Applying to Medical School and Gap Year...when are interviews?

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k_med_

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So I haven't been able to receive a straight answer on some of my questions, so I decided I would give it a shot here. I will be graduating next May (2017), applying to medical school, and then spending a year in Ecuador at a clinic.

NOW....assuming that I apply in May/June since I have already taken the MCAT, when would potential interviews be? I do not want to leave for Ecuador and have to come back a lot, so I am either thinking of delaying going until interviews or arranging so that I can come back somehow for a block of time during interviews.

I feel like taking a Gap year is very popular, so I am curious as to how other people have done it in the past.

Has anyone else gone abroad for a year and had this problem?

Thank you for answering!!!

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I was abroad and unfortunately, there's no way you can know when your interviews will be. Generally, the strongest applicants are interviewed first. If you're a superstar, you can expect most interviews to take place between September and early November. The weaker your application, the more sporadic your interview schedule will become. The average applicant may have interviews all throughout the entire application season.

Gap years are becoming popular but gap years abroad + applying the same year is not common (you do realise gap years aren't necessarily abroad?). I made several trips back during the cycle, did 10 interviews (5 one week, 5 the following) and flew out. Rinse n repeat.

If you delay until interviews, you will have to either delay until the end of December at the earliest or risk missing out on interviews/acceptances. If you are a strong applicant and can receive many interview invites in a short time frame, schools are very accommodating with your scheduling/planning to to them in a block.

If you aren't a strong applicant, interviewing while abroad is very difficult/annoying and depending on your circumstances, can be a death sentence to receiving an acceptance.

On a different note, is there a reason that you chose your particular program?
 
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So I haven't been able to receive a straight answer on some of my questions, so I decided I would give it a shot here. I will be graduating next May (2017), applying to medical school, and then spending a year in Ecuador at a clinic.

NOW....assuming that I apply in May/June since I have already taken the MCAT, when would potential interviews be? I do not want to leave for Ecuador and have to come back a lot, so I am either thinking of delaying going until interviews or arranging so that I can come back somehow for a block of time during interviews.

I feel like taking a Gap year is very popular, so I am curious as to how other people have done it in the past.

Has anyone else gone abroad for a year and had this problem?

Thank you for answering!!!
Most common times for interviews would be August through early December, then January through March. One has some control over when interviews are scheduled, but not always. You might make it known on the application when you plan to be back in the USA. Some schools will accommodate you and others won't try very hard.
 
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Do you have to go to Ecuador for a full year? Maybe go for a few months. I'm planning on going to Africa from maybe March-May or May-July. I'll hopefully have an acceptance in hand and won't have to worry about that stuff while I am there.
 
I was abroad and unfortunately, there's no way you can know when your interviews will be. Generally, the strongest applicants are interviewed first. If you're a superstar, you can expect most interviews to take place between September and early November. The weaker your application, the more sporadic your interview schedule will become. The average applicant may have interviews all throughout the entire application season.

Gap years are becoming popular but gap years abroad + applying the same year is not common (you do realise gap years aren't necessarily abroad?). I made several trips back during the cycle, did 10 interviews (5 one week, 5 the following) and flew out. Rinse n repeat.

If you delay until interviews, you will have to either delay until the end of December at the earliest or risk missing out on interviews/acceptances. If you are a strong applicant and can receive many interview invites in a short time frame, schools are very accommodating with your scheduling/planning to to them in a block.

If you aren't a strong applicant, interviewing while abroad is very difficult/annoying and depending on your circumstances, can be a death sentence to receiving an acceptance.

On a different note, is there a reason that you chose your particular program?


Thanks for the input...would you mind telling me what you did for your gap year? I would really like to learn Spanish and do something enjoyable before medical school kicks in, so maybe your experience could help? I chose my program because I thought that it would be a good way to experience the clinical world in a different country and improve my Spanish.
 
Thanks for the input...would you mind telling me what you did for your gap year? I would really like to learn Spanish and do something enjoyable before medical school kicks in, so maybe your experience could help? I chose my program because I thought that it would be a good way to experience the clinical world in a different country and improve my Spanish.
I was in a fellowship program. The application deadline for the international fellowships are approaching and I believe your school's internal nomination deadline has probably passed for several of them? You can check marshall/rhodes/fulbright/gatescambridge/daad/blah blah programs; they are very competitive though.

I think your reason for pursuing the experience in Ecuador is solid but do you have a solid reference to compare the clinical world overseas to? I.e. solid grasp of clinical world in the states.
 
I was in a fellowship program. The application deadline for the international fellowships are approaching and I believe your school's internal nomination deadline has probably passed for several of them? You can check marshall/rhodes/fulbright/gatescambridge/daad/blah blah programs; they are very competitive though.

I think your reason for pursuing the experience in Ecuador is solid but do you have a solid reference to compare the clinical world overseas to? I.e. solid grasp of clinical world in the states.

Well I have shadowing experience and other clinical experience abroad, but I think my main question is whether or not it would be a bad idea to go work in Ecuador and continuously fly back regardless of when interviews are. I really want to go experience the world, and I think this is the best way to do it. But does it seem plausible?

I would have to travel regardless of whether I was in South America, but it would be more expensive (and annoying) this way.

I see from the comments that interviews extend until March, and I was considering holding off on going until the interviews were done, but that would not give me as much time. In that case, I would have to find something to do until then.
 
I would really like to learn Spanish and do something enjoyable before medical school kicks in . . .
You might consider relocating to a primarily-Spanish-speaking community in the USA and volunteering there. Consider Florida, California, Texas, etc., though there are such enclaves in many major cities elsewhere.
 
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You might consider relocating to a primarily-Spanish-speaking community in the USA and volunteering there. Consider Florida, California, Texas, etc., though there are such enclaves in many major cities elsewhere.

Thanks for the input! Maybe I will look into it. I have A TON of research experience (grants, publications, etc), but I really want to spend more time connecting to medicine on a human level. I need to perhaps look more throughout the US :) thanks!
 
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My 1st interview was the 1st week in August and my last interview was March 14th.

And, really, if you haven't been to Miami before, you can go the entire day without speaking a word of English and you would be fine
 
My 1st interview was the 1st week in August and my last interview was March 14th.

And, really, if you haven't been to Miami before, you can go the entire day without speaking a word of English and you would be fine

Haha yeah, I am from the Northeast so not AS much Spanish going on around here but I will look into Florida! :) Thanks!
 
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