I am currently an undergrad freshman on a Pre-Med track. I came in with enough AP credits that I can easily finish my undergrad in three years. Would it be better for my med school acceptances if I graduate in three years and take a gap year to either work or volunteer?? Or should I graduate with a four-year degree and get potentially more research experience as well as a chance to improve my GPA? I only ask because financially, I don't want to put my family at risk if I stay at college for one more year than I have to.
Finishing Pre-Med in Three Years: Yay or Nay?
- Thread starter kgopher15
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Do the four-year track, maximize your GPA, and get great ECs. That will all increase your likelihood of med school acceptance, and it'll probably make your life more enjoyable for the next four years, too.
Fixed that for you.kgopher15 said:
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I used AP's to effectively skip my freshman year of college, and graduated in 3 years. I directly matriculated into a US MD school without taking a gap year, but my stats and extracurriculars were relatively strong. In hindsight, I feel that it may have hindered me during the application process. However, I am happy with where I ended up, and personally prefer this over a gap year. While uncommon, my route is definitely possible to follow.
In terms of AP credits, all but one of the 30+ schools I applied to had no problems with accepting them. The only school that had a policy against accepting AP credits offered me an interview anyway, in spite of their policy. I don't think AP credits affect your application negatively.
In terms of a 4th year vs. a gap year, if you plan on applying after your 3rd year regardless, your 4th year grades really will not impact your application much. So in my opinion, taking a gap year and productively utilizing it to work, perform research, or participate in EC activities is a better option.
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I graduated in 3 years and took a few gap years and it worked out really well for me. My time off meant that I could do research full time, volunteer more, and have more time to study for the MCAT than I would during school. It just depends on if you think you'll be able to fit in all your EC's and get good grades while finishing early.
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I graduated in 3 years and took some gap years as well. If I could go back, I would stay the extra year. It sucks to graduate before all your friends and I feel like I never got the opportunity to get as many leadership positions as at my undergrad, seniors make up like 90% of club leadership positions.
If you do graduate in 3 years, I would defs recommend at least one gap year. I grew a lot as a person during my 2 years. Plus, from what ive seen, being young negatively impacts your application.
If you do graduate in 3 years, I would defs recommend at least one gap year. I grew a lot as a person during my 2 years. Plus, from what ive seen, being young negatively impacts your application.
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Hello!
I graduated in 3 years this past Summer, and I am doing Americorps during my gap year because, as someone pointed out above, I needed more community service hours and wanted to "get my hands dirty" and experience the real world. I had plenty of shadowing and research under my belt, but I think that if you cram everything into 3 years without a gap year, there will be something missing unless you were doing things non-stop. I definitely recommend graduating early and taking a gap year, because I am very happy with the decision I made. If I applied to matriculate right after the 3 years, I probably wouldn't be having much success. Doesn't that mean you would have to take the MCAT during your second year or something? That's too much lol.
I graduated in 3 years this past Summer, and I am doing Americorps during my gap year because, as someone pointed out above, I needed more community service hours and wanted to "get my hands dirty" and experience the real world. I had plenty of shadowing and research under my belt, but I think that if you cram everything into 3 years without a gap year, there will be something missing unless you were doing things non-stop. I definitely recommend graduating early and taking a gap year, because I am very happy with the decision I made. If I applied to matriculate right after the 3 years, I probably wouldn't be having much success. Doesn't that mean you would have to take the MCAT during your second year or something? That's too much lol.
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I am graduating in 3 years and going straight to med school. I contemplated taking a gap year to retake my MCAT because it was borderline, but decided against it because my GPAs (3.8+) and ECs were already pretty good (imo). I wasn't opposed to going DO so I decided to just go straight through and apply to both, and save the year instead. To me, this made more sense. However, it's a very individual decision and it will be hard for you to take advice from other people on this subject. Only you truly know what you have accomplished over the 3 years, what you want out of your medical career, and what you want out of your life. For me, I didn't feel that the pros of taking an extra year would outweigh the cons of not starting after 3 years.
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If your GPA isn't excellent after three years, then take a fourth year to raise it before applying. Otherwise, saving money with the three-year plan is fine, provided you continue to build your ECs and have access to activities that will allow you to do so.
