Gap year abroad

[lukeocyte]

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Hi,

I am currently considering taking a year or 2 off after undergrad to either conduct research or pursue a masters degree in a different part of the world before applying to med school. I had some questions about whether this is an encouraged route to take.

Assuming I graduate, I would have the summer to submit my primary and secondaries before flying abroad, but how would I go about writing gap year essays when my program has not started yet? Do I talk about why I chose to participate in said program, or something else?
Additionally, would it be too much of a hassle to have to keep flying back to the US for interviews?

Thanks in advance!! I’m considering this route but very unsure about its feasibility. Additionally, it's not guaranteed that I'll receive the scholarships I'm eyeing, but my backup for my gap year if nothing works out is to just keep doing research in my undergrad lab, possibly as a paid tech.

 

[KnightDoc]

Totally not feasible UNLESS we still have virtual interviews, you have stable internet, and you can manage the time difference.

With live interviews, nobody does this. Since you want to incorporate the experience into your application, you need to seriously consider not applying until you return, and adding yet another gap year onto whatever you were already planning.

Multiple round trip international flights to spend a day at time in the US will get old, disruptive and expensive, very fast. Your ability to bunch them will be very limited and uncertain. You might have to schedule some on very short notice. Just not really practical for most people.