyone else, happen to know if medical schools look negatively upon applicants who avoid committee letters, even if the undergraduate institution they attended offers one? I heard that medical schools look negatively on that from a friend, but she had no source, so I'm not sure if it's just rumor or fact.

If you decide against their letter all I can say is I know 3 people from my school alone without the committee letter who are now holding seats at medical schools. I don't know off the top of my head if any schools "require" it, or worse yet look negatively upon not having one, but it has been overlooked at least 3 times this cycle lol.

2 science/1 non-science and definitely get one DO LOR. Just act like it's required, it'll only help you and you have time to get it done.

 

[DoctorSynthesis]

I am currently in my second semester of my junior year. My freshman year GPA is ~3.0, but sophomore 3.55 ish and junior 3.8.... upward trend but still iffy freshman year. I'll be retaking the two classes which hinder me the most, and as far as I read with DO, the grade is replaced when GPA is calculated. Of course, they will still see the retakes and original grades, but my GPA on paper will be higher. My senior year is still up for grabs as far as GPA goes, but it should be similar to this year. MCAT TBA, this summer.

I want to take a gap year. I want to badly. But life gets in the way a little. My undergrad student loans will need to start being paid and I will no longer be under my parent's health insurance if I take a gap year. This will leave me insurance-less and with my debt literally creeping up my rear end. The pre-health committee where I go to school literally will not write a committee recommendation if you don't take a gap year without a GPA of 4.0. I would rather not get a lousy letter from them.

Senior year will allow me to study for the MCAT and will allow my senior year grades to be implemented into my GPA, which will help. But I'm stuck on whether or not I should take a gap year and have those financial issues, or apply and risk not getting in and having to reapply, which I'd rather like to avoid.


SO the point of all this...
A thought crossed my mind:

I don't really care where I go to medical school. Medical school is medical school is medical school is medical school. I'd of course rather go to higher tier than lower tier, but if I end up at Harvard (not that I'd get in) or LECOM, it makes no difference to me in the long run personally. So could it be worth it to apply to only a few schools for the class of 2020 - lower tier schools like LECOM and such? If I gain acceptance, I'll attend. If not, would applying to other schools the following cycle count as reapplying, even if I had not originally applied to them in the first cycle?

I'm not asking what my chances of acceptance are. I feel that with my current GPA and extracurriculars, as well as potential LOC as of this moment, I have a reasonable chance of acceptance to lower tier schools.

Any insight is appreciated.

I'm not a big fan of gap years unless necessary. I would do my best to avoid it if I was you. Waste of time. If you want to travel or something you got plenty of time in the summer b4 schools starts. Im doing that