Delay a Year?

[Silverfalcon]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi. Currently junior, mainly posting this thread to inquire because scheduling is coming up very soon for next semester. My stats are ~3.7 for both sGPA and cGPA, took MCAT once and did not do well - did not break 30. I'll re-take before I apply. My main question is this: I want to delay a year in my app because well, first damaged MCAT - which I took after sophomore year (I know, it was tough but it pays off for my hard classes during fall semester now) - makes me to be cautious of rushing things, and secondly, I lack much research experience and clinical experience. I'll be applying to SURP and REUs this summer and/or doing clinical work if I can.

The issue is, my parents want me to apply this upcoming summer. This requires me to change things around in schedule, throw in biochemistry (which is super hard at my school), and essentially replan what I should do. I can't guarantee if I'll be happy with doing this, but I don't want to just ignore my parents' opinions, not apply till my senior year, and have difficult time. I've heard of people taking a year off, work in a lab, and that's what I was planning to do.. but then, I also thought that I could do well on MCAT, and apparently, AAMC practices weren't accurate for all people.

 

[Catalystik]

Applying with less than a year of clinical experience, when about 1.5 years is the average for those applying would not be wise. Research isn't essential if you're doubly strong in some other area, but having it in any amount makes an application stronger. Don't forget about physician shadowing, nonmedical community service, and leadership +/- teaching.

 

[MisterJon]

The issue is, my parents want me to apply this upcoming summer. This requires me to change things around in schedule, throw in biochemistry (which is super hard at my school), and essentially replan what I should do. I can't guarantee if I'll be happy with doing this, but I don't want to just ignore my parents' opinions, not apply till my senior year, and have difficult time.

Live life for YOU, man, not your parents. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking an extra year to apply--plenty of people I know are doing that. I can think of 5 people at my school (and my school is small) who are taking an extra year. If you feel like you will be more happier and productive taking that extra year to smooth out your schedule and study long enough for the MCAT then do it!!! Your parents are not you.

Plus, from a logistics angle, you have a lot more activities you need to do (as Catalystik mentioned), and taking the year would help in that respect. And all of this is coming from a guy who would personally hate taking another year off. I am in my senior year and wish next August would hurry up and roll around so I could start med school already. But in your case, the year delay would just be the practical thing to do.

 

[Silverfalcon]

Live life for YOU, man, not your parents. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking an extra year to apply--plenty of people I know are doing that. I can think of 5 people at my school (and my school is small) who are taking an extra year. If you feel like you will be more happier and productive taking that extra year to smooth out your schedule and study long enough for the MCAT then do it!!! Your parents are not you.

Plus, from a logistics angle, you have a lot more activities you need to do (as Catalystik mentioned), and taking the year would help in that respect. And all of this is coming from a guy who would personally hate taking another year off. I am in my senior year and wish next August would hurry up and roll around so I could start med school already. But in your case, the year delay would just be the practical thing to do.

Thanks for the encouragement. I know I live my life, thank you, but I cannot simply ignore the advice/concern of parents. And note: my parents are not the oblivious ones who just think I should go to medical schools; they did their own research, but obviously, our perception [me and my parents] differs. I wanted to see whether if anyone had this type of issue with their parents about taking a year off.

Applying with less than a year of clinical experience, when about 1.5 years is the average for those applying would not be wise. Research isn't essential if you're doubly strong in some other area, but having it in any amount makes an application stronger. Don't forget about physician shadowing, nonmedical community service, and leadership +/- teaching.

I have a summer of volunteering and shadowing (separate hours for each and counted). Research will be more or less used to see if I want to go to grad school or med school. I know it sounds a bit odd for SDN (since most people here are hardcore pre-med), but I have interests and passion in both areas, so I was hoping that doing research and applying later (instead of filing out AMCAS while doing research) would help me to decide better. I don't have nonmedical community service because I worked in summer and during semester. Couple of leadership positions but no teaching position. I might consider applying for TA for Organic Chemistry my senior year, but not sure since I'll also be doing honors project then.

 

[WeAreNotRobots]

The issue is, my parents want me to apply this upcoming summer.

who cares? are they willing to fund the your doomed application submitted to 15+ schools?

your mcat is trash and you lack EC's/research. either save the money and wait a year, or flush it down the toilet and be a reapp. there, i said it.

 

[Catalystik]

your mcat is trash and you lack EC's/research. either save the money and wait a year, or flush it down the toilet and be a reapp. there, i said it.

Perhaps this way of stating the situation will have more impact on the parental units.

 

[Silverfalcon]

Perhaps this way of stating the situation will have more impact on the parental units.

I guess then this is my next question: what is the best way for someone whose problem is not GPA to boost the credentials after taking a year off?

Now, my goal at this point is to take the MCAT in the summer I graduate and apply in the late summer of that year (July 2012). What am I supposed to do this time? I've heard of people doing postbacc but my grades are already pretty good.. So just work in a lab? Is that good enough (and doing shadowing/clinical work)?

The hardest part of me "defending" my explanation is that I don't have a concrete plan for taking a year off.

 

[Catalystik]

I guess then this is my next question: what is the best way for someone whose problem is not GPA to boost the credentials after taking a year off?

During the application year, get any job. If it is in research or a clinical milieu, so much the better, but waiting tables, or whatever, is fine too. Be sure to maintain your volunteerism, which could include research if you're not so employed. And do some occasional shadowing even if you already have enough hours by then. All these ongoing activities can be reported to schools periodically via update letters to boost their opinion of you. Whatever job you get should be flexible enough to tolerate your absence when you go to interviews (a lab is usually good for this).