Is it frowned upon to take easy science classes to pad/inflate your GPA?

[thisismyacct]

I'm talking about those classes that are there for non bio/chem/physics majors to take in order to complete their general education requirements. My GPA is pretty low and I was thinking about taking a few to raise my GPA. Of course, I would still be taking the classes I need for my degree too (bio).

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[eteshoe]

Depending on how far you are into your degree (i.e. yr 3 and above), the effect of the "padding" may not really be that distinguishable - basically your GPA won't change that much.

 

[Michael_Scott]

No way does taking science classes look bad especially if they are good science classes like immuno, cell bio, plant phys, anatomy, etc, then go for it....

what do you mean by easy science classes ? sometimes those easy science classes may not count as a science class for the science gpa calculation ex: medical terminology, health psychology etc.

 

[0dee]

Be careful when it comes to these so called "GPA padding" classes as some of them can be deceiving and harder than the well established science courses. I took a class similar to what you're describing and I barely got a B in it, meanwhile I did breeze through biochem and cell bio.

 

[thisismyacct]

Depending on how far you are into your degree (i.e. yr 3 and above), the effect of the "padding" may not really be that distinguishable - basically your GPA won't change that much.

I'm a sophomore

 

[thisismyacct]

No way does taking science classes look bad especially if they are good science classes like immuno, cell bio, plant phys, anatomy, etc, then go for it....

what do you mean by easy science classes ? sometimes those easy science classes may not count as a science class for the science gpa calculation ex: medical terminology, health psychology etc.

by easy classes I mean stuff the classes that are 100 level that are meant to be taken by non-science majors to fulfill general education requirements. Definitely not anything like immunology, histology, etc.

 

[ZPakEffect]

Nothing is frowned upon when you have a 4.0. Everything is frowned upon when you have <3.5. Medical school admissions is just like real life; people mostly care about results.

 

[Michael_Scott]

by easy classes I mean stuff the classes that are 100 level that are meant to be taken by non-science majors to fulfill general education requirements. Definitely not anything like immunology, histology, etc.

Those might not really help you improve your science GPA for application but will definetly boost your overall GPA...Take upper level science courses to improve your science GPA as well, that is what matters most.

 

[RunawayGrape]

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[thisismyacct]

Those might not really help you improve your science GPA for application but will definetly boost your overall GPA...Take upper level science courses to improve your science GPA as well, that is what matters most.

They're labeled as bio-10x and chem-10x etc.

 

[Doggo]

Be careful when it comes to these so called "GPA padding" classes as some of them can be deceiving and harder than the well established science courses. I took a class similar to what you're describing and I barely got a B in it, meanwhile I did breeze through biochem and cell bio.

I identify strongly with this post

 

[Goro]

If you take a lot of easy classes, how do you know that you can handle med school?

You need to prove it to us, too.

I'm talking about those classes that are there for non bio/chem/physics majors to take in order to complete their general education requirements. My GPA is pretty low and I was thinking about taking a few to raise my GPA. Of course, I would still be taking the classes I need for my degree too (bio).

 

[JB50]

Ya gotta take the toughies eventually. I could see doing this early in undergrad to establish yourself in the sciences. Orgo, biochem, etc are coming one way or another.