Are 'fluff' classes easily noticed by schools?

[vin5cent0]

We've all done it / wanted to do it - take an easy class or two in hopes of boosting up your GPA all that much more.

Right now my GPA is a measly 3.2 (Soph). I'm taking four 4 credit classes this semester, and I'm anticipating 3 A's and a B (my math class is SO hard, math majors at my school have yet to ever be of any help on homework).

While that will bring my GPA up a little bit, I really want to be sitting around a 3.7 when I apply, which I think should be feasible. Two Cs (both in BS required art classes) have brought my GPA down as well as a few B's that really should have been A's (I was lazy). Now that I've realized I don't want to be a business major like I was pushed into, I've been working a lot harder towards a nice GPA.

The reason I'm asking this is because we have a few courses at our school that are legendary for being almost no work and an easy A. One of them is a Physics class called Energy. The class is canceled almost a third of the time, and when people do show up, the class is almost always let go early. It's a joke and I think the teacher should be fired, but tenure is tenure. Since it's a physics class (albeit a simple one), will it boost my BCPM up? More specifically, am I going to be called out on why I'm taking a simple physics class that has neither relevance nor necessity for my major?

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[dw2158]

you will need to take the appropriate physics for med school pre-reqs, which is two semesters, usually mechanics & kinematics/E & M/waves & optics (some combo of those). this "energy" class sounds like it won't satisfy the requirement, but we'd have to know more to tell you for sure. if you have time to finish 1) your major, 2) the pre-med reqs, and 3) other fluff classes, then by all means do all three. med schools won't care if you've got some random classes on there as long as you prove you can do well in the "real" stuff as well.

 

[Habeed]

No, they don't notice fluff classes. Mostly, med schools look at overall GPA.

 

[Handinhand]

My question is when do you take these fluff classes? I'm in my second semester as a sophomore and I've only taken one or two GERs so far. I was going to get humanities for some of my Spanish classes but the university I'm transferring to won't accept them. Seriously... every semester since I've been in college was Chem, Bio, Spanish, Calc/Stats...

WHEN DO YOU TAKE THE EASY CLASSES?!

 

[chief illiniwek]

My question is when do you take these fluff classes? I'm in my second semester as a sophomore and I've only taken one or two GERs so far. I was going to get humanities for some of my Spanish classes but the university I'm transferring to won't accept them. Seriously... every semester since I've been in college was Chem, Bio, Spanish, Calc/Stats...

WHEN DO YOU TAKE THE EASY CLASSES?!

i never took any either. much like you are about to do, i transferred, which set me back in a program that most people struggle to finish in four years already.

i did, however, throw in a few classes just for fun. i'd recommend that over "blow-off" classes any day (unless you're a senior with an early med school acceptance).

 

[BlueElmo]

I love your use of the word "fluff".🙂

 

[vin5cent0]

Yes, I do realize it won't satisfy the year of physics needed. I was more asking along the lines of whether or not it will be a good way of raising my GPA, or is it going to cause more problems than not.

 

[Styria]

Energy sounds like a boring class. There are other easy-A classes out there that would expand your horizons that would be more valuable to you in the long run. One I took was "Introduction to Planning," a course on city planning. Lots of different perspectives on how cities should be ordered and their history. That was fun.

 

[Handinhand]

i never took any either. much like you are about to do, i transferred, which set me back in a program that most people struggle to finish in four years already.

i did, however, throw in a few classes just for fun. i'd recommend that over "blow-off" classes any day (unless you're a senior with an early med school acceptance).

I'm taking my first "fluff" class this semester with Intro to Psych. I haven't been to lecture since the day we got our syllabus, but the Professor decided to be a bitch on our last test and put a bunch of questions that weren't in the book or her lecture notes. I had no clue about her intentions on being a witch and ended up getting a damn 85% on a Psych test... pretty devastating.

I sometime wish I was a business major so I could have no Friday classes, but then I realize I have work ethic and decide to take 3 bio classes and O Chem in one semester.

 

[vin5cent0]

Energy sounds like a boring class. There are other easy-A classes out there that would expand your horizons that would be more valuable to you in the long run. One I took was "Introduction to Planning," a course on city planning. Lots of different perspectives on how cities should be ordered and their history. That was fun.

Energy was just an example off the top of my head. There are plenty of 'fluff' classes at this college. Someone I know who is a Mass. Comm major takes nothing but fluff classes. I'm thinking about just copying her schedule 😀

 

[howelljolly]

FWIW... when i was in undergrad, the pre-med committee chair never missed a chance to remind up that med school ad-coms look for undergrad Human Anatomy as a fluff class.

 

[besmart]

I took two science "fluff" courses in college. These two courses were botany and zoology. They were the most painful science class I ever took in my life. Memorzing parts of animals was so f'n boring that I refused to even read a single sentence in the textbook. Botany was almost as bad as I had to try and memorize things that that I couldn't even pronounce.

 

[student1799]

I think the best part of these "fluff" courses (which we called "gut" courses at my undergrad) is the nicknames students give them, such as:

Plato to Nato (World History)
Rocks for Jocks (Geology)
Nuts 'n' Sluts (Abnormal Psychology)

My personal favorite was a course with the official title "Perspectives on Technology": the students just called it "Techno-gut."

 

[physcigirl27]

can you take these fluff classes at a jc or would that immediately draw attention?

 

[Habeed]

can you take these fluff classes at a jc or would that immediately draw attention?

Maybe. Odds are, probably not : an admissions clerk looks at your overall GPA, your primary school attended, and may glance at your grade record to see how you did in a few tough classes like O-Chem. You should expect that most medical schools would not even notice one way or another if you slipped a few fluff courses in.

Still, the way GPA is, it's an awful lot easier to just get A's in the hard classes, and to take the minimum number of courses needed to finish your degree. You have no need for padding your GPA if you just put the effort in where it counts.

 

[atomi]

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[RUc10]

i never took any either. much like you are about to do, i transferred, which set me back in a program that most people struggle to finish in four years already.

i did, however, throw in a few classes just for fun. i'd recommend that over "blow-off" classes any day (unless you're a senior with an early med school acceptance).

I'm in that same exact boat 🙁 My g.p.a. will be average at best come application time ecause practically all my classes are science courses and because I transferred I have no time to take any extra classes if I even plan on graduating a semester late (transferred after 3 semesters).

I'd recommend just using rate my professors so that you don't have to take additional classes to "pad" your g.p.a. but can get additional requirements out of the way with the easiest professors your school has. IMO this is better than if you're a math major or something of the sort and hidden in your app is an A in "Music 101" your junior year..