BCPM Importance

[ucau]

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So I just finished my first semester as a sophomore and now have 3 semesters to reflect upon. My cumulative GPA is competitive at 3.65, yet my BCPM is not where it should be with a 3.2, so I am relatively worried. Is this a big problem? How significant is this disparity? I know I have to raise this, but being realistic and knowing that I have Organic Chemistry coming up next year, I'm not too optimistic that I will be pulling out an A in that course. Is it a bad strategy to let's say, take pre-cal or college algebra to simply pull up that BCPM GPA? I've taken Calculus 1 already so it would be going a step back, but would definitely help my Science GPA I think.
Thanks!

 

[FlowLimited]

Taking easy math courses after you've already taken calculus is not the answer. Admissions committees aren't stupid, and they'll easily see it for what it is.

 

[mdeast]

So I just finished my first semester as a sophomore and now have 3 semesters to reflect upon. My cumulative GPA is competitive at 3.65, yet my BCPM is not where it should be with a 3.2, so I am relatively worried. Is this a big problem? How significant is this disparity? I know I have to raise this, but being realistic and knowing that I have Organic Chemistry coming up next year, I'm not too optimistic that I will be pulling out an A in that course. Is it a bad strategy to let's say, take pre-cal or college algebra to simply pull up that BCPM GPA? I've taken Calculus 1 already so it would be going a step back, but would definitely help my Science GPA I think.
Thanks!

It's very significant. Your BCPM GPA represents your specific ability to perform well in science and math. Judging that the majority of your courses in medical school are science intensive (this is a MEDICAL degree), they're the best indicator of how you'll perform as a medical student. Your Overall GPA is generally more important in the long run, because it represents your ability to think as both a scientist and as a scholar in many subjects, but a low sGPA will be a red flag at some places.

I'd personally suggest taking upper level courses in a science department you find enjoyable (even if you're a non-science major) for further opportunities to raise you sGPA. This could be Physics, Math, Bio, Chem...whatever you do the best in and you find the most interesting. Upper level courses are generally way more focused and exciting than intro level courses, and have a far lower tendency to specifically weed out students by distributing very low grades. My intro course grades were good, not great...but my sGPA was mainly raised by the fact that I did really well in my upper level bio classes (because, frankly, I love biology and it wasn't difficult for me to do well in classes I love). Showing that you can excel in at least one area of the advanced sciences adds clout to your app...much more than taking Calc I would.

 

[apumic]

BCPM is less important than cGPA (contrary to popular belief, but this was the finding of the AAMC's most recent survey). OTOH, it is still very important and a 3.2 will hurt you pretty badly. I agree you cannot simply take easy classes now -- at least not ones at lower levels than you've already taken. You may be able to take some stats classes, however, as well as some less rigorous upper division bio (there are plenty of those if you know where to look). Your best bet is to talk w/ upperclassmen at your school and find out which upper division (300+) classes were enjoyable and take a few of those.

 

[Catalystik]

The MSAR lists the bottom 10th percentile for BCPM for each school. When you have such a low number, you limit the schools that will consider you. Do what you need to to get that number up again.

I don't recall if apumic lists it in his grid (link is above), but check there just in case.

 

[werd]

it could be a significant hurdle. you should try to do well on the bio/physical chem parts of the mcat to show that you're good at science. having your BCPM be much lower than overall GPA suggests you have more aptitude for non-scientific fields.

 

[nabeel76]

Well since your only 1 semester deep into your sophmore year, those GPA's aren't really going to be too reflective of where you'll be come time to apply to med school. Since most people start their junior year with about 60 credits, my guess would be that your near 45 credits or so total.

Therefore, I would guess that you can't have more than approx 20 or so credits factoring into your science GPA. With a 3.2 over only 20 credits your not in the bind you think your in, if you manage to do well from here on out you can easily get that science gpa into the 3.6+ range -assuming your a science major or decide to tack on an additional 20 credits or so of upper level sciences of course.

So I wouldn't worry about those grades - just make sure you do well from here on out and you should be fine...

 

[Catalystik]

Is it a bad strategy to let's say, take pre-cal or college algebra to simply pull up that BCPM GPA? I've taken Calculus 1 already so it would be going a step back, but would definitely help my Science GPA I think.

