Should I Take a Gap Year?
Taking a gap year does not hurt nor help your application. There are many individual reasons for taking a year, including expanding your knowledge in a field of interest, earning additional money, or taking a break from studying. There may also be gaps in your requirements or you feel the need to improve your grades in a post-baccalaureate program. The important thing is that you can discuss why you took the gap year and what you learned from it, about yourself or the world in general.
What/Where Should I Spend My Gap Year?
These are individual choices, and they should be reviewed with your Prehealth advisor. Some students travel abroad and some travel to remote parts of the country. Others spend time in a lab or working in the business or tech fields. If you are applying for medical school during your gap year, you will need to make sure that you keep deadlines in mind and have the ability to take time off for medical school interviews – this is less onerous now than in the past, as many of the interviews are done remotely over the internet.