deferring med school?

[diatom85]

so i just got an offer with a consulting company yesterday. i originally applied as a plan b just in case i don't get into any med schools (which fortunately is not the case anymore).

but looking at the 65K offer, i'm considering possibly defering med school for a year to work.

anyone know what the deferment policies usually are? do i need to re-apply at all? and is working for money a sufficient enough reason to defer?

thanks!

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[Eric Lindros]

so i just got an offer with a consulting company yesterday. i originally applied as a plan b just in case i don't get into any med schools (which fortunately is not the case anymore).

but looking at the 65K offer, i'm considering possibly defering med school for a year to work.

anyone know what the deferment policies usually are? do i need to re-apply at all? and is working for money a sufficient enough reason to defer?

thanks!

You need to have another reason besides working like that. It needs to be something medical, something towards the community, something that is very unique or groundbreaking......just working for a company is not going to cut it.

But you may want to reconsider medicine all together with that offer! Do you have your masters or phd?

 

[Law2Doc]

so i just got an offer with a consulting company yesterday. i originally applied as a plan b just in case i don't get into any med schools (which fortunately is not the case anymore).

but looking at the 65K offer, i'm considering possibly defering med school for a year to work.

anyone know what the deferment policies usually are? do i need to re-apply at all? and is working for money a sufficient enough reason to defer?

thanks!

Agree -- many schools won't allow you to defer as a matter of right, and limit deferment to specific emergencies or once in a lifetime opportunities (Fullbrights etc). Consult schools websites for varying policies.

 

[Cirrus83]

Uh, 65K is not worth deferring for.

Think of it this way, you're basically substituting in one year of 65K income for the very last year of income you'd get as a doctor before you retired, assuming you retire at the same age.

So...you'd be an idiot to sub 65K for whatever that is.

Unless I suppose, you really think that that last year you'd have made less than 65K.

 

[MonkeyNuts!]

So just defer and retire a year later than you plan to. woot prob solved

 

[Eric Lindros]

Uh, 65K is not worth deferring for.

Think of it this way, you're basically substituting in one year of 65K income for the very last year of income you'd get as a doctor before you retired, assuming you retire at the same age.

So...you'd be an idiot to sub 65K for whatever that is.

Unless I suppose, you really think that that last year you'd have made less than 65K.

Money right now is worth much much much much more than money that far down the road. I think its a very valid consideration, although not a good one if he/she really wants to matriculate.

 

[Law2Doc]

Uh, 65K is not worth deferring for.

Think of it this way, you're basically substituting in one year of 65K income for the very last year of income you'd get as a doctor before you retired, assuming you retire at the same age.

So...you'd be an idiot to sub 65K for whatever that is.

Unless I suppose, you really think that that last year you'd have made less than 65K.

If you crunch the numbers, $65k today is worth quite a few hundred grand 40 years from now. Time value of money is huge. Not sure who the idiot would be.
But there are better arguments against planning on a deferral you probably can't even get than this.

 

[ICCONFETTI]

this doens't sound like a good idea.
i would not do it.

 

[LizzyM]

If you were deferring for a mid-six figure salary as a professional athlete then, maybe. for what you've described -- in all likelihood the school that offers you admission will not grant a deferral for this reason but it can't hurt to ask.

 

[LizzyM]

is working for money a sufficient enough reason to defer?

After you pay living expenses*and taxes, there isn't much left over.

*rent
professional clothes
drycleaning and laundry of said clothes
grooming (hair, etc)
food (including take-out when you are too exhausted to shop/cook)
lunches out, if that is part of the corporate culture
transportation to & from work
household products
a little fun/social activity (not as easy/inexpensive as in college)

 

[Eric Lindros]

After you pay living expenses*and taxes, there isn't much left over.

*rent - parents
professional clothes
drycleaning and laundry of said clothes parents
grooming (hair, etc)
food (including take-out when you are too exhausted to shop/cook) parents
lunches out, if that is part of the corporate culture
transportation to & from work parents car
household products parents
a little fun/social activity (not as easy/inexpensive as in college)

Live at home for a year. Presto, now you're loaded!

 

[LizzyM]

Live at home for a year. Presto, now you're loaded!

Right but most of these jobs are in DC & NYC. Unless the 'rents live there, you are not saving $$. Plus, after college do you really want to live home? I lived in NYC after college and I didn't have much of a nest egg going into grad school.

Also, if you are working, you may have to start paying on undergrad loans. That's another major chunk of change!

 

[crowman]

I have been working in financial consulting for 11 years and make quite a bit more than $65K a year. If and when I get into a medical school, I am going that year, not waiting around. Unless there is a dire need for you to make some loot before you go to school such as family obligations etc. then this may be something you would want to consider. However, at $65K a year, you will be taking home $65K less $4220 and 25% of any amount over $30,650 or roughly $53,000 a year (about $1000 every two weeks) before state taxes, FICA, FUTA etc. So ask yourself, is this worth it? If yes, then you have to convince the school that you have a valid reason to defer. I will tell you that once you figure out the colour of money, its difficult to let go... before you know it, you will have spent a decade in the business like me and regret not just going straight into the MD program.

