Deferring vs Waiting to Apply

[AZRobbins]

I have been planning on applying this cycle, but I am having some doubts about going straight into medical school from undergrad without a break.
*Just to be clear, I'm not having doubts about medical school, I'm just thinking that it might be good to take a year off to learn Spanish, volunteer, and have a break from school.

Therefore I'm left with the question: Do I apply this cycle with some possibility of trying to defer or do I take a year off because I'm unsure?
I understand that medical schools don't want you to apply planning on deferring, but I'm tentative to take a year off for a few reasons:
1. I've already started working on my application, personal statement, recommenders, etc.
2. I took the MCAT in 2017 and am concerned that my score might expire.
3. I would be interested in doing my gap year abroad, but I would not be able to afford to fly back for interviews, so I basically wouldn't be able to be abroad for a gap year unless I deferred.

I am also wondering if a gap year would help my application, although I've been told that it probably wouldn't make a significant difference. I also understand that deferrals are not always granted, so it wouldn't be a guarantee.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I'm hoping to pursue whatever path will make me the best physician and person, and I'm still not sure whether or not taking a year off will be worth it.

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[Mr.Monster]

If you applied next year, do you think your app would be significantly better than it is now? By significant, I mean that it adds something that is unique, or gets your noticed by adcoms. If your app for the 2019 cycle will be better than the 2018 cycle, I would wait. I do think @Goro, @LizzyM, @gonnif, and @HomeSkool would know a lot more than me, seeing as they are adcoms/practicing medicine and I only just got accepted. I would therefore refer to their judgment over mine.

 

[freedoctor17]

I have been planning on applying this cycle, but I am having some doubts about going straight into medical school from undergrad without a break.
*Just to be clear, I'm not having doubts about medical school, I'm just thinking that it might be good to take a year off to learn Spanish, volunteer, and have a break from school.

Therefore I'm left with the question: Do I apply this cycle with some possibility of trying to defer or do I take a year off because I'm unsure?
I understand that medical schools don't want you to apply planning on deferring, but I'm tentative to take a year off for a few reasons:
1. I've already started working on my application, personal statement, recommenders, etc.
2. I took the MCAT in 2017 and am concerned that my score might expire.
3. I would be interested in doing my gap year abroad, but I would not be able to afford to fly back for interviews, so I basically wouldn't be able to be abroad for a gap year unless I deferred.

I am also wondering if a gap year would help my application, although I've been told that it probably wouldn't make a significant difference. I also understand that deferrals are not always granted, so it wouldn't be a guarantee.

Does anyone have any thoughts? I'm hoping to pursue whatever path will make me the best physician and person, and I'm still not sure whether or not taking a year off will be worth it.

This is just one person I know but they applied planning on deferring for a year because they wanted to work in the real world and save some money and they were fine. They were a pretty amazing applicant so I think they had plenty of options though. If you do apply and get in somewhere that won't let you defer would it bother you a lot? If so then I'd say you should wait. If you just would like a gap year but don't really mind not doing one (which is what it sorta sounds like from your post) then I'd say just apply and if they let you defer go for it. If not then oh well, you'll be done a year earlier than you would have and you can plan a nice vacation when you're done lol.

 

[HomeSkool]

I'm gonna spoil the ending and give you my advice, then go back and explain it: take the gap year, apply next cycle.

First, I'm not an adcom (yet), just an interviewer and clinical faculty member. Just want to represent myself appropriately.

Your MCAT should be good pretty much anywhere if you apply in the 2019-20 cycle. It doesn't expire 2-3 years after the date you take it, but rather after the year that you take it. You'll want to check the MSAR for individual schools, but here's a sampling of schools and the oldest MCAT they accepted for the 2017-18 cycle:

• Albany: September 2014
• Albert Einstein: January 2014
• Baylor: September 2014
• BU: August 2013 (!!)
• East Carolina: January 2014
• Case: January 2014
• Central Michigan: December 2014
• FAU: August 2015

Fast forward two cycles to 2019-20, and (assuming no changes in school policy) the only one on that list that would reject a 2017 MCAT would be FAU, and even then only if it were taken before August. That's only a handful of schools, but you can see a definite trend there. Your 2017 MCAT will be fine in the 2019-20 cycle.

Now, the reasons I suggest you take the gap year:

• You said you want to do a year abroad. You have the freedom to do that right now. When you start med school, it'll be many years before you have the financial and professional freedom to have that kind of experience.
• You said something about a break from school. 'Nuff said.
• You said you want to learn Spanish. A gap year in Latin America or Spain, then. I spent two years in South America and loved it, so I'm a bit biased there.
• A gap year can help or hurt your application depending on how you use it. I used mine to work as a genetic researcher and get some publications, which boosted my app. You could use a foreign experience to boost your app, too.

In a nutshell, I think you've got a terrific opportunity to have a once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience abroad, learn a language, grow as a person, and volunteer, and if you pass on this opportunity it may never come again. On the flip side, medical schools aren't going anywhere. Take the gap year, enjoy your experience abroad, don't even think about flying back and forth for interviews (as gonnif says, applying to medical school is a full-time job, and it shouldn't be combined with something like an experience abroad), and apply in the 2019-20 cycle.

I only just got accepted.

Congrats!

 

[AZRobbins]

Just to clarify, by applying in the 2018-2019 cycle, I will be interviewing during my senior year. So, if I were to take two gap years (one to go abroad and then one to apply), as some of you suggested (with good reason), I would be applying in the 2020-2021 cycle, therefore my MCAT would be expired for a number of schools (such as Albany, Baylor, Central Michigan), seeing as I took it in August 2017.

This is part of my dilemma. My MCAT scores will only be good for long enough to take 1 gap year, so I would have to be applying during that year, which would certainly hinder any abroad plans that I might have, as some of you have mentioned.

