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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here - if he isn't going to get accepted or has changed his mind or whatever, DH and I are both fine with that. We are not doctors, nor did we raise him to be one of those kids who has been telling everyone since age 2 he was going to be a dr. To the extent he pursues this, it's his own choice, not ours.

What we will not be ok with however will be a college grad just lounging around just "prepping" for med school applications. Either go or don't go, but get on with life, which to us involves getting yourself a job, health insurance, an apartment, and getting to work (though we are ok with him living at home for a while, if he works). If he doesn't want to go/can't get in, I hope he's starting to think about what to do with a biology degree. I know people on these threads always pipe up and say oh McKinsey hires people with every kind of degree, but reality is he isn't the type that can get that kind of job; nor do I think a lot of that hiring happens at state schools. I feel like that's an ivy thing to major in whatever and still end up on Wall Street or in big consulting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OP here - I do appreciate that PP's honesty. I understand that med school is just an idea right now because he doesn't even have one acceptance in hand. So if he is interested in turning that idea into a real option, why not grab one acceptance as a senior?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Tell me you know nothing about the med school app process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OP here - I do appreciate that PP's honesty. I understand that med school is just an idea right now because he doesn't even have one acceptance in hand. So if he is interested in turning that idea into a real option, why not grab one acceptance as a senior?

Because OP. It's not like he can just grab one or two. Unlike college admission acceptances, Med school acceptances are very hard to come by. Don't get me wrong but sounds like he knows what he is doing and you and your DH don't at this point. Have some faith in him, maybe?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here - if he isn't going to get accepted or has changed his mind or whatever, DH and I are both fine with that. We are not doctors, nor did we raise him to be one of those kids who has been telling everyone since age 2 he was going to be a dr. To the extent he pursues this, it's his own choice, not ours.

What we will not be ok with however will be a college grad just lounging around just "prepping" for med school applications. Either go or don't go, but get on with life, which to us involves getting yourself a job, health insurance, an apartment, and getting to work (though we are ok with him living at home for a while, if he works). If he doesn't want to go/can't get in, I hope he's starting to think about what to do with a biology degree. I know people on these threads always pipe up and say oh McKinsey hires people with every kind of degree, but reality is he isn't the type that can get that kind of job; nor do I think a lot of that hiring happens at state schools. I feel like that's an ivy thing to major in whatever and still end up on Wall Street or in big consulting.

Obviously, I don't know how he spends his time but for kids taking a gap year, they need that time to build up their qualifications - clinical experience, EMT, and/or research all matter. Consider it as a part of process, not wasting time. What you want to make sure is everything has value added. No wasted motions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Tell me you know nothing about the med school app process.

I am probably more knowledgeable than you can imagine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

OP here - if he isn't going to get accepted or has changed his mind or whatever, DH and I are both fine with that. We are not doctors, nor did we raise him to be one of those kids who has been telling everyone since age 2 he was going to be a dr. To the extent he pursues this, it's his own choice, not ours.

What we will not be ok with however will be a college grad just lounging around just "prepping" for med school applications. Either go or don't go, but get on with life, which to us involves getting yourself a job, health insurance, an apartment, and getting to work (though we are ok with him living at home for a while, if he works). If he doesn't want to go/can't get in, I hope he's starting to think about what to do with a biology degree. I know people on these threads always pipe up and say oh McKinsey hires people with every kind of degree, but reality is he isn't the type that can get that kind of job; nor do I think a lot of that hiring happens at state schools. I feel like that's an ivy thing to major in whatever and still end up on Wall Street or in big consulting.

I think you basically need to tell him you are not a free-ride during gap year. He'll choose what he does but he needs to contribute financially as a college graduate who is "waiting to continue his education".

[Anonymous]

Maybe have him think about what is career options are if he doesn’t get into medical school. Follow that path, along with studying for MCATS, getting experience in a medical setting. The worst applicants are the people who have no idea what the work really entails and a miserable and then drop out and waste a space that could have gone to someone who would be dedicated. Have him think through what he needs to do to show that dedication, based on first hand knowledge. It is projected there will be a shortage of doctors as the US population ages, need to make sue that people who are admitted have shown not just the ability to do well on tests, but the fortitude and interest by getting more experience. A lackluster, not well thought outbreak will not help show that. But, a break is a good idea, once you start on that treadmill of education, residency, etc, really won’t have the time for breaks and self-exploration.

