Need advice for gap year!!

[sd7808]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hey guys I'm a rising senior looking to go into medicine. As of right now my MCAT score is 26 after taking it twice and by the time I graduate my GPA should be around a 3.65 with my science GPA around a 3.5. I'm shadowing a doctor this summer and have been doing research for 3 years and should have at least 1 publication by the time I graduate. With this information I would love any advice on how I should approach my gap year since at this point I don't think I'm competitive for MD schools.

My options from how I see it are to 1) Be an ER scribe and volunteer while studying for my MCAT again 2) Get a 1 year MPH through my university while I study for my MCAT 3) Get a post bacc while I study for my MCAT.

On top of one of these options I plan to spend about a month shadowing in a foreign country with a family member who is a doctor. This is mainly because most foreign countries don't have privacy laws as strict as we do here so I will be allowed to sit in on and experience a lot of things that I couldn't here.

Can anyone help me decide which of these options, or some other option, would make me the most competitive? Thanks!

 

[AvacadosAtLaw]

What clinical experience do you already have? If you are lacking on clinical experience, it might be a good idea to be an ER scribe. However, your main focus right now needs to be on improving your MCAT score. You need to ask yourself which of these choices will give you the most opportunity to study for the MCAT.

 

[sd7808]

The shadowing I'm doing this summer will be my only clinical experience so that's why I'm leaning towards ER scribe. I'm just not sure how conducive that is to studying for my MCAT.

 

[AvacadosAtLaw]

I'm a scribe right now and in my opinion its one of the best activities you can do before med school. I'm studying for the MCAT this summer while scribing and I don't think its that difficult to manage both. The company I work with only requires me to do two ten hour shifts a week, so mostly the scribing is a nice break in between the studying.

 

[GrapesofRath]

Option 2 is useless for you. What were your two MCAT score breakdowns and when were they taken?

The 3.65/3.5 isn't too far below the national average that I wouldn't bother with a post-bacc. Especially since senior year you can boost those stats to like 3.7/3.55-3.6. You're fine with that.

Your efforts need to be on significantly increasing your MCAT at all cost. If after 2 tries you are at a 26, if we are being honest to be competitive for an MD you really need to make a major improvement on the 3rd try. You have to do better than most with a 3.65/3.5 combination who were taking the MCAT for the first time because those 2 medicore attempts will definitely make any score you have on the 3rd attempt like a 35 worse than most other people's 35's.

My best guess is do the ER scribe job and do everything in your power to improve the MCAT and make major improvement. If you want a specific target number----I would say 33 or so or the equivalent percentile on the new MCAT. I am usually skeptical of people making major improvements on the MCAT, especially when there retake wasn't good. But if you have a good GPA, I think there's a good chance you are capable of hitting at least 30 with proper studying(note how you study not just how much) and how much more above 30 we'll see.

If you have other ways to get clinical experiences on top of the scribe to boost your application I would recommend doing so.

 

[sd7808]

I got a 9/7/10 in August and a 8/8/7 in January. Yeah I know going down looks really bad so the next time I take it I have to be sure I can crush it. The 3.65/3.5 is what I'm expecting after senior year so that's what I'll have to work with when I apply. Yeah I agree that being an ER scribe is the way to go, I just have to be sure I can study while doing it since most scribing positions are 1 year contracts. As far as other clinical experience goes, I'm shadowing this summer and will be going abroad to shadow for a month at some point during my gap year too.

 

[GrapesofRath]

I got a 9/7/10 in August and a 8/8/7 in January. Yeah I know going down looks really bad so the next time I take it I have to be sure I can crush it. The 3.65/3.5 is what I'm expecting after senior year so that's what I'll have to work with when I apply. Yeah I agree that being an ER scribe is the way to go, I just have to be sure I can study while doing it since most scribing positions are 1 year contracts. As far as other clinical experience goes, I'm shadowing this summer and will be going abroad to shadow for a month at some point during my gap year too.

Get the 3.65 then we can talk.....if I had a dollar for every time somebody came on here and projected their gpa ahead of time and then ended up getting something lower Id probably be rich and hence famous enough to be on the dollar bill itself. Focus first and foremost on maximizing your gpa with your mcat being what it is your thinking too far ahead big guy