Final Undergrad Year- Don't know what to do after

[desertpremed2021]

I am a coming senior graduating in 2021. I will realistically graduate with a 3.83 cGPA and 3.76 sGPA if all goes well. I haven't taken the MCAT and probably won't be able to until Fall 2021 due to my class schedule. This will put me in the 2022 application cycle and hopefully start medical school in 2023. I am lost in what to do in that 2 year window. My gpa doesn't really qualify me for a SMP. I have virtually no research/extracurricular except for one research assistant position I held for a summer.

What should I do to make the most use of that time and improve my application?
Should I do a regular master's program or simply work until it's time to apply?
Would a SMP be of use to me?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[tessellations]

You definitely don’t need a SMP. I would use those two years to really beef up your extracurriculars. Do you have clinical experience? This might be a good time to get some sort of clinical job and do some volunteering on the side.

 

[deleted1005514]

I am a coming senior graduating in 2021. I will realistically graduate with a 3.83 cGPA and 3.76 sGPA if all goes well. I haven't taken the MCAT and probably won't be able to until Fall 2021 due to my class schedule. This will put me in the 2022 application cycle and hopefully start medical school in 2023. I am lost in what to do in that 2 year window. My gpa doesn't really qualify me for a SMP. I have virtually no research/extracurricular except for one research assistant position I held for a summer.

What should I do to make the most use of that time and improve my application?
Should I do a regular master's program or simply work until it's time to apply?
Would a SMP be of use to me?

I did a Masters (regular, biology, non-thesis) because I graduated with my bachelors in December, so I had a weird 18 month gap. It was also free because I got a graduate assistant position which included full tuition + monthly stipend. A thesis masters will probably take 3 years because of the research & writing, a non-thesis can be done in 18 months (12 if you really push it). You could also get a job, either clinical or non-clinical, and do a lot of volunteering on the side.

 

[desertpremed2021]

You definitely don’t need a SMP. I would use those two years to really beef up your extracurriculars. Do you have clinical experience? This might be a good time to get some sort of clinical job and do some volunteering on the side.

Hi, Thank you for the reply! I don't have any clinical experience. I was planning on starting to find some opportunities but then the pandemic occurred. I think that is one of my biggest hurdles and I intend to start getting them soon.

 

[desertpremed2021]

I did a Masters (regular, biology, non-thesis) because I graduated with my bachelors in December, so I had a weird 18 month gap. It was also free because I got a graduate assistant position which included full tuition + monthly stipend. A thesis masters will probably take 3 years because of the research & writing, a non-thesis can be done in 18 months (12 if you really push it). You could also get a job, either clinical or non-clinical, and do a lot of volunteering on the side.

Hi, thank you for your reply! I thought of taking that route instead of the SMP. If you don't mind me asking, how did you go about looking for master's programs that had graduate assistant positions like that?

 

[deleted1005514]

Hi, thank you for your reply! I thought of taking that route instead of the SMP. If you don't mind me asking, how did you go about looking for master's programs that had graduate assistant positions like that?

There was one available at my undergrad, lol.