Peace Corps- When to apply to med school?

[MotherSpirit]

Hi everyone!
I'm in my spring semester of my junior year undergrad. I'm currently applying to the Peace Corps and hope to join by the time I graduate.

My question is for people who served in the Peace Corps before medical school. When is the best time to apply to med school? Is it better to apply now and defer any acceptances for two years? Or is it better to apply after the 2 years of PC service?

My concern with applying after is that I don't know if my MCAT score will still be valid and I really don't want to have to take it after Peace Corps. Also, if you apply when you get back, it will take a year for your application to be reviewed and for interviews, so in effect, it's actually like a 3 or 4 year break before medical school depending in when your COS is?

I'm not sure if this is correct, so it would be greatly appreciated to hear back from someone who has experienced this or knows how this whole process works with the Peace Corps.

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[MotherSpirit]

Also, if anyone has served in the Peace Corps and just wants to talk about their experience, please post or PM me about it. I'd love to hear your story-- the good, bad, anything you want to share. Deciding to join the Peace Corps has been the hardest decision I've had to make in my life so far. It's changing the entire plan I've had set up, but I guess that's how life goes, right?

Any responses would be appreciated (especially a woman's perspective from the Corps)! Thanks for taking the time out to read!

 

[torshi]

Never done it, but I heard pros and cons. Cons mainly coming from individuals who find out they dislike where they are and know that they will be stuck there... Pros are what you make of your experience and if you can find yourself comfortable in a 3rd world country.

I believe MCAT scores are valid up to 3 years.

I would take the MCAT almost 6 months before your obligation is up, fill out med apps and once your obligation is up attend interviews. You need to time when you will take the MCAT in regards to when your obligation is up and when interview cycles are conducted. Again this all depends the date you leave.

Ideally the MCAT should be taken around May or so. Apps open up in the summer, interviews are conducted around Aug, sometimes early July. Plan accordingly.

 

[appleman123]

why not take it before peace corps so you can forget about it and just focus on work and applying to med school?

 

[MotherSpirit]

why not take it before peace corps so you can forget about it and just focus on work and applying to med school?

I haven't submitted my application for the Peace Corps yet and it could take anywhere from 9-15 months to be accepted and finally assigned. Add 27 months of service and the fact that I don't know when I'll be coming back (could be before or after the med school application cycle) and I'll exceed the 3 year limit on MCAT scores. I'm worried I'll waste my time and money taking and studying for the test when there's a possibility it won't be valid when it comes time to apply to med school.

 

[MotherSpirit]

Never done it, but I heard pros and cons. Cons mainly coming from individuals who find out they dislike where they are and know that they will be stuck there... Pros are what you make of your experience and if you can find yourself comfortable in a 3rd world country.

I believe MCAT scores are valid up to 3 years.

I would take the MCAT almost 6 months before your obligation is up, fill out med apps and once your obligation is up attend interviews. You need to time when you will take the MCAT in regards to when your obligation is up and when interview cycles are conducted. Again this all depends the date you leave.

Ideally the MCAT should be taken around May or so. Apps open up in the summer, interviews are conducted around Aug, sometimes early July. Plan accordingly.

Do you know people who have done that? I've heard it's not reliable to study and plan interviews during the Peace Corps Service, but I don't know many PCVs who went on to med school.

 

[deleted303591]

Do you know people who have done that? I've heard it's not reliable to study and plan interviews during the Peace Corps Service, but I don't know many PCVs who went on to med school.

Yeah I have a friend who served in the Peace Corps. Her service just ended this past year. She was in Mozambique teaching English. She spoke Spanish fluently and picked up Portuguese relatively quickly. She had to pass examinations certifying a certain level of proficiency in the language.

She was a party animal back in the day. She was told not to drink beer from Mozambique because it can be toxic (you can literally die from drinking the beer due to the chemical toxins that are put in the beer). She had access to the Internet via her phone. She was only allowed to go home twice during her 27 month service.

If I were you, I would just plan on acing the MCAT. The MCAT is a weed-out exam, and it should be treated as such. If you strategize well and you are resouceful, you should be fine. Count on doing well and avoid "alternative plans" such as the Peace Corps.

Also, on another forum that I use, there is a person with type 1 diabetes who is a pre-med trying to get a medical exemption to join the Peace Corps. This individual posted within a few hours of your original post. I hope you are not this individual, because that idea is very poorly thought out.

 

[appleman123]

I haven't submitted my application for the Peace Corps yet and it could take anywhere from 9-15 months to be accepted and finally assigned. Add 27 months of service and the fact that I don't know when I'll be coming back (could be before or after the med school application cycle) and I'll exceed the 3 year limit on MCAT scores. I'm worried I'll waste my time and money taking and studying for the test when there's a possibility it won't be valid when it comes time to apply to med school.

i was in a similar position as you. schools can accept mcat scores 3 years before matriculation (which is same as 2 years before application) or 3 years before application (i.e the date that amcas opens)

as a result, i was technically disqualified from applying to about 1/2 the schools because my mcat scores were within 3 years of application. BS if you as me, but whatever...

funny enough, all the TOP schools (harvard, yale, stanford, etc) accept mcat scores 3-4 years before application, whereas most of the "safety" schools accept scores 3 years before matriculation. Go figure right?

