What’s the point of taking only 1 gap year if you can’t really write about it on your app?

[anonimo21]

Let’s say someone wants to take a full time gap year position but it starts sometime around/after app submission (July-August). At that point you can only project hours and say what you will do, not what you have done. So how does taking just 1 gap year help? Do the projected hours have the same value?

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[MyStateofMind]

Not a gap year applicant, but those I know who did take a gap year (or two) did so for specific reasons: (1) Have a solid MCAT score in hand before the cycle begins in May; (2) Filling a specific void in their application to make them more competitive (e.g., continuation of clinical work/research/clinical volunteering that was begun later in their senior year...and although the hours will be projected, it shows commitment as it adds to the hours already begun, etc); (3) Pursuing something that shows their interests and how they want to take advantage of their medical education (e.g., a friend worked for a start up in the healthcare industry in a very low income neighborhood). I'm not sure what the value of the projected hours are outside of showing commitment to an activity already started...but what you do choose to do during your gap year I think says a lot about you and how you choose to spend your time.

 

[LizzyM]

For some people, it is what one is able to do in the summer before and during senior year, rather than what will be done in the gap year, that drives in decision. The applicant has an additional year of grades which can bump the GPA a little bit, an additional year to schedule and take the MCAT, additional time for research to amount to something, additional time to take on roles as a tutor, campus leader, community leader.

In some cases, the decision to pursue medicine was made later than fall of freshman year so some additional time is needed to take the pre-reqs and be well prepared for the MCAT which shifts the earliest one can reasonably apply to the summer after college graduation rather than the summer before senior year.

If the application with just forecasted hours gets you the interview, what you've been doing since graduation is always a topic of conversation that an interviewer may wish to pursue and which can be very interesting for me, as an interviewer, to hear about.

I hope that this helps you to understand why a single gap year can be useful to some applicants.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Let’s say someone wants to take a full time gap year position but it starts sometime around/after app submission (July-August). At that point you can only project hours and say what you will do, not what you have done. So how does taking just 1 gap year help? Do the projected hours have the same value?

It is good to know if you have a significant personal growth opportunity. I only pay attention to the projected hours as a marker of your commitment to that opportunity, but nothing that much more. I will say it won't be enough to compensate for a real deficit of experiences that would make someone a desirable candidate; you would want to be mostly complete if that were the case. In other words, if you had limited clinical experience because you had to work while going to school, a significant clinical opportunity (like scribing full-time) would be good to have nearly completed before you apply. If the clinical experience adds to opportunities already completed, it would help convey to us a level of commitment to a path to the profession.

 

[ese2]

It is good to know if you have a significant personal growth opportunity. I only pay attention to the projected hours as a marker of your commitment to that opportunity, but nothing that much more. I will say it won't be enough to compensate for a real deficit of experiences that would make someone a desirable candidate; you would want to be mostly complete if that were the case. In other words, if you had limited clinical experience because you had to work while going to school, a significant clinical opportunity (like scribing full-time) would be good to have nearly completed before you apply. If the clinical experience adds to opportunities already completed, it would help convey to us a level of commitment to a path to the profession.

My research experience is really limited but I've been doing full-time research in my gap year, would that at least partially make up for my deficiencies in that area?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I would have to look at your WAMC submission, but -- not speaking for every adcom -- it would help you provided everything else with your application is solid (clinical experience, community service, grades, test scores).

 

[ese2]

I would have to look at your WAMC submission, but -- not speaking for every adcom -- it would help you provided everything else with your application is solid (clinical experience, community service, grades, test scores).

Thank you!