Help needed for selecting between two gap year positions

[helpmepickbetween]

Hey SDN fam

I hope you all are well. I'm a pre-med graduating in May and I got offered two positions for my gap year. One is in a research technician position at a well know medical school in NYC doing very cool research and the other is a medical assistant job at a clinic in my hometown Maryland.

I need help deciding between these options. The NY one is a 2 year position and very cool research. The MD one is a patient care experience close to home and no specific commitment requirement .

I am planning on preparing for my MCAT this year and score really well. My Cgpa is currently sitting at 3.2 and Sgpa is 2.9. I know I need to work on that. I know I might need to do an SMP or DIY post bac to improve that gpa. I am planning on studying really well and getting a good score on my MCAT to help with that.

So do I choose to go to NY (maybe a once in a lifetime opportunity and can open other several doors/connections) or should I stay in MD and work on my weaknesses on my application?

Thank you for your help in advance!

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[TragicalDrFaust]

the research seems like a good opportunity but it’s a long time commitment, especially considering that you have GPA repair to do and that’s inherently time consuming.

Most medical schools aren’t expecting an impressive research portfolio but all are expecting a stronger GPA.

In fact I believe your GPA will put you out of the running at research focused schools, even if you spend a lot of time on repair.

Personally I wouldn’t take it unless you’re very interested in the particular research and willing to spend a handful of extra years reinventing your app or could even see yourself scrapping med school and going in for a career in research.

Also maybe I’m naive but I don’t know anyone whose connections helped them get into med school. I do know people who were rejected in spite of strong connections (parent is a prof, family friend of dean, etc). It’s possible that people who are accepted due to making connections keep that info private. But I wouldn’t weigh the possibility of making connections too heavily at this stage.

 

[helpmepickbetween]

@TragicalDrFaust Thank you so much for your reply!! Yes, that's my worst fear because I don't want to take a lot of gap years. The maximum I want to take is 2-3 years. Do you think taking classes part time while I'm doing research helps? The medical school offer 100% tuition remission for undergrad classes. The research is pretty amazing, but I don't want my life to be dedicated to research only.

 

[helpmepickbetween]

@Mr.Smile12 I'm excited for the research, but I'm also worried about the time commitment and the gap years I will have to take. I'm hoping to apply next cycle or latest the one after that. What do you think? Thank you so much

 

[helpmepickbetween]

@TheBoneDoctah I only have a few hours of clinical service (35hrs) because I was a hospice volunteer before covid came. Yes, I would like to apply to MD, so I have to do a post-bac to repair my gpa.
I did one year of research in my undergrad and presented at a national conference with a publication coming soon. Would adding more research help me in my application? or should I just focus on fixing my weaknesses?

 

[TragicalDrFaust]

@TragicalDrFaust Thank you so much for your reply!! Yes, that's my worst fear because I don't want to take a lot of gap years. The maximum I want to take is 2-3 years. Do you think taking classes part time while I'm doing research helps? The medical school offer 100% tuition remission for undergrad classes. The research is pretty amazing, but I don't want my life to be dedicated to research only.

You would need to show sustained performance in rigorous science classes for the equivalent of a couple years of full time science classes (a SMP or DIY post bacc). How many classes could you take during this research job? I think it would be risky to take full time classes, speaking from personal experience. I'm also wondering what factors will assure you perform better in your classes than in undergrad, especially if you're working concurrently. What prevented you from getting better grades in UG?

Have you read Goro's guide to reinvention?

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Clinical hours > resesrch