A workload question...

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MS-0
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Hello! I switched majors to pre-med a few weeks ago, and am attempting to get in a place to apply to schools June 2010. For those who have seen my other posts, my issue is that right now I'm sitting on a 3.1 GPA. I have Spring 09, Summer 09 (only 6 units max that I can take), Fall 09, Winter 10 (3 units max), and Spring 10 to raise my GPA. I'll be taking only pre-reqs and science courses.

If I take a max of 15 units a semester I should be able to raise my GPA to a 3.37 when it comes time to apply in June 2010. I can also push the amount of units to 18 a semester, then my GPA would probably be around 3.41, but my concern is 18 is too many units to take, especially for science courses. I consider myself a pretty smart guy but I'm wondering if 18 units is overkill. Any thoughts? I also plan on volunteering around 4hrs/wk and working around 10/wk. Is the jump from 3.37 to 3.41 large enough to push for 18 units a semester?

Note-I will only take 14 units the semester before the MCAT regardless whether I take 18 units the other semesters--I need that extra time for studying!
 
18 credits per semester is certainly not impossible. Some of us have been doing 18+ every semester of college.
 
I agree - 18 credits isn't impossible at all. I took 22 credits both semesters of senior year. To give you an indea, in my last 22-credit semester 16 credits were towards my BCPM (3 upper division classes in Biochem, 1 independent research), a 4-credit English class, and a 2-credit seminar. It was one hellish of a semester but definitely doable.