Gap year application - doing research now?

[br2pi5]

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Hello! I'm finishing my first gap year which I spent the majority of preparing to retake the MCAT and while I've got a few months till June to apply for the 2019 app cycle, I only have a few months to better my application. Besides bettering my clinical hours and volunteering hours, I lately started thinking about the possibility of starting a research project with a French professor. I personally think it would be cool to be involved in a non-science research project and it would be something unique to my application BUT I don't know if starting research this "late" would be relevant or beneficial to my app?

While I am interested in the experience, if I go for it I would have to change the plans that I had for the summer so it's sort of a big decision which is why I wanted your guys' input! 🙂 appreciate the help!

 

[LoveBeingHuman:)]

There are very few activities that you can start now that will have substantial benefit in terms of applying, and research is probably not one of them (unless if you don't have any right now, in which case it's better than nothing).

Go with your heart and what you enjoy. Don't focus on which makes you a better applicant.

 

[br2pi5]

There are very few activities that you can start now that will have substantial benefit in terms of applying, and research is probably not one of them (unless if you don't have any right now, in which case it's better than nothing).

Go with your heart and what you enjoy. Don't focus on which makes you a better applicant.

yeah that's what I normally tell myself except I have a feeling that if I don't start any research before my application there are some schools that solely on that will put them at a reach for me because they are so heavily research focused. would that be correct? or even if I start research now, the fact that I don't have years/months of research currently under my belt or a poster by the time I apply, it won't actually really help with those schools?

 

[sunshine859]

I don't think starting a research project now is going to help you at those research-heavy schools. So, to be clear, you've never done any type of research?

 

[br2pi5]

I don't think starting a research project now is going to help you at those research-heavy schools. So, to be clear, you've never done any type of research?

I've had about 3 months of research experience early in undergrad but wasn't able to continue it over the summer (financially) so gave up my spot in the project, hence technically not that much in research

 

[sunshine859]

Are your stats competitive for research-heavy schools?

 

[br2pi5]

Are your stats competitive for research-heavy schools?

not great on the GPA end but with what I hope to score for my MCAT retake and the rest of my app (tons of leadership, unique extracurricular, solid LORs etc) maybe? the medical schools I have in mind are NYU, northwestern, Emory, washington, columbia (hah)