Does it matter if you apply 1 year vs 2 years after graduation?

[watchergub]

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[rafflecopter]

Just make sure to do something productive during your off year. Get a clinical job, or work in a lab, go on a medical mission, travel etc. As long as you keep busy you have something to talk about and it will reflect positively on your application.

 

[Gaboon]

There are several schools that set a cap on how old your pre-req grades can be. Cornell & Brown come to mind, but I'm sure there are others.

I had a 3+ year gap between my last grades and my app. I made sure to read over admissions office websites to see whether they set caps. If I found that they did, I called the offices to see if exceptions were made (usually they weren't).

I was only asked by one school how I thought I would adapt to having to study so much again after having had time off. Fortunately, I presented them with recent MCAT scores & this seemed to relieve their fears that I could shift into study mode when I needed to. Of the remaining 9 schools that I interviewed at, no one questioned me about it.

PM me if you want to chat some more about it.

 

[TooMuchResearch]

So I'm a little confused about how it looks to take time off after school... I already graduated in spring 2010 and I am studying for the MCAT and planning to take it in May. Now this was the original plan for me - but since I work full-time, I've really had a hard time keeping up with my study schedule and unfortunately I have a lot to review (I took all my pre-reqs early on in my college career, then had to take 3 semesters off due to a family thing, and then came back to complete a non-science major... so it's been about 3 years since my last pre-req).

I've been getting worried about this since I feel trapped. If I don't do well on my May test, I can take it again in July or August, but this puts me really late in the application cycle and I've been warned heavily about applying late. I was thinking it might be better to wait another year if this happens. But I'm not sure how this will look.

Does it look bad to take 1 vs 2 years off before applying if you don't have any new grades? My gpa is a 3.9 so I really don't need to work on it... I'm mostly just concerned that med schools will be like "oh, you took your pre-reqs too long ago" or something. really don't want to have to start worrying about taking more classes if I have to wait another year.

Don't take the test until you're ready. It will not matter if you take more than one year between school and school. Using my classmates as a sample, I don't think you need to do anything clinically related between undergrad and med school (assuming you already have some exposure to medicine).

 

[boko]

I've spoken with many med students who actually took a year off and they say that schools will usually ask you why and what you did so like rafflecopter said, do something productive...research, clinical work, shadowing, etc. Also, you must keep up with you study schedule for the MCAT because like you said its been a while since you took the basic courses...Good luck!!

 

[TooMuchResearch]

I've spoken with many med students who actually took a year off and they say that schools will usually ask you why and what you did so like rafflecopter said, do something productive...research, clinical work, shadowing, etc. Also, you must keep up with you study schedule for the MCAT because like you said its been a while since you took the basic courses...Good luck!!

Again, it doesn't need to be anything clinically related. Lots of people work in finance, work in restaurants, teach, do an Americorps tour, or deliver pizza.