Is gap year bad?

[The Brown Knight]

Hi guys,
I am a rising senior, and I had already planned on doing a gap year since the last year and a half. But I'm beginning to feel a little iffy about it.
My main reasons for taking the gap year included further improving my GPA with higher-level courses, including more extracurriculars (i already have a good amount), separating the MCAT and application summers, and (equally as importantly) work on my drawing/painting skills (this was a major hobby before college), and have fun doing other new things.
This is my plan for the gap year: do a 5-year BS/MS in Chemistry at my college, maybe take some art classes at my school, and hang out with friends in the weekends. The MS would really just be a continuation of the 2.5 years I will have worked in my current lab; I would need to take two grad courses for the year (I will have done two more in undergrad). On a practical perspective, it would help me decide whether I really want to do MD/PhD or a PhD after MD; even if I decide not to do the latter, it would at least help my application. Also, the art classes offered at my school meet once a week, so that should be possible, but I would just as gladly do it on my own. Also, I was initially planning on applying for the Fulbright for the gap year. Which would help my app more: the Fulbright or the 1-year MS?

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[The Brown Knight]

However, I have a few reasons to feel hesitant about this. First, the MS would be in Chemistry and not very applicable to medicine. How much would this matter? The biggest reason for me, though, is that as an Indian, the cultural mindset is to finish education quickly (I'm by no means forced by this) and land a job as soon as possible. Also, people generally seem to favor doing an additional year of fellowships after residency; doing the gap year now would probably make me more hesitant to pursuing those in the future.
I have a couple of examples to share. First, my cousin did med school in Europe right after high school (and skipped a couple years!) and finished an endocrinology specialty with a fellowship, and has a $350,000 job while still in her late twenties! I should add that she is smart but not a prodigy or anything. Second, my best friend in India is same age as me and is almost done with his MBBS (Indian equivalent of MD)! This makes me feel I'm even "later" than I already am.
On the other hand, I have met people on the opposite end of the spectrum as well. One took 3 gap years to do the Marshall Scholarship for which he deferred his acceptance into Harvard med. Another one took 2 gap years while in college and had managed to get a 41 on his MCAT. Another one did a Fulbright research grant in his gap year and got into U. Michigan Med School.
All in all, I see extremely brilliant people on both ends of the spectrum, but mediocrity with me in between

 

[ace12345]

The fullbright would definitely going to be a nice EC boost. I saw a lot of people pursuing various MS degrees when I was applying. Didn't really seem to be that special, but maybe I'm wrong (Particularly if you're doing a lot of research, then I'm wrong).

Whatever you do, make sure you're productive during your gap year time. There's been some fighting about this on SDN, but I am a huge gap year advocate. No question taking time helped improve my application. If you're not going to be productive, though, I wouldn't do it.

 

[The Brown Knight]

The fullbright would definitely going to be a nice EC boost. I saw a lot of people pursuing various MS degrees when I was applying. Didn't really seem to be that special, but maybe I'm wrong (Particularly if you're doing a lot of research, then I'm wrong).

Whatever you do, make sure you're productive during your gap year time. There's been some fighting about this on SDN, but I am a huge gap year advocate. No question taking time helped improve my application. If you're not going to be productive, though, I wouldn't do it.

Does the MS not count as productive? In comparison to the Fulbright, I feel with the MS I could have a bit more rigorous research (making a thesis, defending it, etc.), take some higher-level courses, and it would possibly be easier to attend the interviews. Or do you mean still apply and if I get it, it would be a good boost?

 

[Doudline]

It's a complex issue.

I see a few good reasons to take a gap year: you believe your chances to get into medical school (in general) are slim for the next cycle; you want to get into a tier of medical school that is out of your reach at the moment; you have an interesting project to pursue/want to take some time off before hopping on the medical training choo-choo.

Will it put you "behind"? Not really. Your life doesn't start when you're done with training, you're not "delaying" anything except a stable income when you take a gap year. Think about whether that's a sacrifice you're whether to live with or not.

(And it appears, from a recent thread here, that the majority of students at "top" medical schools are non-traditional - they didn't attend immediately after undergrad. Take that as you will.)

 

[Law2Doc]

Unless you are doing a PhD an MS is probably a waste of time. Med schools look at advanced degrees as little more than nice ECs. The grades/coursework you take is meaningless unless it's a SMP. Classes you take towards A Masters won't help the GPA -- they will be considered graduate and thus not incorporated in the relevant GPA. (the presumption, probably usually accurate, is that graduate courses grades are inflated.)

 

[ace12345]

Does the MS not count as productive? In comparison to the Fulbright, I feel with the MS I could have a bit more rigorous research (making a thesis, defending it, etc.), take some higher-level courses, and it would possibly be easier to attend the interviews. Or do you mean still apply and if I get it, it would be a good boost?

Again I would defer to those with more knowledge than on how much the MS matters. Getting published and doing research would certainly be helpful. The extra classes I think wouldn't do much, and if you're taking on debt for those forget about it.

The Fullbright is going to look good no matter what, much along the same lines Teach for America, Peace Corps, etc. looks good. How much of a boost you get from that is variable, but it would certainly be considered productive time off. Don't do it unless you're really interested though.

Knowing your stats would help here too if you don't mind sharing. A 30 MCAT 3.6-type situation changes the gap year outlook somewhat.

 

[What's Up Doc]

However, I have a few reasons to feel hesitant about this. First, the MS would be in Chemistry and not very applicable to medicine. How much would this matter? The biggest reason for me, though, is that as an Indian, the cultural mindset is to finish education quickly (I'm by no means forced by this) and land a job as soon as possible. Also, people generally seem to favor doing an additional year of fellowships after residency; doing the gap year now would probably make me more hesitant to pursuing those in the future.
I have a couple of examples to share. First, my cousin did med school in Europe right after high school (and skipped a couple years!) and finished an endocrinology specialty with a fellowship, and has a $350,000 job while still in her late twenties! I should add that she is smart but not a prodigy or anything. Second, my best friend in India is same age as me and is almost done with his MBBS (Indian equivalent of MD)! This makes me feel I'm even "later" than I already am.
On the other hand, I have met people on the opposite end of the spectrum as well. One took 3 gap years to do the Marshall Scholarship for which he deferred his acceptance into Harvard med. Another one took 2 gap years while in college and had managed to get a 41 on his MCAT. Another one did a Fulbright research grant in his gap year and got into U. Michigan Med School.
All in all, I see extremely brilliant people on both ends of the spectrum, but mediocrity with me in between

It doesn't matter that the MS in chemistry isn't applicable to medicine, you're not expected to learn anything about medicine before med school (although that seems to be changing as the new MCAT is going to involve medical applications of basic science concepts). You clearly want to take the gap year, and I think you'd be happy doing it. By the time you finish residency, you'll know whether or not you want to do a fellowship, and one year of an age difference will be negligible. It definitely sounds like you'll be making your gap year very productive, and that'll impress adcoms; they're increasingly being attracted to applicants who've taken gap years who are therefore more mature and experienced. "Is gap year bad?" - absolutely not, I think it's the right option for you.

 

[mysdnhandle]

MS degrees should be called BS degrees. not because they are bachelors degrees but because they are generally pointless