Studying full time for my MCAT over the span of 5 months.

[Biochemistry69]

I've already graduated and just been studying. Should I worry about this being a gap in my resume?

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[DrRiker]

Do something on the side. I had a light semester before graduation and studied essentially full-time during that time. prn volunteer work maybe.

 

[lalalallala]

Ya you need to do something. 5 months of full time studying is really intense unless you've been away from your pre-reqs for many years. You should at least volunteer a little bit. They want to see you do well on the MCAT, but you may not necessarily want to let on that it took you full time half a year to do so when other people are studying part time for much shorter periods of time

 

[deleted889094]

5 months full time is a LOT of studying. My roommate did that exact thing, along with some volunteering and whatnot, and I studied part time while doing college and volunteering, etc. We ended up doing the same. I think he capped at some point and it just wasn't as productive anymore.

I would suggest making it part-time and take up a solid volunteering position or something else to help keep you fresh. You don't want to burn out on prepping

 

[yakarma11]

Agree with others. I would volunteer a couple times a week and kill two birds with one stone. Trust me 5 months of MCAT studying by itself will become very draining so important to fit other things in there.

 

[Biochemistry69]

5 months full time is a LOT of studying. My roommate did that exact thing, along with some volunteering and whatnot, and I studied part time while doing college and volunteering, etc. We ended up doing the same. I think he capped at some point and it just wasn't as productive anymore.

I would suggest making it part-time and take up a solid volunteering position or something else to help keep you fresh. You don't want to burn out on prepping

I can't imagine finishing in any less time. I'm using TBR + Kaplan and doing most passages, plus doing UWORLD after TBR and I have 8 practice exams. Also heavy on Anki, which takes anywhere from 90 minutes to 4 hours each day.

Do you think there's room for me to speed things up? TBR takes forever, especially with reviewing the passages, which almost seems like wasted time.

 

[differentiating]

Yeah, you definitely should be doing something else during that time. Med schools are going to want to know what you’re up to during a gap year, and studying for the MCAT and nothing else will weaken your application. Volunteering and/or a job would be good to supplement with, depending on your circumstances and where your ECs stand currently.

 

[Biochemistry69]

Yeah, you definitely should be doing something else during that time. Med schools are going to want to know what you’re up to during a gap year, and studying for the MCAT and nothing else will weaken your application. Volunteering and/or a job would be good to supplement with, depending on your circumstances and where your ECs stand currently.

Is there any actual evidence of this weakening an application? I seriously doubt they'll see a a gap and reject an applicant for it, or even mention it during an interview... unless I'm wrong.

 

[ciestar]

Is there any actual evidence of this weakening an application? I seriously doubt they'll see a a gap and reject an applicant for it, or even mention it during an interview... unless I'm wrong.

They’ll definitely ask if they want to. You’ve graduated and secondaries will ask what you’re doing if you’re not in school. Hell, I have to account for gaps in education on my RESIDENCY application and what I did during that time.

 

[Biochemistry69]

They’ll definitely ask if they want to. You’ve graduated and secondaries will ask what you’re doing if you’re not in school. Hell, I have to account for gaps in education on my RESIDENCY application and what I did during that time.

So am I screwed from applying? I graduated in December and spent almost 3 months taking a break from doing anything academically related, but I did volunteer at two places.

I'm not sure what to think of this :/.

 

[differentiating]

Is there any actual evidence of this weakening an application? I seriously doubt they'll see a a gap and reject an applicant for it, or even mention it during an interview... unless I'm wrong.

I interviewed for applicants to my school. If you hadn’t done anything since grad, it’d raise a lot of questions on my part - but more likely you wouldn’t actually get that far if it was picked up by screeners. You’re expected to be doing *something* with your time beyond simply studying.

 

[DameJulie]

One can do it, but it's easy to burn out. Personally, I find the 3-month schedule over summer is already very exhausting.

 

[DrRiker]

So am I screwed from applying? I graduated in December and spent almost 3 months taking a break from doing anything academically related, but I did volunteer at two places.

I'm not sure what to think of this :/.

