Easy classes high gpa vs hard UD with lower gpa

[drabberbadge]

Which would you choose? A higher gpa with easier classes or a lower gpa with harder classes?

I'm trying to decide my course plan

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[milkandcereal]

What constitutes an easy and hard class? Some people fall into the notion of thinking that a non-science class will be easy because us science majors are used to the "intense" science courses; this is definitely not true. I got some of my best grades in "harder classes" because the material was interesting and I was motivated to do well; conversely, I got some of my lowest grades in the "easier classes" because they were boring and I didn't put much emphasis on them. Ultimately, go whatever route you think you will do best in and try to pick classes that you are at least marginally interested in.

That said, try and keep your GPA as high as you possibly can, for obvious reasons. Med schools will certainly look at the rigor of your coursework, but a high GPA will almost always beat out a lower one.

 

[Shjanzey]

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[drabberbadge]

I meant to say easier science classes vs harder science classes, like astronomy vs physio etc

 

[BlueLabel]

Go the easy route bro. I did engineering and ADCOMS give exactly 0 feels. They will see 4.0, before you get to explain how hard engineering is. I regret not doing Business, or Communications, or <insert-frat-degree-here>

You're cool

 

[Shjanzey]

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[theseeker4]

I meant to say easier science classes vs harder science classes, like astronomy vs physio etc

Get A's. Med schools care a LOT more about your GPA than they do what classes you take, other than the pre reqs of course. Do what you can to get as many A's as you can, you won't impress adcoms with a B+ average in a difficult major.

 

[deleted407021]

I'll add that, since you major determines the majority of the classes you will take, major in something you like.

 

[darknight]

What constitutes an easy and hard class? Some people fall into the notion of thinking that a non-science class will be easy because us science majors are used to the "intense" science courses; this is definitely not true.

Specially when the professor of an ''easy class'' tells you to read 250 pages of pure incoherent sentences and build an essay (minimum 10 pages) for the next class about a quote from the book.

 

[mirimonster]

Get A's. Med schools care a LOT more about your GPA than they do what classes you take, other than the pre reqs of course. Do what you can to get as many A's as you can, you won't impress adcoms with a B+ average in a difficult major.

This is 100% true. However, in defense of the difficult major, once you do get in, I found that I am much more prepared for the rigors of med school than the majority of my classmates. Delayed gratification.

 

[theseeker4]

This is 100% true. However, in defense of the difficult major, once you do get in, I found that I am much more prepared for the rigors of med school than the majority of my classmates. Delayed gratification.

I have no doubt that the rigors of a difficult program prepare someone better for med school. That is cold comfort, however, if a person is sitting at a 3.0 and unable to get into med school because they chose the difficult program. In addition, since there seems to be no data showing people who majored in easy subjects are dropping out of med school at a large rate compared to people who majored in more difficult subjects, the safe bet is to keep the undergraduate GPA as high as possible.

 

[Goro]

It's not what you take, but how well you do. Easy courses may also not adequately prepare you for the furnace of medical school, either.

Which would you choose? A higher gpa with easier classes or a lower gpa with harder classes?

I'm trying to decide my course plan

 

[IlDestriero]

It's not what you take, but how well you do. Easy courses may also not adequately prepare you for the furnace of medical school, either.

You can sleep better knowing almost nobody fails out, but 1/2 the people that apply don't get in. Take any easy A you can get, and then look at the school across town and take a few of their easy A classes as well.
You won't burn up in the furnace, just get uncomfortably hot and glow a bit.

 

[BeerZombie]

Well if you end up deciding that medicine is not right for you, or if you don't get into any schools. (possible but not probable) Then you are going to regret getting your bull**** degree because you can't get a legitimate job.

Also, medical school is not easy so priming yourself with an "easy" degree is going to make the shock even greater.

 

[Gauss44]

In a AMCAS sense, I'm wishing that I didn't take 20 credits almost every quarter, several EC's, and a part-time job (while dealing concussions, endocrine disorders, being homeless, etc.). In personal sense, I'm glad I did because it enriched my life. So, I guess I did the later essentially and hope I didn't hang myself in terms of getting into one of the better schools.

 

[Omppu27]

Yeah man major in something you like.... I'm a bio major and wish I did something like History with a bio minor or something...

I also wanna say that people saying that ADCOMs don't care AT ALL about your major probably isn't true. If someone brings me two identical apps and one is a 3.8 bio major and the other is 3.7 BME major, I think the BME gets the win.

 

[drabberbadge]

Would you say for med schools that acceptance is all a numbers game

 

[drabberbadge]

I'm thinking instead of taking physiology or no bio or biochemical to take like astro and some easier chem an bio classes ( chem with aids ) etc...

 

[Goro]

Trouble is, it never boils down to that,. When we're paring down to 1-2 great candidates to accept out of 5-6, major is NOT a consideration. It's the entire package.

I also wanna say that people saying that ADCOMs don't care AT ALL about your major probably isn't true. If someone brings me two identical apps and one is a 3.8 bio major and the other is 3.7 BME major, I think the BME gets the win.[/QUOTE]

Not always! ECs and interview performance count too. I rejected people who had near 4.0 GPAs but never set foot in a hospital.

Would you say for med schools that acceptance is all a numbers game

 

[gyngyn]

I also wanna say that people saying that ADCOMs don't care AT ALL about your major probably isn't true. If someone brings me two identical apps and one is a 3.8 bio major and the other is 3.7 BME major, I think the BME gets the win.

At the point that we are evaluating these two candidates (with everything else being equal) they will either both get in or neither will get in. It's not as if we care about such minute differences. We really do not care about your major. We care that you distinguished yourself in your field of interest and have both the personal qualities and academic strengths that indicate a good outcome at our school.

