I just finished my junior year and I have no idea how AMCAS works. I'm taking my MCAT in June and applying this year. My main question is if undergraduate research I did in a genetics lab will count towards my BCPM gpa. (im trying to calculate my gpa right now to see where I stand). The course is labeled "UC 280 Undergraduate Research". The four credits in this course would help my science gpa out so it would be great if it counted. Also, when do I fill out AMCAS and see if they counted the course to my science gpa or not, so I can dispute it if they didn't? Thanks!
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Does undergraduate research count for science gpa?
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You are correct.
It's labeled "UC 280" So it doesn't fall into a department. It's from UROP (undergraduate research opportunity program) where you can pick a field to research in. I chose genetics research through our school's medical school working under an MD. The problem is that it's labeled "UC" and not "BIO, PHYS, CHEM etc".
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Tough to say exactly if the course code doesn't fall into a science department, but if it was in genetics and through a medical school, I'd err on the side of counting it. Just make sure you enter it in exactly as you find it on your transcript.
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I had credit for neuroscience research that was listed under the psychology department. I put it as BCPM on AMCAS and AACOMAS and it wasn't changed after my app was verified. I also listed a number of other psych classes as BCPM and none of those were changed either. List it as BCPM - if they change it and you feel that strongly about it being BCPM you can always appeal.
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List it and hope for the best. It should count but you never know. But if you don't try it won't count
Is there a place where you can describe the course on AMCAS? I'm sure a lot of classes have a title that doesn't describe the content of a course.
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Nope.
Interesting, so they will either deny that UC280 was science research or take my word for it? If they deny it, can I appeal it? And also, how long before they approve it after you submit your grades in May?
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Yes, you can appeal (see my post above). The sooner you submit your application the more quickly it is verified. So if you're concerned about appealing something like this make sure you submit your application as soon as possible. The only change AMCAS made on mine was changing a music history class from ARTS to HIST. They left all the psych classes I listed as BCPM, and many of them did not have very sciency sounding names (the content of the courses were >50% science, so I wasn't trying to game the system or anything).
Ok, thanks for the information. You don't have to have taken your MCAT to start the verification process in May, correct?
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No idea. I took the MCAT almost a year before I applied. Pretty much any questions you might have should be answered here though - https://students-residents.aamc.org...school-process/applying-medical-school-amcas/
PDF of the instruction manual should be on the right side of the screen.
Edit - here's the link to the PDF https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...278-2edb3998a216/amcas_instruction_manual.pdf
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You do not need MCAT or LORs in order to be verified. Those can be added later. Just need your transcripts and a completed AMCAS.
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deleted482591
Why would they take the time to do this? I'm very curious about the classification process it seems very mysterious...
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No idea. I had 7 years worth of full time coursework and for some reason they felt that Intro to Music History should classified as HIST, but were okay with Music History I & II being classified as ARTS - all were taught by the music department and had a music department course number. That was the only change that was made on my app. It didn't affect my GPA so I didn't really look into it any further.
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Why don't they ask for a description of the course if this were the case? "UC 280" sounds nothing like it has to do with science when it was entirely science based for me. It was just undergraduate research so some people decided not to go into science research while I did. (I've actually stuck with the same PI for the last 3 years now because I enjoyed the lab so much even though I only got credit the first year).
Ah, okay. The catalog just states it as "undergraduate research" since you could do this course and choose any field of research you wanted (biology, chemistry, physics, art, literature, basically any field). This is why I was confused on how they would know that I did science research.
Why don't you just request a copy of your transcript and see if it has any credit hours associated with it? Even your free internal transcript should show this. There are some courses that give you letter grades but give you 0 credit hours.
THIS IS GREAT! 
at UMD you can research for credit for a max of 9 credits worth. I just completed one semester of 3 credits and it is letter graded no P/F!
I'll be sure to add it to my course load both semesters of my senior year! thank you!!!!! 🙂
at UMD you can research for credit for a max of 9 credits worth. I just completed one semester of 3 credits and it is letter graded no P/F!
I'll be sure to add it to my course load both semesters of my senior year! thank you!!!!! 🙂
