Has anyone gotten in with this?

[ocwaveoc]

Hello all,
In the past 4 semesters, I've taken 2 courses (plus lab for each of course) each semester. BioI/ChemI, BioII/ChemII, OchemI/PhysI and OchemII/PhysII. I've gotten A's or A+'s in lectures and labs for all of them. But, I know the schools don't look favorably to the low number of courses I've taken since coming back to school (I've been out of school since 1995).
Has anyone gotten in with 2 courses per semester post bac load? And no, I did not work during school. Haha..yeah, I spent the entire time on those courses.....so, I KNOW the material real well...I limited the number of courses in part so that I'd know the material well for my first MCAT. But, I'm a bit worried though.
Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[bjolly]

that's what I got in with, and I'd been out of undergrad since 1985. If you had a good undergrad gpa and just needed prereqs you should be fine. If you have a bad undergrad gpa to make up for, I guess it could be an issue.

 

[keitaiKT]

I took two courses per semester for 2 years to fulfill my post-bacc requirements also. I didn't work at that time either, although I did some volunteering and I TAed for a Bio class (the second year, not the first year). I knew that having a higher courseload was important, but I didn't want to shoot myself in the foot either, since I hadn't taken any science classes in college and knew I had to build a strong foundation in the basic sciences.

I had no trouble getting interviews and am now in my MS2 year. No one so much as asked about my light courseload in my interviews.

You'll do great!

 

[oxeye]

That's how I did it. I'm limited to 6 credits per semester because I'm not enrolled in a degree program. I'm glad too because I had to try to study with the kids around me all day which can be interesting to say the least.

Anyway, it wasn't a problem for me at all.

 

[ocwaveoc]

Hey thanks for your replies.
What were your stats like? Mine are Overall GPA 3.42, BCPM 3.77 and MCAT-I haven't taken it yet. The reason I ask is that my Overall GPA isn't so hot and was wondering whether your high Overall GPA and good MCAT scores negated the 2 courses/semester post bac load.
If you don't feel comfortable stating them here, please PM me.
I'd appreciate it.

 

[Faze2]

I think a lot of it has to do with your undergrad GPA. If you have a lot to prove, I think you will benefit from taking more of a full courseload and doing well in it, but if you have a good undergrad gpa, I don't think it is that important. This being said, almost everyone I've ever spoke to that took part time courses said it was never an issue and was never asked about it in interviews. And their undergrad gpa's ranged from 2.5 to 4.0, so you never know. A lot of it depends on the school too. If a school is more non-trad friendly, I don't think it is much of an issue.

One point that seems to be repeated time and again is that it is more important to well than to overload yourself. Taking 2-3 post bac classes and getting a 4.0 or close is better than taking 4-5 classes and getting a 3.2. That is what I've heard more than anything.

My friend took about 18 credits per semester in the past year with all sciences. I think he got a 3.8ish for both semesters, which I think is pretty impressive considering the classes. He did not have to work though, which I'm sure helped, but you still have to work your a** off to get those grades with the classes he was taking. And he said he would never have done that if he had to work.