Not a good plan as saqrfaraj said, but you could take Statistics which is an easy A for most. Many schools let you substitute it for Calc, and it actually has more usefulness in the med school years and beyond. Once you survive OChem, upper-level Bio courses and Biochem are the way to go to further raise your BCPM.

 

[ucau]

You see though, I'm a psychology major, so I planned on limiting myself with these higher level courses since I have to take many in psychology. When I submit my classes and grades for AMCAS isn't there a place where I can say that some of my psychology classes should count as science? Like physiological psychology for example, that's straight up scientific.

It's so difficult to make an A in some of these general weed-out courses. Even a B is looked upon as very good by the teachers teaching it; I just can't seem to be able to pull off that A.

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[FlowLimited]

You see though, I'm a psychology major, so I planned on limiting myself with these higher level courses since I have to take many in psychology. When I submit my classes and grades for AMCAS isn't there a place where I can say that some of my psychology classes should count as science? Like physiological psychology for example, that's straight up scientific.

It's so difficult to make an A in some of these general weed-out courses. Even a B is looked upon as very good by the teachers teaching it; I just can't seem to be able to pull off that A.

Thanks for the help guys!

Yes, you'll be able to classify your courses based on their content.

 

[ucau]

What are the chances that some of my psychology courses fall under the BCPM GPA if I specify?

 

[bigturkey]

Not a good plan as saqrfaraj said, but you could take Statistics which is an easy A for most. Many schools let you substitute it for Calc, and it actually has more usefulness in the med school years and beyond. Once you survive OChem, upper-level Bio courses and Biochem are the way to go to further raise your BCPM.

What about a combination of easy classes and difficult classes? I know that simply taking hard classes isn't a good idea, but what if you take 3-6 hours of easier science courses to bring up a sagging BCPM. Wouldn't it be beneficial to get past the GPAs cut-off point?

An advisor at my school told me that she'd be told by the regional medical schools that they care more about the BCPM than the specific courses. She told me that I should take easier courses to bring my GPAs up.

Is this stupid?

 

[apumic]

What about a combination of easy classes and difficult classes? I know that simply taking hard classes isn't a good idea, but what if you take 3-6 hours of easier science courses to bring up a sagging BCPM. Wouldn't it be beneficial to get past the GPAs cut-off point?

An advisor at my school told me that she'd be told by the regional medical schools that they care more about the BCPM than the specific courses. She told me that I should take easier courses to bring my GPAs up.

Is this stupid?

Basically, there are two things going on here. One is you need to get the sGPA up. The other is you don't want to show adcoms the only way you can do it is with easy classes as that would defeat the whole purpose in bringing up the GPA. You need to excel at some moderately difficult upper division science courses in order to 1) bring that GPA up and 2) show you are capable of handling more difficult coursework. You should probably do this via courses that will provide at least some foundation for med school and/or are recommended (e.g., genetics, biochem, cell bio; poss. human physio if you have not yet taken the MCAT....)

 

[Catalystik]

What are the chances that some of my psychology courses fall under the BCPM GPA if I specify?

It's possible. If you really feel they qualify, I'd be pre-emptive and send in a course description to AMCAS so it supports your contention, if the course abbreviation starts witha PSY.

 

[ucau]

This is interesting. Do they accept these requests a lot? I mean I could do it for many psychology courses that have a scientific element attached to them.

 

[Catalystik]

I believe you need to prove the course is predominently hard-science based, not just a small component. My impression is that this approach may be, but is not necessarily successful. You might call AMCAS and ask their exact requirements in order to be ahead of the game. I have seen posts on SDN that this can be successful. I haven't done it myself.

 

[apumic]

I believe you need to prove the course is predominently hard-science based, not just a small component. My impression is that this approach may be, but is not necessarily successful. You might call AMCAS and ask their exact requirements in order to be ahead of the game. I have seen posts on SDN that this can be successful. I haven't done it myself.

IIRC, the requirement is that at least 50% of course content was BCMP to be considered a BCMP course.

Personally, quite a few of my psych courses fulfilled that req't to a much greater degree than did certain gen bio courses (the irony of "organismic biology" comes to mind.... vs, say, cognitive psych -- my cog psych class was all biophysiological pathways underlying the various cognitive phenomena we learned about; it was definitely a 50/50 bio/psych course taught by a neurobiologist)