How do ad comms look at Course loads?

[TTSD]

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I've always wondered.. how do they take it into consideration?

Such as, last year I pulled off around a 3.1-2 but my science GPA was my cumulative GPA for that year at 3-4 advanced science courses per quarter.

Now, some may retch at such a GPA but I came out feeling rather damn proud of myself. Every other course I took that year had a reputation for failing up to 40% of highly motivated and advanced students, a good portion of the classes being made up of grad students as well. Hell, in some classes a C could give you bragging rights.

Would've done better too, had not Murphy's Law had a thing for me.. probably thought "he's doing too well, need to screw with him a little." So night before my first final.. I have to rush my friend to the ER and I stay with her all night as they ran tests. In the middle of finals I get a call that another one of my friends is in the ER and that I should get my butt down there because he was asking for me.

Needless to say, my ONE chance.. my ONE chance to get a 4.0 in a full science courseload dropped all the way down to a 3.0 that quarter!!

 

[edfig99]

most schools have some type of computer screen with a human safety -- i.e. many of the applications that don't make it through the initial screen are manually reviewed and that's when things like courseload can be examined in detail especially for "borderline" applicants (those with good GPAs and MCATs that didn't make that first cut). Some apps will NEVER get reviewed, that's just the nature of the beast.

it sounds sorta random and it is...the whole medical school admissions process is COMPLETELY random. 4.0 45T'ers get rejected and 3.0 25N'ers get accepted...it's all a function of who's doing the reviewing, what kind of mood they're in, how you interview and planetary alignment.

just make sure you're overall GPA is solid, do well on your exams and apply to a broad range of schools.

 

[TTSD]

Ah, thanks for the info. So just make sure there's a sympathetic person viewing my stats, eh? 🙂

 

[Pre-Dent-David]

Maybe that wouldnt have happened if you didnt have friends like everyone else here. Something to think about....

 

[TTSD]

Originally posted by Pre-Dent-David
Maybe that wouldnt have happened if you didnt have friends like everyone else here. Something to think about....

LOL.. quite true. Bastards, always brining me down. The ONE thing I ask in return is to be introduced to their cute friends.. but nooooooo