Figure 3.

Pie chart displaying the responses to Question 15: “How do you compare applicants who have a research gap-year experience with those who don’t?” Scenario: There are two applicants with similar USMLE Step scores, grades, letters, and experiences. Student 1 has no research gap-year experience but has participated meaningfully in a research project while Student 2 has what you consider a “productive” research gap year. Unabridged “Depends on reason” response: The competitiveness of Student 2’s application is in part determined by the reason for taking the research gap-year.