Is taking minimal science classes frowned upon?

[NP545]

I am a non-science, non-math major interested in MD schools and wanted to know if med schools and adcoms look down on those who only took the pre reqs. I have not taken any upper-level bio courses, or anything thing else other than the pre reqs. I have a 4.0 BPCM GPA (sGPA) and wanted to know if this would tarnish my cGPA in any sort.

In terms of GPA alone, would I be in equal footing with someone else who has a 4.0 sGPA but with more science classes, or would they get preference because they took more science courses?
Would you recommend me taking any science courses to ensure I am not at the minimal level of BPCM or am I fine?

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[Radon XP]

2-3 upper-level science classes would probably benefit you. I'm sure people have got in taking the minimum courses, but if you still have the time and ability to take additional upper-levels, definitely go for it.

Also, there are schools that require additional upper-levels. Some of them, for example, require 14 hours of biology, which would be intro bio 1&2, bio lab 1&2, and 2 more lectures (assuming typical 3-credit hours per lecture)

 

[youmed]

:troll:

 

[WorldChanger36]

Minimums is fine but keep in mind that does not set up apart from the crowd. Once you have a rock GPA locked in hold on to that and look outside of academics to set yourself apart. Look into volunteering or working with a non profit that you believe in. Go sky diving and do things that make you seem human that you enjoy. Be a person for your community and that will set you apart.

 

[familyaerospace]

I have 38 science courses (not credits but courses) I had one school tell me I needed more. I was a non-science major as an undergrad.

The other schools didn't care and didn't say boo.

I think it really depends on the school.

 

[Radon XP]

:troll:

Nothing about the OP indicates he is a troll ??

 

[youmed]

He said he had like 3.81 sGPA in previous posts. You can double check by looking through his post history.

 

[WorldChanger36]

He said he had like 3.81 sGPA in previous posts. You can double check by looking through his post history.

Even so the thread itself may have value to others looking for some advice on this. It is a public forum so there are always people out there looking but not posting. If the OP trolls out just report it.

 

[NP545]

2-3 upper-level science classes would probably benefit you. I'm sure people have got in taking the minimum courses, but if you still have the time and ability to take additional upper-levels, definitely go for it.

Also, there are schools that require additional upper-levels. Some of them, for example, require 14 hours of biology, which would be intro bio 1&2, bio lab 1&2, and 2 more lectures (assuming typical 3-credit hours per lecture)

Should I take these 2-3 upper levels during my senior year after I have already applied to MD schools, or would it be better for me to take them before I apply?
I was looking into biochem specifically, and wasnt sure whether to take it my junior year before applying, or senior year when I finished my apps...


And to others, I am not a troll. The 3.81 was calculated prematurely, and my grade on the final tremendously brought up my final grade. In addition, I know there are other people who may be in similar situations, so this could be helpful to them too.

 

[Radon XP]

Should I take these 2-3 upper levels during my senior year after I have already applied to MD schools, or would it be better for me to take them before I apply?
I was looking into biochem specifically, and wasnt sure whether to take it my junior year before applying, or senior year when I finished my apps...


And to others, I am not a troll. The 3.81 was calculated prematurely, and my grade on the final tremendously brought up my final grade. In addition, I know there are other people who may be in similar situations, so this could be helpful to them too.

I think it would be good if you could take some of them before. You don't have to take all of them before you apply, but if you can take 1-2, that'd be good.

 

[NP545]

I think it would be good if you could take some of them before. You don't have to take all of them before you apply, but if you can take 1-2, that'd be good.

Would you recommend Intro to Biochem (3 credits) or Genetics (4 credits)?
I self learned Biochem I so I think I could breeze through the introductory course (based on what my friends have told me about the course in my college), but maybe Genetics could be an opportunity to learn something new. Which would you recommend to me?

 

[Radon XP]

Would you recommend Intro to Biochem (3 credits) or Genetics (4 credits)?
I self learned Biochem I so I think I could breeze through the introductory course (based on what my friends have told me about the course in my college), but maybe Genetics could be an opportunity to learn something new. Which would you recommend to me?

If you can only take one before applying, I think biochem would be more impressive

 

[NP545]

If you can only take one before applying, I think biochem would be more impressive

Do you think taking Abnormal Psychology and Physiological Psychology would have the same impact rather than taking biochem or a nonprereq science class?

 

[pyrrion89]

Do you think taking Abnormal Psychology and Physiological Psychology would have the same impact rather than taking biochem or a nonprereq science class?

You should probably take biochem or genetics since it will overlap with the MCAT material.

 

[NP545]

You should probably take biochem or genetics since it will overlap with the MCAT material.

