how does graduating in 3 years look?

[misterfantastic]

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let's say you have the chance to graduate with an engineering degree in 3 years from a top 20 college with a 3.5ish gpa. how would medical schools look at that?

 

[vyc]

it's all right.
i don't know if they would favor or not favor it either way.

they definitely like mature applicants with cool life experience so you might want to consider taking a year off and doing SOMETHING interesting.

instead of applying straight away.

 

[kreno]

Med schools don't care.. do something with your year and make yourself unique. There are plenty of people academically qualified.. it's the other stuff that's important

 

[none]

It's definitely not a hinderance! Don't feel like you absolutely must take a year off though. For people like myself, it's very hard to be away from an academic environment for even a short time. I've always done summer school and couldn't imagine an entire year without school. If you have the activities and grades/MCAT, apply right away if you feel like it.

 

[Bradleyp]

Spend a year doing research and/or getting clinical experience if you take a year off. I really think they would choose a 3.9ish/4th year over a 3.5ish/3rd year even though gaining a engineering degree in that amount of time is impressive. I don' think the torture of that fast of paced schedule is worth the benefit, plus your supposed to enjoy college not kill yourself studying all of the time, that come later in med school.

 

[Amy]

There's a girl in my class who finished HS in 3 years and college in 2. She started med school right after that (she was 19 when we started). It certainly is possible for young applicants to get in, as long as you're mature. I do agree, though, that it might be a good idea to take a year off after college and do something besides school. Extra experience is never a bad thing. I don't think med schools care how long it takes you to finish college.

 

[Amy]

BTW, Bradley, I love your avatar. John Belushi rules!! 😀 😀

 

[paean]

Just make sure you graduating early doesn't prevent you from doing stuff outside of academics. As long as you have extracurriculars, there's no reason to worry about it. With a 3.5, make sure you do well on the MCAT, and you'll be fine.

 

[Gainer]

I was in much the same position as you are, and my advisor STRONGLY recommended I stay for the forth year to bring my GPA higher (I had a 3.54).
I did, and although my GPA didn't raise dramatically, I do believe it helped.

 

[Resident Alien]

I graduated in three years (just did so 2 weeks ago), and will be going to med school this fall 🙂 . Apparently, doesnt make a difference 🙂

 

[Procrastinator]

I just recently graduated after only 3 years of undergrad and will be attending either WashU or UCLA (waitlisted) next year. At my UCLA interview, my interviewer actually asked me where my 3rd year grades were and I had to explain that I was graduating after only 3. I would definitely say that getting in after 3 is doable, but it IS going to be an uphill battle.

My best advice is to apply, and do a lot of activities in the meantime. If you don't get in, opt to take some more classes or take a year off and pursue some cool and interesting activities and enjoy the free time. Use the time to improve your application and skills. Graduating early is a win-win situation, because even if you don't get in, you will have a free year to relax, regroup, and pursue whatever YOU want to pursue.

 

[leorl]

I don't think it'll really matter. Everyone recognizes that it's perfectly possible to graduate in 3 years, and your GPA is decent enough...and extra year won't boost it a huge amount. So the choice is yours. You could boost your GPA a bit and take easy blow off classes, have some fun. Or you could graduate and get on with med school...it's really not going to matter in the long run.