Looking for advice on whether or not to apply this cycle

[sisyphe]

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(TL;DR at the end!)

I am weighing my options status post dreadfully procrastinating on MCAT studying. My original plan was to apply this very cycle, taking the test as late as possible and possibly even submitting my application before my score returned. I just took the NS half-length diagnostic test and got a 497 (I’ve done a couple chapters of Kaplan content review thus far, but nothing else). I am a senior in my last semester of college and already planning on taking one gap year. My semester ends in the 3rd week of May. After that, I’ll have about one month of little else but working ~20 hours/week until the test.

My uGPA is 3.87, sGPA a bit lower. Decent ECs and some cool life stories to share. I have an in state school with an average matriculant MCAT of 509 and uGPA of 3.8 according to SDN (these numbers are a bit higher than those reported on a recent class profile I found, but can’t locate now for some reason). It’s not a top 50 school. Definitely considering DO schools, but I'm a bit concerned since I have heard/read/whatever you call lurking on SDN that DO students have more difficulty matching into competitive residencies (or at least need higher Step scores than their MD counterparts to net residency slots). Research is also important to me, and I have also “heard” that DO schools have less research opportunities for their med students. Of course, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. I’m not opposed to DO, but I would very much appreciate input on these specific issues.

Anyways, the options I am weighing are taking the MCAT and applying this cycle with a (probably) crappy score, knowing I may not get in and have to return to my letter-writers for new LORs, etc. or just… waiting another cycle to apply with a better score after studying more? I confident that I can improve my MCAT study habits, but I know I would be expected to explain why I didn’t just apply right out of school. I already have to explain one gap year, which I’m prepared to do, but then I’d have to explain two.

TL;DR: proficient procrastinator procrastinates on studying for the MCAT, should I take now and apply (one gap year) or wait another cycle (two gap years)?

Bless y'all.

 

[differentiating]

Gap year. Your MCAT is projected to be below the 500 threshold, which won’t set you up well for applying. Apply once and apply with the best app you can possibly have. 2 gap years isn’t a big deal at all for admissions purposes- as an interviewer, I don’t care about how long it’s been since graduation as long as you’ve been doing things (job, volunteering, etc.).

 

[BOAO523]

Gap year and don’t think twice. 1 gap year in the grand scheme of things is nothing (I took 6 lolz) and you’ll still be right where you need to be when it’s time to apply. Getting as high an mcat as you can must be your top priority. Again, 1 gap year is nothing in the long run.

 

[sisyphe]

Gap year. Your MCAT is projected to be below the 500 threshold, which won’t set you up well for applying. Apply once and apply with the best app you can possibly have. 2 gap years isn’t a big deal at all for admissions purposes- as an interviewer, I don’t care about how long it’s been since graduation as long as you’ve been doing things (job, volunteering, etc.).

Thanks for the feedback. By "gap year" are you referring to my two gap year plan? Just wanted to clarify, since I'm already going to be taking one even if I apply now. What do you think about applying DO with regards to what I mentioned about residency and research? If I could get my score above 500 going hard for a month or so, I might be a candidate.

Gap year and don’t think twice. 1 gap year in the grand scheme of things is nothing (I took 6 lolz) and you’ll still be right where you need to be when it’s time to apply. Getting as high an mcat as you can must be your top priority. Again, 1 gap year is nothing in the long run.

Thanks for the reply. Again, I'm already taking one gap year, even if I apply this cycle (like I said, I'm a senior). Waiting to take the MCAT would lead to me doing two gap years instead of one. Not a huge difference, but still a little bit worried. What did you do during your six years? Did adcoms question your decision to take six or was that not an issue? Like I'm worried they'd question my dedication to medicine if I didn't take the MCAT now...

 

[BOAO523]

I’m a career changer...used to work at a financial institution. When asked during interviews what happened I gave them an elaborate answer that basically amounted to “I had a change of heart”...which again, is completely Legitimate. Evidence of my commitment to medicine was quitting my nice comfy job/lifestyle to do a post bacc and try to go to medical school. 1 or 2 years will not make a difference. In fact (With all due respect to all applicants of all ages) if you’re going to graduate med school before the age of 30 you’re still super young. Your dedication to medicine will be questioned if you don’t do well on the mcat because you were rushing the process. I’m one of these “I want everyone to get in!” people...and this includes you. So whatever you do, please make sure you dedicate enough time to and crush the mcat!

 

[BOAO523]

Oh...and my gap time was seen as a major strength

 

[Goro]

(TL;DR at the end!)

