Honors Chemistry.. Do med schools notice it?

[blackarrowmoose]

Ok long story short, im not here to complain but at freshman orientation they told us (high AP scorers) that med schools like to see higher level coursework over regular intro coursework. So they advised me to take a honors general chemistry course over the regular intro gen chem.

Fact is, im pretty much doing "average" every test, im getting about -2 or +2 points around the average. So I dont even really know what grade im supposed to expect. Anyway, im just curious, do med schools actually care about honors? Or is it a load of crap

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[Emerica]

From what I've heard, med schools would rather see an A in a non-honors course than a C in an honors course. Essentially, the higher GPA wins out.

You must constantly question information that is provided to you, even if it is coming from a pre-med advisor. If I was going to make a C in that honors chem class, I would drop it and take normal gen chem to make an A.

 

[blackarrowmoose]

yeah... but the semester only has 4 weeks left and i can't really switch to a different chemistry track. I spoke to my professor and he told me im probably going to get a B-, but he said don't worry too much its my first semester and he wouldnt expect much better.?

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

More or less for the extra work and labor its not worth it and medical schools will not care too much.

 

[BBender716]

Sounds like the spiel they gave us at my school. I opted for the lower track, got into med school, and never looked back.

 

[Emerica]

yeah... but the semester only has 4 weeks left and i can't really switch to a different chemistry track. I spoke to my professor and he told me im probably going to get a B-, but he said don't worry too much its my first semester and he wouldnt expect much better.?

A B- won't hurt your GPA too much, so my renewed advice to you is to really bust your ass in that class to get the best grade you can and then next semester, take the regular second-semester general chemistry.

I also did well on my AP Chem exam and my previous experience in chemistry makes gen chem 1 an intensive review, I expect a similar experience in gen chem 2.

 

[RogueUnicorn]

Ok long story short, im not here to complain but at freshman orientation they told us (high AP scorers) that med schools like to see higher level coursework over regular intro coursework. So they advised me to take a honors general chemistry course over the regular intro gen chem.

Fact is, im pretty much doing "average" every test, im getting about -2 or +2 points around the average. So I dont even really know what grade im supposed to expect. Anyway, im just curious, do med schools actually care about honors? Or is it a load of crap

med schools might not care, but your undergrad sure will when it comes to writing committee letters. honors classes are also smaller and allow for a personal relationship with faculty, which is WAY more valuable, imo, than a single A or B in a class. also, at least at my school, the honors class was curved to a higher grade.

 

[blackarrowmoose]

ok thanks for the advice guys. I spoke to my advisor via email and i found out that the major im pursing (integrated dual-degree program), my honors chem class is generally "required" unless i take a 2 credit lab course to compensate for it. its so confusing lol

 

[ssahjm]

med schools might not care, but your undergrad sure will when it comes to writing committee letters. honors classes are also smaller and allow for a personal relationship with faculty, which is WAY more valuable, imo, than a single A or B in a class. also, at least at my school, the honors class was curved to a higher grade.

I agree with the part about the committee letters! Many of the professors who were chairs on our pre-med committee taught honors courses, so it was great to have an "in" with the people who would be writing my letters. We didn't have our honors classes curved into our grades, though.

 

[Envix]

At my school, we offer 2-4 versions of scaling difficulty for basically every science class, and as a biochemistry major, I've taken the hardest one almost every time.

My GPA isn't that great, but those hard classes probably contributed to my high MCAT score, and my advisor letter specifically emphasized the grade deflation of my major. I was also able to get personalized recommendation letters because of the smaller classes.

Basically, they 90% just care about your GPA, not what classes you took or what major/double major you are, so take what will best suit your GPA. For me, harder classes motivate me more anyways, so a small dip in GPA is worth it for the other advantages. For most people: take the easier route. This is well represented in the fact that out of 400 people applying to medical school out of my school, about 15 are my major.

Remember, your advisors tell you advice for how to best expand your knowledge and receive an education, when in reality you need advice of how to best get into medical school.

 

[ischemic2]

No, med schools don't really notice. As long as you have one or two good rec letters it also doesn't mean much in terms of getting an "in" on the committee letter. That's what I think at least.

 

[Emerica]

No, med schools don't really notice. As long as you have one or two good rec letters it also doesn't mean much in terms of getting an "in" on the committee letter. That's what I think at least.

I agree with this.

 

[blackarrowmoose]

At my school, we offer 2-4 versions of scaling difficulty for basically every science class, and as a biochemistry major, I've taken the hardest one almost every time.

My GPA isn't that great, but those hard classes probably contributed to my high MCAT score, and my advisor letter specifically emphasized the grade deflation of my major. I was also able to get personalized recommendation letters because of the smaller classes.

Basically, they 90% just care about your GPA, not what classes you took or what major/double major you are, so take what will best suit your GPA. For me, harder classes motivate me more anyways, so a small dip in GPA is worth it for the other advantages. For most people: take the easier route. This is well represented in the fact that out of 400 people applying to medical school out of my school, about 15 are my major.

Remember, your advisors tell you advice for how to best expand your knowledge and receive an education, when in reality you need advice of how to best get into medical school.

im in the exact same boat as you, im a biochemistry major thats why i have to take the harder classes. How is your success in applying to med school?