GPA vs difficulty of coursework

[streetlight]

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I'm having a hard time juggling these two in my class selection for my junior year. I'm an MIT rising junior with a downward trend of GPA (to 3.5/4.0). My application is pretty well off except for the GPA part - and I'm trying to fix that.

I'm trying to make up for my GPA by taking a more normal courseload and a few easier classes compared to the courseload I've been taking thus far for my next two terms (the logic being: if I can pump out a 4.0 for those two terms, I could make up some lost ground GPAwise). However, this will prevent me from taking the harder BME classes I was planning on taking for a minor (which I may have to drop if I don't take the classes) - just because of their difficulty. Will MD or MD/PhD adcoms see this slight change in class difficulties/courseload in a bad light and consider me less competitive due to my lone pure sciences major even if I boost up the GPA significantly in the process?

I hope to hear of people that were in similar situations and am interested to find out what they did.

Thanks

 

[mms2k7]

man i have always had issues with the numerical standardization of class grades in college. The best move for you would be to take the classes that would most favorably increase your GPA; it is a numbers game. However, make sure you take classes that will affect your BCPM gpa much more favorably. Your over all gpa is of little concern vs the BCPM gpa IMO. If u had a BCPM of 3.8 vs a other class gpa of 3.4, you are still an excellent candidate, but it doesn't work vice versa. If you can, fit in math courses/science courses that you think you will ace. Many adcoms DO NOT have the time to look and analyze why you took every course.I was interviewing with the dean of admissions @ a school, and he said something along the lines of, "i usually don't look at grades in individual courses." It is not because they don't care, its because its logistically inefficient, especially for schools with huge app volume (ie boston based schools, NYC based schools). So take a normal course load, slide in some easier BCPM classes in there. I dont mean level 100 classes; easy is a relative term. After two years, much of what you learn overlaps. Take classes where you can take advantage of this overlap.... example.. you took gen bio, take evolution at a later point. Gen bio covers a great deal of evolution. If you took cell bio/molec cell bio, take a bio that emphasizes on other organelle portions of cells, the material covered is VERY similar (i am speaking from experience). This gives you a head start, allows you to manage time better, and reduces the apparent load of your coursework. Personally, i think math classes give you the most bang for your buck BCPM wise (i'm sure ppl will disagree with me here) and probably the least taxing timewise. This is also highly dependent on how well you grasp math. Ask around, what upper level classes people thought were easier, see how many previous class resources (from other students) you have available. Do this and you can def add an extra few .01s to your GPA.

It is unfortunate that there is no way for one to actually prove to an adcom that "ochem I @ univ x is SIGNIFICANTLY harder than ochemI @ univ y"...ive seen the exams at other schools vs my own, and for some courses they are harder, and some they are easier...which leads me to think, how standardized is a standardized GPA?

 

[streetlight]

if I'm a neuroscience major, are those courses put in my BCPM...because then my overall GPA is pretty much the same as my BCPM

 

[ryandote]

My personal opinion is that most "coursework difficulty" advantages are outweighed by GPA advantages. Particularly if you are at MIT, you are already sitting pretty.

However, the tradeoff obviously depends on the GPA difference, though. If the difference is between a 3.5 and a 4.0- my advice is to definitely take the science classes instead of the engineering classes, ceteris paribus.

If you love engineering, though, maybe it's worth it to get the engineering degree?

By the way... what is a "pure" science? Is it anything like a "social science" ? Or is it more of a "hard" science? Just pulling your chain, dude.


Edit: I just re-read your post a little more carefully and if I understand correctly, you will only be sacrificing a minor in BME. I stand by my advice that if the GPA gap to get a BME minor drags you from a 4.0 to a 3.5, drop the minor.

 

[ryandote]

By the way, streetlight, engineering classes go in the Physical Sciences category on that AAMC page of data we were discussing the other day.

I asked about mech, chem, electric, aero, civil, computer, bio/biomed - they emailed me back and said that all engineering degress are in the physicial sciences category.

 

[streetlight]

Thanks. So would my neuroscience courses go in the BCPM category then? What about psych courses?

 

[Depakote]

Thanks. So would my neuroscience courses go in the BCPM category then? What about psych courses?

If Neuroscience is biology based, I would guess it would go under BCPM, but you can check the AMCAS instructions to see. Psych, no.

 

[ryandote]

Thanks. So would my neuroscience courses go in the BCPM category then? What about psych courses?

There are some important guidelines for listing your courses, but some stuff can be up in the air. I would bet that most of you Neuro courses would be BCPM by default. I would bet that your psycholog courses would NOT be BCPM by default. (You're going to love this: Psychology is usually considered a "Social Science." - Sometimes it is a Behavioral Science)

When you enter your AMCAS courses, the default selection for Psych is "BESS" for Behavioral, Environmental(?), and Social Sciences. The default selection for Neuro is "BCPM" because they call it Biology. However, you can sometimes list Psych classes as BCPM, and some Neuro classes may not qualify for BCPM. It should depend on the content, but it realistically is a little more dependent on the name. If you have a psych class entitled: "Neural Anatomy and Biological/Physiological Basis for Personality Disorders" you would stand a good chance of having that count towards BCPM. "Behavioral Descriptions of Various Personality Disorders" would probably NOT count toward BCPM. Get it?


I passed off "Statistics for Economists" and "Econometrics" as a BCPM because they were entirely stats classes. I actually felt fine about that, too, because the BYU Econ program is a Math-Econ instead of a Bus-Econ.

Make sense?

 

[streetlight]

Got it. here's where the gray area lies. what about cognitive neuroscience?

 

[ryandote]

Got it. here's where the gray area lies. what about cognitive neuroscience?

Depends on what grade you earned and if you wanted to counted toward BCPM or OAGPA

Just kidding. If you are really on the fence about a neuroscience class, list it in it's default BCPM. If you are really on the fence about a psych class, list it in it's default BESS.

 

[streetlight]

I hate playing the numbers game 🙁