At the moment I am planning to take the 2014 MCAT in the summer and apply in the following Fall semester but now looking back, I've only done some volunteering here and there at a public library, I've done some shadowing in the summer of 2013 and I haven't worked in a research project or be accepted to volunteer at the local hospital yet so I have absolutely no clinical exposure. Should I take a gap year and wait to take the MCAT in 2015?
Should I take a gap year?
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you don't have to wait to take the MCAT until after your gap year is over (as long as you plan on applying before it expires). If you're ready to take the MCAT by this summer, take it. I took my MCAT in the summer before taking a total of 2 gap years (1 year before I applied and then this current year during the application process). But you definitely need to take that year to get clinical exposure.
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I would take a gap year unless you fall above the 95%-tile on grades and the MCAT and manage to squeeze in some ECs. But in general, I think it's a better idea to take a gap year and use that year to put your AMCAS application on steroids as opposed to applying while barely meeting the requirements. Even if you destroy the GPA/MCAT your ECs, LORs from ECs are a huge part of your application. Don't rush a masterpiece.
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Just wanted to make sure you are clear: while we typically think of application seasons as starting in the Fall, medical school application season 100% starts the Fall BEFORE you apply as you have to start thinking of LORs and your PS etc. You will want to take the MCAT during the spring before you apply, or the summer a whole year you apply. You application should go out June/July of your application year. If you take the MCAT in 2014 expecting to enter medical school in 2015, then your application will either be late (delayed due to MCAT) or potentially not as great (no time to retake).
So can I get some clarification on what a gap year really is? Is it the year after I graduate from my undergraduate school and apply in the summer of 2016 or can it be during my senior year so that I can apply to medical schools in the summer of 2015?
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The gap year itself, if you take it, will be the year after you graduate from undergrad. You would apply at the very start of your gap year to begin medical school at the end of the gap year.
Sounds like you're graduating in 2015, so with gap:
2014: you should probably take your MCAT, if you can
2015 May/June: graduate from undergrad
2015 June: apply to medical school
between 2015 summer and 2016 autumn: your "gap year"
2016 Autumn: begin medical school
If you apply in 2016, you will not begin medical school until 2017 (2 years between undergrad and medical school)
Your gap year activities (if you only take 1 year) will not go into your primary application. The advantage is that you get to include all the exciting things you do as a senior in your primary.
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Gap year is just time in between your UG and when you're actually studying in medical school. For example, I will have taken 2 gap years since I will matriculate in Aug 2014 and graduated from my undergrad in May 2012.
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In regards to your original question--go for it. It was an awesome experience for me. It buffed up my application tremendously but it was a growing experience for me as a whole.
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When I matriculate next fall I will have taken a total of 3 gap years. I am sooooo glad I did, even though I only intended to take one. It was a great growing experience for me and I'm glad to know what it's like to work a full time job before getting back into school. I would absolutely recommend it.
Thank you, that clears it up a lot. But then what's the purpose of the gap year if it won't be included in the primary application? Does that mean that I will have to do some research and volunteer in hospitals during my senior year for it to be included in the primary application? I guess my real question is, what do you do during the gap year?
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People take gap years so they're not continuously in school/residency from age 5-30. After K-12 and 4 years of UG.
Some people want a break before another 4 years of med school and 3+ years of residency. I lost 80 lbs during my 2 gap years.
Some people want a break before another 4 years of med school and 3+ years of residency. I lost 80 lbs during my 2 gap years.
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What taking a gap year gives you is actually your senior year to do exciting things to learn about medicine, gain skills that you are going to argue will make you a better physician (hopefully they actually do make you a better physician, hahah), and gain more clinical/research exposure.
In addition, you write about your gap year in any later secondaries, and definitely bring up what you've been up to during interviews.
SDN has a lot of threads with suggestions for a gap year. Some things that you could do: AmeriCorps' Community Health Corps program, research with the NIH, get EMT certification and work in a hospital...those are just a few to start. It doesn't even necessarily have to be clinically related, but of course if you do something relevant to medicine, it shows that you've had a certain amount of exposure and know what you're getting into when you apply.
If you feel that you could gain more meaningful experiences during your senior year that make you not only a more competitive applicant, but also really solidify your understanding of what exactly the field you are trying to get into is about, a gap year would be great for you. Also, remember that the application cycle begins in June and because of rolling admissions, your chances are better the earlier you submit your primary (ie. submit in June.)
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deleted407021
I will be finishing my sophomore year in the spring . I had planned on taking th MCAT in August after studying during the summer, but I'm thinking about delaying my application until the summer after I graduate in '16. Therefore, I think I'll take the new MCAT in the fall of '15. I hope that having an entire extra year to add to my application will be worth it so I can complete my research project and present/publish, maximize my GPAs and gain a few hundred extra hours of great ECs. This extra year may literally mean the difference between being competitive for only low tiers and DO and being competitive for "top 20" programs. Probably worth it? This will generate a single gap year, but I want to achieve my black belt and learn somekind of horsemanship anyway, so it should work out. There are lots of examples of people on SDN who have taken a gap year (or more) and I have only ever heard it as being an overwhelmingly positive experience.
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