 

[HomeSkool]

Just to clarify, by applying in the 2018-2019 cycle, I will be interviewing during my senior year. So, if I were to take two gap years (one to go abroad and then one to apply), as some of you suggested (with good reason), I would be applying in the 2020-2021 cycle, therefore my MCAT would be expired for a number of schools (such as Albany, Baylor, Central Michigan), seeing as I took it in August 2017.

This is part of my dilemma. My MCAT scores will only be good for long enough to take 1 gap year, so I would have to be applying during that year, which would certainly hinder any abroad plans that I might have, as some of you have mentioned.

Well, things may be a bit different in that case. What are you stats? GPA, MCAT, ECs...share it all and we can give some advice.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using SDN mobile

 

[RaidenXVC]

Just to clarify, by applying in the 2018-2019 cycle, I will be interviewing during my senior year. So, if I were to take two gap years (one to go abroad and then one to apply), as some of you suggested (with good reason), I would be applying in the 2020-2021 cycle, therefore my MCAT would be expired for a number of schools (such as Albany, Baylor, Central Michigan), seeing as I took it in August 2017.

This is part of my dilemma. My MCAT scores will only be good for long enough to take 1 gap year, so I would have to be applying during that year, which would certainly hinder any abroad plans that I might have, as some of you have mentioned.

I had this exact same dilemma when I took my gap years and lived abroad. I'd say to hold off on applying until after you get back. You can always retake the MCAT if you have to, you did well once so I'm sure you could do it again.

I was having the time of my life living abroad, but I decided to cut it short because my MCAT would have expired if I stuck around any longer. In retrospect I wish I would have just let it expire and retook it when I was ready to apply. Not only would I have been able to keep doing what I was doing for a longer period of time, but I would also would have not had to apply to so many schools out of fear of not getting in and having to retake the MCAT anyway.

If you do apply this year and get into medical school, they may or may not allow you to differ. But I'll echo what @HomeSkool said, medical school will always be there, this opportunity may be a once in a lifetime sort of deal.

 

[AZRobbins]

Well, things may be a bit different in that case. What are you stats? GPA, MCAT, ECs...share it all and we can give some advice.

520 MCAT
3.71 GPA
Leadership role in creative arts ECs with sustained commitment
~100hrs shadowing, ~100hrs non-clinical volunteering, ~60hrs clinical volunteering

 

[freedoctor17]

520 MCAT
3.71 GPA
Leadership role in creative arts ECs with sustained commitment
~100hrs shadowing, ~100hrs non-clinical volunteering, ~60hrs clinical volunteering

I wouldn't want to have to retake that mcat. How long did you need to study for it when you took it? I know some people can study in like 2 or 3 weeks and do amazing so if that's you then a retake probably isn't a big deal. If you're like me and took 3-4 months though then I would make sure to think about whether you really want to have to do that again especially with such a great score already.

 

[DaWeasel]

Would you pay 250k to volunteer and learn Spanish? That's the minimum opportunity cost of taking a year

 

[HomeSkool]

520 MCAT
3.71 GPA
Leadership role in creative arts ECs with sustained commitment
~100hrs shadowing, ~100hrs non-clinical volunteering, ~60hrs clinical volunteering

Your volunteering hours both need some work, particularly your clinical hours. Refer to this post by the great @LizzyM: How many volunteer hours are solid?

I agree with @freedoctor17: I wouldn't want to retake that MCAT. Assuming you agree, you've got two options: 1) Go abroad, apply in the 2020-21 cycle, and have your list of school choices limited (although there are still plenty of great schools that would take an August 2017 MCAT); or B) Skip the foreign travel and apply in either the 2018-19 or 2019-20 cycle. As @gonnif said above, applying and asking for a deferral to go abroad is a no-go, so throw that option out right away. And I'll reiterate: applying while you're living abroad is a poor decision if you actually want to get into medical school.

Ultimately, you're the one that has to choose between the two remaining options. Whatever you decide, though, you need to work on your volunteering hours in the meantime.

Would you pay 250k to volunteer and learn Spanish? That's the minimum opportunity cost of taking a year

That would be true if the non-monetary gains of the foreign experience were of no value. But since every person will value those non-monetary gains differently, opportunity cost is meaningless in this context.

 

[pewpew95]

Is there a way you can get heavily involved in a local Hispanic community during your gap year, and instead of spending the whole year abroad, you can go on a 1 month long mission trip (doesn't have to be medically related, could be one organized by a church)? This way you can still apply this upcoming cycle without having to worry about deferrals or waiting an extra 1-2 years to apply.

 

[AZRobbins]

Thank you for all of your input. It seems like both ways have considerable pros and cons, especially with my MCAT-related constraints. I'm currently leaning towards applying this cycle and focusing on enjoying the considerable amount of time I do still have left in college as well as my summers. I can hopefully get some more enriching experiences while I'm a student, especially since I've completed my major and have a credit surplus, so I have a little bit more time to work with (like studying Spanish if I can figure that out and volunteering more).

Now I just have to figure out how to afford Spanish classes and how to find volunteer opportunities at my secluded school!
It's frustrating to hear that my clinical hours are far too low because there aren't any clinical volunteer opportunities near me (and few non-clinical as well) that don't require having a car, so I have tried to get those experiences over the summer instead (and the hospital that I volunteered at only allowed 6 hours a week).
Do you think that medical schools will be understanding of that? I've tried every semester to find opportunities, but I can't afford transportation to them, unfortunately. I'm hoping to try to find a creative way of making a volunteer experience work during this academic year, but I haven't been able to as of yet. I understand that they like to see "sustained commitment", so I'm concerned that they'll reject my application due to lack of hours or length of commitment.