Perspective hours?

[mwsapphire]

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Hello
I was wondering how much weight senior year activities are given if one applies right after junior year.
Like, if you already started C and NC volunteering and research, and planned on continuing senior year, does that weigh on your app at all?
I'm planning out my junior year activities and I am really curious. I'm wondering if I need a gap year, and that partially depends on if my senior year stuff will be included or not.
@gyngyn @LizzyM @Catalystik Anybody else?
It seems like when people take gap years, those gap year activities are part of the app. Following that logic, shouldn't senior year activities be part of the app as well, especially if it's just a continuation of hours.

 

[hellowalnut]

I don't see why not. The prospective hours are not limited to gap years, it is based on hours completed before matriculation. So with that logic, senior year should be fine.

 

[DrHart]

Hello
I was wondering how much weight senior year activities are given if one applies right after junior year.
Like, if you already started C and NC volunteering and research, and planned on continuing senior year, does that weigh on your app at all?
I'm planning out my junior year activities and I am really curious. I'm wondering if I need a gap year, and that partially depends on if my senior year stuff will be included or not.
@gyngyn @LizzyM Anybody else?
It seems like when people take gap years, those gap year activities are part of the app. Following that logic, shouldn't senior year activities be part of the app as well, especially if it's just a continuation of hours.

Prospective hours will be taken with a grain of salt. Whether or not you followed through with what you wrote down will come through in an interview. The difficulty with this is that you really need to have enough of the experience to be able to draw meaningful insights from it. The issue with applying when most of the hours are "in the future" is that you have no perspective on that experience (because it hasn't happened yet!).

What are the chances that you'll have a really meaningful experience your senior year that you wish you could have written about in your primary application? If you're involved in C/NC volunteering and research, chances are you'll have something - but it might be too little too late for some schools. If you take a gap year, you'll be able to write about it in your primary. Maybe you'll even have better material for your personal statement. I've said it before in another thread. I think a lot of people underestimate how difficult it is to squeeze enough meaningful experiences into the 3 short years of college before you apply (and balance your time with classes and MCAT). If you take a gap year, you give yourself more time to grow and learn from what you do - and you have the opportunity to do something other than school for a year.

 

[mwsapphire]

I am actually thinking of a gap year. But the thing is, if you've already started something and just plan to do more hours, shouldn't that be fine? I'll have material to write about in my primary, just more of it senior year. That's exactly what I'm saying- the middle ground. Activities started soph/junior year but continued through senior year should be credible, b/c you've done most of your activities, you're just adding some pre-matriculation. So you have perspective, you're just dong more of it before starting med school.
I'm aware that starting too much/ putting off stuff until senior year is a red flag, but I'm talking about a much more modest situation.
I like to think it's 50-50, they are considered as part of the app, but only if they make sense in the context of the application, and you have most of your activities before senior year.

 

[DrHart]

If it's something you already have under your belt and plan to continue doing, listing future hours won't hurt you.

 

[mwsapphire]

The above is what makes it effective. If you have 200 hours in volunteering and say you will another 100, that seems likely you will do so. If you say you have 50 hours only and plan on 150 more, that would be taken with a grain of salt and perhaps a shot of tequila

That's what I thought. It can make your app stronger ( if you're like me and you're fretting about hours). But don't put too much stock into it. That makes me feel a lot better, haha.

 

[LizzyM]

When someone is taking a gap year, the adcoms are interested in how the applicant is filling that year so listing what will happen in the future is important. If it is senior year and you are planning to do extracurriculars that you have not been involved in up until now, that will be taken with a grain of salt.

 

[mwsapphire]

When someone is taking a gap year, the adcoms are interested in how the applicant is filling that year so listing what will happen in the future is important. If it is senior year and you are planning to do extracurriculars that you have not been involved in up until now, that will be taken with a grain of salt.

But doing more of what's already been started is taken seriously, in your opinion.
So 250 hours clinical volunteering---> 100 more senior year is fine
Did one research project junior year ---> Did more research senior year is fine
But something like
haven't done any NC volunteering, starting it senior year, that's taken with a grain of salt, and a shot of tequila.
( I mean, in your opinion, personally)

 

[WedgeDawg]

How much they count depends on how much evidence there is that you're going to complete them