Course Classification Question

[sharkbyte]

Hello all,

I took a course entitled "The Biodemography of Aging" last year that is offered in both the gerontology department and the biological sciences department. The class itself focused quite heavily on topics in molecular and cell biology and we were tested on most of those topics as well.

When I took it, it was offered in the GERO department but at my school it counts for BISC (biological sciences) upper division credit and I actually used this class as one of the upper divs for my biology major.

Do you guys think that the dual classification will mean this will count as a science class? I'm really counting on this not only for my science GPA but also because I'm getting a LOR from the professor and if it doesn't count as science I'm in a bad spot, since I'll be applying in a couple of months.

Thanks for the help!

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[sharkbyte]

Bump….anyone?

 

[Lawpy]

If your university classifies the course as biology, it is very likely to be classified as BIOL in AMCAS and thus counted towards your science GPA. You should be fine with it, especially with the upcoming science LOR. Be sure to add sufficient course description to ensure AMCAS won't reclassify the course.

 

[resiroth]

Classification via AMCAS is done base on course content as the standard.

Not in my experience, although it would have been nice.

My Psychopharmacology course was classified as a social science, and my linear algebra course on modeling cells (which was pretty much all math) was classified as biology, despite not even having a biology prefix. I ALMOST had to re-certify my app because of things like that. That being said I don't envy their job, and there are plenty of more ambiguous cases that I'm sure I'd be stumped about too.

 

[sharkbyte]

Thank you all for the help!

 

[resiroth]

From AMCAS instruction . You could have submitted an Academic Change Request

"Course Classification
Each course must be assigned a course classification based strictly on the primary content
of the course. The course classifications listed on the Course Classification Guide are
bolded and are titled as they appear in the course classification drop-down list.
The items beneath each bolded heading a re examples of courses for which you should select that
bolded course classification. You are responsible for selecting the correct course
classification, but AMCAS reserves the right to change classifications if the assigned
classification clearly does not apply. If you disagree with a change AMCAS has made to a
courses classification you may submit an Academic Change Request"
.

True, and drudged up a syllabus or two, argued over the phone and likely give up in the end .

I considered doing it, but in the end decided not to bother as I've heard exceptions are rarely given. Besides, medical schools would understand that I wasn't trying to game the system when "Psychopharmacology" was listed as a social science.

I've also heard that arguing over a classification can shove you toward the end of the line again and have to be re-verified. In the game of medical school admissions that hurts far more than .1 sGPA imo.

 

[Mansamusa]

I also have a course that is a bit tricky to classify.
I took a writing intensive course on aliens, psychics, and ghosts.
Under what category should I list the course?

Thanks in advance!

English/humanities...what else could it be?