Debating whether or not I should take a gap year....

[Dr. Snow]

Hey friends.. any advice would be helpful.
I cannot decide whether or not I should take a gap year. At this point I have a strong application, great LORs, lots of volunteer hours and about 13 meaningful things to put in AMCAS. My personal statement is also pretty good.

I am currently scheduled to take the MCAT on June 17th but I just don't feel like I'm ready and won't perform as well as I need to. Is it a bad idea to take the MCAT with the possibility of getting in the 506-510 range and just seeing what happens this cycle? Or should I just take a step back and wait till I'm more prepared? My GPA is 3.95 if that makes a difference.

Is applying with a lower MCAT this cycle worth hurting my application for next cycle if I don't get in? Additionally, I think the gap year would do wonders for my emotional health. Not that I'm overly stressed out and hating my life or anything, I just really enjoy being happy and doing other things outside of studying and medicine that are important to me.

I feel like I have a shot at getting into a few schools (especially my state school UW Wisconsin) if I apply this cycle, but I still just feel like I could use a break before I start the rest of my life. Also, if I wasn't getting a **** ton of pressure from my family about taking a gap year I probably would have already made the decision.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks a ton.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[futuredoctornetwork]

IMO, better MCAT score and emotional state is worth the one year delay.

 

[DrHart]

IMO, better MCAT score and emotional state is worth the one year delay.

qft

 

[raf1ki]

What are you scoring now?

 

[Dr. Snow]

Been scoring around 505 on next step and just got 75% total on AAMC unscored after 2 months of light studying

 

[Pasmal]

Wish I would have done a gap year, but I let people close to me talk me out of it. I was not ready for M1. Know yourself and what is best for you.

 

[liquidsodium]

Hey friends.. any advice would be helpful.
I cannot decide whether or not I should take a gap year. At this point I have a strong application, great LORs, lots of volunteer hours and about 13 meaningful things to put in AMCAS. My personal statement is also pretty good.

I am currently scheduled to take the MCAT on June 17th but I just don't feel like I'm ready and won't perform as well as I need to. Is it a bad idea to take the MCAT with the possibility of getting in the 506-510 range and just seeing what happens this cycle? Or should I just take a step back and wait till I'm more prepared? My GPA is 3.95 if that makes a difference.

Is applying with a lower MCAT this cycle worth hurting my application for next cycle if I don't get in? Additionally, I think the gap year would do wonders for my emotional health. Not that I'm overly stressed out and hating my life or anything, I just really enjoy being happy and doing other things outside of studying and medicine that are important to me.

I feel like I have a shot at getting into a few schools (especially my state school UW Wisconsin) if I apply this cycle, but I still just feel like I could use a break before I start the rest of my life. Also, if I wasn't getting a **** ton of pressure from my family about taking a gap year I probably would have already made the decision.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks a ton.

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[RangerBob]

I took three years between undergrad and med school. One of those was not a true gap year as I did a full-time post-bac. But then I came back to TA and take a half course-load for free (got to learn neurobio and quantum mechanics for free!), worked another 32hrs/week, and continued volunteering 10-15 hrs/week. The following year (my true gap year where I applied at the start) I took a full-time job in another city, and was volunteering much less.

I am very glad I took my time in applying to, and starting medical school. There should not be a rush to get into med school--you will only do better in med school and become a better physician if you are more mature and more prepared. Med school is stressful, so if you do not feel emotionally ready, I would take a break. Work for a year. Take a vacation and explore the world. Join the Peacecorps. Meditate on a mountaintop. Do something meaningful. But don't go to med school until you are ready and you want to go. A year or two (or three or four) isn't going to make a difference in the grand scheme of life.

The same goes for the MCAT--you take it when you're ready. I don't know what a 505 means since I took the old MCAT, but if you know you can do significantly better then it makes sense to wait. If you've been studying full-time for months and have neared your peak return, then it makes sense to take it now. Lots of people think they need the entire summer, others take it after finishing the quarter/semester (I did--but I took physics/ochem/bio all in the same year, so I was essentially studying for the MCAT the entire year--I took 3-4 weeks to review and also refresh my gen chem knowledge).

A bad MCAT can really hurt your chances of getting into med school (your GPA obviously won't hurt--that's a fantastic GPA!). In addition, even if you get a great MCAT, a poor emotional state can really hurt how well you do in med school. It can lead to poor performance and/or being miserable/depressed in that first year, which in turn can lead to dropping out of med school. Based on what you wrote, were I in your shoes, I'd focus on studying for the MCAT and taking it when ready, then apply to med school when ready (with at least one gap year). But that's just me--do what you feel is right for you.

 

[Dr. Snow]

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'm going to take an official AAMC practice test this week and if I don't do well enough I'm going to go ahead and take a gap year!

 

[Lardy Boy]

Good plan. Plus or minus 3 your practice score is a good prediction of your actual.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[BeddingfieldMD]

Depending on timing, you can always take the MCAT a second time if you're not happy with your initial score. It sounds like you're doing well academically, so is there a specific reason you don't believe you'll perform as hoped on the MCAT? Poor performance on practice exams, for example? You should try taking a practice test in a real, timed setting and see how you do; you may be surprised. If you've already done this and really do feel like you need more time, then I agree with others that taking one year off isn't the end of the world by any means.

I didn't start med school until I was 26, because I didn't realize until later in college that medicine was what I wanted to do. Working a "normal" job for a couple years after college, in which I was done at 5:00 pm and could go to happy hour and didn't have to rush to some research lab or study for another exam was an experience I would never trade for being able to start med school a year earlier. There are pros and cons to both routes, but you will unlikely regret taking one year off when you're 10, 15, or 20 years older in the future. In your case, of course, you should try to do something at least a little more relevant to medicine with your time than happy hours...but you get the idea. Good luck!

 

[efle]

Need to see an AAMC official practice score before this can be answered !