#gap years

[frantic-babbling]

got a bachelors double major degree and was rejected by a no-experience required job

everywhere else is asking for healthcare certs that I obviously don't have as I was... you guessed it... getting my bachelors!

[p01i703d]

Help! If anyone reading this has graduated high school and then waited multiple years to go to college, can you tell me how difficult was it for you to readjust back to that life? How much harder is college than high school? (Community college, anyway) Is there anything I should be doing now to prep myself for it? I graduated high school 5 years ago so I know I'm rusty but I don't know what to do to brush up. Any tips would be appreciated 😌

[mandelene]

Do you know if most US univs have a requirement that applicants for an undergrad course have to currently be in gr. 12 to apply? I took a gap sem recently and it's possible that it would extend to a whole year, depending on the openings this coming enrollment period.

Hi, there! I’ve never been in that position, so I can’t say this with 100% certainty, but I’m fairly sure you just need your high school diploma/GED/equivalent, a copy of your transcript, and have completed any exams required for the application, and if you have that you should be fine to apply/enroll. Some people take several years off before they enroll in college, so you don’t have to apply straight from the 12th grade. Heck, I have a friend in my major who is in his sixties and just came back to school. People of all ages and backgrounds attend college. The application requirements may be different, however, depending on the school. You wouldn’t not be considered if you apply a year after finishing 12th grade – you just might have different requirements on the application than someone who is applying straight from high school, if that makes sense, so definitely find out from the admissions office at the college what they would want from you. Good luck!

[populationpensive]

Hi! I'm a pre-pa student who just finished my freshman year of undergrad. I wanted to ask if you have any advice on talking to parents about gap years. I'm perfectly OK with the idea of taking a gap year after graduating. I'm training as an emt this summer, the hospitals near me both at college and at home have great educational programs, and there's always programs like peace corps, I have plenty of options and all of them would be great, but my mom sees gap years as a failure. Help!

Hello nonnie, 

I think parents have a tendency to think “graduate, then get a job.” Which is fine and logical but if you are seeking to be in medicine, it sometimes isn’t that simple or easy. Often times, the process demands a lot from our prospective students which, depending on your academic and extracurricular pursuits, may require additional time. 

Taking a year after getting your bachelor’s degree to work full time as an EMT will really bolster your application. It’s important to have those benchmark hours completed when you decide to apply. Even if the program is like “Oh 200 is ok”, really you need much more to be competitive. Most people in my class had at least 1,000 hours. 

I might suggest that you research the PA/CASPA application process, what is required, and explain that process to your parents. It is important that you are challenged in school but you also want competitive grades. If you work too much as an EMT during school, grades might suffer. Having a more relaxed work schedule in school and taking a year to really rack up the hours is the smart thing to do. I would hope that if you present this logically to your parents that they would understand. 

Also, I would say at LEAST 60% of my PA class had a gap year. It is VERY common and accepted. You have additional time to collect all your application materials and write your essays without the stress of school/finals looming. Generally, I think it’s the way to go. 

Good luck! But also - you still have a LOT of time. Don’t forget to live a little. Working towards becoming a PA is rewarding but make time in undergrad for normal human activities. :-)

-Poppi

[bibliobasilisk]

Hey followers (and anyone else who wants to participate)

I am currently conducting a survey for a course I'm taking and I'm looking for responders!! I have two surveys:

1. for those who are currently in high school:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScw4iV6V_YhTT19LEvyPVAsgSkutD5d5Q6qdqJ4Ods5BRjZeA/viewform?c=0&w=1

and

2. Those who are in/have graduated college:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdLxgiHzpeFyIhH1-6ocyTV1bIzo5VNuUrA2KXKMujELj0ouw/viewform?c=0&w=1

It's about gap years while/before attending college. I know the questions are a bit restrictive (I wanted them more open ended) but they will allow us to tabulate the data at a later date easily.

Thank you to who all who participate!!!

[anthropolos]

Hey! Has anyone taken a gap year after undergrad before starting graduate school? I want to take a gap year (to do better on the GRE, gain more experience, etc.). I've heard mostly good things about taking a gap year but I'm still nervous graduate programs might not favor individuals who take gap years. Does anyone have experiences with applying to graduate school after taking a gap year?

The people I know personally who have taken a gap year ended up taking two… and there is no telling if they’ll come back. For some people, gap years draw them away from academia and they end up never going back. Others use it to save money. I don’t personally know anyone who was affected negatively while applying to graduate programs because of a gap year.

Any followers please comment! 

[texanforevermd]

Hello! I saw your post about taking a gap year but what about multiple gap years? Do you know medblrs that took maybe 3 years? I graduated 2016 but I was still trying to figure out if I would continue my psych degree to masters (enjoyed working as a research assistant but not liking academia field much) or go into med school-psych. I did take the recommended courses but haven't taken the MCAT and have little clinical exp so I know I can't apply this year. I'm currently working on that part. Thx

Hi there anon! There are definitely people in my med school class who took multiple gap years. There are some people who took as many as 5-10 years in between college and medical school and had entirely different careers in between. You do what works best for you :) If you do decide to apply to medical school, it’s much easier to just plan to go all in and apply when you are ready and have everything together so multiple gap years can definitely help with that. I think you have a good plan to figure out what you want to do! 

 As for medblrs, if you took more than 1 gap year, feel free to identify yourself on this post :) 

[wishbone-md]

I even planned on having my gap years and I still have feels about graduation. All I can do is work harder to get the hell out of dedicated.