I really need advice here...

[DrewFromVA]

My family(brothers, sisters, mom and dad; I'm not married yet) has recently had some serious problems. I feel I should stay here this coming year to be with them. I just finished up here at the local community college this summer and had been planning to go away to a four year school here in VA to finish my undergrad years. That school was the only one I applied to, so if I don't go there I will have to sit out at least one semester. Will sitting out a semester(and possibly all of this year) be looked down upon by adcoms? I'm already a little older than the traditional college sophmore(I'm 24 in Jan). I am determined to finish college and then med school(hopefully), so I am not afraid that if I sit out a year, I'll never go back. I'm feeling a lot of pressure to go away to school because I don't want to do anything to minimize my chances, but I'm just not sure that school is where I should be this coming year. Well, I know this has rambled a bit, so thanks for reading it and thank you for any advice you can give me.

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[gold&black2005]

hey -- it really depends on the school...if you don't feel you'll be at home there, these family problems may actually be something good, if only because they've forced you to reevaluate. I'm a college kid from VA too..what school were you looking at? I might be able to give you some more info..IM me if you want.

 

[none]

No way at all to stay in town at a 4 year and not have to sit out a semester? I know here in CA many of the CSUs will let you enroll even shortly after classes have started! Look into it. I'm not saying adcoms will care, they won't. I'm just thinking about you already being a little older than average and probably not wanting to spend even more time waiting for med school.

 

[doctorivy]

Drew,

If you feel that you should be home with your family, I would strongly suggest that you stay. This is the kind of quality that makes a good doctor. Age is not a problem. I am starting at Dartmouth this year and the average age of first years is 25 (you will only be about 27). This suggests to me that they like applicants who have had experiences outside of school. If you have extra time this year I would try to do some extracurricular activities (ie. research, shadow physicians, volunteer, tutor kids). You can also look into applying to med school after only three years (I know Dartmouth acccepts people without a degree). Good luck with your family, I hope that it all works out.

 

[none]

Dartmouth may accept people with only 3 years of college education, but many schools don't and none of them recommend it. Get your bachelor's!

 

[Jalby]

I don't think schools will look down on you for sitting out a semester. Just write about it somewhere.

 

[DrewFromVA]

bump

 

[mpp]

You will not be at a disadvantage if you take some time off before you complete your studies. Definitely get the degree before you apply, but take your time in doing it. There are plenty of older medical students.