I have heard that MCAT Genetics is basic Mendelian Genetics, and i feel I have a strong grasp of that. Also, I self learned biochem I, so I think I am proficient in that area for the MCAT as well.

 

[NP545]

Another problem is that I attend a large public university where ~50% of the students aspire to be "premed" or another science interest and manage not to get weeded out. Registration for classes in my college is done by credits, so those with higher credits get to enroll first. There are only 2 intro biochem classes each semester in my college which only allow 100 students total and the people with more credits always get these sections before my day to register arrives (I have lower total credits than those upperclassmen or AP credit kids). Therefore, the biochem capacity is reached before I even have a chance to register for it.. [same applies to many other possible upper level bio classes]

 

[Lamel]

Keep in mind that some schools require genetics and biochem now. So yeah.

I have 38 science courses (not credits but courses) I had one school tell me I needed more. I was a non-science major as an undergrad.

The other schools didn't care and didn't say boo.

I think it really depends on the school.

What...I think I have 30 courses TOTAL...

 

[familyaerospace]

What...I think I have 30 courses TOTAL...

Yea that's my feeling. I wondered if they were serious, but I swear to G-d above, that is what they told me last week.

They also told me to consider getting a PhD since many of their applicants have them... it's a public state school in the South.

 

[Skull Pell]

I was contemplating on taking the same exact two psych courses. Heck, we prob even attend the same univ if the course numbers for abnormal psych is PS 272 and physio psych is PS 252

 

[Lamel]

Yea that's my feeling. I wondered if they were serious, but I swear to G-d above, that is what they told me last week.

They also told me to consider getting a PhD since many of their applicants have them... it's a public state school in the South.

Yeah...okay. lol.

 

[familyaerospace]

Yeah...okay. lol.

Yea, personally, I am more amazed that the applicants can read, much less have a PhD.

A PhD in what? Hunting and fishing??

Something tells me I shouldn't put a terrible amount of stock in the "many of our applicants have PhDs" sentence.

If a MS isn't good enough, I don't know what to tell them.

 

[hmockingbird]

I was an English major. I went somewhere that also had a med school and during one of the presentations through our pre-med club they recommended doing at least biochem if you were a non-science major. They said they wanted some more assurance that you were going to be able to handle medical school level science classes.

I would recommend biochem and genetics because a lot of schools require or "strongly recommend" them now. I also ended up taking anatomy, physiology, and immunology.

 

[NP545]

I was an English major. I went somewhere that also had a med school and during one of the presentations through our pre-med club they recommended doing at least biochem if you were a non-science major. They said they wanted some more assurance that you were going to be able to handle medical school level science classes.

I would recommend biochem and genetics because a lot of schools require or "strongly recommend" them now. I also ended up taking anatomy, physiology, and immunology.

Would it be fine if I took biochem before applying and genetics after applying? Or should I get them both done before applying?

 

[theseeker4]

Would it be fine if I took biochem before applying and genetics after applying? Or should I get them both done before applying?

If you are taking them because you want them to help your application, obviously you should take them before applying. If you are thinking about taking them just to learn more, it doesn't matter much when you take them. It is better, though, to take a schedule you are sure you can do well in, rather than risk your GPA unnecessarily.

 

[Zelda840]

Can you take a different biochem course than the intro or fundamentals one? At my school, there is the intro one, biochem of metabolism, biochem I and biochem II. If you already have a 4.0 after all the other science prereqs, I can't imagine you'd have a problem with biochem I (or whatever the equivalent is at your school if they have one).

I personally got a lot out of biochem and not much out of genetics. I liked the mendelian genetics we learned in bio, but the actual genetics class was nothing like that. it was pretty dull for me, though it's certainly possible that was due to the professor.

 

[NP545]

If you are taking them because you want them to help your application, obviously you should take them before applying. If you are thinking about taking them just to learn more, it doesn't matter much when you take them. It is better, though, to take a schedule you are sure you can do well in, rather than risk your GPA unnecessarily.

Idk why I'm taking them lol...people on this thread are saying I should take 1-2 more upper levels, but idk whether to take them to before or after applying. I just want to ensure that my app has no weakness when it comes to interviews/decisions regarding coursework. What would you recommend?

 

[theseeker4]

Idk why I'm taking them lol...people on this thread are saying I should take 1-2 more upper levels, but idk whether to take them to before or after applying. I just want to ensure that my app has no weakness when it comes to interviews/decisions regarding coursework. What would you recommend?

