Best way to boost sGPA?

[startingover84]

My sGPA is 3.324 if you count Paleobiology (I got an A) under non-science and Conservation of Wild Mammals (+Lab) under science (I got a C in the lecture and an F in the lab). This is my worst-case scenario sGPA.

I have already completed all the prerequisites for medical school. Optional prerequisites that I haven't done are Human Anatomy and Human Physiology.

Here is my question: Should I just take the easiest science courses that I can in order to boost my sGPA? Classes like, "Intro to the Periodic Table" and "Prep for College Chemistry." These are honest to goodness classes offered at the best school in my state. Or, should I take academically rigorous courses?

Here are the classes I have already taken. (I was on the quarter system, so that is why I have year-long classes listed three times.)

• Introductory Biology - A
• Introductory Biology - A
• Introductory Biology - A-
• Struc-Func Biomolecules - B
• Genes & Gene Expression - A
• Bioenergetics/Metabolism - C+
• Intro to Evolution - B
• Honors General Chem - B
• Honors General Chem - A
• Honors General Chem - B+
• Organic Chem Health Sci - C+
• Organic Chem Health Sci - B+
• Organic Chem Health Sci - B
• Introcution to Ecology - A-
• General Physics - A
• General Physics - A
• General Physics - A
• Biol Invertebrates Lab - A
• Biology of Invertebrates - B+
• Plant Ecology - B
• Biol Cons Wild Mammals - C
• Lab Biol Cons Mammals - F
• Med Entomology - B
• Applied Stat for Bio Sci - A
• Calculus - B+
• Calculus - B

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[mspeedwagon]

You should not take the classes below. They sound like good classes for my now seven year old nephew who is studying element symbols on the periodic table. You want to prove you are ready for medical school not middle school.

Definitely take classes like anatomy and physiology, microbiology, biochemistry and ace them. That will show you are ready for the rigors of med school.

Should I just take the easiest science courses that I can in order to boost my sGPA? Classes like, "Intro to the Periodic Table" and "Prep for College Chemistry." These are honest to goodness classes offered at the best school in my state. Or, should I take academically rigorous courses?
[/LIST]

 

[startingover84]

You want to prove you are ready for medical school not middle school.

LOL! Thanks for the laugh! That is what I was thinking, too. I talked to the pre-med advisor at the medical school in my state, and she said it will boost my GPA.

I guess I am wondering if adcoms really look at the classes you take? Or do they just look at the GPA?

 

[mspeedwagon]

Definitely take some easy science class. I'd say don't take classes with titles that make you look stupid. I've taken science classes w/ rigorous titles that were easier... my favorite was a class called "Advanced Concepts of Neuroethology."

As far as useful goes, I think anatomy and physiology is an easier class. A lot of work, useful, and easier (nothing taught it super challenging, but it's a lot of material).

 

[startingover84]

I like the way you think. To be honest, I am intimidated by the idea of anatomy and physiology. I am very good at school, except for memorization. I have the hardest time memorizing something that doesn't have an underlying concept. That's why I failed that mammal lab. The professor expected us to memorize every species of mammal in California and be able to identify them by just a part of the animal (teeth, bones, paw print). Are you kidding me!?

Anyway ... memorizing anatomy after being out of school for six years is scary. I guess I'll just take some physics classes or something. I always found physics to be straightforward.

 

[alamo4]

The way the grades stuff works is that you type in all your grades into Amcas and label them as bio, chem, physics, etc. Then you mail them your transcripts and someone there verifies everything, which takes about two plus weeks after you submit the grades and they get transcripts. You can look up the categories, but there may very well be some leeway there depending on how things are coded. So for example, if you took the conservation class with a listing of something like Bio 123, then it will probably have to be Bio. If it was Geography 247, then you can probably get away with coding it as something else. Then, that is used to calc a core science gpa. A big tip that I wish I had known is that if your school lets you withdraw from a class and get a W or whatever, it doesn't count and doesn't even show up.

On the other hand, at the first pass, I don't think they look at most of your classes very hard, just the GPA. If you can find something listed as Bio, Phys, etc that is a super easy class with a name that is not as outrageous as the ones you mentioned then take that.

