I was just wondering if when applying to schools if they look at the difficulty of the course-load you took and if a harder course-load can make up for a lack of EC's and clinical volunteering. Currently I'm a junior in university, and because of the degree I'm pursuing (honors in chemistry, haven't decided if I want a minor in biochemistry) my schedule is currently pretty overloaded and hasn't had much time to volunteer. I've taken a large amount of sciences (some semesters having five sciences and four labs) and managed to maintain a high sGPA (4.0) but at the cost of sacrificing basically all of my spare time. I was planning on working at a small clinic this year, but decided to take my honors degree which requires me to take some classes this semester that are notoriously difficult (curse you quantum mechanics), so the volunteering might have to wait till next semester. So my question is, do adcoms look at the quantity of classes and labs you took, and would all my sciences help alleviate my poor volunteering, or should I really put the nose to the grindstone next semester and get tons of hours in?
-
CycleTrack and SDN are teaming up to make medical school admissions more transparent and accessible! Read the announcement to learn how we’re supporting the future of CycleTrack’s free application-tracking tools .
Do Adcoms consider courseload while looking at EC's?
Started by Hushman
Get help with your application
Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.
Of course. However, keep in mind that there are always people that are able to do more and do well. There are people who get 3.9+ in difficult fields and have strong ECs to boot.
But yes, as a general rule the overall "rigor" of your schedule - both curricular and extracurricular - is considered.
But yes, as a general rule the overall "rigor" of your schedule - both curricular and extracurricular - is considered.
Activities and courses are not on the same page.
Their evaluation thus tends to be compartmentalized.
Their evaluation thus tends to be compartmentalized.
I tend not to give the course listing more than a cursory glance unless something sticks out enough to warrant closer inspection.
We see a lot of applicants with excellent GPAs in rigorous programs/majors who still manage to get ample clinical exposure and extracurriculars. It's a matter of time management. Are you really unable to commit 3-4 hours on a weekend to volunteer? Does your degree really require 5 science courses at once, or are you trying to expedite things?
We see a lot of applicants with excellent GPAs in rigorous programs/majors who still manage to get ample clinical exposure and extracurriculars. It's a matter of time management. Are you really unable to commit 3-4 hours on a weekend to volunteer? Does your degree really require 5 science courses at once, or are you trying to expedite things?
I think medical schools admissions committees are looking for well rounded individuals who can show they can succeed with a lot on their plate. As Goro says "4.0 drones are a dime a dozen." You cannot sacrifice your ECs. Block out a morning or afternoon in your schedule and go volunteer.
It doesn't necessarily require that I take 5 science courses at once, but with my program the fourth year is somewhat of a research year, with seniors required to do a few research projects under a professor. Because of that, and the time commitment it involves (Bare minimum to pass is over 8 hours a week in their lab in order to get a 50) I've decided to try and make my senior year relatively relaxed, with just a few fourth year level organic chems, a few biochems and electives. Thanks for the advice everyone, its greatly appreciated, I'll try and get some work at a local clinic. All their orientations and trainings are on wednesdays though, hopefully they'll take me even though I'll have to be a tiny bit late due to a lab that afternoon.
Answer as always to this question comes down to this; there will always be tons of applicants who do these insane majors and course loads and still manage top stats and activities. That's just the nature of the game and why people who don't do as well taking insane course loads when they probably would have been fine with a more normal one are left hanging. That's why when in doubt, success is in a large number of cases harder to question than results that aren't exactly what you might hope, even if the perceived difficulty between what allowed for success and what caused results that weren't ideal isn't minor.
Adcoms dont audit your coursework and really don't have much of a frame of reference as to whether X course or major at school A is more rigorous than Y course or major at another school B etc. So assume they'll look at your GPA and that you've taken the prereqs and move on. You could ace an easy major and do the prereqs and a few cool ECs and you'll get into med school long before the guy who killed himself with hard double majors, minors, etc plus tons of hours of cookie cutter ECs. If you are trying to get into med school by doing more difficult/rigorous things, you are doing it all wrong. Med schools care about the prereqs -- everything else you are just doing for you, not them. They didn't ask you to do it, and won't really reward you for doing it. A nonscience major, some cool ECs and just the prereqs gets in over the guy focused on rigorous intense science coursework almost every time.
OP I'm also in a program like that, my advice is find one or 2 volunteering things for a couple hours each a week. This is always possible
Then, even if you're working full time in the summer, volunteer a ton around this.
Then, even if you're working full time in the summer, volunteer a ton around this.
I agree with most posters here that no, adcoms will probably not scrutinize your courseload and notice that Fall of 2015 was an especially packed semester. IMO it would be better to have your volunteer experience be more spaced out (over 1-2 years) and have X hours, rather than pack in the same x hours in 4 months. You'll probably get more out of it (spiritually!), learn more, and contribute more to the organization this way.
You absolutely need to volunteer. I noticed that a lot of "typical" clinical volunteer gigs have pre-meds that spend a majority of their time studying during their shifts. If study time is tight, I would suggest finding a hospital volunteering position with excessive downtime so you can study while racking up hours. When your schedule lightens up, you can do some non-clinical volunteering that you can hopefully enjoy.
Hi Hushman, I can definitely sympathize with your situation because I'm majoring in physics (although I've never had that many labs at once, oh dear). Coursework is challenging, and the difference between an A-/B+ and an A is often much more work than the difference between a B and A-/B+. I also understand the impulse to want to drop everything and study before exams, as I often become a hermit during midterms and finals season. However, you can most definitely spare 3-4 hours a week volunteering at a hospital, clinic, food shelter, or another cause that you might be interested in. Last semester, I took Quantum Mechanics and Astrophysics in addition to two other courses and still volunteered around 8 hours a week (3 at a hospital, 5 in a different organization). Life might suck for a bit and you may start to get grumbly at all of those people with free time, but it's definitely possible.
However, maybe you could look into taking a gap year instead of overloading yourself? You could get a research position and get in your clinical volunteering hours, or maybe get a scribe position and find a nonclinical volunteering position.
However, maybe you could look into taking a gap year instead of overloading yourself? You could get a research position and get in your clinical volunteering hours, or maybe get a scribe position and find a nonclinical volunteering position.
