Gap year & volunteer hours question...?

[Palindr0me]

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I have only recently made a very deliberate and clear decision that I want to go to medical school (thought about it for a few years). For the past couple years I have been bouncing back and forth between wanting a career in basic science research (graduate school) or teaching at the high school or university level; however, I finally decided to get some medical exposure and shadowed physicians which led me to where I am now: serving the community as a dedicated and skillful physician is what I ultimately desire. I am going into my junior year, and I'm planning on applying this next summer for the class of 2016 after taking MCAT2015. I also receive my volunteer placement at the hospital near my undergrad in early September when school starts. I know it is kind of late to be starting a volunteering gig, but take into account that I have had no way of getting around outside of walking distance until this coming semester (a friend is willing to drive me). By the time I apply I should have 100+ hours over the course of ~10 months. I really don't want to take a gap year because I would have to start paying off the loans I have accumulated and live at home (both of those things are toxic and will have a small place in my personal statement), and I don't want to stop learning at the academic level for an entire year.

TL;DR - should I take a gap year because of the lack of medical volunteering hours if this is what my application looks like in summer 2015?

My current stats and E.C.s:

-Biology & Chemistry major
-Socioeconomically disadvantaged (think poverty, abuse, setbacks, and a ton of growth and learning to be independent at a young age)
-First-gen. college student
-sGPA/cGPA: 3.9+/3.85+
-1000+ hours in two medically-related basic science research projects (biology and chemistry); very independent research in chemistry lab!
-Biology lab TA: 1 semester
-Ochem 1&2 lab TA: 2 semesters
-Bookstore employee: 1 semester
-Biology & chemistry tutor (paid & volunteer): 150+ hours
-ASB leadership position: 1 year
-ASB freshman dorm leadership position: 1 year
-Homeless outreach program: 3 years & 100+ hours (by time of application)
-Motivational speaker for disadvantaged/at-risk high school students: 3 years & 100+ hours
-Children's ministry volunteer: 1.5 years & 100+ hours
-At-risk/disadvantaged high school student tutoring program: 1 year & 100 hours
-Shadowing physicians (family medicine, anesthesiology, ER, urology, etc...) 80+ hours
-Hospital volunteering: 10 months & 100 hours...

I also wrote all of this out simply to get the opinion of SDN on where I stand in the general pool of applicants... It makes me a bit nervous to be deciding on medicine so late in the game when other people seem to have been thinking about this for a lot longer than I have. Thank you so much, and please understand that I have done all of these things because I enjoy them. Like I said, didn't really decide on medicine until recently. 🙂

SSABA

 

[chillinillinkillin007]

this is the reason i don't go on SDN that often anymore

 

[Palindr0me]

That's nice. Your opinion is appreciated.

P.S. I only posted this in the detail I did so that I wouldn't have to ask multiple questions throughout multiple threads. This saves me from having to do the whole, "what are my chances?" ****. Just roll with it.

 

[Planes2Doc]

The process really sucks for late-comers like you... It's dandy if you're a traditional pre-med starting as a freshman, because you can start jumping through the hoops on day one. It's dandy if you're a non-traditional student out of college, because you're exempt from having done those activities in college, so you can start them when you decide on becoming pre-med.

As for you, your activities are in pretty good shape for the most part. You have pretty decent non-clinical volunteering and more than enough shadowing. I think you'll probably be okay with the hospital volunteering you have now, since you will have already reached 100 hours. The other activities will carry you through. I think 100 hours plus shadowing is enough to give you the clinical experience ADCOMs want to see. I'd also mention deciding late on medicine in your PS. You might not only get a pass on the late clinical volunteering, but it may provide some nice non-cliche talking points.

Also, AMCAS no longer requires hours per week... So it might be in your best interest to "binge volunteer," try to score as many hours as possible. Sometimes you can get lucky with volunteer gigs where you're able to spend a majority of that time studying for class. It's a win-win situation for you and your medical school application.

Good luck! If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. 🙂