Should I do a gap year?

[akaCobee]

Hi all.

I am finishing up my primary application for AMCAS and I just took the MCAT on 6/1. I've been thinking about my competitiveness for this cycle. Siting for the MCAT just a week ago has shaken me up a bit and all I can think about right now is what I should do in the situation that I don't get a competitive score. My AAMC FL1 and FL2 didn't go well due to my CARS scores for both. Although I did well in all my other CARS practice material before I took those FLs, I have no idea of how my CARS went on test day.

I've been looking at possibly doing a gap year. To give you all a brief summary of my stats, I am currently a senior although I will be starting my 3rd year this Fall (did a year of dual enrollment in high school). My mediocre GPA is 3.6 for both cGPA and sGPA. I've been in research since I started at my uni, so at the end of this summer, I will be at 2 years of research (about ~2500 hours). So I will have about 3 years of research experience once I graduate. My research has been independent projects since last summer. I've presented at 2 regional and 1 national (two more this year) conference. I am a NIH MARC Scholar at my school, spent my first summer in a summer research program off-campus, and I am completing an honors thesis in my current undergraduate lab this summer. Although its not much, I am the 7th author of an epidemiology paper I worked on with a professor voluntarily. I have just under 100 hours of clinical volunteer hours (currently gaining more throughout the summer) and only about 60 hours of shadowing (plan to increase that his summer as well). I know that the hours I'll be gaining in the next year while I'm working on my application may not matter but I've recently found a clinical experience that I really enjoy and plan to continue during my last year. I have over 150 hours of non-clinical volunteer work due to clubs. I've only devoted last summer and this summer for clinical experience since these are the times that I have time to. I am the student president of my uni honors program and held an officer position for a pre-med club. Since I've only been in a university for 3 years, I feel confident and mature enough to continue into a great MSTP or fully funded MD-PhD program. I don't feel like I'm rushing. I really would love to jump into a program after I graduate. Although my number of research hours doesn't show it but through my experience of working with a MD-PhD in both their lab and clinic, being able to plan and embark a project through my honors thesis, and through my research experiences overall, I know that I really want to pursue a phsyician-scientist career path.

I already have a finished and polished personal statement and a few professors eager to review my MD/PhD and research essays. One of my professors actually offered to send my essays off to two MSTP directors she know personally to look it over as well. My LORs are coming in already. I plan to submit by primary by the end of next week. But my experience with the MCAT has really hit me hard and I'm starting to second guess myself and my competitiveness.

Do you guys think I'm rushing it? Am I even competitive for MSTP/MD-PhD? Should I take a gap year and how should I spend it?

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[s_med]

We have no idea what you mean by "My AAMC FL1 and FL2 didn't go well." To one person that could mean 514 and to another it could mean 504. So, any advice you receive will be less informed because of that critical missing part. Certainly, you will need a solid MCAT score (515+) to be remotely competitive for funded MD/PhD, especially with your GPA. Both the statistics and my anecdotal experience suggests that median MCAT scores for MSTPs (not just the "top" ones) are skewing higher each year. I don't think I can in good conscience answer your primary question of your competitiveness for MD/PhD without a handle on your MCAT score. What was your breakdown for the AAMC FLs?

Your research experience seems substantive but average for an MD/PhD applicant. I don't want to seem overly negative, but my interview experience was very humbling as I crossed paths with applicants who had 5+ years of research under their belts (sometimes 2+ years full time). Plenty of applicants do take gap years, and sometimes post-bacs to expand their experience and strengthen their candidacy for this track -- I don't think you need a post-bac. While I'd agree that you are not rushing, if you do decide to apply this cycle you should allow yourself the mental freedom to consider the prospect of taking a gap year, in case your applications are not successful this time around. You also have an extra year age-wise on your side due to your accelerated graduation track and if I were you, that would provide more justification for me to seriously consider the gap year. Applying next year after a failed admissions cycle this year will hurt you much more than gritting your teeth and aborting the app this cycle in favor of a gap year.

If you do apply this cycle, you will have to consider that unless your MCAT is 515+, you will probably not be competitive for any funded MD/PhD position (regardless of which MSTP directors your profs know). If your MCAT is good or spectacular (520+), the rest of your application must still be airtight with excellent LORs from your research advisors. Your justification for obtaining both degrees and for pursuing the physician-scientist career track should be made crystal clear in primaries and secondaries.