 

[drabberbadge]

At the point that we are evaluating these two candidates (with everything else being equal) they will either both get in or neither will get in. It's not as if we care about such minute differences. We really do not care about your major. We care that you distinguished yourself in your field of interest and have both the personal qualities and academic strengths that indicate a good outcome at our school.

So which would you choose : a student who has A s in easier science classes like chemistry with aids, astronomy, bio for non science majors etc.. vs someone who has B s in UD science classes like microbio,biochem,genetics, or physio?

 

[notbobtrustme]

Trouble is, it never boils down to that,. When we're paring down to 1-2 great candidates to accept out of 5-6, major is NOT a consideration. It's the entire package.

Okay, big deal, they don't get in at your school, but 10 other schools will still consider them.

When it comes down to medical school admissions, it's all a numbers game. That 3.8/30 while majoring in communications will get your app seen by so many more human eyes than a 3.2/30 engineering.

It is a numbers game. How many schools actually see your app and call you in for an interview? That is the number you want to maximize. How do you do that? Get the highest GPA you can with the highest MCAT you can while bull****ting your way through a bunch of meaningless ECs. The most reliable way to get a high GPA is to major in something easy while taking easy professors. That will get your app in front of as many human eyes.

The worst thing you can do is major in something difficult, tank your GPA and then work an extra 2 years correcting that mistake. You know what prepares you for medical school coursework? Medical school.

 

[gyngyn]

So which would you choose : a student who has A s in easier science classes like chemistry with aids, astronomy, bio for non science majors etc.. vs someone who has B s in UD science classes like microbio,biochem,genetics, or physio?

With the same MCAT, A's all the way. (btw I don't know what chemistry with aids means).

 

[drabberbadge]

With the same MCAT, A's all the way. (btw I don't know what chemistry with aids means).

Would I not be at a big disadvantage taking no UD?

 

[gyngyn]

Would I not be at a big disadvantage taking no UD?

It does not matter to us. If it matters to you, go ahead.

 

[487806]

Which would you choose? A higher gpa with easier classes or a lower gpa with harder classes?

I'm trying to decide my course plan

Higher GPA trumps all. The consensus here on SDN is that a 4.0 in something "easy" like a humanities major is equivalent to a 4.0 in something "difficult" like an engineering major. Majors can't be compared objectively because the notion of what's easy and what's hard itself is subjective.

Similar applies for easier and harder classes. The lower-level classes are misinterpreted to be easy because the content is introductory. That is false, because the classes can test very difficult material and graded on a very harsh curve to weed out premeds and careless students. Harder classes involve difficult material and the exams will be difficult, but students will be exposed to the curriculum by then.

If anything, a 4.0 on upper-level classes help to alleviate the negative 3.0- impact on a lower-level class, but that's rare. But because there are so many subjective factors involved, adcoms aren't going to waste their time scrutinizing thousands of applications determining what is easy and hard. The high GPA is an objective assessment in these cases.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Higher GPA trumps all. The consensus here on SDN is that a 4.0 in something "easy" like a humanities major is equivalent to a 4.0 in something "difficult" like an engineering major. Majors can't be compared objectively because the notion of what's easy and what's hard itself is subjective.

Similar applies for easier and harder classes. The lower-level classes are misinterpreted to be easy because the content is introductory. That is false, because the classes can test very difficult material and graded on a very harsh curve to weed out premeds and careless students. Harder classes involve difficult material and the exams will be difficult, but students will be exposed to the curriculum by then.

If anything, a 4.0 on upper-level classes help to alleviate the negative 3.0- impact on a lower-level class, but that's rare. But because there are so many subjective factors involved, adcoms aren't going to waste their time scrutinizing thousands of applications determining what is easy and hard. The high GPA is an objective assessment in these cases.

yep, remember, even if you lose a head-to-head at any one particular school (eg adcom thinks your 3.8 is less impressive than a 3.2 engineering degree), ideally, several other schools will rank you high. It's not about admission to one particular program, it's about an admission, period.

 

[drabberbadge]

Higher GPA trumps all. The consensus here on SDN is that a 4.0 in something "easy" like a humanities major is equivalent to a 4.0 in something "difficult" like an engineering major. Majors can't be compared objectively because the notion of what's easy and what's hard itself is subjective.

Similar applies for easier and harder classes. The lower-level classes are misinterpreted to be easy because the content is introductory. That is false, because the classes can test very difficult material and graded on a very harsh curve to weed out premeds and careless students. Harder classes involve difficult material and the exams will be difficult, but students will be exposed to the curriculum by then.

If anything, a 4.0 on upper-level classes help to alleviate the negative 3.0- impact on a lower-level class, but that's rare. But because there are so many subjective factors involved, adcoms aren't going to waste their time scrutinizing thousands of applications determining what is easy and hard. The high GPA is an objective assessment in these cases.

So why do people take pchem genetics etc when they could take astronomy and such easier classes

 

[gyngyn]

They have an interest in the field and are willing to devote the time and attention necessary to achieve the desired grade?

 

[487806]

So why do people take pchem genetics etc when they could take astronomy and such easier classes

Probably because it's required for their major?

 

[drabberbadge]

They have an interest in the field and are willing to devote the time and attention necessary to achieve the desired grade?

What are the easier sciences yo us recommend to boost gpa?
I have 3.3 sgpa

 

[gyngyn]

What are the easier sciences yo us recommend to boost gpa?
I have 3.3 sgpa

One often does better in topics of greater interest or perceived relevance.

Sometimes lower grades are due to piling on too many labor intensive classes at once. Changing to a more interesting major or consulting a learning specialist are two thoughts.