 

[diatom85]

thanks to everyone for the input! i've talked to a lot of ppl about this already and i think i'm deciding against deferring.

65K is a lot of money for a college senior (but actually not that much compared to all the 80K offers my friends have been getting). but yea i think it's not worth it in the long run. i will be 1 yr older (and not necessarily wiser) when i start working as a doctor. and the company wants a reply in 2 weeks, that's just crazy.

thanks again! and fingers crossed for more med school acceptances!

 

[hp540]

thanks to everyone for the input! i've talked to a lot of ppl about this already and i think i'm deciding against deferring.

65K is a lot of money for a college senior (but actually not that much compared to all the 80K offers my friends have been getting). but yea i think it's not worth it in the long run. i will be 1 yr older (and not necessarily wiser) when i start working as a doctor. and the company wants a reply in 2 weeks, that's just crazy.

thanks again! and fingers crossed for more med school acceptances!

So with which company was it?

I have several friends who decided to go into consulting...hearing about how they're doing, it definitely seems like an interesting career path.

 

[*sunny*]

I am regretting taking a year off for a very well paying job (waited a year to apply). day to day it is not so bad, but in reality after food, rent and other stuff you don't really save as much money as you think. plus you are going to spend everyday hiding the fact that you are leaving a job in under a year... and unless you love your job you will just wish you had started school. besides... no deferral is given to earn $.

 

[diatom85]

So with which company was it?

I have several friends who decided to go into consulting...hearing about how they're doing, it definitely seems like an interesting career path.

Accenture SF office.

i really like them. i think it's definitely something i would consider for a career if i wasn't pursuing a MD.

 

[gujuDoc]

I have a friend who's taken a year off and she's making about 37k a year, but she's not yet applied to med school and I don't think its a bad thing saving up while she's studying for the MCAT and preparing to apply to med school because she doesn't have any bills to pay since she lives with her parents as most asian parents allow children to move back home for a while after college and maybe beyond.

On the other hand, if you are already accepted you are wasting time unless it is a 6 digit salary that's going to really save you some serious debt.

 

[dutchman]

65k not worth it

 

[Law2Doc]

I have a friend who's taken a year off and she's making about 37k a year, but she's not yet applied to med school and I don't think its a bad thing saving up while she's studying for the MCAT and preparing to apply to med school because she doesn't have any bills to pay since she lives with her parents as most asian parents allow children to move back home for a while after college and maybe beyond.

On the other hand, if you are already accepted you are wasting time unless it is a 6 digit salary that's going to really save you some serious debt.

There are far fewer impediments to not starting the process for a year as compared to trying to defer. I totally back doing that, if it helps you get your head in the game for med school, or gives you more time to study for the MCAT etc. This isn't a race and med schools don't reward people for staying on a schedule. But I'm not sure I'd do it just for savings though. And once you start that clock going with MCAT, applications etc., then hoping to defer to make some money for school is an exercise in futility.

 

[cerulean]

I understand that deferring and working while applying are probably two very different things, but I thought I'd ask about my situation due to some similarities to the OP (sorry if I'm hijacking your thread, OP!). I'm graduating in 2007 and applying for Fall 2008 for med school. I just got offered a job with a pharmaceutical company for $65K (same as the OP). I'm seriously leaning towards taking the job. What are people's thoughts on that?

I also have an open invite to do a year-long post-bacc program at NIH with the PI that I worked with this summer. NIH seems like is a pretty common place for gap years for med school app boosting. The post-bacc would be great for getting more publications, which may or may not come in handy later (for getting residencies? that's still so far away...but pubs can never hurt). However, I feel like I've already gotten a good sense of what working in that lab is like and the main benefit I'd get out of a post-bacc is more pubs (vs. an intense learning experience).

I guess a drawback to working in industry is that is could potentially be seen as a lack of committment or interest in clinical work, since it's an engineering position..though I am working with drugs so it's tangentially related to medicine. I also sort of want to see what working in industry is like for a little bit to give me some perspective on the corporate world (though I don't think I'd ever want to do it longterm). I admit that the money is quite alluring as well, since I'd working hard at either NIH or the pharma company, except i'd get paid almost 3x more at the latter, allowing me to pay for an international volunteering trip, a car, all my application fees + interviewing costs, and perhaps even save up a little bit of money.

Am I selling out / hurting myself if I decide to work for Big "Bad" Pharma vs. NIH?

 

[SamaraMorgan]

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[ExKitty Doctor]

oooo... big pharma = iky. NIH is better for the app and the soul. JMHO..

 

[beetlerum]

It might be fun to live in a big city and work a job like that for a year. Seems like a worthwhile experience, which you'll probably never have again. Don't do it just for the salary, though.

Deferral policies vary widely from school to school. At some schools, it would be no problem. At others, a big problem.

 

[beetlerum]

oooo... big pharma = iky. NIH is better for the app and the soul. JMHO..

Yeah, I mean, who needs pharmaceutical companies? Why would we need those?