I am weighing my options status post dreadfully procrastinating on MCAT studying. My original plan was to apply this very cycle, taking the test as late as possible and possibly even submitting my application before my score returned. I just took the NS half-length diagnostic test and got a 497 (I’ve done a couple chapters of Kaplan content review thus far, but nothing else). I am a senior in my last semester of college and already planning on taking one gap year. My semester ends in the 3rd week of May. After that, I’ll have about one month of little else but working ~20 hours/week until the test.

My uGPA is 3.87, sGPA a bit lower. Decent ECs and some cool life stories to share. I have an in state school with an average matriculant MCAT of 509 and uGPA of 3.8 according to SDN (these numbers are a bit higher than those reported on a recent class profile I found, but can’t locate now for some reason). It’s not a top 50 school. Definitely considering DO schools, but I'm a bit concerned since I have heard/read/whatever you call lurking on SDN that DO students have more difficulty matching into competitive residencies (or at least need higher Step scores than their MD counterparts to net residency slots). Research is also important to me, and I have also “heard” that DO schools have less research opportunities for their med students. Of course, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. I’m not opposed to DO, but I would very much appreciate input on these specific issues.

Anyways, the options I am weighing are taking the MCAT and applying this cycle with a (probably) crappy score, knowing I may not get in and have to return to my letter-writers for new LORs, etc. or just… waiting another cycle to apply with a better score after studying more? I confident that I can improve my MCAT study habits, but I know I would be expected to explain why I didn’t just apply right out of school. I already have to explain one gap year, which I’m prepared to do, but then I’d have to explain two.

TL;DR: proficient procrastinator procrastinates on studying for the MCAT, should I take now and apply (one gap year) or wait another cycle (two gap years)?

Bless y'all.

These are schools where you are competitive right now:
U VM
U Toledo
Rush
NYMC (maybe)
Creighton
Albany
Rosy Franklin
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
MCW
SLU
WVU
Wayne State
Tulane
Loyola
Wake Forest
Loma Linda (only if you are SDA or a very devout Christian)
VCU
Netter
Seton Hall
EVMS
Oakland-B
Gtown
GWU
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Nova MD
Your state school(s).

 

[BOAO523]

Hi Goro, I may have read the post wrong but I think the MCAT/GPA mentioned by OP are just the mean numbers for matriculants at their state school

 

[differentiating]

Thanks for the feedback. By "gap year" are you referring to my two gap year plan? Just wanted to clarify, since I'm already going to be taking one even if I apply now. What do you think about applying DO with regards to what I mentioned about residency and research? If I could get my score above 500 going hard for a month or so, I might be a candidate.

As I mentioned later on in the comments, 2 gap years is fine, and what I think you should be aiming for. It's hard to know whether you'd be competitive for DO without an MCAT, and if you'd prefer to try for MD with DO as a backup, you're better off taking more time and waiting to apply when you can get a decent score. Alternately, if you study hard over a longer period of time and feel comfortable taking the MCAT, you could decide whether or not to apply DO afterward, since the DO cycle goes later iirc.

To be clear: I don't think studying for 1 month for the MCAT is inherently bad; that's what I did. But I also took a diagnostic full-length at the beginning of that month and was scoring right in the range of where I wanted to be, so I knew I'd be fine. If you're aiming for higher than 500, that might be a tighter squeeze for you.

I interview for my school, and 2 gap years vs 1 isn't a difference worth worrying about. Assuming you're not just sitting on the couch eating bon-bons the whole time and actually have work/ECs to fill the time, there's no reason to think you'd be penalized for waiting an extra year. Now, getting a poor MCAT score would absolutely damage your chances of acceptance, so you'll have to weigh the risks and benefits here.

 

[sisyphe]

These are schools where you are competitive right now:
U VM
U Toledo
Rush
NYMC (maybe)
Creighton
Albany
Rosy Franklin
Drexel
Temple
Jefferson
MCW
SLU
WVU
Wayne State
Tulane
Loyola
Wake Forest
Loma Linda (only if you are SDA or a very devout Christian)
VCU
Netter
Seton Hall
EVMS
Oakland-B
Gtown
GWU
Uniformed Services University/Hebert (just be aware of the military service commitment)
Nova MD
Your state school(s).

Hi Goro, I may have read the post wrong but I think the MCAT/GPA mentioned by OP are just the mean numbers for matriculants at their state school

Yeah, I think my post was misread, lol. Unless I was somehow able to up my MCAT score by 10+ points in a month, I think those schools are a bit out of reach. But I appreciate the advice!

I’m a career changer...used to work at a financial institution. When asked during interviews what happened I gave them an elaborate answer that basically amounted to “I had a change of heart”...which again, is completely Legitimate. Evidence of my commitment to medicine was quitting my nice comfy job/lifestyle to do a post bacc and try to go to medical school. 1 or 2 years will not make a difference. In fact (With all due respect to all applicants of all ages) if you’re going to graduate med school before the age of 30 you’re still super young. Your dedication to medicine will be questioned if you don’t do well on the mcat because you were rushing the process. I’m one of these “I want everyone to get in!” people...and this includes you. So whatever you do, please make sure you dedicate enough time to and crush the mcat!

