To defer a year after undergrade: That is the question.

[ashmille]

I jave been thinking a lot lately and I don't know if I am ready to go directly to medical school in the fall. Although I have been accepted to the University of Tennessee in Memphis, I am a Mississippi resident and I was not accepted to the only school in our state. Should I defer a year to U of Tennessee and take the MCAT over (GPA is solid at 3.90) and maybe get some research experience and relax a little bit and try to get into my state school or a better ranked school than U of Miss or U of Tenn. What do you all out there think

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[sandflea]

well, you're not allowed to reapply while holding onto an acceptance. the deferring process is pretty tightly regulated and you generally sign a contract saying that you'll attend the school you're deferring at. not only that, but some schools don't even offer the option to defer, so you might want to check if Tennessee does. so there is no way for you to hang on to the acceptance at Tennessee while you try for something better. your only options are to attend Tennessee, either next fall or the year after that by deferring for a year to work, travel, etc, OR to decline the acceptance and reapply next year with the hope of getting into a school you'd be happier at.

 

[dingiswayo]

your only options are to attend Tennessee, either next fall or the year after that by deferring for a year to work, travel, etc, OR to decline the acceptance and reapply next year with the hope of getting into a school you'd be happier at. ••

i agree with sandflea, except on one crucial point: the option of declining your acceptance in Tennessee and reapplying another year is NOT a good idea. in your future application, addmission committees will know you've been accepted to an MD program previously, and they will be very turned off by your decision to decline it.

Some AdCom thinking:
(1) if this applicant said "no" once, who's to say he/she won't do it again?
(2) how badly could this person really want to be a doctor if he/she declined the chance last year?
(3) why should we offer a 2nd acceptance to this candidate when there are thousands of hungry applicants who are waiting for their 1st?
(4) does this person want to go to med school for the bumper sticker or for the priviledge of caring for patients?

sorry to be so blunt, but that's the reality. so, as i see it, your options are these:
(1) go to Memphis (or whatever other school you get into this year)
OR
(2) defer a year or two, and then attend that school.

you have some tough decisions to make in the next few months...

good luck

dingiswayo

 

[sandflea]

that's a very good point, dingiswayo--i forgot about that. you should feel very fortunate that you have an acceptance at all, ashmille--the majority of applicants don't get in anywhere. any med school in this country will make you a doctor.

 

[giantDHrider]

just commenting the topic of deferring.

i feel that deferring was one of the best decisions that i made for medical school. it gave me a year to venture out into the 'real' world and make some real money. i think it helped me relax and decompress after 4 years college before heading back into the fires of medical school.

 

[ashmille]

Thank you all for your comments. I appreciate them. Although I am excited to be accepted, I personally feel that it is nice to keep your options opens. I do not want to go to a school for the next four years M.D. or not and be unhappy. It is a shame just to accept an offer just because its an acceptance. Peace of mind is highly important guys.

 

[lilycat]

Ashmille -- do you have a decent premed advisor that you can talk to about reapplying? That would be your best bet for information. Or, call your state school, try to talk to one of the Deans of Admission, and see what they say. Or, try contacting a poster on here by the name of "gower" -- he's extremely knowledgeable about med school applications. There's a lot of contradictory information out there about turning down an acceptance and successfully reapplying. Some people insist that all schools will blackball you for this; on the other hand, I have some friends who researched this option last year by talking to lots of admissions directors and all but one said it wouldn't be an issue.

If you think you would truly be miserable at Tennessee, that's definitely a valid concern, but what realistically makes you think that you might succeed with other schools the second time around? Basically, is the gamble worth it?

One thing is for sure -- you definitely can't hold your acceptance and reapply. That's a certain way to lose your shot at med school completely.

 

[Pawnym]

why did you apply there if you didn't attend on going if accepted?

 

[ckent]

You haven't really stated your reasons for wanting to defer and re-apply to your state school but I suspect that it is because of financial reasons (in-state tuition). If that is the case, I would highly recommend that you do not defer and go to tenessee this year. The reason for this is because you have a limited number of years you will work in your life. If you defer one year, you will be taking that one year off your career as a physician. And since residency and med school can't be shortened, the year will be taken off the time when you could be making more then 100,000 for that one year in your career. I doubt that the difference between in-state and out of state is 100,000, and even if it was, it's still not worth the risk of not getting in the following year. Just go to tennessee, get through med school, and be happy. Even if tennessee is not a "perfect" school for you, remember that you will only be there 4 yrs out of your life and it's probably good enough. Med schools is mostly what you make out of it.

 

[ckent]

Oh and remember that ranking is all relative. If you do poorly relative your classmates at Harvard, you will be worse off then if you were at tennessee and were in the top quarter of the class. And remember that everyone takes the same boards.

 

[ashmille]

Thanks again guys for all the comments. I think I will talk it over with my pre-med advisor some more and I will probably go to Tennessee or Indiana U. I found out I just got accepted there and I liked that school more than Tennessee. Thanks guys!!

 

[snowballz]

ashmille,

Do you know which campus you will be assigned to? IU is a great school with a great faculty at the medical centers..great learning opportunities.

Alicia