Double major to raise GPA?

[PRmed]

Hey everyone,
I was thinking about double majoring because my current cumulative GPA (im a junior too) is about a 2.6 I did horribly my first two years and I am recovering from that now. If I can keep making lots of A's and some B's I can get my GPA up to a 3.1/3.2 ish by the time I get my Bio degree.

So my question is, should I double major in something to help out my GPA? Has anyone done this? I searched the forums and found very little on double majors.

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[Law2Doc]

Hey everyone,
I was thinking about double majoring because my current cumulative GPA (im a junior too) is about a 2.6 I did horribly my first two years and I am recovering from that now. If I can keep making lots of A's and some B's I can get my GPA up to a 3.1/3.2 ish by the time I get my Bio degree.

So my question is, should I double major in something to help out my GPA? Has anyone done this? I searched the forums and found very little on double majors.

There's nothing wrong with taking additional classes to bring up your GPA, but I would think it will look really transparent if starting in senior year, you as a bio major suddenly load up on fine arts or some other unrelated discipline to start pulling in the easy A's. There is no real advantage to the second "major" itself outside of the GPA impact. You might want to consider taking additional classes in the same or a related area instead.

 

[PRmed]

There's nothing wrong with taking additional classes to bring up your GPA, but I would think it will look really transparent if starting in senior year, you as a bio major suddenly load up on fine arts or some other unrelated discipline to start pulling in the easy A's. There is no real advantage to the second "major" itself outside of the GPA impact. You might want to consider taking additional classes in the same or a related area instead.

I was thinking of taking more chemistry/forensic science classes; but I agree, it would look bad trying to get all the easy A classes so I will stay away from alot of those. Also, I have always been very interested in the forensic sciences too.

Do you know if forensic science classes count toward the BCPM classes?

 

[BMW M3]

I'm a double major science/humanities and it has actually worked against me to lower my GPA

 

[Labslave]

I'm a double major science/humanities and it has actually worked against me to lower my GPA

Yeah, I have a number of friends who experienced the exact same thing.

OP: If I were you, I'd make sure I got A's in the rest of the classes for your major and get your overall GPA above 3.0 (if you can do this in a year). It would probably be best to consider post-bacc programs at this point...

 

[reylting]

Hey everyone,
I was thinking about double majoring because my current cumulative GPA (im a junior too) is about a 2.6 I did horribly my first two years and I am recovering from that now. If I can keep making lots of A's and some B's I can get my GPA up to a 3.1/3.2 ish by the time I get my Bio degree.

So my question is, should I double major in something to help out my GPA? Has anyone done this? I searched the forums and found very little on double majors.

As a Biology major I did a second major in English to raise my GPA. It raised my overall GPA, but I ended up going to a Post Bacc to raise my science GPA.

 

[mshheaddoc]

Yeah, I have a number of friends who experienced the exact same thing.

OP: If I were you, I'd make sure I got A's in the rest of the classes for your major and get your overall GPA above 3.0 (if you can do this in a year). It would probably be best to consider post-bacc programs at this point...

I second. Take prereqs or do a post-bacc program with prereqs or MS in biological scienc eprogram.

 

[PRmed]

I second. Take prereqs or do a post-bacc program with prereqs or MS in biological scienc eprogram.

But isnt post-bacc really expensive? Couldnt I just take more science classes instead?

Also, what is the difference? I dont really know much about post-bacc; what kind of classes do you take?

 

[letmein!please?]

Would grades from an MS count towards your GPA, or is this a seperate GPA?

 

[reylting]

But isnt post-bacc really expensive? Couldnt I just take more science classes instead?

Also, what is the difference? I dont really know much about post-bacc; what kind of classes do you take?

Here is where I think it comes down to what you need.
If all you need to do is raise your science GPA then just taking science classes will do it.

In my particular case, I needed MCAT prep, science GPA increase, and more hands on clinical care, so a Post bacc was the best way for me to address all of these deficiencies in a timely manner. The post bacc also provided me with an advisor to help me with questions along the way (very helpful after you graduate and don't have acess to your undergrad advisors)

As far as expense...well...it's relative.
I paid for the Post bacc classes which were science classes at UCLA (same as just taking classes ) and I also paid for whatever MCAT prep materials, and my housing. But programs vary in their finacial requirements so I would just do some research on Post baccs if you're interested and that will help you make the decision between Post baccs and just taking classes.

 

[nimotsu]

The problem is that they divide up your GPA into BCPM and then liberal arts on AMCAS, so your performance in science classes cannot be masked by doing well in the latter category.

 

[Moto]

I took a second major (Chemistry) and actually raised both science and overall with chem classes. But the amount of pressure you feel to get straight A in upper level Chem classes is incredibly high. Needless to say I was one of those neurotic point counters who was more concerned with the grade than the material. In the end, I finished pre-reqs and raised my GPA before I applied. If I had more time, I would definitely pick an easier major to do it with.
So....if you plan to take another major rather than postbac (in my case it was wa-a-ay more expense to do postbac in my school) chose and easy major. Health science if available is a good way to go.

 

[PRmed]

Thanks everyone! I got a good representation of Post-Bacc vs More classes. I think I will try to take more Chem and Bio classes so it can raise my science GPA too and see how that goes. Thanks again for all the posts!