When Should You Take the MCAT at Yale?
The bottom line, is take the MCAT when you have to time to devote to prepare so you can earn the highest score possible. For most students, that they can find that time during a summer usually before senior year or after senior year.
A couple of things to keep in mind:
1) You want to make sure you MCAT won’t be more than two years old when you apply to medical school
2) Ideally, you want to take the MCAT, at most, twice.
Find out more here: When to Take the MCAT: An Ideal Timeline
Yale Premed Curriculum
Yale does a great job breaking down what premed courses you should take when as well as offering guidance about when to pursue research, volunteering, and what courses to take in addition to the “standard” premed curriculum such as English, Psychology, and Statistics.
You can find those recommendations here.
Yale Extracurricular and Scholarly Experiences
With Its New Haven location without a huge number of graduate students and other colleges, finding valuable experiences is not an issue at Yale!
1) Find research experience in something of interest at either Yale New Haven or other local hospitals or through a department of interest at Yale. Yale offers some great suggestions.
2) Seek out advocacy and community service experiences in the Yale community. Again, find an area that interests you and make an impact.
RELATED: Best Extracurricular Experiences for Medical School
Yale Gap Year
Outcomes data shows that taking at least one gap year before medical school will make you a stronger applicant.
The most recent medical school matriculant survey from the Association of American Medical Colleges indicates that 70% of respondents took at least one gap. Statistics from some top medical schools indicates that 90% of matriculants take at least one gap year.
This also supports the data from Yale itself which shows that gap year applicants have higher acceptance rates.
