any significance in doing honors in major and college?

[petlee1]

I;m in the honors college and considering in doing Honors in major(biology). Now if I do this this means that I have to take more upper level bio course as well as 6 credits of research and do a thesis. my gpa isn't too high (3.6) so I don't really want to lower it more than that. Is all the extra work worth it in getting into med schools at the end of the day?

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[NickNaylor]

No. Don't do it unless you want to, otherwise you'll just be angry about having to do more work for no real reason.

 

[Tapepsi]

I;m in the honors college and considering in doing Honors in major(biology). Now if I do this this means that I have to take more upper level bio course as well as 6 credits of research and do a thesis. my gpa isn't too high (3.6) so I don't really want to lower it more than that. Is all the extra work worth it in getting into med schools at the end of the day?

Nope. Some adcom members might eventually look at the rigor of your courseload at some point in reviewing your app. But essentially in a preliminary screening they look at GPA + MCAT. Honors or not, if your GPA isn't competitive there's a good chance they're throwing out your app w/o looking any further. Don't do honors and work on getting that GPA up.

 

[V5RED]

Is there a reason you believe you could do as well or better in classes that would hypothetically be more demanding than the ones you have already taken?

I ask because, as you already acknowledged, you would not want to lower your GPA which is pretty much the average GPA of people who get accepted to allopathic schools.

There is something else to consider. That advanced degree is probably designed for people who want to become biologists. Pre-meds have a lot of non biology related things on their plate such as MCAT prep, volunteering/shadowing, other EC's to look cool, and getting in all the prerequisites(though a biology degree probably already requires you to do the pre-med prerequisites).

 

[Barcu]

I;m in the honors college and considering in doing Honors in major(biology). Now if I do this this means that I have to take more upper level bio course as well as 6 credits of research and do a thesis. my gpa isn't too high (3.6) so I don't really want to lower it more than that. Is all the extra work worth it in getting into med schools at the end of the day?

I think it can be worth the extra work.

Certainly you do not want a hit in gpa, but a thesis can be a very positive thing. You have to come up with your own idea, test it, and then defend it. I think that's pretty significant, especially as adcoms look for independence and critical thinking. I was able to use my thesis experience in several of my essays.

Edit: I should probably add though, don't do it if you are only doing it for med school admissions. You should at least be interested in doing a thesis.

 

[petlee1]

Is there a reason you believe you could do as well or better in classes that would hypothetically be more demanding than the ones you have already taken?

I ask because, as you already acknowledged, you would not want to lower your GPA which is pretty much the average GPA of people who get accepted to allopathic schools.

There is something else to consider. That advanced degree is probably designed for people who want to become biologists. Pre-meds have a lot of non biology related things on their plate such as MCAT prep, volunteering/shadowing, other EC's to look cool, and getting in all the prerequisites(though a biology degree probably already requires you to do the pre-med prerequisites).

yeah cause w/o my crappy 1st semester gpa, my overall gpa would be 3.75+. It's just that I wasn't focused on going to med school frosh year

 

[Hotshy]

I'm also in the honors program at my university and I will say that it has made it easier for me to get a research position. When I approached a PI about researching with him the first question he asked was "So you're in honors, right?"

I don't know your situation but that's mine at least.

 

[45408]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=838662

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=819062

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=635882

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=766629

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=743269

 

[Doctor246853]

No. Don't do it unless you want to, otherwise you'll just be angry about having to do more work for no real reason.

This. This is why I'm not doing honors. Spend that extra time doing a ec or something.

 

[ponyo]

Edit: I should probably add though, don't do it if you are only doing it for med school admissions. You should at least be interested in doing a thesis.

This. It will be so painful senior year when your friends are out partying and you're home/at lab alone freaking out about a thesis that wasn't even required, unless you actually think that the work you're doing for your thesis is more interesting/valuable to you than second-sem senior year shenanigans. I'm doing honors for both my majors but it's only because I did the extra courses before finding out that we had honors in those departments, and because I am super excited about my theses. If you feel anything short of exhilaration when you think about doing them it's probably not worth it.

Having said that, can't you still tentatively take a few of those classes and back out if you realise they're not for you?

 

[doctorshateher]

I wouldn't do it just for the sake of having honors, but the 6 credits of research and senior thesis (AKA more research experience) could help your application.

Plus, a lot of the time research credits are easy As so it might actually help your GPA. They might be graded P/F though, in which case it wouldn't make much of a difference.

 

[ponyo]

Plus, a lot of the time research credits are easy As so it might actually help your GPA.

This is the case at my school and we abuse the oblivion out of it. Totally recommended. Oh also extra time in lab might bring you closer to your PI for those LORs

 

[Narmerguy]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=838662

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=819062

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=635882

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=766629

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=743269

/thread

 

[ISUBird100]

I did it so I can brag to everyone that the words "with honors in psychology" is printed in microscopic ink on my diploma. The jealous look on their faces is priceless.

/sarcasm

 

[kpcrew]

did honors chemistry
got mostly a-s
wish i did gen chem and got those As
don't do it lol

 

[45408]

I did it so I can brag to everyone that the words "with honors in psychology" is printed in microscopic ink on my diploma. The jealous look on their faces is priceless.

/sarcasm

It's about a size 10-12 font on mine.