To Apply or Not Apply

[OrdinaryOverthinker]

I was hoping to get some advice on my situation.

Basically, I'm unsure if I should apply this round or next (or not at all). I graduated undergrad last year and have been working in a clinical/patient centered job since. I graduated with what is basically a pre-health degree. College was super turbulent due to health issues, and I had to take a semester off twice. Also, I felt like I didn't get a chance to explore any interests or get to know myself because of all the health issues (which are now under control).

Here are my stats: MCAT 519, spga 3.7, cgpa 3.74, random semesters of clubs and research, this job, not much else.

I just feel like I need another year to figure out if I even want to do medicine, but I'm getting a little bit of pressure from my parents to just apply. Not a ton of pressure, but I'm feeling guilty about needing all this time (breaks in school, gap years) and living with them right now. Anybody been in the similar situation? What did you do?

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[deleted966008]

I was hoping to get some advice on my situation.

Basically, I'm unsure if I should apply this round or next (or not at all). I graduated undergrad last year and have been working in a clinical/patient centered job since. I graduated with what is basically a pre-health degree. College was super turbulent due to health issues, and I had to take a semester off twice. Also, I felt like I didn't get a chance to explore any interests or get to know myself because of all the health issues (which are now under control).

Here are my stats: MCAT 519, spga 3.7, cgpa 3.74, random semesters of clubs and research, this job, not much else.

I just feel like I need another year to figure out if I even want to do medicine, but I'm getting a little bit of pressure from my parents to just apply. Not a ton of pressure, but I'm feeling guilty about needing all this time (breaks in school, gap years) and living with them right now. Anybody been in the similar situation? What did you do?

Whether your application is ready right now, though important, seems irrelevant given that you are unsure if you want to go into medicine. The process is such a big financial and time commitment that I think it’s worth it for you to wait another year. I think this is a win-win because you would get more time to improve your app and also, more importantly, critically evaluate your interests.

What other professions are you interested in outside of medicine? Whatever it is, try that first.

 

[Phoebus Apollo]

What’s the longest you can wait before your MCAT expires? One more year? Or two? I say wait as long as you can until it expires before you apply.

I think you should at least take the year to a) investigate the medical field, and b) investigate your own interests. As neuro312 says, and as you make pretty clear, you’re not sure about medicine. That’s totally fine. But that will absolutely torpedo your application and your own chance of happiness once you’re in med school/beyond. (Imagine being in med school or residency and not feeling 100% sure you want to be there—that’s a bad feeling!) It’s essential that you take some time to critically think about whether you want this. While they may have good intentions, your parents have no place telling you when to apply, especially since you haven’t had a decent opportunity to confirm that this is what you want.

And I’m going to reiterate that while you should be actively investigating medicine in the year(s) ahead (shadowing, volunteering, paid work... however you want to do it), I also hope that you investigate outside interests. This could mean taking a class unrelated to medicine, like a creative writing class, or getting an internship/job in another field... or doing a ton of informational interviews with people in disparate fields. In other words, give your other interests a fighting chance.

Whatever you do, make sure you’re thinking about what you want, not what other people want for you.