Since gap year students have an extra year in undergraduate to add things on their application, do adcoms expect us to be better than applicants applying junior year? Are we expected to be better than the rest?
Are Gap year students held at a higher standard by adcoms?
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They expect you to do something during that gap year.
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It depends upon what you do. Working for a year in a finance office won't impress anyone. Going into the Peace Corp will.
Thanks, I plan on doing something clinically related, but my question wasn't asking what looks good during a gap year. I was more interested in whether adcoms automatically expect more out of a gap year student? For example, let's say that you have two applicants, one applying out of junior year and one out of a gap year, with the exact same stats and comparable EC's. The gap year student improved his/her application during that year to make it comparable to the junior student. Would you favor the junior applying since they were able to get everything done in undergraduate and disfavor the gap year student since they had to take another year to obtain the same competitive application? Or does it not matter at all? Am I making sense?
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I can't imagine the difference one year would make.
My gap years involved getting a graduate degree in something no one cares about and being an entrepreneur. One of the businesses I started was started in undergrad, but did not incorporate until after graduate school. Also I published quite a bit. I have gotten a lot of grief over it because I am coming excessively late to the game as I took one, two, or ten too many gap years.
My gap years involved getting a graduate degree in something no one cares about and being an entrepreneur. One of the businesses I started was started in undergrad, but did not incorporate until after graduate school. Also I published quite a bit. I have gotten a lot of grief over it because I am coming excessively late to the game as I took one, two, or ten too many gap years.
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It's not a zero-sum game, so we'd accept both. Both overall, the more and the varied ECs one has, so much the better.
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Wow, all the gap year threads are getting kind of annoying. Seriously, just look at the last thread (there are currently 2 others regarding gap years on the front page) or do a search.
They expect you to do something worthwhile in that year. You don't need a higher GPA/MCAT just because you did a gap year.
They expect you to do something worthwhile in that year. You don't need a higher GPA/MCAT just because you did a gap year.
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I think it works like this:
There is a set standard and a gap year facilitates one's ability to reach or exceed that standard.
There is a set standard and a gap year facilitates one's ability to reach or exceed that standard.
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I would say what is most important is what you learn during the GAP year(s) and how well you can demonstrate the growth and maturation resulting from that time. While what you do is important, what you learn is far more important. Neither the amount of time, nor location, nor prestige of the activity mean anything by itself. The true value of ECs and a GAP year is the reflection.
Hypothetically: Two people could volunteer in the same department within a hospital, one for a month, and another for a year, and the person who spent less time could still look superior. Consider that the person who only had a month thoughtfully reflected upon every encounter, where as the person who had a year did nothing but treat the experience as a "requirement to apply to medical school." The first person can demonstrate that reflection in their PS, Secondaries, Interviews, etc, and look incredible, whereas the second person just says "I spent a year in a hospital" and look like a doofus.
So the short version: a GAP year(s) alone means nothing. Treating a GAP alone as a "requirement" or "advantage" is naive and not useful.
Hypothetically: Two people could volunteer in the same department within a hospital, one for a month, and another for a year, and the person who spent less time could still look superior. Consider that the person who only had a month thoughtfully reflected upon every encounter, where as the person who had a year did nothing but treat the experience as a "requirement to apply to medical school." The first person can demonstrate that reflection in their PS, Secondaries, Interviews, etc, and look incredible, whereas the second person just says "I spent a year in a hospital" and look like a doofus.
So the short version: a GAP year(s) alone means nothing. Treating a GAP alone as a "requirement" or "advantage" is naive and not useful.
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At the same time, I wouldn't feel pressured into doing something during the gap year if something else is more pressing. For instance, if you come from a poor background, you will likely spend your gap year working in order to pay off debt/store money for future med school debt. There's nothing wrong with that. Not everybody can go off and join the Peace Corps for a year or mooch off of daddy.
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I agree with you. I worked a normal job during my gap year. It was kind of science related but not in healthcare.
What I mean is you probably shouldn't sit on your couch and do nothing. You probably shouldn't travel the world in that year, unless you are traveling around saving poor children or something.
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I actually knew someone who climbed a very well-known mountain during that year. I mean, whatever floats your boat but my point was that you do what you gotta do.
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It took a whole year to climb a mountain? Must have been an impressive mountain. How does someone pay for something like that during a gap year?
When not climbing the mountain during that year hopefully he did something meaningful, like work or research.
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I'd say so. Ever try climbing Everest? Takes quite a while to train for. My point is that research/healthcare-related activity isn't the only route for a gap year. It's the only time you'll ever be free again from any commitments so if you can secure funding for it, do what you love. And then when you come back from that and still want to do medicine, it shows your commitment. In fact, I'd say it's a lot better than your stereotypical research/shadowing, etc. that most pre-meds will do during their gap year.
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There is definitely a limit to doing what you love... Climbing mount Everest is different but if doing what you love is surfing everyday or traveling for a year it must be stated that those things will not help you get into medical school. You must do something else during your days besides leisure activites. They might or might not hurt you, depending on the Adcom that reads your app, but they will not help.
Anything that shows commitment (Full-time job, climbing a mountain, training for Olympics) or altruism (volunteering, hand feeding starving Africans in Somalia, whatever) are good Gap years that might help your app. Anything that involves purely fun (traveling) will not help and could hurt.
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Definitely agree that a "leisure" activity won't help, but I don't see how it could hurt unless you're doing absolutely nothing to broaden your perspectives. You could spin traveling the world into something that's made you a better person - understanding other cultures, etc. While that might not help for medical school, I say don't do a gap year activity just because you want it to help you get into medical school - do it because you won't get the chance to ever do it again. Many of my friends have traveled the world to experience different cultures, some are teaching English in foreign countries, and still others are doing other things. The one similarity is that they are all doing something because they truly want to do it and won't have the chance to after medical school. And they don't seem to be having trouble getting in, I'll add.
So the point is, if you do something you truly enjoy and won't get the chance to again, that likely will make you a more interesting person. "So what did you do during your gap year?" "Well, I spent my spring and summer living in a yurt in Mongolia and learning the culture and language because I'm so intrigued by the culture!" And you can imagine how that'll lead to an interesting conversation versus "Oh, I just did some research like every other pre-med you're interviewing." But you're right, you have to show commitment to it because that speaks to your character.
