Enroll as a non-degree seeking student?

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Hey guys!

So, I'm a reapplicant with a great MCAT but not-so-great GPA. I've been working in a lab for the past year, but for this year, I was going to enroll in some classes to show medical schools that I can also succeed academically.
For personal reasons, I couldn't enroll in SMPs/one-year masters' programs. Instead, I enrolled as a certificate seeking student at the public health school in my city i.e. take five classes over the course of a year and be granted a certificate in public health (+ gain credit for those classes if I should later want to do a MPH).
But now, I was thinking of enrolling as a non-degree seeking student at the university near me and take graduate-level classes. I can't do their Masters' because it is a really small school, so not all classes are offered each semester, so I don't want to risk enrolling in and then, not finishing up my degree, if on the off-chance I get accepted.

So, my question is: How would that look to medical schools? I really want to take these classes (immunology, neurosciences) and do well, but would the fact that I'm a non-degree student look bad to medical schools? 😕

Please help me out!

I'm not sure if this answers your question or not, but often post-baccing students aren't enrolled in a degree program. Harvard Extension is one example. I would think what matters is your performance in the classes, not your degree status. AMCAS doesn't differentiate when calculating your GPA between degree and non-degree. Just make sure you enroll in undergrad classes if you want to raise your GPA.
 
Omg thank you sooooo much 😀😀😀 Your answer was so helpful!

But follow-up question -- I wasn't planning to enroll in undergrad classes, as I've pretty much taken all of them (and done well) (it was just stupid orgo and others that gave me trouble in undergrad). I was planning to enroll in graduate. Would that still work?
That would just give me a graduate GPA, right? A new number for med schools to look at?
 
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Omg thank you sooooo much 😀😀😀 Your answer was so helpful!

But follow-up question -- I wasn't planning to enroll in undergrad classes, as I've pretty much taken all of them (and done well) (it was just stupid orgo and others that gave me trouble in undergrad). I was planning to enroll in graduate. Would that still work?
That would just give me a graduate GPA, right? A new number for med schools to look at?

Well, graduate classes are generally considered easier (paradoxically, but that's the way it is) and graduate GPAs are not considered as carefully as undergrad GPAs. Others will know more, my experience is all with post-bacc undergrad work.

Whether or not classes are worth it depends on what your GPA actually is, and whether there was a trend--were your poor grades early? How not-great is your undergrad GPA?
 
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