What to put for full-time gap year activities when prompted in secondaries??

[MelissaThompson]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I am applying to med school this June - what should I write when the secondary asks me what I will be doing full-time if I am no longer in school? The problem is - if I don't find a job, do I just simply put "continue search for employment"? or does it look bad and I should write something more tactful?

 

[armybound]

I'd go ahead and assume you land the type of job you're looking for and write out what those plans are.

No need to complicate it too much.

 

[MT Headed]

I put in a bunch of plans for charity work and homeless shelters and stuff. I don't think any of them ever came to fruition. I dropped out of school and i'm basically a ski bum this year.

During the interviews, nobody ever asked me what I was up to or if I followed through on any of my plans. They seemed more concerned with the distant past and the distant future.

 

[ppfizenm]

I put in a bunch of plans for charity work and homeless shelters and stuff. I don't think any of them ever came to fruition. I dropped out of school and i'm basically a ski bum this year.

During the interviews, nobody ever asked me what I was up to or if I followed through on any of my plans. They seemed more concerned with the distant past and the distant future.

I disagree. The first cycle I applied I had a few interviews and all ask questions about what I was doing. I was unemployed and mainly could only talk about volunteer work I was doing. This cycle I started off at a school for juvenile delinquents with learning disabilities then I moved to a patent law firm. The interviewers were extremely interested in both of these jobs and we talked at length about them.

Anything is better than unemployment though. Do some hefty volunteering (there are actually programs that will pay off some of your loans if you donate a significant time commitment to the volunteer program) or get an interesting job that you can talk about during an interview.

 

[MelissaThompson]

I disagree. The first cycle I applied I had a few interviews and all ask questions about what I was doing. I was unemployed and mainly could only talk about volunteer work I was doing. This cycle I started off at a school for juvenile delinquents with learning disabilities then I moved to a patent law firm. The interviewers were extremely interested in both of these jobs and we talked at length about them.

Anything is better than unemployment though. Do some hefty volunteering (there are actually programs that will pay off some of your loans if you donate a significant time commitment to the volunteer program) or get an interesting job that you can talk about during an interview.

If the hefty volunteering program you are referring to is Americorps - then let me tell you its TOUGHER to get in that program than finding a job. Pretty much all college senior now-a-days apply to this program as a backup. Some of the positions I applied for had 600 apps for 3-4 openings!

 

[ppfizenm]

If the hefty volunteering program you are referring to is Americorps - then let me tell you its TOUGHER to get in that program than finding a job. Pretty much all college senior now-a-days apply to this program as a backup. Some of the positions I applied for had 600 apps for 3-4 openings!

I don't remember the program names but there were a bunch of them. I never actually applied to one because I found a job right around the time I was considering doing it.

 

[lalalaaaaaa]

I put in a bunch of plans for charity work and homeless shelters and stuff. I don't think any of them ever came to fruition. I dropped out of school and i'm basically a ski bum this year.

During the interviews, nobody ever asked me what I was up to or if I followed through on any of my plans. They seemed more concerned with the distant past and the distant future.

I got grilled on my current activities. Wish I was in the mountains more though!

 

[theclem]

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I'm having the same issue.

I wanted to get a head start on the secondaries for this upcoming cycle, but many of them ask what I will be doing this next year. The thing is, I don't know yet - I'm still applying to jobs and looking around for volunteer opportunities. How should I respond to the question then?

 

[catzzz88]

I thought you had a job working as a lab tech Melissa?