I've never heard of "musician" as a job in the marines.
MISSION
“The President’s Own” United States Marine Band’s mission is to perform for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Founded in 1798 by an Act of Congress, the Marine Band is America’s oldest continuously active professional musical organization. Today, “The President’s Own” is celebrated for its role at the White House and its dynamic public performances, which total more than 500 annually.
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Hello! So I’m planning on pursuing a BA/BS in Music and Biology. However, I was contemplating on whether or not a gap year between undergrad and medical school is a good idea, per say. I either want to take one year to become a flight attendant or become a musician in the marines.Would any of these two options be okay to take one gap year?
Thanks in advance!
Major in anything you want but keep in mind that your first goal should be keeping the GPA as high as possible. Less than half of all applicants to medical school are admitted and many more pre-meds never make it to the point of opening an application and the GPA is one of the major stumbling blocks.
Andante @Goro likes to say that this is a marathon not a sprint so keep in mind that you are at the start of a very long passage and the tempo should be moderately slow or you will wear out before the finish.
A gap year is an advantage because it means applying after 4 years of college rather than 3. It is an extra year of undergrad grades and experience that often rounds out an application. In addition, a gap year gives applicants an opportunity to pursue a full-time job or another valuable experience (full-time volunteerism through City Year, etc) before marching off ot med school. Not all activities are suitable for a gap year. If there is a multi-year commitment for a position (e.g. you enlist in the military) or there is an inflexible travel schedule, it will be difficult or impossible to attend interivews; the invitations are coveted and are often quite inflexible as to dates offered. It is advisable to do something during the application year that makes it possible to travel to the schools you've applied to on two weeks notice as that may be all you get.
There is also the option of choosing another career and coming back to medicine later. There are also opportunities to maintain music as a hobby while pursuing a career in medicine (much less likely to get you in trouble than making medicine a hobby while pursuing a career in music
).
Take things one step at a time. In time, the best path will reveal itself.
