Umm... I don't know if you got an answer to this already but here goes.
From what I've been reading in articles/books, non-traditional med school applicants are becoming more common. I heard that some students can't handle 4 years of med school right after college; many end up regretting not taking a gap year. Also I read that med schools actually prefer applicants who spend the gap year volunteering and gaining a better view of the real world outside college as opposed to an applicant fresh out of college.
Though I'm a bit confused about this subject from your post. I heard that when students take a year off they usually go volunteer (to organizations related to medicine/health) to get some experience and a better idea of how world and the people that inhabits it work. Some students even go abroad and volunteer for the Peace Corps or Doctors Without Borders or a similar organization.
What I'm confused about is that you said that if they wait til their senior year to apply then during their gap year is when they go on interviews, but then interviews wouldn't be possible for the applicants who decide to volunteer abroad. (What are secondaries?) So if the applicant wants to go volunteer abroad during the gap year would he/she still have to apply to med school during the junior year?
Thanks K! =]
From what I've been reading in articles/books, non-traditional med school applicants are becoming more common. I heard that some students can't handle 4 years of med school right after college; many end up regretting not taking a gap year. Also I read that med schools actually prefer applicants who spend the gap year volunteering and gaining a better view of the real world outside college as opposed to an applicant fresh out of college.
Though I'm a bit confused about this subject from your post. I heard that when students take a year off they usually go volunteer (to organizations related to medicine/health) to get some experience and a better idea of how world and the people that inhabits it work. Some students even go abroad and volunteer for the Peace Corps or Doctors Without Borders or a similar organization.
What I'm confused about is that you said that if they wait til their senior year to apply then during their gap year is when they go on interviews, but then interviews wouldn't be possible for the applicants who decide to volunteer abroad. (What are secondaries?) So if the applicant wants to go volunteer abroad during the gap year would he/she still have to apply to med school during the junior year?
Thanks K! =]
Dear Jaclyn,
The medical school application process takes about a year- from sending in your primary application to matriculation. So, if you want to start medical school in the fall 2012 (for example) then you'll want to apply the summer of 2011 (a year before). The earlier the better, so I would say June is the best time to apply (in my opinion). Once you send in your primary applications, then the medical schools will decide whether or not to send you their secondary applications (applications unique to each school). If and when you send in your secondaries, they will decide to offer you an interview or not. Then if you get through all of those, and they accept you, you're ready to go! I'm not sure about the spacing between each step of the application process but I know it'll take about a year. For those who decide to volunteer abroad, they shouldn't apply until a year before they want to matriculate. For example, if someone wants to volunteer with the Peace Corps (which is 2 years I think..) then he/she should not apply until he/she is finished with the program since he/she will need to be available for the year doing their secondaries and interviews. So Peace Corps + year for application process = 3 "gap years". However, let's say you want to work for two years instead of going abroad. Then you can apply after a year of working so you can start medical school right after working for two years. As to your final question, if the applicant wants to go volunteer abroad for a year (there would be no gap year in this case), then the applicant should fill out the application once he/she comes back. If you apply in your junior year, you will spend senior year doing your secondaries and going to interviews and will start medical school the fall after graduation.
This seems like a complicated answer to a simple question haha. Sorry! Hope it helps somewhat!
-K
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