 

[JoeM]

I served in the Peace Corps immediately following graduation and I can tell you, DO NOT attempt to work on applications while you are doing your service. I did, and it was a mistake. I actually had to hook my laptop up to a car battery to work on essays, everything was submitted super late and (needless to say) I didn't get in. It is hard enough applying to med school in the best of circumstances (such as having electricity, a reliable internet connection, running water, physical comfort and safety, etc.). Trying to do it without any one of these things (and you will be without all of them) is just not a good idea. When I look back on it, I can't believe I even managed to get them in at all.

I didn't have the best Peace Corps experience, but I certainly don't regret it. If nothing else, you will learn a lot and will grow as a person.

I am fluent in Spanish and was placed in Honduras. About 6 months into my service I was kidnapped (not terribly uncommon in that part of the world). I decided to come back early and not long after the Peace Corps withdrew all volunteers from Honduras for similar safety issues.

I've thought a lot about whether I would recommend joining the Peace Corps to others. I think it depends on your attitude and level of naivete going in.

Do you want to help people, make a difference, change lives? Do you need regular showers, clean air, a home not infested with rats? Then, no. You will be ridiculously frustrated, disappointed, and disenchanted with humanity.

Are you cool with not managing to get a project going? Have you been to a third world country before (and not stayed in a nice hotel)? Are you highly tolerant of red tape, the likes of which you have never encountered in the U.S.? Are you EXTREMELY easy going, not goal oriented or meticulous about rules/details? Then, yes. You might do O.K.

I'd say about 10% of volunteers have that amazing Peace Corps brochure-worthy experience, where they manage to get a project off the ground and (maybe) make a marginal difference. Another 10% have a terrible experience, have something unfortunate happen to them (like me), etc. And the rest just do alright. They don't really get anything done (not for lack of trying), they don't hate it, but they learn a lot and change dramatically as people. So, if you are alright with the third option, which is probably what you'll get, go for it.

I HIGHLY recommend reading this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maya-lau/what-the-peace-corp-taugh_b_1099202.html

It is by far the most accurate assessment of what the Peace Corps is really like.

So, final point: wait until you are completely done with the Peace Corps and back in the States before even thinking about applying. I know it seems like a long time, but you won't have a successful cycle if you try to do this.

Also: by your second year (when you would be filling out applications), your laptop is probably long gone, either because it was stolen or using unreliable power connections has screwed it up.

Feel free to ask anything else!

 

[MotherSpirit]

Thanks guys for your advice. I think I'm going to take the MCAT a month or so before the Peace Corps ships me off somewhere. And hopefully, the score will still be valid at some schools. If not, I'll head off to some mysterious location I'm assigned with all my MCAT books in tow.. Luckily, you don't need electricity to study.

I'm already registered to take the test on May 23rd. I guess I should cancel that now and get a partial refund at least. Wow, I can't believe I'm actually going to do this. I still want to be a physician more than anything, and the way I see it, med school isn't going anywhere. It'll be there when I come back and in the grand scope of time, two or three years really isn't that long. Let's just hope I don't kidnapped.

Good luck to everyone else scouring these boards trying to see if Peace Corps and med school mix (oil and vinegar, my friends.. but any premed knows that you can make the two mix by adding an emulsifier) So, lets find our emulsifier and make this s h i t work! I'll keep posting on here too as I take my MCAT and finish my application to help anyone out in the future struggling with this. And if anyone else has any words of advice, please post as well.

Thanks

 

[MotherSpirit]

I'm sorry to hear about your Peace Corps experience, Joe. I hope you received the PM I sent you. And thanks for the link you posted!!

And no, I'm not the person who posted about diabetes, although, I'm not sure what the medical requirements are.

 

[yocharlie]

I served in the Peace Corps immediately following graduation and I can tell you, DO NOT attempt to work on applications while you are doing your service. I did, and it was a mistake. I actually had to hook my laptop up to a car battery to work on essays, everything was submitted super late and (needless to say) I didn't get in. It is hard enough applying to med school in the best of circumstances (such as having electricity, a reliable internet connection, running water, physical comfort and safety, etc.). Trying to do it without any one of these things (and you will be without all of them) is just not a good idea. When I look back on it, I can't believe I even managed to get them in at all.

I didn't have the best Peace Corps experience, but I certainly don't regret it. If nothing else, you will learn a lot and will grow as a person.

I am fluent in Spanish and was placed in Honduras. About 6 months into my service I was kidnapped (not terribly uncommon in that part of the world). I decided to come back early and not long after the Peace Corps withdrew all volunteers from Honduras for similar safety issues.

I've thought a lot about whether I would recommend joining the Peace Corps to others. I think it depends on your attitude and level of naivete going in.

