Courseload Reconsiderations

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bhishma

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Just finished possibly the stupidest course load I've taken on thus far and came out of it with about a 3.2 term GPA. I'm honestly ecstatic about how it turned out but it does cast into question my course plans for my next/senior (and potentially last) year.

Should I ease off on the number of classes and do the bare minimum to graduate/complete pre-reqs at this point? Or should I just keep doing what I've been doing and hope the fact that I'm "going above and beyond" actually matters to admissions?

This will probably be the last semester they see, and it really destroys my upward trend. One thing I'm considering is to take an extra year but that would involve outstaying my scholarship and suddenly paying out of state. Ahh, choices.

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Bare minimum + best grades - or whatever you enjoy the most. No one cares about "above and beyond" (see: double major).
 
I'd like to say that they will see how many classes you took and excuse poor performance, but it's not gonna happen. Part of the sacrifice you make when you decide to go down this road is that you just can't take everything you want to. You have to balance your classes and make sure that you perform at a high level.

I know you probably just want to learn more and take things you have an interest in while the getting is good. A good strategy is to take extra classes pass/fail or just audit them. All of the learning, none of the GPA damage.
 
I would go light if it is an option - because I transferred to my university from a JC I ended up having an extra academic year and it turned out great because at least 3 of my semesters only had 12-13 units; it can be a great time to revamp and/or to work (I was a lab assistant/TA).

So maybe think about going lighter and adding on a short time each week for a unique experience. And be ready to answer questions concerning the GPA drop during interviews - just put a positive spin on it and say you learned from it how to organize your time, etc.
good luck!
 
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