Lots of times there are classes listed as astronomy or statistical thinking or ethical issues in genomics or the physiology of dreams or something that are really easy. Take one of those. Essentially no one will know or care that the wild mammals class at your school is super hard.

You can use the free time you get from taking the easy classes to go to that physiology lectures or whatevs.

If there are classes on healthcare topics like ethics, healthcare economics, etc those can help with interviews and are often easy grade wise compared to something like biochem.

If you want to learn anatomy, get the Acland Videos.

 

[startingover84]

I am going to start off slow and take one class: Physics of the Human Body. It's an upper division (third year) course at a four-year university.

My husband is working on a getting a promotion that would move us out of state. (We're in Utah and would be moving to California.) So, I might have to move before the fall semester starts. The job is based in San Jose, and the only four-year school there (SJSU) is impacted. They're not accepting non-matriculated students. I'd have to take my classes at a CC which is less than ideal.

I am thinking of staying behind for six months to do the classes at the U and finish my volunteer commitment and shadowing.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Depending on what classes you need, UC Berkeley Extension in Belmont is a good bet. It's 30-45 mins from San Jose and you definitely need a car, but courses tend to meet only once a week and it's better than taking courses at a CC. Not to mention, you won't qualify for in-state tuition so the CCs will be relatively expensive here in CA.

My husband is working on a getting a promotion that would move us out of state. (We're in Utah and would be moving to California.) So, I might have to move before the fall semester starts. The job is based in San Jose, and the only four-year school there (SJSU) is impacted. They're not accepting non-matriculated students. I'd have to take my classes at a CC which is less than ideal.

I am thinking of staying behind for six months to do the classes at the U and finish my volunteer commitment and shadowing.

 

[startingover84]

Thanks for tip. Did I read somewhere that extension courses aren't viewed favorably? I honestly can't remember, but I had written them off for some reason. I guess I could look into enrolling at Cal for a few classes. I know tuition will be high, but I think it's worth it.

 

[johnnyscans]

Thanks for tip. Did I read somewhere that extension courses aren't viewed favorably? I honestly can't remember, but I had written them off for some reason. I guess I could look into enrolling at Cal for a few classes. I know tuition will be high, but I think it's worth it.

FWIW I'm in the health careers program at Harvard Extension and all I can say is these classes are the real deal.

 

[realmeaning]

This was a helpful thread to me, thanks for posting. Good luck OP.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Definitely NOT true. A lot of folks I know from Berk extension have gone on to med school having taken all their classes there.

If I were to do it all again I'd go through their formal program, but I did an informal post-bac while working which made it take forever (I feel like some kids I start at UC Berk Ext back in 2009 are well into med school now).

Thanks for tip. Did I read somewhere that extension courses aren't viewed favorably? I honestly can't remember, but I had written them off for some reason. I guess I could look into enrolling at Cal for a few classes. I know tuition will be high, but I think it's worth it.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

I have taken 'extension' courses, they are called that because they are for non-degree seeking students, it has nothing to do with the course.

DO NOT take slacker classes, it will help your GPA but it WON'T help your chances. If you want to up your GPA AND your chances, take upper level courses. They can be whatever you want them to be, just do well in them! If you want to take a bunch of astronomy classes, do it...

FWIW, if your Paleobio course is listed as a bio course, it will count as a science. Also, many schools won't let you get credit for 'intro to chem' if you've already taken Gen chem 1-2...

 

[startingover84]

mspeedwagon, if my husband gets this job, I will def. look into Berkeley extension courses. Thanks for the tip.

SBB2016, extension courses mean that they are offered to the general public. They're not usually as reputable as classes that are only available via the four-year campus. For example, the school I live near is a four-year school, and they allow non-matriculated students to apply and attend their classes. Another example, my alma mater has extension courses that are geared to the public. I went to a great school, but the extension courses don't have the same reputation. My alma mater does accept non-matriculated students as well. And that's how you get the rigorous courses. Of course, every program is different to some degree.

I've already decided not to take the lower division courses. However, they would be for credit, according to my adviser at the school I would be taking them at. Moot point, anyway.

