Senior Year/Gap Year

[giordano101]

Hello, I am currently a junior attending a university and I intend to apply to medical school in my senior year. If I complete my application by the end of my senior year, then I would have a year of no schooling while I wait for possible interviews. Would it be a waste of time to get a master's during that year since I will just be beginning the program when schools will be reviewing my application? Or will it still look impressive to the schools that I am doing a masters?

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[Wahkoon]

Get a masters if you want it and it would fit into your career goals. Do not get a masters because you think it would look impressive. I think it would be a waste of time to get a degree to improve your application. Compared to a variety of other activities you could do in your gap year, a masters in not very impressive or unique.

If you want to improve your application, get a healthcare related job and/or find experiences that you can write and speak passionately about. I took 2 gap years doing just that, and I think my cycle has gone well...

 

[chaim123]

If you want to improve your application, get a healthcare related job and/or find experiences that you can write and speak passionately about. I took 2 gap years doing just that, and I think my cycle has gone well...

Be careful of timeline. If you choose to apply to medical school at the end of your senior year, then all your primary and secondary materials are sent in by around August - none of your gap year work will be included on your app. If you need to strengthen your application, I suggest taking 2 gap years .

 

[Wahkoon]

Be careful of timeline. If you choose to apply to medical school at the end of your senior year, then all your primary and secondary materials are sent in by around August - none of your gap year work will be included on your app. If you need to strengthen your application, I suggest taking 2 gap years .

Very good point. With 1 gap year, you will likely have to submit updates or additional letters to have anything meaningful contributed to your application. However, there are 1 year commitments such as Americorp, TFA, and Fulbright that will certainly strengthen an application during submission.

 

[DokterMom]

A masters degree will impress no one. Doing something more meaningful as @Beshwaji noted will.

Take a critical look at your application and identify your weakest area --- GPA, MCAT, volunteering, clinical exposure, altruism? Work on that --