Hey SDNers, had a quick question...what do you think of taking a year off for an athletic event I want to be part of but takes tons of training? Of course I'll continue clinical exposure with tons of shadowing and EMT-B, but do you think adcoms would accept it? i feel that this is my last opportunity to do something like this but would adcoms look down upon it? thanks guys!
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Taking Year Off for Athletic Goals
Started by Jumpman04
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I think it'll be fine so long as your application is solid to start with.
You're not the first person to do something like this. People want to take a year off for various reasons whether it's to engage in a hobby or travel or whatever.
Actually, the admissions director at the University of Michigan Med School told me that he would rather everybody take a year off. He also raised an example of somebody taking a year off simply to travel the world and snowboard because he knew he would never get a chance like that again.
Medical schools are looking for somebody whose intelligent and empathetic, but also, for somebody who has lived a rich life. So long as you don't spend your year off watching TV and brushing the Cheetos crumbs off of your beer gut, I don't think the AdCom will hold it against you.
You're not the first person to do something like this. People want to take a year off for various reasons whether it's to engage in a hobby or travel or whatever.
Actually, the admissions director at the University of Michigan Med School told me that he would rather everybody take a year off. He also raised an example of somebody taking a year off simply to travel the world and snowboard because he knew he would never get a chance like that again.
Medical schools are looking for somebody whose intelligent and empathetic, but also, for somebody who has lived a rich life. So long as you don't spend your year off watching TV and brushing the Cheetos crumbs off of your beer gut, I don't think the AdCom will hold it against you.
Not everyone starts med school right after they graduate college, so taking a year or 10 off isn't a big deal from what I've encountered. Myself and a lot of my friends here in school have been out of undergrad for a few years.
Obviously however it would be in your best interest to be a somewhat productive citizen during the time that you take off. You don't have to mention that you specifically took time off to train for an athletic event, but I'm sure at some interviews it'll come up of what you've done since undergrad and you can mention that you worked, volunteered, trained, etc.
Obviously however it would be in your best interest to be a somewhat productive citizen during the time that you take off. You don't have to mention that you specifically took time off to train for an athletic event, but I'm sure at some interviews it'll come up of what you've done since undergrad and you can mention that you worked, volunteered, trained, etc.
As long as your are still doing things to show your interest in medicine, you will only be enhancing your application in my opinion...especially since you seem to be interested in sports medicine (in your signature). A lot of times in interviews, adcoms will ask about the gap time between when you graduated and when you applied. This is an excellent opportunity to discuss why you took the time off. You can talk about about it's something you're very passionate about and wanted to take part in before having to buckle down to your other very time consuming passions 😀 Of course, make sure that the commitment to medical school doesn't come off sounding like a burden to your free time. And if you can tie it in to your interest in a future working with athletes, that's great. Remember, adcoms LOVE well-rounded and committed students and doing something like this makes you just that!
During one of my years off (I took 3 off), I trained for and did my first Ironman. The interviewers enjoyed the story. I did however, have a decent resume to begin with.
It taught me discipline, life balance, and the value of toil and suffering, all of which I discussed at interviews. If you can get up at 5AM and bike for 8 hours, run that night, and then get up and do it all over again, you feel like you can do anything!
It taught me discipline, life balance, and the value of toil and suffering, all of which I discussed at interviews. If you can get up at 5AM and bike for 8 hours, run that night, and then get up and do it all over again, you feel like you can do anything!
You would be crazy to not take the year off. Take two if you want. But don't let your MCAT expire and keep doing the stuff that shows you still like medicine.
