How should I spend my application year? Please give your input!

[theWUbear]

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Thanks for reading. Disclaimer: this is not a WAMC thread.

I am applying to MD programs June 2011 and I am really up in the air as to how to spend the fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters, and summer 2012 before med school in fall 2012. Here are the criteria:

• I need to write a Masters Thesis (50 pages)
• I need to take 11 credits of Masters classes to finish the masters
• It is my one personal goal to improve my Spanish - I am now ~fluent but want to immerse myself to truly claim an ability to work with Spanish-speaking patients before starting the vortex that is medical school

PLAN 1:
Take 11 credits of masters classes in the fall, write my thesis throughout 2011. Do a semester abroad in Spain spring 2012 for 14k, go to guatemala in summer 2012 to work in a medical clinic for 3k, for two months.
Pros: Dream come true. Incredibly meaningful update letter to med schools in December, stating I have finished a masters program with a 4.0 GPA. One semester of immersion followed by two months working in a clinic, all in Spanish would be the most perfect way to ensure competency in medical Spanish.
Cons: Parents are almost dead-set against the cost, may refuse to let me do this. As they are partial financiers of my future education I must accept their judgement. Also I'll be out of the country during part of my app cycle but I'm applying June 1 so I plan on hearing back or at least interviewing at most schools before Jan 2012.

PLAN 2: Fall 2011 take Korean 101 at local campus of State U, take 6 masters credits at the med school, work on thesis. Spring 2012 take Korean 102 and a 3-credit spanish class at State U, finish thesis, take the remaining 5 masters credits (total of 12 credits). Summer 2012 do guatemala for 3k.
Pros: Much less expensive, still get to go abroad. Learn a little Korean.
Cons: Go into the Guatemalan health clinic attempting to help day 1 with very limited medical spanish and no prior immersion, will have to do more learn-on the go.

PLAN 3: Finish masters in the fall as stated in plan 1. Use my torrented Rosetta Stone for Spanish, Korean, and Hindi in the Spring and/or summer and learn as much as I can while self-motivating. Perhaps hold a job on the side in the spring/summer, get further ID research done
Pros: Least cost, get to chill in the spring and summer.
Cons: Will always regret not having abroad experience, might affect my ability to speak Spanish with patients (which is something I feel very strongly about). Might not look as spectacular to ADCOMs when I talk about my future plans in my interviews.

Any opinions or alternatives are greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

 

[Perrotfish]

Find a middle ground for cost in between plan 1 and plan 2. How about a language prgram followed by clinic volunteering all in South or Central America? You could probably do the entire thing for less than half the cost of plan 1.

 

[theWUbear]

Find a middle ground for cost in between plan 1 and plan 2. How about a language prgram followed by clinic volunteering all in South or Central America? You could probably do the entire thing for less than half the cost of plan 1.

You're my favorite person on SDN, Perrotfish 🙂 Thanks for all the input you've given me

 

[Barcu]

Find a middle ground for cost in between plan 1 and plan 2. How about a language prgram followed by clinic volunteering all in South or Central America? You could probably do the entire thing for less than half the cost of plan 1.

I agree with this. I studied abroad in Spain. It was a fantastic experience and my Spanish did improve immensely.

Having said that, I work with many Mexican patients (and some other Central/South American), and the Spanish can be quite different. Not that my previous experience wasn't worth it, but studying in Central or South America would have been cheaper and frankly, more useful.

Edit: And I should add, you are much more likely to run into English in Spain than anywhere in Central/South America. I had people speak in English to me when I tried to speak in Spanish. It's not quite the immersion you can get other places.

 

[Perrotfish]

One other thought, if this is your application year you're going to want to make sure you're not waiting on interviews before leaving the country. Planing to leave at the middle or end might be a lot safer than spending the entire Spring semester abroad, and still involves almost half a year abroad. Also you could finish Rosetta stone and some easy Spanish novels before you go.