[Anonymous]

MD here and previously on a medical school admissions committee…most applicants these days have a gap year/years between undergrad and med school in order to strengthen their resumes with research and other experiences. Also having gone through an accelerated track to med school myself, i would have given anything to have some time off for other experiences before giving up my 20’s and 30’s to medicine. It all worked out, but burn out can be real as this is a life long commitment. If your son is dedicated to pursuing this track, a year or more off won’t do any harm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:MD here and previously on a medical school admissions committee…most applicants these days have a gap year/years between undergrad and med school in order to strengthen their resumes with research and other experiences. Also having gone through an accelerated track to med school myself, i would have given anything to have some time off for other experiences before giving up my 20’s and 30’s to medicine. It all worked out, but burn out can be real as this is a life long commitment. If your son is dedicated to pursuing this track, a year or more off won’t do any harm.

Not an MD but I’m surprised you are the first to say this and I was chiming in to say it. I have heard that it is quite common, even necessary and expected, to take a year between college and med school these days to apply to med school because the process has become so onerous and the kids need the extra year for shadowing, mcat etc

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD here and previously on a medical school admissions committee…most applicants these days have a gap year/years between undergrad and med school in order to strengthen their resumes with research and other experiences. Also having gone through an accelerated track to med school myself, i would have given anything to have some time off for other experiences before giving up my 20’s and 30’s to medicine. It all worked out, but burn out can be real as this is a life long commitment. If your son is dedicated to pursuing this track, a year or more off won’t do any harm.

Not an MD but I’m surprised you are the first to say this and I was chiming in to say it. I have heard that it is quite common, even necessary and expected, to take a year between college and med school these days to apply to med school because the process has become so onerous and the kids need the extra year for shadowing, mcat etc

MD pp is not the first one who said it but OP appears struggling with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD here and previously on a medical school admissions committee…most applicants these days have a gap year/years between undergrad and med school in order to strengthen their resumes with research and other experiences. Also having gone through an accelerated track to med school myself, i would have given anything to have some time off for other experiences before giving up my 20’s and 30’s to medicine. It all worked out, but burn out can be real as this is a life long commitment. If your son is dedicated to pursuing this track, a year or more off won’t do any harm.

Not an MD but I’m surprised you are the first to say this and I was chiming in to say it. I have heard that it is quite common, even necessary and expected, to take a year between college and med school these days to apply to med school because the process has become so onerous and the kids need the extra year for shadowing, mcat etc

It has become the norm among applicants however one could argue it is just delaying a lengthy training process and medical schools understand this applicant trend has trade-offs.

[Anonymous]

NP here - one question that OP has asked a few times here that no one is answering - when would DS apply to medical school? Like what month after graduation? Will he have made enough progress on research, being an EMT etc. to be able to show the med schools anything or is it sufficient to say - this is what I'm doing this year?

This to me is why 2 year gap years for med make more sense than 1 year. In year 1 you make real progress on whatever you're doing and then you apply and show med schools that progress and your 2nd gap year to some extent is waiting time like after you're accepted, waiting for school to start - but of course you can work, travel etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:MD here and previously on a medical school admissions committee…most applicants these days have a gap year/years between undergrad and med school in order to strengthen their resumes with research and other experiences. Also having gone through an accelerated track to med school myself, i would have given anything to have some time off for other experiences before giving up my 20’s and 30’s to medicine. It all worked out, but burn out can be real as this is a life long commitment. If your son is dedicated to pursuing this track, a year or more off won’t do any harm.

Not an MD but I’m surprised you are the first to say this and I was chiming in to say it. I have heard that it is quite common, even necessary and expected, to take a year between college and med school these days to apply to med school because the process has become so onerous and the kids need the extra year for shadowing, mcat etc

MD pp is not the first one who said it but OP appears struggling with it.

I didn’t think anyone had said it very clearly although she does seem a bit overwrought. If he is talking to premed advising at his college they may be telling him to do it this way. My understanding (from acquaintances with pre-med kids) is that it’s becoming almost like part of the process. Working as an EMT, in a lab etc doesn’t exactly sound like loafing around to me. I don’t know that I’d pay his rent when he could easily live at home but other than that I think you may need to respect his understanding of the process, assuming he seems to have the grades for med school.

[Anonymous]

MD prior poster here- also want to add that it helps to have a few years of real life experience prior to starting med school. Having the maturity of going through real life experiences allows one to better handle the challenges of a rigorous curriculum/residency years. Also fine tunes decision making…all of this isn’t required - as I was an MD by the time I was 21- but I think again it doesn’t hurt and serves one well later in life. There’s pros and cons to everything and I’m grateful to have had an early start which has helped me in other ways but the traditional accelerated model is how it’s done in other countries which may be the OP’s reference point.