time gap between undergrad and post bac

[Ymh910618]

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Hi! I am currently a junior in undergrad with gpa ~3.6
and I made up my mind to apply for post bac after finishing my undergrad
actually, I will be able to graduate early in summer 2012 because I tried to take lots of credits per semester.

however, after looking through the requirement for applying,
i realized i need some volunteering experience, however i have none.
would you recommend me to do volunteering while i am school and apply right after finishing my school. ( the benefit of doing this saves time, starting post bac as soon as possible!)


or do volunteering 6months-1year for more experience in medical after graduating.

which option sounds good? for me, I am not in rush and i know how important the volunteering experience is, but I want to start the post bac program asap!

 

[betterlate]

Hi! I am currently a junior in undergrad with gpa ~3.6
and I made up my mind to apply for post bac after finishing my undergrad
actually, I will be able to graduate early in summer 2012 because I tried to take lots of credits per semester.

however, after looking through the requirement for applying,
i realized i need some volunteering experience, however i have none.
would you recommend me to do volunteering while i am school and apply right after finishing my school. ( the benefit of doing this saves time, starting post bac as soon as possible!)


or do volunteering 6months-1year for more experience in medical after graduating.

which option sounds good? for me, I am not in rush and i know how important the volunteering experience is, but I want to start the post bac program asap!

Based on your post, I'm assuming you are talking about applying to formal career-changer postbacc programs. If that's not the case, you can disregard my response. 🙂

Well, if you are trying to start a postbacc in June 2012, that doesn't leave you a lot of time to gain volunteer experience and apply. It IS feasible, but your chances of admission will be statistically lower than if you wait and submit an application in August or September to enroll in June 2013. If you apply at the very beginning of the cycle, there are more spots available and fewer candidates competing against you for those slots. If you take several months to get some volunteering experience under your belt, your application will necessarily come in at the end of the application cycle, which means fewer spots available and more applicants in the candidate pool.

The only other possible down side to trying to get in a ton of volunteer hours during your last year of college is whether the time commitment would in any way compromise your grades. If so, definitely wait until after graduation to start volunteering. You want to have a good GPA on your application.

That said, either plan - apply this cycle to start in June 2012 or apply next cycle to start in 2013 - is possible. You just need to weigh your options and priorities and pick one.

Good luck!

 

[Ymh910618]

tHANKS! betterlate! I'm quite confused about the app cycling period.
what would be the good month (for a safe spot)to apply for the summer/fall ones?

 

[betterlate]

tHANKS! betterlate! I'm quite confused about the app cycling period.
what would be the good month (for a safe spot)to apply for the summer/fall ones?

I'm only really familiar with the formal, career-changing postbacc programs that begin in the summer, since that's the kind I attended. However, I think it's safe to generalize that, if there is a specific admissions period (ex: 'accept applications from X to Y months') listed on a program's website, you should (ideally) aim to have your application in during the early part of that period rather than the later part. If there is rolling admissions, then your best bet is to submit an application in the fall of the year prior to when you hope to enroll.

This is not intended to say that there's no chance of admission if you apply later in the cycle or school year. It's just later on you start facing greater and greater competition for fewer and fewer available spots.

Good luck!

 

[indebted]

It has been my experience that it is very difficult right now to get volunteer experience if you are not a student, especially in medicine. This may not be true for all areas, but I live in the Philadelphia area and with the unemployment rate so high, many hospitals and clinics have stopped accepting volunteer applications. The ones that still accept them are very competitive. I am somewhat limited in where I can go because I don't have car, but I have updated my immunization records and done my physical, filled out applications and had recommendation letters sent on my behalf and I still never heard back from any of the hospitals and clinics I applied to. Given the state of the job market, I would not count on getting a job in medicine either.

However, when I was a student, my college was able to get me volunteer opportunities and I barely had to try. Use your college's connections while you are a student because they will give the unpaid opportunities to students before they will to alumni. Again, this depends on your school, but I have seen my career services page dwindling with opportunities for the past few years.

Also, from what my under grad adviser has told me, grad schools like to see people take some time off between under grad and grad school to prove that they are actually interested in going into that field. This may or may not not hold true for post-bacc programs, or for the new economy. If I were you, I would apply right out of college and if you don't get in, try again next year.

 

[Ymh910618]

thanks indebted for the reply.

yes I'm trying to get as much volunteer experience as possible for right now.
and As you said I will apply after my graduation and if i don't get in, I will volunteer more and try again 🙂!