Gap year help

[spikebee]

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I am a senior trying to decide how to spend my gap year. I have an offer from City Year with Americorps but don't know if clinical experience or clinical research would be better for my application and don't know whether I can survive on the City Year stipend. Would appreciate any advice on what people think I should do with this year to improve my application and hopefully get into the best med school I can.
Here's my resume:
-3.91 gpa from a top public school
-524 mcat
-neuroscience and psychology major
-4 years of weekly hospital volunteering - become the program director for this after 2 years
-did research in a cognition lab for one year
-switched to a neuroscience lab and will have been there for 2.5 years by the time I graduate, doing 10-12 hours per week - writing a thesis and should have some middle author publications by graduation
-started weekly tutoring in a local high school this year
-worked at a camp as an inclusion coach for children with disabilities one summer
-supervisor at a gym on campus for about 12 hours a week
-philanthropy coordinator for my sorority
-about 70 shadowing hours across a variety of specialties

Please let me know what you think will make me stand out as an applicant or whether I need to scribe or do clinical research to gain more experience! It would also be great if I could make some money to pay off undergrad loans. Thank you!

 

[ihoop24]

What are the exact (or approximate) hours of both your clinical and non-clinical volunteering? You seem to have a lot of research, so more research won't really help you much.

 

[spikebee]

About 500 clinical hours and 200 nonclinical.

 

[ihoop24]

Those are great numbers. It never hurts to get more hours with those that are underserved. Other than that, I think you are very competitive. As far as the gap year, just do whatever interests you the most. Don't think of it as something that will make you "stand out."

 

[Blueprint Med School]

Agreed with ihoop. You're already competitive for medical school, so it's a great idea to take a year and do something that will be personally fulfilling outside of medicine before medical school.

Kevin W, MCAT Tutor
Med School Tutors