I would definitely recommend biochemistry, more and more schools are even requiring it, but aside from that, you don't HAVE to take anything. If you have a good GPA and have completed all the pre reqs, and you are comfortable with the MCAT (haven't taken it yet?) I don't see any NEED to add a bunch of upper-levels. Now if you have a specific school in mind as your first choice, and they recommend particular courses in addition to the pre reqs, I would strongly consider completing those, but just taking more upper-levels when you already have a great GPA? Not necessary. If you really feel like you should add something else on, a stats class would be helpful in understanding research terms and what they mean/how they are calculated. Definitely check into the specific requirements of the schools you plan to apply to before you finalize what additional classes you will take.

 

[NP545]

I would definitely recommend biochemistry, more and more schools are even requiring it, but aside from that, you don't HAVE to take anything. If you have a good GPA and have completed all the pre reqs, and you are comfortable with the MCAT (haven't taken it yet?) I don't see any NEED to add a bunch of upper-levels. Now if you have a specific school in mind as your first choice, and they recommend particular courses in addition to the pre reqs, I would strongly consider completing those, but just taking more upper-levels when you already have a great GPA? Not necessary. If you really feel like you should add something else on, a stats class would be helpful in understanding research terms and what they mean/how they are calculated. Definitely check into the specific requirements of the schools you plan to apply to before you finalize what additional classes you will take.

Yup I picked up a stats class along the way already. But regarding taking these upper levels, should I take them before or applying?

 

[theseeker4]

Yup I picked up a stats class along the way already. But regarding taking these upper levels, should I take them before or applying?

They will help more, obviously, if they are on your application, as opposed to taking them after applying. Once you apply and are accepted, there is no reason to take additional upper-levels unless you want to.

 

[NP545]

They will help more, obviously, if they are on your application, as opposed to taking them after applying. Once you apply and are accepted, there is no reason to take additional upper-levels unless you want to.

Would my chances be hurt if I did not take an upper level class other than the prereqs?

 

[iowaiowacity]

Yea that's my feeling. I wondered if they were serious, but I swear to G-d above, that is what they told me last week.

They also told me to consider getting a PhD since many of their applicants have them... it's a public state school in the South.

If a school said either of these things to me, I would probably just walk out. This is the mentality that is ruining medical school. I realize that there are a lot of applicants.. but it gets to a point where it seems like we are just padding our resumes for no reason.

 

[familyaerospace]

If a school said either of these things to me, I would probably just walk out. This is the mentality that is ruining medical school. I realize that there are a lot of applicants.. but it gets to a point where it seems like we are just padding our resumes for no reason.

Especially given how desperate people are for primary care physicians and how desperate the state is for physicians in general.

I've been "padding" the resume with everything these people want for several years. I think they are just jerking my chain. I am starting to wonder how anyone gets in.

 

[familyaerospace]

I don't think I've ever seen something this unprofessional ever posted on an admissions website. The whole page is badly written. Unbelievable.

I am not sure if their page is trying to be funny or it was written by a disgruntled employee.

I seriously cannot believe I read that.

 

[occams_razor]

Yea that's my feeling. I wondered if they were serious, but I swear to G-d above, that is what they told me last week.

They also told me to consider getting a PhD since many of their applicants have them... it's a public state school in the South.

You can check MSAR to find out if this is legit or not (which I doubt it is). Under matriculant demographics for the school, look at the percentage of matriculants with a graduate degree. Unfortunately it doesn't distinguish between masters or doctoral, just lumps all grad degrees together

 

[familyaerospace]

You can check MSAR to find out if this is legit or not (which I doubt it is). Under matriculant demographics for the school, look at the percentage of matriculants with a graduate degree. Unfortunately it doesn't distinguish between masters or doctoral, just lumps all grad degrees together

I had MSAR for last year, yes they have people with graduate degrees, but people without advanced degrees outweighed with advanced degrees.

 

[Goro]

Non-traditional majors are fine. We had a psych major end up as a Valedictorian one year. Just take and do well in things that interest you.

I am a non-science, non-math major interested in MD schools and wanted to know if med schools and adcoms look down on those who only took the pre reqs. I have not taken any upper-level bio courses, or anything thing else other than the pre reqs. I have a 4.0 BPCM GPA (sGPA) and wanted to know if this would tarnish my cGPA in any sort.

In terms of GPA alone, would I be in equal footing with someone else who has a 4.0 sGPA but with more science classes, or would they get preference because they took more science courses?
Would you recommend me taking any science courses to ensure I am not at the minimal level of BPCM or am I fine?

 

[NP545]

Non-traditional majors are fine. We had a psych major end up as a Valedictorian one year. Just take and do well in things that interest you.

So choosing to take psychology courses towards my major over biochem and/or genetics and/or other bio classes will not present any negative to the adcoms?

Thanks for all your replies

 

[Goro]

Nope.

So choosing to take psychology courses towards my major over biochem and/or genetics and/or other bio classes will not present any negative to the adcoms?

Thanks for all your replies