Taking an extra year to finish school

[armymedico]

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I've got a question about how taking another year to finish school would affect my med school application. I've got classes set up so that I can major in linguistics while taking four semesters each in Mandarin Chinese and Spanish, while also taking the normal prereqs for med schools. I was also planning on taking A & P classes during my extra year, and some other science classes just to show my continued interest in science/medicine. I want to do this because I love learning languages and there are a bunch of classes that really interest me, and I have the funds to afford taking another year. Do you think this will have a negative effect on admission? To paint a more complete picture, I've got a 3.7 cGPA, 3.5 sGPA, a 30 on the MCAT, and my EC's include 6 years in the National Guard as a combat medic (including one tour overseas), two years volunteering for an EMS service, and about a year working as a CNA. On another note, how much do you think serving as a medic will add to my application?

 

[skely]

yesterday on the online kaplan insider i asked the same question. Does completing undergrad in five years look bad when applying to medical schools even if you are taking 14/15 credit hours? Answer, it won't have any effect on the application. However, later on another person asked the same question and the answer was that if you take less than 16 credit hours per semester it will look bad. I will also take an extra year too. I'm not sure which one is right.

 

[Espadaleader]

Yo. You are set. You are going to med 110%. Do whatever the hell you want.