 

[Scotty knows]

I have a similar dillemma.

My questions would be:

1. Have you taken the MCAT yet?

2. What are you going to do if you get an interview in January or February and you are out of the country....you don't want unfinished business.

 

[theWUbear]

1. Have you taken the MCAT yet?

Taken care of.

2. What are you going to do if you get an interview in January or February and you are out of the country....you don't want unfinished business.

I explored this issue earlier in this thread http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=790847

I feel like if I apply in June, I should get most of my interviews August through October, at which point I can write the rest of my schools asking if they would consider reviewing my application to determine whether to give me an interview in time to interview me in Nov or Dec (which shouldn't be an unreasonable request given that i would be complete with secondaries in mid to late july). I assume I will be done with the vast majority of interviews by the time Jan rolls around. However, i do agree that this is still something to take into consideration

 

[NickNaylor]

You should probably have sexual relations with many women.

Srs.

 

[raltima07]

Taken care of.


I explored this issue earlier in this thread http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=790847

I feel like if I apply in June, I should get most of my interviews August through October, at which point I can write the rest of my schools asking if they would consider reviewing my application to determine whether to give me an interview in time to interview me in Nov or Dec (which shouldn't be an unreasonable request given that i would be complete with secondaries in mid to late july). I assume I will be done with the vast majority of interviews by the time Jan rolls around. However, i do agree that this is still something to take into consideration

It seems you are well planned out! I just hope everything works out

 

[CecilJacobson]

Fall 2011 take Korean 101 at local campus of State U, take 6 masters credits at the med school, work on thesis. Spring 2012 take Korean 102 and a 3-credit spanish class at State U, finish thesis, take the remaining 5 masters credits (total of 12 credits). Summer 2012 do guatemala for 3k.
Pros: Much less expensive, still get to go abroad. Learn a little Korean.
Cons: Go into the Guatemalan health clinic attempting to help day 1 with very limited medical spanish and no prior immersion, will have to do more learn-on the go.

--> Foreign language is useful at two thresholds. The first threshold is demonstrating cultural understanding and a desire to communicate with the patient (basic exposure to the language). The second threshold is the practical ability to communicate in the target language. Pick one language and work hard towards clinical proficiency.

--> Going abroad during the application cycle is brutal, be sure this is something you really want to do.

--> NEVER PAY for volunteer experience. Ever. I have never been able to understand this. If all else fails, go on idealist.org and just email dozens of volunteer programs throughout the US and Latin America; you will be overwhelmed with responses.

NOTE: It may sound crazy, but even in Washington you should be able to find a marginalized Latino community desperate for passionate, young, volunteers.

Use my torrented Rosetta Stone for Spanish, Korean, and Hindi in the Spring and/or summer and learn as much as I can while self-motivating. Perhaps hold a job on the side in the spring/summer, get further ID research done.

I can promise you that Rosetta Stone, even at the highest level, will make a very small dent in your L2 acquisition. You will need a classroom experience initially, and then your self-driven learning will be best accomplished through conversation, television, books, and any other authentic language exposure you can find.

You should probably have sexual relations with many women.

Srs.

Cole's godlike MCAT performance is testament to his incredible intellect and insight. My best advice would be to go to Ecuador, Peru, or Uruguay for this experience. Many countries in Central and South America have legal prostitution. While I wouldn't recommend this avenue, it seems that countries that allow prostitution have a... looser social code.

I'm all about Latinas.

Happy to help.

-C.J.

 

[NickNaylor]

Not a fan of the Latinas.

 

[startswithb]

Not a fan of the Latinas.

So what IS your type..? 🙄

 

[addo]

Not a fan of the Latinas.

not a fan of their nagging, or their physique (to put it mildly)?

If its the first, i understand and sympathize. If its the latter, id tell you that any man with reasonable testosterone levels will be crazy to say that theyre not a fan, or they have just never had one.