Ten Reasons to Wait a Year to Apply to a Health Professions Program

Deciding whether to apply for matriculation the fall following graduation or taking a year off is one of the most important decisions that you should be making right now as a potential health professions school applicant. For those of you on the fence, here ar a few reasons that it may not hurt to wait:

  1. You'll have more time to study for the required standardized test. Students applying to programs that have rolling admissions (medical and dental schools) need to take their standardized tests as early as possible, preferably in the spring of their junior year. This will allow you to know your scores before you submit your application. Some students do submit their application prior to taking the standardized test or getting their scores back. This is not the ideal situation. By taking the standardized test early, once can submit a complete application as early as possible in the application cycle. This gives you a better shot at getting into schools. Students applying to other programs should be focusing on taking standardized tests no later than tthe early summer after your junior year. In either scenario, applying for the following cycle means you could spend all summer studying for the standardized test, and still have time to retake it if necessary before applying.
     
  2. You can use next year to solidify your GPA. The numbers part of your applicant profile almost always improves your senior year if you're a junior because you have more control over the courses you take, and you're more acclimated to the university environment. If you're a senior, you may want to look at various options to improve your GPA before applying.
     
  3. You might secure stronger letters of recommendation. Again, if you're a junior, and you'll have more opportunities to forge relationships with your faculty. Juniors who will be doing an honor senior project will have the opportunity to ask their mentor for a letter, since your research will be completed. You'll also have this summer to work on getting a letter form a supervisor or volunteer coordinator in your summer activity.
     
  4. There may be a stronger economy. Whenever the economy is suffering, applications to fellowships, graduate programs and professional schools go up. Applications have been increasing in the past few years. There were 42,315 Maryland applicants for 2007 (compared to 33,625 in 2002 and 39,108 in 2006). There was a 15% increase in the dental applicant pool from 2005 to 2006. More applicants mean that health professions schools can be more selective in who they accept. It seems like the applications are also high for 2008. Waiting a bit could improve your chances based on sheer numbers.
     
  5. You can get your finances in order. Health professions school is expensive, as is the process of applying. Taking time away from school means that you will probably have to start repaying any student loans, but working full-time should allow you to make payments on loans (to defray some debt load) while also saving some money to put toward applications and future expenses. If you have poor credit, spending some time rebuilding your credit record may also pay off when it comes to taking out professional school loans.
     
  6. You'll have more time to focus on the preparations required to apply. You have essays to write, letters of recommendations to gather, standardized tests to study for, schools to research, as well as the rest of real life and figuring out what to do this summer. If you can't spend the time you need on applicaton prep now (and secondary essay writing this summer), it might be better to start getting organized this year, but focus on applying next year.
     
  7. "Everyone else is doing it." It is not uncommon these days to take some time off before matriculating. Students do benefit if they have taken a year off as long as they do something productive. This may be more attractive to admissions committees because of this new experiences as well as the maturity you gain from being in the 'real world' for awhile.
     
  8. You can gain more experience, and practice articulating your career interests, on paper and aloud. Without having participated in some activities that allow you to serve the community and to build the skills you need to be a health professional, it will be hard to convince schools that you have a realistic understanding of what you're about to undertake. The more time you spend in these settings, the better you'll be when interviews come, and the easier it will be to focus on applications, since you'll have a more solid goal to work toward. If you need more experiences to back up your "gut feeling" that you "must" be a doctor or dentist or vet, by all means take the time to find those experiences. If you're having trouble writing your essay, or practicing interview answers, you may just need more time and experiences behind you to put your thoughts together.
     
  9. It's quicker to become a strong first time applicant that it is to become a strong reapplicant. Spending another year improving your candidacy means you can apply in 12 short months. Students who are not accepted need to be thoughtful in improving to the point that they are viable reapplicants. This means that if you applied for the fall after your senior year and did not get in, you might need to take a year to improve your candidacy and then reapply for matriculation two years after you have graduated.
     
  10. Life is short! Once you get into a health professions program, it becomes more difficult to take time off - you're more likely to have financial concerns, family concerns, and a professional schedule that will keep you from, say, traveling to Africa for six months, or learning to skydive, or pursuing independent research, or going to culinary school. Additionally, it may be beneficial to give your brain a break from academics after 18 years of school, before facing the rigor of health professions school course work. Health professions school (and the support your undergraduate institute provides in working with you to get there) will still be there for you if you go and do these things and return to the application process later.

Taken From: Kate Fukawa-County, Assistant Dean for Health Professions Advising, Office of Academic Services, Brandeis University