All this to say: If I were you, I'd take the gap year. More time to do research; time to know and consider your MCAT score, and retake if necessary; time to strengthen your overall application package by having a clearer idea of why you want MD/PhD and how you would leverage both degrees in your career.

 

[akaCobee]

We have no idea what you mean by "My AAMC FL1 and FL2 didn't go well." To one person that could mean 514 and to another it could mean 504. So, any advice you receive will be less informed because of that critical missing part. Certainly, you will need a solid MCAT score (515+) to be remotely competitive for funded MD/PhD, especially with your GPA. Both the statistics and my anecdotal experience suggests that median MCAT scores for MSTPs (not just the "top" ones) are skewing higher each year. I don't think I can in good conscience answer your primary question of your competitiveness for MD/PhD without a handle on your MCAT score. What was your breakdown for the AAMC FLs?

Your research experience seems substantive but average for an MD/PhD applicant. I don't want to seem overly negative, but my interview experience was very humbling as I crossed paths with applicants who had 5+ years of research under their belts (sometimes 2+ years full time). Plenty of applicants do take gap years, and sometimes post-bacs to expand their experience and strengthen their candidacy for this track -- I don't think you need a post-bac. While I'd agree that you are not rushing, if you do decide to apply this cycle you should allow yourself the mental freedom to consider the prospect of taking a gap year, in case your applications are not successful this time around. You also have an extra year age-wise on your side due to your accelerated graduation track and if I were you, that would provide more justification for me to seriously consider the gap year. Applying next year after a failed admissions cycle this year will hurt you much more than gritting your teeth and aborting the app this cycle in favor of a gap year.

If you do apply this cycle, you will have to consider that unless your MCAT is 515+, you will probably not be competitive for any funded MD/PhD position (regardless of which MSTP directors your profs know). If your MCAT is good or spectacular (520+), the rest of your application must still be airtight with excellent LORs from your research advisors. Your justification for obtaining both degrees and for pursuing the physician-scientist career track should be made crystal clear in primaries and secondaries.

All this to say: If I were you, I'd take the gap year. More time to do research; time to know and consider your MCAT score, and retake if necessary; time to strengthen your overall application package by having a clearer idea of why you want MD/PhD and how you would leverage both degrees in your career.

We have no idea what you mean by "My AAMC FL1 and FL2 didn't go well." To one person that could mean 514 and to another it could mean 504. So, any advice you receive will be less informed because of that critical missing part. Certainly, you will need a solid MCAT score (515+) to be remotely competitive for funded MD/PhD, especially with your GPA. Both the statistics and my anecdotal experience suggests that median MCAT scores for MSTPs (not just the "top" ones) are skewing higher each year. I don't think I can in good conscience answer your primary question of your competitiveness for MD/PhD without a handle on your MCAT score. What was your breakdown for the AAMC FLs?

Your research experience seems substantive but average for an MD/PhD applicant. I don't want to seem overly negative, but my interview experience was very humbling as I crossed paths with applicants who had 5+ years of research under their belts (sometimes 2+ years full time). Plenty of applicants do take gap years, and sometimes post-bacs to expand their experience and strengthen their candidacy for this track -- I don't think you need a post-bac. While I'd agree that you are not rushing, if you do decide to apply this cycle you should allow yourself the mental freedom to consider the prospect of taking a gap year, in case your applications are not successful this time around. You also have an extra year age-wise on your side due to your accelerated graduation track and if I were you, that would provide more justification for me to seriously consider the gap year. Applying next year after a failed admissions cycle this year will hurt you much more than gritting your teeth and aborting the app this cycle in favor of a gap year.

If you do apply this cycle, you will have to consider that unless your MCAT is 515+, you will probably not be competitive for any funded MD/PhD position (regardless of which MSTP directors your profs know). If your MCAT is good or spectacular (520+), the rest of your application must still be airtight with excellent LORs from your research advisors. Your justification for obtaining both degrees and for pursuing the physician-scientist career track should be made crystal clear in primaries and secondaries.

All this to say: If I were you, I'd take the gap year. More time to do research; time to know and consider your MCAT score, and retake if necessary; time to strengthen your overall application package by having a clearer idea of why you want MD/PhD and how you would leverage both degrees in your career.

Thank you for the back and I am very sorry for such a late reply. I decided that if my MCAT score release on July 6 isn't looking great, then I will pursue a gap year. I have a goal of applying for fellowships such as Fulbright to fill my gap year with an interesting experience. I will spend my fall semester reviewing for the MCAT and the my winter break doing some intense review in order to retake in January.

