“Do I Really Need a Gap Year?”: Why You Shouldn’t Be Afraid of Gap Years and What to Do if You Take One

Many students enter their undergraduate education with misconceptions about what their professional school application timeline should look like. In reality, there is no “should;” the only “right” application timeline is the timeline that works best for you. Gap years are incredibly common for students applying to professional schools!

Why Do Students Take Gap Year(s)?

Many students think they should only take gap year(s) if they are rejected from professional school during their first application cycle or if they need to raise their GPA, but there are a variety of reasons to proactively consider taking gap year(s):

• Gain additional experience—many students struggle to have enough time during their undergrad to get enough healthcare/volunteer/leadership/other experience to become a competitive applicant
• Taking time to do additional shadowing to decide if the career path is really what you want before committing to professional school
• Personal development
• Saving money for professional school
• Personal/familial hardships and responsibilities
• Conducting research
• Traveling the world
• Raising GPA/participating in a postbacc or graduate program

KSU Grad/Yale Medical Student Perspective:

Cole King completed his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at KSU before gaining admission to Yale School of Medicine, where he started medical school in 2024. Below, he offers beneficial perspectives on how gap year(s) can help you develop to become a great future healthcare professional:

What were your undergraduate and master’s degree programs? How did you choose your master’s program?

My undergraduate degree is a B.S. in biology from K-State, and I also have an MPH (Master of Public Health) in infectious disease from K-State.

I had an interest in public health when I first came to college, so I was initially considering careers in both medicine and public health. I interned at the Riley County Health Department in summer 2021, after which I knew that I wanted to incorporate public health into my career. As I worked through the rest of my undergraduate studies, I decided that medical school was right for me, although I still wanted to incorporate public health into my career. From there, I decided to stay at K-State and pursue an MPH because of the connections I had already built there. That way, I could set up my applied practice experience and thesis research with projects I already knew about and was interested in.

What did you do after you graduated from KSU with your undergraduate degree? (education, research, extracurriculars, etc.)

I jumped straight into my MPH program after graduating from K-State in December 2022. Most of my time was taken up by coursework, thesis research, and an applied practice experience at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. On the side, I taught an MCAT prep course, tutored a few students, and maintained my involvement in the K-State symphony orchestra. I also spent a couple semesters working at Big Lakes Developmental Center in Manhattan on the weekends. It was a very busy time!

What skills and qualities did you grow in during your master’s program/gap years?

I learned a lot during my master's program, and the coursework set me up well for medical school. I learned a lot about the scientific process from start to finish as I carried my thesis work from an idea in my head all the way to publication of a final product. I also developed analytical skills by critically analyzing scientific literature and public health policy. I also learned a lot about myself in the process. I learned how to research and design projects independently, how I study best, and how to balance an intense workload. Those things have served me very well in medical school, and I think I am a much better medical student for it.

Do you recommend that pre-health students remain open to the idea of gap year(s) before applying? Why or why not?

Yes! For starters, there are so many amazing opportunities out there to explore before medical school. Many of my classmates took time to travel, conduct research, or began other careers before deciding to go to medical school. I think those experiences can be very enriching and helpful in deciding (and articulating) whether and why medicine is right for you. They can also give you more to write about and make your application more competitive.

My main word of caution though is that, for a gap year(s) to be helpful, you have to do something with it. That said, if you find the right opportunity, then absolutely take it. The average age of medical school matriculants is 24, which means that most people don't go straight in after college anymore. In fact, I am one of the younger people in my class for only taking one gap year. As long as you can make something out of it, it is definitely something to consider.

Remember that this stage of life is about much more than getting into medical school. The world is a big place with lots to explore, and the world needs doctors with rich and varied experiences because medicine intersects with just about anything you can think of. There is no wrong path.

What if I Need to Raise my GPA?

GPA concerns are a practical reality for many students applying to professional school. With many professional school programs looking for a minimum of a 3.0 GPA to apply and with competitive applicants having GPAs extending far above a 3.0, postbaccalaureate (postbacc) programs are a frequent consideration for students who want or need to raise their GPA.

• Is your overall GPA a concern, your science GPA, or both?
• If you need to increase your science GPA, we recommend taking a look at the curriculum for postbacc programs. Would the classes in the program contribute toward your science GPA for your application?
• For a postbacc program to make a difference in how your GPA is perceived by admissions committees, you need to show significant improvement between your undergrad and graduate GPAs. How would you improve your academic performance in a postbacc program? What study strategies would you change? How would you ensure that your graduate coursework experience is different than undergrad?

KSU’s Masters in Biomedical Sciences

Matt Basel, Assistant Professor of Physiology at KSU’s 1-year MS in Biomedical Sciences Program, gave the following reasons to consider their postbacc program:

• Chance to improve your science GPA
• Chance to earn a master’s degree, which will look good on an application
• Chance to work with admissions administrators and professors on developing applications
• Strong foundation in curriculum that mirrors the first year or two of professional school curriculum
• Intense anatomy courses in human anatomy and comparative anatomy, with human cadavers
• Intense physiology semesters and an introduction to pharmacology and laboratory/biomedical techniques

Basel says the program could be a good fit for a variety of students, including but not limited to:

• Students who are committed to a career in health sciences but may have had a stumble or two during undergrad. This program helps those students focus on raising their GPA, and aspects of the courses are dedicated to writing a competitive application.
• Students who are unsure what they want to do in the health professions. The program gives them another year to decide while also improving their application.
• Students who recently made the decision to pursue a health profession, and their undergrad coursework was not focused on health professions prerequisites. As a result, it might be a challenge to get into professional school.
• Non-traditional students who have been in the workforce, but don’t know how to start over.

**This is one example of a postbacc program, but there are many graduate school options out there. We encourage you to learn about various programs to pick an option that will help you achieve your personal goals.

Questions to Consider

Whether or not you are considering a gap year(s), we encourage you to reflect on the following questions to help determine your readiness to apply to professional school:

• Do your cumulative and science GPAs meet the minimum requirements to apply to the schools you are interested in?
• If your GPA does meet the minimums, is it competitive?
• What skills and qualities do you want to develop before you apply?
• Are there additional career interests you want to explore before committing to professional school?
• Do you have enough experience in a healthcare setting to be able to clearly articulate why you are applying to professional school and interested in becoming a healthcare professional?
• Are there financial considerations you need to take into account? (see Powercat Financial to create a graduate school cost estimate)
• In your experience, have you demonstrated a service mindset through community service?
• Do you have personal/life considerations that would make it difficult to apply for professional school on a certain timeline?

Meet with your pre-health advisor if you’d like to talk through your options for a gap year(s)!

 

**Special thanks to Matt Basel, Assistant Professor of Physiology at KSU’s 1-year MS in Biomedical Sciences Program, and Cole King, KSU Alum and Yale Medical School Student, for contributing to this blog.