DIY Post-Bac Credits per semester to show Work-load

[471MCAT]

Hi,

I am planning my courses and I need some advice.

Background:
I am a non-trad student. So last semester was my first term back at school, and I only took eight credits (Gen Bio I and Gen Chem I). I did well, and I expected my academic advisor to tell me I did a good job, but when I talked to her she was disappointed and told me I need to show Med schools that I can handle heavy course loads.

Anyway fast forward to this upcoming semester....

Option A: Gen Bio II, Gen Chem II, Gen Physics I with Labs for 3 classes (15 Credits)
Option B: Gen Bio II, Gen Chem II, Some other elective that I don't need (Statistics, Spanish, or Psychology)
Option C: Just take 2 sciences and put more hours in a work/extracurriculars.

Option A - 15 Credits does not sound crazy, but seems like a pretty heavy courseload to me. My concerns are that I have not taken any lab course, so I have no idea what to expect for the lab components of the classes as I really need to make sure I get an A in my classes.

I already have a degree from undergrad, so any class other than a science would be basically taking the class just for the sake of showing a higher workload. I've talked to an advisor and she suggested taking a psychology class. Other ideas I had were to take another statistics class, It has been awhile since I took statistics and wouldn't mind a refresher. Another option would be to take a Spanish course. I am a non-native speaker of Spanish but have been learning as a hobby for a couple of years and I am decent for a non-native speaker. When I am working as an EMT, some of my most rewarding moments are when I am working with a Spanish only patient. The only down side to this would be that I would have to start from scratch at Basic Spanish I and II just to work up to Intermediate I and II and Spanish for Health Professions that is a long process.

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[esob]

The importance of course load depends on what else you are doing during that semester. If you are working full time, then 8 hrs is plenty. If not, I suggest you follow the same plan that everyone else should, which is to mix your classes so that you end up with a reasonable mix of easy vs hard classes. At the end of the day, if your numbers don't get you past the screening process, no one will notice that you took 50 hrs in one semester.

- in your particular scenario, taking more Spanish will always be helpful, if only for regular practice. The ability to have even basic conversations in Spanish is usually a big advantage on the wards.

 

[471MCAT]

Hm yeah that was what I was thinking as well in terms of actually being useful practicing medicine. Only thing I guess would be that taking a spanish course, especially in a formal academic setting might not be an easy class but we'll see. Just took the online placement exam at my school so I'll see where my skills are at and think about it.

 

[471MCAT]

Got the results of my placement test.
At my school there is Elementary Spanish I and II, Intermediate I and II....which are both 100 level courses, then 200 level courses. Placed into the 200 level lol. I am self taught so this kind of makes me feel good, but at the same time I feel kind of like I shot myself in the foot because I have not had any formal training in Spanish and I don't want to mess up my gpa esp in this postbacc where its super important. I can also take Spanish for Health Professions directly without taking any pre-req courses.