My AAMC FL practice scores were very low 500s so I'm not expecting a 515+. I regret not voiding but I felt confident that my weak area (CARS) had improved the two weeks before my test date since I did as much practice for it since this section was causing my overall score to suffer.

Again thank you for the advice!

 

[Fencer]

bump... July 6th has passed.

 

[akaCobee]

Okay, here's an update:

506...thats my Mcat score sadly. The breakdown is 127/123/128/128. The difficulty of CARS didn't really phase me on test day so I guess I overestimated my abilities. I'm devastated yet I feel that I could have done better. My choice based on my score was to take a gap year and to prep for a retake in January. However, I've recently had my pre-medical committee interview at my school and the committee heavily stressed that I still apply this cycle. They think that with my USTAR fellowship, honors thesis, URM status, great interview skills, and the strength of my other components of my application should really help me and prevent adcoms from just passing over my app due to my MCAT. However, after looking through MSAR throughout the weekend, I'm not sure how i am even competitive for any of the programs I wanted to apply to. I basically have to modify my list to programs that aren't MSTP, although this doesn't worry me. Its the fact that I may have to add programs that don't have strong research in developmental/cell biology or cancer biology (my research interests).

I honestly don't mind applying this cycle just to see how everything goes but I'm scared of either having a really bad cycle or even getting an offer from a program I don't feel is a fit for me (which I know is very selfish of me).

Here's the list of programs I had planned to apply to before my score release. Which programs do you think I should just give up for the sake of this cycle and my score? It's a mixture of MSTP and non-MSTP programs. Reminder, my cGPA and sGPA is only 3.6. I have about 2500 hours of research so far and one publication. My other credentials are included in my original post.


UAB
Emory
University of Cincinnati
University of Rochester
University of Maryland
UCLA
UCSF
Boston University
University of Buffalo
NYU
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
UCF
University of Miami

Any programs I should consider with my research interests?

Thanks!

 

[s_med]

Okay, here's an update:

506...thats my Mcat score sadly. The breakdown is 127/123/128/128. The difficulty of CARS didn't really phase me on test day so I guess I overestimated my abilities. I'm devastated yet I feel that I could have done better. My choice based on my score was to take a gap year and to prep for a retake in January. However, I've recently had my pre-medical committee interview at my school and the committee heavily stressed that I still apply this cycle. They think that with my USTAR fellowship, honors thesis, URM status, great interview skills, and the strength of my other components of my application should really help me and prevent adcoms from just passing over my app due to my MCAT. However, after looking through MSAR throughout the weekend, I'm not sure how i am even competitive for any of the programs I wanted to apply to. I basically have to modify my list to programs that aren't MSTP, although this doesn't worry me. Its the fact that I may have to add programs that don't have strong research in developmental/cell biology or cancer biology (my research interests).

I honestly don't mind applying this cycle just to see how everything goes but I'm scared of either having a really bad cycle or even getting an offer from a program I don't feel is a fit for me (which I know is very selfish of me).

Here's the list of programs I had planned to apply to before my score release. Which programs do you think I should just give up for the sake of this cycle and my score? It's a mixture of MSTP and non-MSTP programs. Reminder, my cGPA and sGPA is only 3.6. I have about 2500 hours of research so far and one publication. My other credentials are included in my original post.


UAB
Emory
University of Cincinnati
University of Rochester
University of Maryland
UCLA
UCSF
Boston University
University of Buffalo
NYU
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
UCF
University of Miami

Any programs I should consider with my research interests?

Thanks!

I'll of course defer to the wiser members here but I believe a 506 may not make cutoffs for several programs you listed. The strengths of your application package that your premed committee highlighted (research, awards, interviews) will never see the light of day if you are automatically screened out at t=0.

You did not mention that you have URM status in your initial post, which may offer your score some forgiveness, but from my experience URMs successfully applying MD/PhD have MCATs more competitive than 506 (I have seen, generally, 510+ for URM). Your GPA probably will not put you out of the running. But the MCAT score will cut it close this cycle. The truth is that there are likely other URM candidates with applications as impressive as yours research-wise but with better MCAT.

I stand by my earlier advice of delaying by one year and improving MCAT by 5-10 points, especially if you're concerned you won't have good options at the far end of the cycle. A stronger MCAT score will make your application much more defensible.