Sending in application 6/1/2011: Can I be abroad Spring 2012?

[theWUbear]

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This summer I plan on writing all the essays for my secondaries. If I apply in 2011 on the first day to all the schools to which I'm applying, and mail in my secondaries the day I get them (ok, please don't flame me for being overly optimistic with this), would it be a bad idea for me to be abroad in the spring of 2012?

I finish my SMP in Dec. of 2011 and I realize I will have one free semester and one free summer before entering medical school. If I can use that time to be in Spain or Mexico I would enter med school fluent in Spanish. I would use that fluency to speak Spanish with the patients I'm currently not allowed to see in my research due to my lack of fluency - I would have plenty of chances to keep the Spanish up.

Anyone go through this? I might just have to sacrifice this dream. Or, I could ask members of ADCOMs individually on a school by school basis and see what they think. Hopefully I will have had some interviews in the fall based on my timeliness - and perhaps schools will take my situation into account and give me early interviews. Your thoughts, SDN?

 

[holyhekshler]

This is definitely doable, I applied this year from abroad. Interviews are definitely the only issue with your plan. Even if you apply as early as possible you cannot control when schools invite you. I had to return to the states 3 times over the course of this academic year, each time to the tune of $900. Two of those times I was able to work with schools so that I was able to go on more than one interview in a week, I found schools to be willing to help me reschedule. Just know that this is not guarenteed and people that applied in the summer are still getting invited for interviews and it's march. That said, I almost didn't take my job because I knew interviewing would be an issue but I am 100% glad I did go abroad. You can make it work. Good luck!

 

[flip26]

Short answer: yes, it is very doable, but the fact that you are finishing an SMP in December may trip you up.

I applied on Day One, got all the secondaries sent back in by mid July, and a little surprisingly I had what turned out to be my final interview in mid October. Five acceptances, most received by mid November, one came in December. My cycle was effectively over in October.

On the other hand: As of the start of January, I had around 8 schools (out of 15 secondaries submitted) that I had not heard from post secondary, and theoretically any of them could have resulted in a Jan to March interview. Over the last 2 months, I got "rejection" notices from about half of those. As of today, I hold out zero hope for anything coming from the other 3 or 4 schools...don't care, either.

But the point is it could have happened. Rolling admissions schools are your best friend. Not sure where you are applying, or how competitive you are (that you are in an SMP seems like a bit of a red flag RE your competitiveness), but if you expect most of your action to come from rolling schools, I think your plan will work quite well.

Also because of the SMP, some med schools may want to see your Fall grades before extending an interview...they may hold off until you update them in January with your grades.

 

[theWUbear]

thanks for the responses. Holy, your post is inspiring =) Flip, first of all congrats! It seems timeliness worked well in your favor. Your story is awesome.

I start my SMP this fall, and I have the opportunity to do it in two or three semesters. I am heavily leaning towards doing it in three, because not only will it space things out - most likely increasing my GPA each semester, but this will leave me for something significant to write in update letters to each school in December if things aren't going my way in applications. I am mostly thinking here about the update letter. I figure whether I do the SMP in two or three semesters, schools will think the same about me, putting me in whatever spot I am in come December. Then, if I can have a great update letter, that could push me over the top.

On the other hand, finishing the SMP in two semesters would mean that there is zero chance of schools wanting to wait until third semester grades before moving forward with me. Of course, I also get a free summer and fall of 2012 if I finish my masters in 2 semesters. What do you think of my decision?

 

[flip26]

thanks for the responses. Holy, your post is inspiring =) Flip, first of all congrats! It seems timeliness worked well in your favor. Your story is awesome.

I start my SMP this fall, and I have the opportunity to do it in two or three semesters. I am heavily leaning towards doing it in three, because not only will it space things out - most likely increasing my GPA each semester, but this will leave me for something significant to write in update letters to each school in December if things aren't going my way in applications. I am mostly thinking here about the update letter. I figure whether I do the SMP in two or three semesters, schools will think the same about me, putting me in whatever spot I am in come December. Then, if I can have a great update letter, that could push me over the top.

On the other hand, finishing the SMP in two semesters would mean that there is zero chance of schools wanting to wait until third semester grades before moving forward with me. Of course, I also get a free summer and fall of 2012 if I finish my masters in 2 semesters. What do you think of my decision?

One problem with being in school during the fall of the app year is that you will have inevitable conflicts with interviewing. Personally, I think you should want to get finished with that SMP - assuming you can make the grades you need to make - but get finished before Fall 2011 if at all possible.

Obviously lots of applicants are interviewing while still in school, but I applied after finishing a post bacc, so I had no conflicts, and I was damn glad I didn't have to deal with classes and interviews at the same time.

 

[Bbon]

I had my last interview first week of December. If you send in your secondaries early, it's pretty common to have interviewing done with time to spare before you'd leave to study abroad. There's a (small) chance you'll get a late interview in January or February, and if you really wanted to make sure you don't miss anything, you could wait till mid-February, at which point pretty much all but a couple schools have given out all their interviews, and then leave, giving you about 4 months and change to go abroad before starting med school.