Taking a year off before med school - to do very little

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is taking a gap year to travel before med school. He scored 525 on the MCAT and got accepted to several medical schools. He wants to take a year off before heading into the meat grinder (aka medical school)

I didn’t know med schools allowed you to defer acceptances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS is taking a gap year to travel before med school. He scored 525 on the MCAT and got accepted to several medical schools. He wants to take a year off before heading into the meat grinder (aka medical school)

Congrats to your DS. But the kind of kid who scores a 99.99999% on the MCAT can literally do whatever he wants.

That's not the case for mere mortals who need gap years and research years and whatever else to get in.

[Anonymous]

Whatever you do, don't do nothing (or very little)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whatever you do, don't do nothing (or very little)

I think it's OP's opinion that he's doing nothing though because she's comparing to those who go to Wall Street or Fulbrights. I think shadowing and EMT are standard things that people do on gap years along with research.

[Anonymous]

OP it seems like maybe you were expecting/hoping your son would apply early decision and thus have an acceptance in hand by October. That clearly isn't the path he's taking this year - and likely won't even be his path next year either; he'll go through regular admissions with the regular cycle. So prepare for this to be a drawn out process and let the grown man who wants to go worry about it.

[Anonymous]

I guess the question is, is it hard to defer med school or is it automatic?

If he knows he wants to defer, and deferring is not automatic, maybe it makes more since to delay applying.

Also, my siblings are doctors and IIRC med school requires interviewing in person, or at least did pre covid. It took a lot of time and money. Might be better for him not to have to do that senior year so he can focus on grades.

Working as an EMT sounds good to me, but maybe I'm wrong....

You should NOT pay his rent after graduation. (Why is a college student living in a luxury apartment anyway??) Make him clear of that now, so he knows he will be responsible for paying rent. And if he lives at home, I would tell him he has three months rent free and after that he needs to start paying you guys rent. If you want you can save it and put it towards his med school expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess the question is, is it hard to defer med school or is it automatic?

If he knows he wants to defer, and deferring is not automatic, maybe it makes more since to delay applying.

Also, my siblings are doctors and IIRC med school requires interviewing in person, or at least did pre covid. It took a lot of time and money. Might be better for him not to have to do that senior year so he can focus on grades.

Working as an EMT sounds good to me, but maybe I'm wrong....

You should NOT pay his rent after graduation. (Why is a college student living in a luxury apartment anyway??) Make him clear of that now, so he knows he will be responsible for paying rent. And if he lives at home, I would tell him he has three months rent free and after that he needs to start paying you guys rent. If you want you can save it and put it towards his med school expenses.

Deferring in med school is generally not automatic. There may be some schools with an automatic deferral, but for most you have to submit a letter to a dean/adcom etc. detailing why you want a deferral. If the deferral is to do something - you need to detail those plans whether it's because you suddenly got a one year research fellowship or want to travel the world in some way that won't be doable as a med student, resident, or attending; the - I just want to defer to be a ski bum but I haven't figured it out yet so I'll be playing video games in my dorm until I'm kicked out - stance just doesn't work for med schools. There are just far too many serious applicants for them to choose from that they can drop you and pick up someone off a waitlist.

[Anonymous]

Maybe he thinks he isn't going to get in so why not put off that adult decision of what comes next until after senior year? College boys are known to think that way - why ruin my senior year with potential rejection after rejection.

[Anonymous]

Very likely, he's not going to be accepted to med school. And it would not have mattered if he had applied when you thought he should. Are you ok with that Mom? He's afraid to tell you, most likely.

[Anonymous]

Med school is only an option after getting accepted. At this point, it is just an idea.

[Anonymous]

That’s cold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Med school is only an option after getting accepted. At this point, it is just an idea.

Not a good mindset to have. Once you get accepted, there’s little turning back. You’re not going to reject one of your only acceptances and have to go through the grueling & expensive app process again. You can’t defer med school acceptances like you easily can undergrad acceptances. If you go straight to med school after undergrad, you won’t have a material amount of free time for another decade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That’s cold.

Honesty is needed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Med school is only an option after getting accepted. At this point, it is just an idea.

Not a good mindset to have. Once you get accepted, there’s little turning back. You’re not going to reject one of your only acceptances and have to go through the grueling & expensive app process again. You can’t defer med school acceptances like you easily can undergrad acceptances. If you go straight to med school after undergrad, you won’t have a material amount of free time for another decade.

It is accurate. That is like saying I’m going to Stanford and I haven’t even applied.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That’s cold.

Honesty is needed.

Yeah I don’t disagree but Op will never fully appreciate your honesty until her kid gains experience by going thru the process. It is truly grueling process. And expensive.