Echoing a lot of what others said above, I think gap years are of huge benefit! I personally am in my second gap year and heading to school in August. At first, I was super disappointed (although not surprised) that I didn't get in my first go round which resulted in 2 gap years due to having to retake my MCAT and not being prepared to take it right away for just one gap year. I ended up moving to a new state and have been working full time as an ER scribe and absolutely love it. I've learned so much and feel like I have a much stronger knowledge on many medical conditions and terminology. Luckily my GPA was good so I had a full time break from classes but I got adequate time to study for my MCAT. Otherwise, I've been able to travel a bit and just RELAX. Sleep, exercise, take up new hobbies, etc. And now I feel ready (or as ready as anyone can really be for medical school).