Medical Should I postpone applying?

[tantacles]

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Male ORM who decided very late into college he wanted to give medicine a shot.
Obviously, the weak part of my application is my non-clinical volunteering. I am working on trying to get more but working two jobs (one where I have time consuming leadership requirements outside of the normal work week), studying for the MCAT, clinical volunteering, and dealing with a sudden family illness have all combined to make me more stretched for time than I had originally planned for when starting my pre-application gap year.

Do I push application off another year to get more non-clinical hours or do I apply with what I have? I know having little non-clinical volunteering can be an app killer, especially when it is not supplemented with extensive clinical volunteering, but I am also having trouble justifying taking another year just to get a minimum of 150 hours in a soup kitchen.

If you are truly stressed for time, I would suggest holding off for a year. This process is not a race, and you need to apply when your application is at its best and when you are truly ready. It sounds like if you take a year, you will be able to relax, fulfill your obligations, and have a complete application.

I will also say that you may want to get some more shadowing experience. 50 hours would be a good minimum number, and you don't need any more than that.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You can always wait a year, but the question is whether you think this is a compelling enough profile to apply. Working a significant number of hours however can be a rational reason why you haven't had as much non-clinical volunteering. I'd check with other admissions representatives, but I think some schools will be fine with it (DO and MD).