Well, thanks for the encouragement. Interestingly enough, I worked with a derm resident in a dang good residency program who took several years off before med school to work in finance. Anyways, I'm also worried that an argument could be made along the lines of "you needed more time than your peers to study and get the same score??" That wouldn't be a red flag?

As I mentioned later on in the comments, 2 gap years is fine, and what I think you should be aiming for. It's hard to know whether you'd be competitive for DO without an MCAT, and if you'd prefer to try for MD with DO as a backup, you're better off taking more time and waiting to apply when you can get a decent score. Alternately, if you study hard over a longer period of time and feel comfortable taking the MCAT, you could decide whether or not to apply DO afterward, since the DO cycle goes later iirc.

To be clear: I don't think studying for 1 month for the MCAT is inherently bad; that's what I did. But I also took a diagnostic full-length at the beginning of that month and was scoring right in the range of where I wanted to be, so I knew I'd be fine. If you're aiming for higher than 500, that might be a tighter squeeze for you.

I interview for my school, and 2 gap years vs 1 isn't a difference worth worrying about. Assuming you're not just sitting on the couch eating bon-bons the whole time and actually have work/ECs to fill the time, there's no reason to think you'd be penalized for waiting an extra year. Now, getting a poor MCAT score would absolutely damage your chances of acceptance, so you'll have to weigh the risks and benefits here.

Oh, I'd definitely like a score above 500 haha. I know it's hard to say if I'm good for DO without at least a full length sample test under my belt, but I am going to take one after more content review. A few people I'm close to (none of them in medical fields) have advised me to just go for it this cycle because they feel like I'd regret taking any extra time off, with such a long road ahead. They're not me, but I still weigh that heavily. I don't know what I'll feel like in a year. I definitely don't plan on eating bonbons (not a fan 😛).

 

[DrFortiusNatando]

Do the second gap year!!! Do not procrastinate too much - study really hard over the next few months and take the MCAT when you are ready. Meanwhile, line up a great job for 2 years. Find a research job, since that is what you are interested in - and since you will have worked with that person for about a year before you apply, your PI can write great letters about you as he/she will know you really well by then. Strengthen any other weaknesses in your app (shadowing, non-clinical volunteering, etc) while doing your research job.

You will never regret taking 2 gap years at this point. In addition to learning a lot about people and about life, you will likely be able to save some money that you can use in your application process (expensive) and maybe even have some money left over for spending money in med school.

 

[Rachapkis]

Take the gap year and give the MCAT your all. If it is within your means, I would take a prep class and stick rigorously to their recommended study and practice schedule. If you do so, I would not be surprised to see your score improve to a level where you get an MD acceptance. Good luck!

 

[differentiating]

Well, thanks for the encouragement. Interestingly enough, I worked with a derm resident in a dang good residency program who took several years off before med school to work in finance. Anyways, I'm also worried that an argument could be made along the lines of "you needed more time than your peers to study and get the same score??" That wouldn't be a red flag?

Oh, I'd definitely like a score above 500 haha. I know it's hard to say if I'm good for DO without at least a full length sample test under my belt, but I am going to take one after more content review. A few people I'm close to (none of them in medical fields) have advised me to just go for it this cycle because they feel like I'd regret taking any extra time off, with such a long road ahead. They're not me, but I still weigh that heavily. I don't know what I'll feel like in a year. I definitely don't plan on eating bonbons (not a fan 😛).

Schools will have no idea how long you took to study for the MCAT, so definitely not a red flag.

Which would you regret more: an extra year off, or applying and getting no acceptances? What about only getting a DO acceptance and wondering if you could’ve been competitive for MD with more study time, or wondering if you could’ve gotten into a more preferred school in general? I get it - you want to start med school. But you’ve got to get in first, and shooting yourself in the foot due to impatience isn’t the best start.

 

[deleted804295]

Your sub 500 score is based on content gaps. I think it's extremely doable to raise that to a more comfortable range solely by reading through content books. It doesn't hurt to fill out all the apps but not submit until you get an MCAT score back.

 

[BOAO523]

There would be no red flag in taking more time for the MCAT. As long as you're doing something worthwhile during this time (part-time work, volunteering, anything that can enhance your application other than chillin on the couch) is completely fine.

 

[Hirro]

As gonnif said, definitely wait. It's the best thing you can do for your application. The worst thing you can do is rush into taking the MCAT when you know you're not ready.