Auditing a class ~ Pros and Cons

[PreMedMissteps]

if a premed has AP credits in a class, but only wants to refresh while in college, is it ok to audit the class?

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[RangerBob]

May as well retake the course. As mentioned above, many (most?) schools don’t give credit for AP courses for pre-reqs. And if all you need is a refresher, then you could probably get a decent grade and that’s boost your sGPA.

I don’t see any reason to audit in this case. You’ll take the class more seriously and learn more if you have to get a grade.

I was surprised at how much more I learned in my college courses than the same course (whether normal, honors, or AP) in HS.

 

[PreMedMissteps]

1) If the AP credits are for a prereq, some medical schools do not accept AP credits
2) auditing a class does not usually show up on a transcript

The reason the student wants to audit is that class is such an agressive weeder at his school. He did very well with the AP version (in class and 5 on exam) that he wants to satisfy med school prereq by just moving onto Cell Bio, Genetics, BioChem, etc. And I think most/all med schools are fine with that.

Actually, glad to hear that an audited class doesn’t show up on transcript. That’s kind of a plus. Lol

 

[PreMedMissteps]

I don’t see any reason to audit in this case. You’ll take the class more seriously and learn more if you have to get a grade.

In theory, yes. But the reality is that many very smart, bio-strong students have had their GPAs tripped up at this school because of how aggressively they weed their Bio 1 class and lab. The class+lab is 5 credits, so 5 credits of a B- or worse can be harder to overcome. Auditing the class allows the premed to refresh and add depth to their bio knowledge without negative impact to GPA.