Do you want to help people, make a difference, change lives? Do you need regular showers, clean air, a home not infested with rats? Then, no. You will be ridiculously frustrated, disappointed, and disenchanted with humanity.

Are you cool with not managing to get a project going? Have you been to a third world country before (and not stayed in a nice hotel)? Are you highly tolerant of red tape, the likes of which you have never encountered in the U.S.? Are you EXTREMELY easy going, not goal oriented or meticulous about rules/details? Then, yes. You might do O.K.

I'd say about 10% of volunteers have that amazing Peace Corps brochure-worthy experience, where they manage to get a project off the ground and (maybe) make a marginal difference. Another 10% have a terrible experience, have something unfortunate happen to them (like me), etc. And the rest just do alright. They don't really get anything done (not for lack of trying), they don't hate it, but they learn a lot and change dramatically as people. So, if you are alright with the third option, which is probably what you'll get, go for it.

I HIGHLY recommend reading this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maya-lau/what-the-peace-corp-taugh_b_1099202.html

It is by far the most accurate assessment of what the Peace Corps is really like.

So, final point: wait until you are completely done with the Peace Corps and back in the States before even thinking about applying. I know it seems like a long time, but you won't have a successful cycle if you try to do this.

Also: by your second year (when you would be filling out applications), your laptop is probably long gone, either because it was stolen or using unreliable power connections has screwed it up.

Feel free to ask anything else!

Hey Joe, That sounds intense with your experience in Honduras. I actually just came back from Honduras after two years living there around the capital and was there when the peace corp pulled out as well. I had an amazing experience out there working with my organization but that has a lot to do with the fact that I loved my organization working there and the projects that we did and how involved I got to be with the community and the project development. So with that said, I agree with everyone on it depends on what type of work you are doing and if you are going to be confortable with being open to new things. Things did get rough and theres always a learning experience from that.

OP, I actually came back home to start studying for MCATs and apply this round. I was planning on doing it while I was working in Honduras but things were crazy over there that my studies didn't work out as well as I want it to be, and can't even think about applying while out there as well with interviews. One suggestion though is from my experience, it is rough taking a break from school and having to RELEARN everything all over again in such a small amount of time. I graduated in 2010 and haven't taken Ochem, Physics etc in over 4-5 years (since I took those classes my sophomore year. So it was really rough for me getting back into it. Also remember that the MCAT is GOING to change in 2015 so I would definitely put that as a factor on when you take the test as well, cause the whole game can change.

I'd say take it before you leave, even if it the scores MAY expire, its good to have one thing off your shoulders and focus your energy in working on the your projects and focusing on the communities you are serving. You will have a much more focused and relaxed experience not having this pressure when you come back home to your family and friends. Cause EVERYONE is going to want to see you and hear your stories, but I'm stuck in the library studying for the MCATs and taking that in April rather than hanging out and catching up. Also, don't worry about wasting time and energy, put forth the hard work now, and if it works out that the scores are still valid, thats awesome! You WONT have to take the new 2015 MCAT which is I hear 6 hours and more intense. Coming back to that sounds a lot rougher, but either way if your scores not accepted, your gonna have to take it either way.

Just my two cent.

 

[yocharlie]

Also I had many friends who applied before they left (at least with another organization) and was able to defer a year or two. Some schools actually like Tulane encourage their students to defer before entering Medical School for a year or two do to these types of development work!

You just got to be attentive when it nears the time your going to start to resend your transcripts, work with the paperwork etc after your deferment to ensure your set to start school

 

[1stmeds]

I will reiterate the general sentiment here that you should NOT try to apply from overseas. There are way too many unknowns: study environment? testing centers? email/internet access and quality? electricity? MCAT changes? Not to mention that the rigors of daily life, outside of whatever work/community programs you might be working on, consumes a large portion of extra time that you would have had you studied in the states, namely having to fetch your own water, wash your clothes by hand, and traveling. Transport is a huge time vampire in that the infrastructure of many countries are dilapidated and getting anywhere takes time, such as to the market to get food, and after any trip you are exhausted because bouncing on roads pockmarked with potholes and being crammed together like sardines inside decades-old vehicles.

Again, far too many unknowns for you to make that a plan now. Best thing to do is decide to study it now and take it just before you leave in hopes to capture the 3-year shelf life of it, or come back and then study here in the states and take the new MCAT. That might seem frustrating and you might be spinning your wheels to figure out how you can do it all but please believe me you will regret it if you decide to study and take it overseas.

I departed for Uganda 6 weeks after graduating undergrad, was gone 29 months, came back to do a 14month post-bacc program, and applied this current cycle and have been accepted. so its definitely possible for you to embark on the awesome adventure that is Peace Corps (I had an amazing and unforgettable experience) and still keep your long-term plans. but you should plan appropriately, otherwise you will be making it harder on yourself in the future. feel free to PM if you have further questions about it.


EDIT: just saw your post above about taking it before. good plan. good luck, you are going to have an unforgettable few years ahead of you!