Confusedddd

[Meliora]

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So I'm entering my freshman year of college and currently picking classes and what not and so I was wondering...do medical schools look at what classes you took and how much do they care about the difficulty of these classes and how many credits you took each semester? I want to be as successful as I can in college and I know that I don't do well when I try to take a bunch of classes at the same time but at the same time, I don't want to be a less competitive of a medical school applicant because others took 18 credits per semester and I took like 15


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[sullen-burger]

So I'm entering my freshman year of college and currently picking classes and what not and so I was wondering...do medical schools look at what classes you took and how much do they care about the difficulty of these classes and how many credits you took each semester? I want to be as successful as I can in college and I know that I don't do well when I try to take a bunch of classes at the same time but at the same time, I don't want to be a less competitive of a medical school applicant because others took 18 credits per semester and I took like 15


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Nah they don't care about credit hours or rigor of classs. Just do well in your science pre reqs and the rest of your major coursework.

Major also doesn't matter FYI.

 

[MCATISEZ]

So I'm entering my freshman year of college and currently picking classes and what not and so I was wondering...do medical schools look at what classes you took and how much do they care about the difficulty of these classes and how many credits you took each semester? I want to be as successful as I can in college and I know that I don't do well when I try to take a bunch of classes at the same time but at the same time, I don't want to be a less competitive of a medical school applicant because others took 18 credits per semester and I took like 15


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I disagree. I think the rigor of your course load does matter. On the otherhand, your performance in those courses matters more. I would advise you to take the most rigorous courseload you can while being successful in your classes. For me, that was around 14 credits a semester. This allowed me to take many upper division science courses+prereqs while maintaining a 3.9+.

Someone that took 18 credits and got a 4.0 > me
but
Someone that took 18 credits and got a 3.6-3.7 not so much.

Keep in mind that this information is just from my own research. I would love to hear other stances as well.

 

[sullen-burger]

I disagree. I think the rigor of your course load does matter. On the otherhand, your performance in those courses matters more. I would advise you to take the most rigorous courseload you can while being successful in your classes. For me, that was around 14 credits a semester. This allowed me to take many upper division science courses+prereqs while maintaining a 3.9+.

Someone that took 18 credits and got a 4.0 > me
but
Someone that took 18 credits and got a 3.6-3.7 not so much.

Keep in mind that this information is just from my own research. I would love to hear other stances as well.

Rigor of non science courses is low in their consideration.

Regardless. #1 priority is do well in whatever, that is correct.

 

[Goro]

I do
do medical schools look at what classes you took and

I do
how much do they care about the difficulty of these classes and how many credits you took each semester?

How can you prove to Adcoms that you can handle the rigors of a medical school curriculum???? But it's OK to take 15 credits/semester. The reality is take what you are most interested in, and do well.
I want to be as successful as I can in college and I know that I don't do well when I try to take a bunch of classes at the same time but at the same time, I don't want to be a less competitive of a medical school applicant because others took 18 credits per semester and I took like 15


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[sullen-burger]

I defer to the wise Goro and aamc statistics, which found 127 polled schools found non science course rigor to be somewhat important, below very important and important.

https://www.aamc.org/download/434596/data/usingmcatdata2016.pdf

The question I want answers is are you better off double majoring in NBB and chemistry than taking a non-science major and just scooting by in your pre reqs, as some matriculants do?

 

[MCATISEZ]

I do
do medical schools look at what classes you took and

I do
how much do they care about the difficulty of these classes and how many credits you took each semester?

How can you prove to Adcoms that you can handle the rigors of a medical school curriculum???? But it's OK to take 15 credits/semester. The reality is take what you are most interested in, and do well.
I want to be as successful as I can in college and I know that I don't do well when I try to take a bunch of classes at the same time but at the same time, I don't want to be a less competitive of a medical school applicant because others took 18 credits per semester and I took like 15


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

[/QUOTE]

Hi Goro. Do you find taking 14-15 hours a semester a major disadvantage if the candidate was successful in those courses (including many upper division science courses)? The combination of finding interesting courses, performing well in them, and keeping a ideal rigor can be difficult. I stated my situation above, and wanted to know how it may rub an admissions committee as I apply this cycle.

 

[Goro]

Hi Goro. Do you find taking 14-15 hours a semester a major disadvantage if the candidate was successful in those courses (including many upper division science courses)? The combination of finding interesting courses, performing well in them, and keeping a ideal rigor can be difficult. I stated my situation above, and wanted to know how it may rub an admissions committee as I apply this cycle.[/QUOTE]
This doesn't bother me. The MCAT is a great leveler.
Keep in mind that med school will be harder, and how can one do a marathon if you're only training with 6K runs?