You're screwed if you psych yourself out. Up the ante with your volunteering. AMCAS knows how many total hours and for how many months. They don't know the distribution of your hours. If you volunteer 240 hours one month (four 40 hour weeks) and three hours per week for 10 months (~150 hours) at the same organization, they will see a total of 390 hours over 11 months, or about 35 hours per month. This is one way to make three low commitment months look like relatively high commitment months just by going hard for one month. If you're really concerned about this, study hard for the MCAT for four months, and take one month where you essentially volunteer full time at the organization you have been volunteering at.

 

[Biochemistry69]

I interviewed for applicants to my school. If you hadn’t done anything since grad, it’d raise a lot of questions on my part - but more likely you wouldn’t actually get that far if it was picked up by screeners. You’re expected to be doing *something* with your time beyond simply studying.

You're saying I'd get screened out for a gap in my application? So the small 6 month break after graduation means my entire app is in the trash and is essentially DOA at your school?

 

[differentiating]

You're saying I'd get screened out for a gap in my application? So the small 6 month break after graduation means my entire app is in the trash and is essentially DOA at your school?

I’m at a top school where we get 8,000 applicants for 500 interview spots- so yes, if you took half a year off, you probably won’t have the ECs to get an interview. Everybody I interviewed was doing something significant during gap years, whether a job, research, or volunteering.

I’m not saying you have to be doing something 40h/week. But if you can’t even spare 5h/week for an EC, that’s not great. You need to have something to show and talk about from your gap year.

 

[Biochemistry69]

I’m at a top school where we get 8,000 applicants for 500 interview spots- so yes, if you took half a year off, you probably won’t have the ECs to get an interview. Everybody I interviewed was doing something significant during gap years, whether a job, research, or volunteering.

I’m not saying you have to be doing something 40h/week. But if you can’t even spare 5h/week for an EC, that’s not great. You need to have something to show and talk about from your gap year.

I see. My EC's are already okayish, and I plan on getting a full time job and resuming volunteering after my test date. My gap year (s) won't be blank slates, if it makes a difference. I'm just feeling neurotic right now. I'll start applying for volunteering positions now.

 

[differentiating]

I see. My EC's are already okayish, and I plan on getting a full time job and resuming volunteering after my test date. My gap year (s) won't be blank slates.

When are you applying? Again, I think you’re only hurting your application if you literally can’t fit in anything but studying, but if you’re planning on taking 3 years it could be far enough out that people wouldn’t notice. 2 is iffy. 1 would leave you with nothing significant to talk about at all when you apply.

It’s not just what you’ve done in the past, but what you’ve done recently. My school has software that takes your ECs and puts them on a timeline, and a 6 month gap is big enough to raise some eyebrows.

 

[Biochemistry69]

When are you applying? Again, I think you’re only hurting your application if you literally can’t fit in anything but studying, but if you’re planning on taking 3 years it could be far enough out that people wouldn’t notice. 2 is iffy. 1 would leave you with nothing significant to talk about at all when you apply.

It’s not just what you’ve done in the past, but what you’ve done recently. My school has software that takes your ECs and puts them on a timeline, and a 6 month gap is big enough to raise some eyebrows.

I plan on applying next cycle.

 

[differentiating]

I plan on applying next cycle.

Yeah, imo that’s not far enough out for a 6 month gap to not be concerning to some. If you’re determined to stick to this plan, you’ll need to come up with an answer of what you were doing during this time (studying for the MCAT isn’t a sufficient response) if asked.

 

[ciestar]

You're saying I'd get screened out for a gap in my application? So the small 6 month break after graduation means my entire app is in the trash and is essentially DOA at your school?

You have to consider the fact that many(most?) people don’t do nothing but study for the MCAT for half a year. You’re competing against people who took it as a full time student, did research, worked, volunteered, etc along side studying for the MCAT.

As differentiating said, many schools make you account for your time off. Saying you only studied for the MCAT and nothing more will raise some eyebrows. There is no reason you can’t fit in 2-4 hours a week volunteering.

 

[Peter Pan.]

Do some volunteering at least.

 

[deleted889094]

I can't imagine finishing in any less time. I'm using TBR + Kaplan and doing most passages, plus doing UWORLD after TBR and I have 8 practice exams. Also heavy on Anki, which takes anywhere from 90 minutes to 4 hours each day.

