Year Long Study Abroad In Ugrad

[Green Penguin]

I haven't seen this issue addressed on the forums yet...I just finished my freshman year, by the end of my sophomore year I will have satisfied all of my premedical requirements. I have always loved the idea of study abroad and wanted to go to England or Australia for a full year. I have a few questions about this plan

1) How will (highly ranked) medical schools view this, considering my study abroad will be for so long compared to other premeds and I intend to apply as soon as I get back to the US, summer after my junior year. At my home institution (private, liberal arts, not Ivy) I have a 3.93GPA overall 3.88BCPM after my first year, assuming I keep that GPA after sophomore year, will that be enough to show that I can hack it in the US and am not going abroad for so long to make it easier on myself?

2) I have already taken calculus II in college, however I skipped calc I (AP credit), would imake my application better if I took multivariable and/or stats just to have two semesters of college math and could I take that abroad or would it need to be at my home institution, and if at home, could it be taken senior year, after I've applied?

3) If I did this I would be choosing between taking the MCAT at the end of summer BEFORE my junior year, after studying for a good portion of summer or waiting until I had another semester and a half under my belt and taking it spring of my junior year when everyone else does, but in that case I'd be taking it abroad (I know London has a test center, haven't looked into Sydney yet). Since I would be done with my premed work by sophomore year, I feel like it might be best to take it that summer since it will be fresher in my mind and I will have more time to study than during the semester. And of course if I didn't score as well as I wanted to, I could take it again spring of my junior year and not have lost any time.

Thank you in advance for your advice!

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[TigerSoup]

I don't think any school would doubt your academic ability if you were going to go study abroad for a year. Universities in other countries can have different formats as US schools, but that doesn't make them easier. I heard that a lot of American students struggle when they study in the UK because there's less to do throughout the semester and they tend to slack off, then get wrecked on final exams.

Math is fairly unimportant to med schools. I placed out with BC Calc in high school, then took the easiest math class possible in undergrad to fulfill my graduation requirement. No school ever brought it up. But you can always take more math classes if you enjoy them and/or think they will be helpful to you in the future (I personally regret not taking stats for the latter reason).

I took the MCAT after sophomore year after taking the last of my premed requirements, and I think it was the best decision I could have made. Studying for the MCAT while studying abroad in junior year would have been the worst thing ever; I would have done much worse, and it would have RUINED my experience in Panama. There will be lots of other strains on your time while studying abroad besides classes themselves -- touring, meeting new people, figuring out where to buy your groceries and the best place to get a beer... You should definitely get the MCAT over with while the material is fresh and while you're not missing out on all the new opportunities that come with living in a new country. The one thing that might change that is if you want to also take a good deal of time between graduating from college and applying to med school, but from your post it doesn't sound like you do.

 

[Ashers]

I studied in London for a year (yr 4 out of 5), granted, at the time I wasn't pre-med. I was leaning more towards marine bio with medicine as the only other potential that had just come up. I had lots of people ask me about my experience there. I also took mostly science courses. Absolute favorite year in college.

As for math, I took the AP BC test in high school, placed out of math in college, and never needed to take another math class. So, I haven't had any math class since high school. No questions about it or anything.

I took the MCAT after I graduated, since I didn't have time to study for it when I got back from London. My dad wanted me to take it without studying since he was able to do that 35 years ago.