Taking a Year Off

[blazinfury]

I was thinking that it may be a good idea to take a year off and do some kind of research, shadowing, and possibly some more ECs. My other reason is that it may be detrimental to go to interviews during one's senior yr if he or she is taking classes and/or labs that really are strict about students attending every single class. Wouldn't it look bad if a viable applicant fails during his/her senior yr?

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[Furai]

I was thinking about this as well. My pre-med advisor suggested that taking time off has the following advantages:
1) You will have more time to devote to your applications. You will have more to put in your applications as well (extra year of research, etc)
2) You get to include your senior year grades in your application, which, if you have, say, a 3.4, may not be a bad thing.

I guess my questions - along with original ones raised by blazinfury - are:
1) Is it common for MD-PhD applicants to take time off? There's a significant number of premeds from my school who have taken time off, but most MD-PhD applicants have gone straight to school. My PI suggested that this probably reflected the fact that MD-PhDs were super eager individuals who were absolutely certain what they wanted to do, and did not mind diving into school work and academics without a break. My concern is, will a student who has taken time off appear less dedicated than a student applying during their senior year of college?
2) If one does plan to take time off, is there something he/she should try to do/ should not try to do during that extra time? Is doing something research related absolutely vital (provided the applicant has the usual amount of research experience)? I am thinking of working at a biotech firm/private firm (in a research related capacity) to see whether I like it or not. Is that a feasible plan, or is there a possibility that I might get blacklisted by academia for venturing into industry?

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I was thinking that it may be a good idea to take a year off and do some kind of research, shadowing, and possibly some more ECs. My other reason is that it may be detrimental to go to interviews during one's senior yr if he or she is taking classes and/or labs that really are strict about students attending every single class. Wouldn't it look bad if a viable applicant fails during his/her senior yr?

Plenty go in straight from college. Courses should be accommodating for something as important as medical school interviews. Careful scheduling may help you avoid certain activities that can't be made up, but even exams can be taken earlier if needed. I would certainly not lightly spend a year of my life on something else just out of fear of my professors not understanding the situation.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I was thinking about this as well. My pre-med advisor suggested that taking time off has the following advantages:
1) You will have more time to devote to your applications. You will have more to put in your applications as well (extra year of research, etc)
2) You get to include your senior year grades in your application, which, if you have, say, a 3.4, may not be a bad thing.

I guess my questions - along with original ones raised by blazinfury - are:
1) Is it common for MD-PhD applicants to take time off? There's a significant number of premeds from my school who have taken time off, but most MD-PhD applicants have gone straight to school. My PI suggested that this probably reflected the fact that MD-PhDs were super eager individuals who were absolutely certain what they wanted to do, and did not mind diving into school work and academics without a break. My concern is, will a student who has taken time off appear less dedicated than a student applying during their senior year of college?
2) If one does plan to take time off, is there something he/she should try to do/ should not try to do during that extra time? Is doing something research related absolutely vital (provided the applicant has the usual amount of research experience)? I am thinking of working at a biotech firm/private firm (in a research related capacity) to see whether I like it or not. Is that a feasible plan, or is there a possibility that I might get blacklisted by academia for venturing into industry?

1.) Absolutely not. In fact, the contrary might be true. I took off two years because my GPA was not that great and I needed to compensate for it by retaking the MCAT, doing some more research, and getting fresh research-oriented recommendations.

2.) If you plan to take time off, certainly make sure that it's productive. Perhaps it doesn't need to be all research or even basic science research, but a research component I would think would be almost mandatory.

 

[magwi11]

I took a few years off and think that it was the best decision that I made. Make sure that you are productive and you'll be fine.

In order to really be productive, make sure you are aware of the holes/weak spots in your application. For example, if you need more research, you want to be doing that full time, if you MCAT is weak, you'll need to create a schedule with a lot of study time, if you need more clinical experience, look for a job or a great volunteer opportunity that will get you into the hospital, and make sure that whatever other work you're doing allows for that. A year (or two) off can be a great way to make yourself a better applicant.

 

[Furai]

mercapto, magwi, thanks a bunch for your input!

 

[blazinfury]

If an applicant has a good GPA, MCAT, 5 yrs or so lab experience w/ pubs, and close to 500 hrs of shadowing experience, should that person take a yr off? I am just asking b/c I have spoken to a few MD/PhD students and they told me that it is best to get into MD/PhD ASAP to as not to waste unnecessary time and it is better to do an extra yr in the lab where you are doing your dual degree than to waste a yr doing research which may not apply to your thesis project.

what do you guys think?

 

[tiedyeddog]

If an applicant has a good GPA, MCAT, 5 yrs or so lab experience w/ pubs, and close to 500 hrs of shadowing experience, should that person take a yr off? I am just asking b/c I have spoken to a few MD/PhD students and they told me that it is best to get into MD/PhD ASAP to as not to waste unnecessary time and it is better to do an extra yr in the lab where you are doing your dual degree than to waste a yr doing research which may not apply to your thesis project.

what do you guys think?

Are you going to take off a year in order to look better for the adcoms...? I think taking time off solely for that reason would be a huge mistake with those stats...

 

[Kraazy]

Are you going to take off a year in order to look better for the adcoms...? I think taking time off solely for that reason would be a huge mistake with those stats...

Agreed. I don't think it's vital to go into MD/PhD straight away (I'm on my 3rd year off), but you should have a solid reason to take time off.

 

[xanthines]

I don't think taking a year or two off to get away from schooling is a waste of time at all. Whereas a lot of my classmates are really burnt out, I'm still going strong (I took 5 years off, though!). If you feel the teensiest tiniest bit tired of school, I'd seriously consider taking some time off. I haven't met anyone that's regretted it, although I'm sure they're out there.

-X

 

[Coolios]

Just something to keep in mind: some of the MD/PhD secondaries do ask you straight up "why did you decide to take time off," so you may want to be able to formulate a fairly specific reason. I'm sure you could find a way to spin most anything into a compelling one or two line explanation; I'm just giving you a heads up.

I'm actually taking a year off myself.

 

[Neuronix]

Sometimes I remember that if I hadn't done MD/PhD and hadn't taken a year out before the MD/PhD program, which even then I said was mostly to do more research to make me stronger to apply MD/PhD, I'd be a third year resident by now.

I cry for a little bit and then remember I'm about to take another year out. So much for that.

blazin, I don't see your reason for taking the year out. I agree with mercapto on this one. If you want to do it, do it. If it's just out of fear, it's a bad decision.

 

[xanthines]

You spring chicken, you! I'd be an Asst Professor worrying about my RO-1!

-X

Sometimes I remember that if I hadn't done MD/PhD and hadn't taken a year out before the MD/PhD program, which even then I said was mostly to do more research to make me stronger to apply MD/PhD, I'd be a third year resident by now.