Do you think there's room for me to speed things up? TBR takes forever, especially with reviewing the passages, which almost seems like wasted time.

That's a lot of different material. Honestly, I wouldn't consider 4 hours full time. I did 3ish hours a day when I studied part time. If that's enough time for you, you should definitely do other things as well.

In reference to your other post - Yes, there is evidence. I asked a Dean of Admissions, whom I know through my church, if my roommate's plan to only study for the MCAT would look bad. He told me that he needs to show that he's spending his time we'll - that he shouldn't just study for the MCAT because most students study sufficiently while doing other things.

 

[Toutie]

I see. My EC's are already okayish, and I plan on getting a full time job and resuming volunteering after my test date. My gap year (s) won't be blank slates, if it makes a difference. I'm just feeling neurotic right now. I'll start applying for volunteering positions now.

There is absolutely NO REASON why you can't do some volunteering while studying for the MCAT. You should easily be able to get in a good 10-12 hours a week if not more. You can not (and should not) study for the MCAT 12 hours a day 7 days a week for 5 months.

 

[Biochemistry69]

That's a lot of different material. Honestly, I wouldn't consider 4 hours full time. I did 3ish hours a day when I studied part time. If that's enough time for you, you should definitely do other things as well.

In reference to your other post - Yes, there is evidence. I asked a Dean of Admissions, whom I know through my church, if my roommate's plan to only study for the MCAT would look bad. He told me that he needs to show that he's spending his time we'll - that he shouldn't just study for the MCAT because most students study sufficiently while doing other things.

So, hypothetically speaking, if I did 6 months of full time without anything going on, how would I fix this in my app? Saying it's all said and done.

There is absolutely NO REASON why you can't do some volunteering while studying for the MCAT. You should easily be able to get in a good 10-12 hours a week if not more. You can not (and should not) study for the MCAT 12 hours a day 7 days a week for 5 months.

So, hypothetically speaking, if I did 6 months of full time without anything going on, how would I fix this in my app? Saying it's all said and done.

 

[deleted889094]

So, hypothetically speaking, if I did 6 months of full time without anything going on, how would I fix this in my app? Saying it's all said and done.

So, hypothetically speaking, if I did 6 months of full time without anything going on, how would I fix this in my app? Saying it's all said and done.

I don't think you can. It'll just be a weak spot. If you do end up doing that, you better get like a 518+ or it won't look good. Someone who gets like a 510 with a ton going on shows they perform well even while balancing a ton of stuff, which is what med school is. Someone who gets a 510 while doing nothing else at all looks as if that is their highest level of performance - and it's only achievable with no other things going on, which isn't like med school.

Just volunteer a few times a week. Get a part time job. Do research. You can pretty much do anything productive. Write a book. Start a nonprofit. Tutor kids. The sky's the limit

 

[differentiating]

I don't think you can. It'll just be a weak spot. If you do end up doing that, you better get like a 518+ or it won't look good. Someone who gets like a 510 with a ton going on shows they perform well even while balancing a ton of stuff, which is what med school is. Someone who gets a 510 while doing nothing else at all looks as if that is their highest level of performance - and it's only achievable with no other things going on, which isn't like med school.

Just volunteer a few times a week. Get a part time job. Do research. You can pretty much do anything productive. Write a book. Start a nonprofit. Tutor kids. The sky's the limit

This.

Also consider the fact that you will never get anywhere near this amount of time off to study for an exam again. I think the most I've seen for Step 1 (without a LOA, which would make a residency raise its eyebrows) is 2 months of dedicated, and Step 2 is entirely based on how you split your vacation (the more time for step 2, the less for interviews). This is why, regardless of what OP does, they should come up with a better explanation for how they spent their time than "studying for the MCAT". Someone who studies for 6 months and doesn't knock it out of the park could make adcoms worry about whether they'll be able to handle harder exams on a tighter time course. And even if they do, it's mitigated by the fact that they took half a year to do nothing but study for this exam, so a high score doesn't look as impressive as it would otherwise.

But yeah, there's pretty much no way to fix such a glaring gap on your application outside of actually doing something with all that free time.