Gap Year -- HELP

[JC062993]

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Hey guys, so here's my dilemma.
I am currently a junior (undergrad) with a 3.0 GPA (sGPA is about the same), and have not taken the MCATs yet.

I originally planned on becoming a physical therapist, but only a week ago decided to pursue medical school. I have a decent amount of PT shadowing / clinical hours, but nothing regarding MD/DO shadowing. Obviously my GPA is not competitive, so I planned on taking a gap year.

My question to everyone is whether or not taking a gap year is a good idea. Granted, a gap year would give me an opportunity to volunteer / shadow a DO, research, get a job, etc. but I'm wondering if I should just apply to a post-baccalaureate program instead to strengthen my sGPA.

Should I take a gap year to work / volunteer, and then apply to a post-bacc program? Or should I start applying for a post-bacc right away?

Thanks guys!

 

[FutureDrB]

Can you not do both, go to school and work/volunteer/shadow?
Why not spend that year retaking the science classes that are bringing down your GPA and knock out the extracurriculars?

 

[fireflygirl]

DO THE GAP YEAR! DO TWO if you need to. Do what you need to do to get good experience and bring up your sGPA. First, it'll make you a much more mature and likeable candidate because you have some outside of school experience. I'm not knocking on people that go straight through but I was 28 when I started med school and I think that helped me have a lot of perspective and figure out pretty quickly how I was going to handle certain challenges that my younger counterparts were freaking out over. Also, you want to have the most options possible for yourself so take the time to bring up that sGPA. And as @FutureDrB says, knock out those ECs!

 

[FutureDrB]

@fireflygirl has a point. If the reason you're debating the gap year is due to being burnt out on school, then by all means take a break.
I was just approaching it from the notion that you were wanting to take a year off just to complete your ECs.

 

[fireflygirl]

Hey guys, so here's my dilemma.
I am currently a junior (undergrad) with a 3.0 GPA (sGPA is about the same), and have not taken the MCATs yet.

I originally planned on becoming a physical therapist, but only a week ago decided to pursue medical school. I have a decent amount of PT shadowing / clinical hours, but nothing regarding MD/DO shadowing. Obviously my GPA is not competitive, so I planned on taking a gap year.

My question to everyone is whether or not taking a gap year is a good idea. Granted, a gap year would give me an opportunity to volunteer / shadow a DO, research, get a job, etc. but I'm wondering if I should just apply to a post-baccalaureate program instead to strengthen my sGPA.

Should I take a gap year to work / volunteer, and then apply to a post-bacc program? Or should I start applying for a post-bacc right away?

Thanks guys!

Missed the part about going to a post bac program. I think if you think that it's going to help you have the structure and chance to increase your sGPA, by all means go for it. I just think a lot of people think they are going to be a less competitive candidate if they take a gap year and I was just trying to get the point across that it wouldn't hurt you.

 

[JC062993]

@fireflygirl @FutureDrB Well, the only reason I would take a gap year is to strengthen my ECs (plus, I don't know how much time I would have while doing a post-bacc program). My original plan was to take a gap year (volunteer at Americorps, volunteer at a hospital on the weekends, study for the GRE's if I need to) and then apply to a post-bacc program for the following fall and try to boost up my sGPA along with MCAT preparation. After graduating from my post-bacc, hopefully I'd be competitive enough for medical school.

Does that sound like a good plan? Or would you guys approach it a bit differently given the GPA that I currently have.

Thanks again!!

 

[FutureDrB]

Personally, if the only reason you are taking the year off is to do extracurriculars, I honestly don't see the point. Those are things you can do while taking classes. Also, unless you really feel a post-bacc program would benefit you, I don't see the point in that either. You didn't mention what your degree is/will be in... Do you have a strong science background? If not, then the post-bacc would make more sense. But you mentioned your original intention was to become a physical therapist, so I assume you have some science classes under your belt already.

With that said, you stated that you just decided a week ago to switch from physical therapy to medicine. So, I think the very first thing you need to is some clinical volunteering and/or shadowing, so you can get a better feel for the career you're now interested in. You certainly don't want to venture down this new road to medicine, investing time and money, only to find out it's not what you thought it was going to be.