does astronomy count towards bcpm?

Started by cooldood132
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cooldood132

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7+ Year Member
i have some extra space in my schedule next semester and was thinking of taking an astronomy class. all my university's astronomy classes are under the astronomy department and are labeled "ASTRO ###". would taking this class count towards my bcpm GPA? thanks.
 
cooldood132 said:
Well, I don't plan on applying to any Texas schools. Do the rest of the schools count astronomy as BCPM?
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moemoekyun said:
Yes, under physics.
https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...ab328dc/amcas_course_classification_guide.pdf
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Read.

Most of the time AMCAS gives you a benefit of the doubt that SDN does not (cuz everybody here is super morally righteous). As long as the course isn't blatantly non-science, you can get away with a BCPM classification.
 
md-2020 said:
Read.

Most of the time AMCAS gives you a benefit of the doubt that SDN does not (cuz everybody here is super morally righteous). As long as the course isn't blatantly non-science, you can get away with a BCPM classification.
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What about health science classes such as pathophysiology or epidemiology?
 
cooldood132 said:
Can somebody please explain what TMDSAS is and how it's different from AMCAS and AACOMAS? Thanks.
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As explained above it is the application system for medical schools located in Texas. It is completely separate from AMCAS and AACOMAS.

TooMuchPressure said:
What about health science classes such as pathophysiology or epidemiology?
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LizzyM said:
Usually labeled HEAL (for "health") and counted as AO (all other).
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Theoretically yes that's the most accurate designation but the reality is that AMCAS gives you the benefit of the doubt quite often, should you designate them biology.
 
Lawpy said:
I'll probably send an inquiry to TMDSAS asking why astronomy isn't considered science, unless it's been addressed somewhere.
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The folks who answer the phone there are very friendly and helpful, and you can get an answer faster. If you're interested in the official list for TMDSAS BCPM inclusions, here is a link (scroll half way down): http://www.tmdsas.com/medical/section_Overview.html

They just switched to BCPM GPA from sGPA in the last cycle, and there is an appeals process to get a course redesignated, but it requires all the public med school deans in Texas to sign off on it. Perhaps an appeal is already in progress or is recently completed. If you get updated information, I hope you'll come back and post about it.
 
Catalystik said:
The folks who answer the phone there are very friendly and helpful, and you can get an answer faster. If you're interested in the official list for TMDSAS BCPM inclusions, here is a link (scroll half way down): http://www.tmdsas.com/medical/section_Overview.html

They just switched to BCPM GPA from sGPA in the last cycle, and there is an appeals process to get a course redesignated, but it requires all the public med school deans in Texas to sign off on it. Perhaps an appeal is already in progress or is recently completed. If you get updated information, I hope you'll come back and post about it.
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Great thanks! I will let you know about it soon.
 
Sorry to hijack, but what about neuroscience courses? Are they counted in the science GPA?
 
It will probably go towards BCPM, but don't take astronomy light hearted, I hear the courses are pretty difficult
 
Catalystik said:
The folks who answer the phone there are very friendly and helpful, and you can get an answer faster. If you're interested in the official list for TMDSAS BCPM inclusions, here is a link (scroll half way down): http://www.tmdsas.com/medical/section_Overview.html

They just switched to BCPM GPA from sGPA in the last cycle, and there is an appeals process to get a course redesignated, but it requires all the public med school deans in Texas to sign off on it. Perhaps an appeal is already in progress or is recently completed. If you get updated information, I hope you'll come back and post about it.
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Called them a while ago and unfortunately, they referred me to the website you provided for input regarding GPA calculations. I think it's one of those instances where TMDSAS GPA and sGPA can be markedly different from AMCAS GPAs.

For anyone interested, the section overview link is accurate and should be followed. I didn't do comparisons to see whether TMDSAS is strict with the course selection but you should play it safe. Keep in mind that astronomy and any math course outside of calculus and statistics are listed as Other Science but not BCPM. From there you can decide accordingly.

Curiously, AACOMAS is more flexible in that it considers Other Science courses to be part of science GPA with the exception of Math courses. (http://help.unicas.com:8888/aacomas...-history-2/aacomas-course-subjects/index.html)

So for astronomy courses, you should be fine listing them as science in regards to non-TX medical schools and Baylor (since it uses AMCAS).
 
If you list a debatable class under science when its not, does it delay your verification? or simply they just erase it ?
 
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