 

[Prncssbuttercup]

So where did you get this info that an extension course isn't as good? Non-degree seeking students are the general public, I have taken them, I took biochem, stats, and nutrition as extension courses at the University of MN, I guarantee you they were the same curriculum as the standard course, they were just easier for me to get into because they held seats for NDS students...

 

[startingover84]

Extension courses open to the general public are similar to CC classes in the sense that anyone can take them and they may or may not be academically rigorous. There isn't a measurable cohort to compare against.

If you were NDS and went to a four-year school, your grades could be held against the benchmark of other students that went there, KWIM? Not necessarily the same for schools that don't grant four-year degrees.

I'm not saying you didn't take the same curriculum as someone else.

I started this thread, because I want to find out what's the best thing for me to do.

I'm looking into CSU East Bay's post-bacc. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[mspeedwagon]

I should have mentioned I was referring to taking classes informally and not in their formal program. The reputation of UC Berkeley far exceeds that of CSU. Granted, if you have a high GPA and a good MCAT from either, you'll do fine with either.

It comes down to this: take the classes that best fit your schedule (I work full-time, part-time and travel weekly so a class meeting once a week was great for me). I didn't want to move from Redwood City (so commuting to Berkeley/SF once a week worked and I had the occasional class in RWC). I took classes with the best teachers I could find.

I won't know until next year where all these leads (planning to take the last of my classes this fall and the MCAT in the spring), but I would recommend UCB Extension based on my experience and based on where my classmates have placed over the years (I started to post-bac way back in Jan 2009 so I've seen my share of people get accepted). I've not known that many CSU folks, but do know getting into their classes informally was pretty much impossible.

 

[startingover84]

mspeedwagon, What are you basing your opinion of UCBX > CSUEB?

Also you wrote that classes at CSUEB are hard to get into, but they have a cohort system. All classes are guaranteed and you take them all with the same people. I find this enticing.

There is also a formal advising program, which I believe UCBX doesn't have.

With the type of work that I do, it doesn't matter if my school is "working adult friendly." In fact, taking evening and weekend classes could be detrimental to my work schedule.

 

[NightGod]

I am going to start off slow and take one class: Physics of the Human Body. It's an upper division (third year) course at a four-year university.

My husband is working on a getting a promotion that would move us out of state. (We're in Utah and would be moving to California.) So, I might have to move before the fall semester starts. The job is based in San Jose, and the only four-year school there (SJSU) is impacted. They're not accepting non-matriculated students. I'd have to take my classes at a CC which is less than ideal.

I am thinking of staying behind for six months to do the classes at the U and finish my volunteer commitment and shadowing.

As I understand it, Cali (and Illinois) are exceptions to the "don't take classes at a community college" rule. With four year schools being packed and our economies in the the toilet, apparently our CCs rock.

 

[startingover84]

As I understand it, Cali (and Illinois) are exceptions to the "don't take classes at a community college" rule. With four year schools being packed and our economies in the the toilet, apparently our CCs apparently rock.

I've heard this as well. I'll definitely consider it further. Thanks.

 

[NightGod]

I've heard this as well. I'll definitely consider it further. Thanks.

While I don't have a med school acceptance story to back it up, but I just finished my first two years at an Illinois CC and I can say that I have no doubt that my education was at least on par with that available at the four year schools in the area. In many cases, it was, in fact, superior. From what I heard about the four year I'm headed to next year, I NEVER take general physics there. The teacher at my CC was very into PBL and was willing to accept and try ideas given by the students to improve the class. Additionally, the smaller classes (my largest lecture had about 60 students in it (Gen Chem I), most had 25 or less). We were taught by PhDs and Masters, not a single class was lead by a TA. Professors has regular office hours (and were always there during them) and had very open door policies that quite often extended beyond their published hours. Honestly, my preference would have been to continue at that school to a four year degree, but that simply wasn't possible. They're actually talking about changing that within the next five years or so, but sadly that will be too late for my timeline.

 

[startingover84]

I'm glad you had such a great experience at your CC. Frankly, I can't wait to go back to school. I love it.

 

[mspeedwagon]

Somehow I edited my previous post instead of posting anew... guess it's time for bed. (See post above for my response).