What do to on year off - shadow, volunteer recommended??

[princessmeow]

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I will be taking a year off before medical school, because I unfortunately didn't get in this cycle.

3.80 cGPA
3.74sGPA
28R MCAT

Of course, I am retaking the MCAT this summer and am confident I will do better, at least scoring a 30. I had not taken Gen Chem II before my first MCAT, which really lowered my PS score. However, I have taken that course now and have been studying for my retake.

What I am hoping for advice on is what to do on my year off. I met with the Director of Admissions at my first choice (IUSM - I am Indiana resident) and she recommended that I do more shadowing and volunteering on my year off.

I applied to three SMP programs, so far I have gotten into Georgetown and Loyola SMP. I haven't heard back from IUPUI but I am pretty certain I will get into that one. The director recommended me to NOT do a Master's program because my GPA is so high that it might go down.

Is it not looked well upon to pursue additional studies because I want to? She also recommended that I might want to take some upper level science courses at a local college "just to prepare you for medical school", but not really because I need it.

I have done a good amount of shadowing already (~60 hours) throughout college, but I agree that I could do more volunteer work.

I asked if it would be looked upon favorably to work on my Spanish skills, as I am interested in doing some of the medical Spanish stuff in medical school, and she said it wouldn't really help me to get in to do that.

I am just looking for some advice because I find it hard to wrap my head around living at home and volunteering/shadowing (which I can't do for 8 hours a day, all week), and not working on bettering myself will help get me into medical school. Since I have time off, I really wanted to travel and work on my Spanish, but it sounds like this won't really help me.

Thoughts? Any other re-applicants who have advice? Thank you

 

[ichabodbrain]

Shadowing and volunteering can't hurt, but as you said, what kept you out was your MCAT. I know it sucks to hear this, but there's not much to do but study for your MCAT. I highly recommend Exam Krackers prep, I took the comprehensive course; it's pretty hardcore, but informative at a level that isn't too much or too little.

In summation: study, study, study, practice, practice, practice, and relax.

 

[DrEnderW]

Get a job doing something valuable like research or work in a hospital in addition to studying and volunteering. I would personally feel pretty uncomfortable if I didn't have an income or wasn't a full-time student.

In my opinion, it doesn't look to great to just sit around for a year. Most re-applicants and gap year students will will be doing a combination of shadowing, a masters, volunteering, research, working, MCAT studying (but of course not all of those).

You definitely don't need to do an SMP with that GPA.

 

[Loveless]

How many schools did you apply to? I've seen plenty of people here on SDN get in with those kind of stats, albeit they applied to a lot of schools.

I'm not even a first time applicant yet, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but you could do a one year Masters program, do a year with Americorps, or find a research position. All of these would be looked upon favorably.