Would this be viewed as a light semester to adcoms?

[NP545]

Organic chemistry II (4 credits)
Organic chemistry lab (2 credits)
Physics II (3 credits)
Physics lab (1 credit)
Abnormal psychology (3 credits)

Total: 13 credits

I will be doing ECs as well but is this way too light and cause a potential red flag?

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[Lamel]

It is light, but not red-flag worthy, unless you make a habit of it. They may not even notice if your yearly credits are 30+.

I think some viable reasons for a light load are MCAT studying, health issues, etc.

 

[NP545]

It is light, but not red-flag worthy, unless you make a habit of it. They may not even notice if your yearly credits are 30+.

I think some viable reasons for a light load are MCAT studying, health issues, etc.

MCATS or health are NOT reasons for this, but the yearly credit would amount to 30. Would you go through with this? Should I take an extra 1 credit class or would it not make much of a difference?

Also, for "making a habit", I plan on taking future semesters 14-16 credits with Psychology-heavy and other non-biology courses. Is this bad?

 

[Lamel]

MCATS or health are NOT reasons for this, but the yearly credit would amount to 30. Would you go through with this? Should I take an extra 1 credit class or would it not make much of a difference?

Also, for "making a habit", I plan on taking future semesters 14-16 credits with Psychology-heavy and other non-biology courses. Is this bad?

From what I've surmised, adcoms primarily look at courseload/GPA on a yearly basis, so I doubt it would even get noticed/scrutinized to that extent as long as totals are fine.

You may want to take some upper level bio courses though if you're done with all the pre-reqs, such as cell bio, histo, biochem, genetics etc.

 

[baxt1412]

if i had to guess, they are looking for people who consistently take 12-14 hours each semester. one low semester (credit hours or grades) will not raise any eyebrows too much.

 

[Goro]

No

Organic chemistry II (4 credits)
Organic chemistry lab (2 credits)
Physics II (3 credits)
Physics lab (1 credit)
Abnormal psychology (3 credits)

Total: 13 credits

I will be doing ECs as well but is this way too light and cause a potential red flag?

 

[Make Or Break]

No

There's your answer and not by some random premed.

 

[rumlodlk]

if i had to guess, they are looking for people who consistently take 12-14 hours each semester. one low semester (credit hours or grades) will not raise any eyebrows too much.

At my college, 12 credits and above was considered a full load. The whole system is severely flawed if taking 12 credits for several semesters and still graduating in four years lowers your chances of getting accepted.

 

[tantacles]

Organic chemistry II (4 credits)
Organic chemistry lab (2 credits)
Physics II (3 credits)
Physics lab (1 credit)
Abnormal psychology (3 credits)

Total: 13 credits

I will be doing ECs as well but is this way too light and cause a potential red flag?

No one will care. Credits are counted differently at every school, so it's difficult to go through each course and translate. From what I see, you're taking five courses, regardless of how your school counts the credits.

Do what you can handle, and try your best to get all As.

 

[baxt1412]

At my college, 12 credits and above was considered a full load. The whole system is severely flawed if taking 12 credits for several semesters and still graduating in four years lowers your chances of getting accepted.

i think that's standard for US undergrad schools.. what i'm saying is that is the lightest you can go and be considered full time. so technically it is light, but only subjectively when compared to the max which is typically 18 without incurring overload fees.

 

[WestCoastNative]

How about credits vs classes? What if you take just one class, but its 12 credits?

 

[phunky]

I don't think most Adcoms have time to critique your class schedule semester by semester. There are much bigger parts of your application to pay attention to.