Section Two: The Pros and Cons of gap year
Let’s discuss if you should even take a gap year before we dive right into the option available to you. Sometimes taking this decision can be confusing. These scenarios will help you decide whether to take a gap year or not:
- You are yet to finish your medical school prerequisite courses before trying to enroll in a medical school.
- You have a very low MCAT or GPA score that a majority of MD and DO schools do not accept.
- You got your improved MCAT score almost toward the end of the med school application cycle and could no longer proceed and thus, miss out on rolling admission. It could also be that you could not meet the deadline for the application, as well as not having already written secondary essays.
- You have not had enough community service, volunteering, shadowing, or patient exposure hours.
- You have a personal problem that could also cause you to take a break from work or school.
- You want to pursue a specific interest before enrolling into a medical school, or you’re stressed by school or work.
What is the number of medical students who take a gap year?
In 2020, matriculating medical students were surveyed by AAMC. The results of the survey show that 44.1 percent of new medical students said that they took a year or two off after college. Only a few of the surveyed students (33.7 percent) enrolled into a medical school immediately after college.
Data obtained from past admission years has shown that more and more students take a gap year, and the number keeps going up, while only a few students do not take a gap year. Clearly, we can see that it is not unusual for students to take a gap year.
Talk to a medical school application consultant about what to do in your gap year.