Diagnosed with NF, should I take a gap year?

[targaryen-D]

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I was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis my second semester of freshman year. I came in with a few credits and got good grades my first semester and I had a 3.8 gpa. The second semester came and I noticed a mass in my arm that started to hurt and make it difficult to write. I was diagnosed last April. The pain started to get worse and it affected my grades because I couldn't sit or write for more than 30 min. My gpa went down to a 3.2 after the next 2 semesters because of pain and I though I couldn't be a doctor anymore.

Finally last semester I stopped feeling sorry for myself and worked through the pain and learned how to manage it better so now I'm back to a 3.4 and a sGPA of 3.4. I'm getting surgery this summer to remove some of the tumors and I'm hoping by the end of my junior year to bring my gpa to a 3.6..

My question is-will medical schools take that situation into account? I know a lot of people go through rough situations as an undergrad but will they notice that I got back on my feet and improved or should I take a gap year to bring up my grades before applying?

 

[Lawpy]

You're diagnosed with a debilitating disease and are struggling to push through your classes. If anything, you should have taken a leave of absence and enter treatment/recovery. Regardless, you should be fine even with a small dip in GPA because you have a legitimate reason why you did poorly (and a 3.2 for 2 semesters isn't bad given your case).

A 3.6 GPA by end of junior year is still good (so gap years for grade improvements aren't necessary), and yes, adcoms will take your situation into account. Hope you recover and feel better soon.

 

[mimelim]

The secret to medical school admissions is that nobody actually cares about your undergraduate grades. We actually don't. The content that you learn in undergrad is largely if not totally irrelevant to your medical education. We care that you are a good student with a capacity to survive the further schooling you will undergo and hopefully thrive in that environment. The product that we get the day you show up to medical school is what we care about. Not who you were years ago. With that as context. Schools are very risk adverse and the single best way to figure out if someone is academically capable of taking on medical school is to look at their academic track record which is where the focus on GPA and MCAT come in. But, like with anything, you need context. Focusing on a single raw number (GPA) is harmful. If we are talking <3.2, that is one thing, but everything else, it is about context.

Prior to me advocating for someone, I want to see several strong semesters of coursework and a decent MCAT. I want to know you are a strong student when you show up. If you have an illness that doesn't allow you to be or if you are incapable of being a strong student regardless, medical school is not the right place for you and it does nobody any good to admit you. But, we understand that life gets in the way and there are often circumstances beyond people's control that stop them from being perfect all the time.

Do not take a gap year for the sake of a single number. If you don't have enough time to demonstrate a good track record (3+ semesters), then it is worth considering.

 

[targaryen-D]

@Lawper thank you so much. I never actually considered taking a leave of absence hopefully I won't have to if I recover quickly.

 

[GrapesofRath]

The secret to medical school admissions is that nobody actually cares about your undergraduate grades. We actually don't. The content that you learn in undergrad is largely if not totally irrelevant to your medical education. We care that you are a good student with a capacity to survive the further schooling you will undergo and hopefully thrive in that environment. The product that we get the day you show up to medical school is what we care about. Not who you were years ago. With that as context. Schools are very risk adverse and the single best way to figure out if someone is academically capable of taking on medical school is to look at their academic track record which is where the focus on GPA and MCAT come in. But, like with anything, you need context. Focusing on a single raw number (GPA) is harmful. If we are talking <3.2, that is one thing, but everything else, it is about context.

Prior to me advocating for someone, I want to see several strong semesters of coursework and a decent MCAT. I want to know you are a strong student when you show up. If you have an illness that doesn't allow you to be or if you are incapable of being a strong student regardless, medical school is not the right place for you and it does nobody any good to admit you. But, we understand that life gets in the way and there are often circumstances beyond people's control that stop them from being perfect all the time.

Do not take a gap year for the sake of a single number. If you don't have enough time to demonstrate a good track record (3+ semesters), then it is worth considering.

This is the best response you'll get mere. look at the end of the day med schools want results. High gpa is what matters far more than the reason why they weren't high. While the advice on the matter is on point your numerical gpa value is what matters largely. Yes context and trends matter but ask any adcom which is more desirable a 3.6 and an upward trend or a 3.85 with consistent success? I'm not ADCOM but I'll go out on a limb and say the latter would get more votes. That's the thing about med school admission; a 3.6 with an illness that caused lower grades isn't bad at all. But when there are so many 3.9 with consistent success also applying that's where the problem comes in

In your case I'll say this no it's usually not worth just taking a gap year for the sole purpose of applying with a 3.7 vs a 3.6. Now maybe in your case it might be Because maybe for some 3 semesters of strong work which is what you might be looking at is not sufficient( let's here the input of adcoms here). Maybe 5 semesters vs 3 really would make a significant difference and in that case it could be worth the gap year. A good track record is likely subjective to different Adcoms the more perspectives you can year on what's a good track record in your case from those in the know the better decision you can make

