Applying after sophomore year?

[lolpremed22]

I think I'm graduating in 3 years. Would this be a bad idea provided I have a good GPA and MCAT?

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[markovchn123]

What's your GPA and MCAT?

 

[rufflev]

I think I'm graduating in 3 years. Would this be a bad idea provided I have a good GPA and MCAT?

Get the "good" GPA and MCAT along with "good" ECs and then we can start helping you - otherwise it's just speculation.

 

[markovchn123]

students who graduate early and want to apply to medical school have several challenges to overcome

1) often they have significant credit via AP and many medical schools do not prereqs via this method
2) many schools require 90 completed credits to apply
3) hours in volunteer and community service are often insufficient
4) hours in healthcare exposure such as clinical volunteering, paid employment, and shadowing are often insufficient
5) Extra curriculars are often light and little leadership is present
6) The majority of successful matriculants apply in senior year or post graduation

in short, early graduates often have great GPA and MCAT but have little else to make them good candidates

Do you think age plays a large role? For example, is a 21 year old applicant with the same stats and ECs as a 24 applicant looked at less favorably because schools assume the 24 year old is more mature and able to handle medical school better?

 

[lolpremed22]

Get the "good" GPA and MCAT along with "good" ECs and then we can start helping you - otherwise it's just speculation.

Responses like this seem pointless to me. Why am I not allowed to ask this question to plan my future accordingly? If I can get feedback on if this is even a good idea in the first place, I can plan my future (ECs etc) accordingly. Being informed about all potential options at an earlier point can only help me. Also why would I even take the MCAT early without knowing if this is good idea? That makes no sense lol.

 

[lolpremed22]

students who graduate early and want to apply to medical school have several challenges to overcome

1) often they have significant credit via AP and many medical schools do not prereqs via this method
2) many schools require 90 completed credits to apply
3) hours in volunteer and community service are often insufficient
4) hours in healthcare exposure such as clinical volunteering, paid employment, and shadowing are often insufficient
5) Extra curriculars are often light and little leadership is present
6) The majority of successful matriculants apply in senior year or post graduation

in short, early graduates often have great GPA and MCAT but have little else to make them good candidates

Thank you. This makes a lot of sense. It seems like the potential benefits of applying after sophomore year are outweighed by the risks.

 

[rufflev]

Responses like this seem pointless to me. Why am I not allowed to ask this question to plan my future accordingly? If I can get feedback on if this is even a good idea in the first place, I can plan my future (ECs etc) accordingly. Being informed about all potential options at an earlier point can only help me. Also why would I even take the MCAT early without knowing if this is good idea? That makes no sense lol.

The point of the reply was to emphasize that you shouldn't worry about the application process yet because it's not yet at your doorstep. Clearly it should be evident that you should strive for the best GPA and MCAT score possible in order to maximize on your chances of getting into medical school. Additionally, you shouldn't plan your ECs like a checklist (i.e. 50 hours of shadowing, 100 hours of clinical experience (non-shadowing, etc.) - you should volunteer because you truly want to and enjoy it. The only recommendation about volunteering that can be made is do something enjoyable, hopefully it's clinical based, if not that's fine you can obtain clinical experience later, and do it over a period of time (sporadic volunteering is less preferred over continuous volunteering).

The take away should be that you're at least a year or two away from applying to medical school and that there are a lot of hiccups in the road - the hypothetical isn't going to help you, though I do understand your desire to plan.