Hello: I am an incoming sophomore and I'm trying to decide whether I should take a gap year or not so I can plan on when to study for the MCAT. I'm not sure if that hours I have/ will have this year will be enough to apply at the end of my junior year, and I was wondering if someone could help?
Currently I have a 3.75 gpa and a 3.6 science gpa.
I have around 250 hours of research, 150 clinical hours from caregiving, and 90 nonclinical volunteering from volunteer clubs at school and volunteering for my swim team.
This coming year, I will be part of a disaster preparedness group whose goal is to provide greater outreach to surrounding communities about different disasters, and on the side I will be doing my own research project on environmental disasters and infectious disease. That should add to my nonclinical volunteering with around 250 extra hours. I am also part of a paid wastewater testing group for COVID-19, which is just nonclinical employment. I am not planning on pursuing more research as I'd rather do more clinical work. This coming summer I am planning on returning to my job which should get me another 150 hours since I am part time. I run my own medieval studies blog as a hobby, but it's not really volunteering, it's just for fun lol. I'm considering a public health minor since one of my main interests is infectious disease (hence the disaster preparedness group and wastewater testing) as well as medieval studies since I originally got interested in disease through the 14th century black plague outbreak.
I was going to pay for a counselor to help me plan the rest of my timeline, but wanted to try a forum like this first, so would anyone be able to help or provide insight on what I can work on and whether I would need to take a gap year before applying? If so, when should I start studying for the MCAT? Thank you!! (Sorry this is so long/ is really premature, I haven't gotten any advice from anyone yet so everything I've been planning has been based off my own research lol)
Currently I have a 3.75 gpa and a 3.6 science gpa.
I have around 250 hours of research, 150 clinical hours from caregiving, and 90 nonclinical volunteering from volunteer clubs at school and volunteering for my swim team.
This coming year, I will be part of a disaster preparedness group whose goal is to provide greater outreach to surrounding communities about different disasters, and on the side I will be doing my own research project on environmental disasters and infectious disease. That should add to my nonclinical volunteering with around 250 extra hours. I am also part of a paid wastewater testing group for COVID-19, which is just nonclinical employment. I am not planning on pursuing more research as I'd rather do more clinical work. This coming summer I am planning on returning to my job which should get me another 150 hours since I am part time. I run my own medieval studies blog as a hobby, but it's not really volunteering, it's just for fun lol. I'm considering a public health minor since one of my main interests is infectious disease (hence the disaster preparedness group and wastewater testing) as well as medieval studies since I originally got interested in disease through the 14th century black plague outbreak.
I was going to pay for a counselor to help me plan the rest of my timeline, but wanted to try a forum like this first, so would anyone be able to help or provide insight on what I can work on and whether I would need to take a gap year before applying? If so, when should I start studying for the MCAT? Thank you!! (Sorry this is so long/ is really premature, I haven't gotten any advice from anyone yet so everything I've been planning has been based off my own research lol)