But what you should ask us would another year off benefit you in the process of maturing and gaining a diverse set of experiences and skill sets? You don't get this chance again and it's definitely a learning opportunity and growing experience; consider that aspect of a gap year beyond increasing your gpa

 

[targaryen-D]

This is the best response you'll get mere. look at the end of the day med schools want results. High gpa is what matters far more than the reason why they weren't high. While the advice on the matter is on point your numerical gpa value is what matters largely. Yes context and trends matter but ask any adcom which is more desirable a 3.6 and an upward trend or a 3.85 with consistent success? I'm not ADCOM but I'll go out on a limb and say the latter would get more votes. That's the thing about med school admission; a 3.6 with an illness that caused lower grades isn't bad at all. But when there are so many 3.9 with consistent success also applying that's where the problem comes in

In your case I'll say this no it's usually not worth just taking a gap year for the sole purpose of applying with a 3.7 vs a 3.6. Now maybe in your case it might be Because maybe for some 3 semesters of strong work which is what you might be looking at is not sufficient( let's here the input of adcoms here). Maybe 5 semesters vs 3 really would make a significant difference and in that case it could be worth the gap year. A good track record is likely subjective to different Adcoms the more perspectives you can year on what's a good track record in your case from those in the know the better decision you can make

But what you should ask us would another year off benefit you in the process of maturing and gaining a diverse set of experiences and skill sets? You don't get this chance again and it's definitely a learning opportunity and growing experience; consider that aspect of a gap year beyond increasing your gpa

I totally understand why the latter would be chosen before me. I have no doubt that they would and they obviously deserve it. I just want more clarification on how it may impact my chances on getting in? With medical schools putting such high emphasis on adversity in applications, I just wonder at the end of the day does it really mean something to ADCOMs?

Also I'm a minority (black) and female

I volunteer at a non profit ~100 hours
I have about 50 shadowing hours
I'm community service chair for my sorority
I worked throughout college as a waitress(even while dealing with NF)

You are right about the gap year though I should consider what else I could gain other than GPA, It's hard to not get consumed by the number sometimes.

 

[Lawpy]

I totally understand why the latter would be chosen before me. I have no doubt that they would and they obviously deserve it. I just want more clarification on how it may impact my chances on getting in? With medical schools putting such high emphasis on adversity in applicants, I just wonder at the end of the day does it really mean something to ADCOMs?

Also I'm a minority (black) and female

I volunteer at a non profit ~100 hours
I have about 50 shadowing hours
I'm community service chair for my sorority
I worked throughout college as a waitress(even while dealing with NF)

You have a significantly stronger chance in getting into any MD school even with a 3.6 (as long as you do well on MCAT). So you're good to go and shouldn't worry

 

[GrapesofRath]

I totally understand why the latter would be chosen before me. I have no doubt that they would and they obviously deserve it. I just want more clarification on how it may impact my chances on getting in? With medical schools putting such high emphasis on adversity in applications, I just wonder at the end of the day does it really mean something to ADCOMs?

Also I'm a minority (black) and female

I volunteer at a non profit ~100 hours
I have about 50 shadowing hours
I'm community service chair for my sorority
I worked throughout college as a waitress(even while dealing with NF)

You are right about the gap year though I should consider what else I could gain other than GPA, It's hard to not get consumed by the number sometimes.

https://www.aamc.org/download/321514/data/factstable25-2.pdf


Numbers wise with a 3.6 you'll be more than fine. Even if these odds are a tad inflated, and lets say you don't improve your GPA as much as you think to a 3.6-----look at the chart with a 3.4-3.6 if you get a 30-32 your odds are close to 90%. If you are in the 27-29 range they are still around 80%. Whether or not they might not be quite 80% or 90% is besides the point; you still have great odds and many of those who don't get in when the odds are so high are due to things such as horrible interviews and horrible list of schools that is way too top heavy. Bottom line your stats can carry you to med school easily.


Like I said if you want to take time off by all means do so but you are more than competitive if you apply next year with a 3.4-3.6 and an MCAT that is above the national average.

 

[targaryen-D]

https://www.aamc.org/download/321514/data/factstable25-2.pdf


Numbers wise with a 3.6 you'll be more than fine. Even if these odds are a tad inflated, and lets say you don't improve your GPA as much as you think to a 3.6-----look at the chart with a 3.4-3.6 if you get a 30-32 your odds are close to 90%. If you are in the 27-29 range they are still around 80%. Whether or not they might not be quite 80% or 90% is besides the point; you still have great odds and many of those who don't get in when the odds are so high are due to things such as horrible interviews and horrible list of schools that is way too top heavy. Bottom line your stats can carry you to med school easily.


Like I said if you want to take time off by all means do so but you are more than competitive if you apply next year with a 3.4-3.6 and an MCAT that is above the national average.

@GrapesofRath
@Lawper
Thank you both again. That was very helpful 🙂