More course repeats or extra science classes

[UpwardTrend]

Lets say you had a friend with an upward trend.

The good:
Last 120 hours 3.5 cgpa (2006-Present)
Last 60 hours 4.0 cgpa
Overall sgpa 3.8
Only took 2 science courses while he was a less than ideal student
The rest were taken informal post bacc at 4.0

The okay:
3.0 AACOMAS cgpa after course retakes

The ugly:
First 80 hours 1.7 cgpa (circa 2000-2004)

Pretty good EC's including EMT position and plenty of volunteering, shadowing, leadership, etc.

This "friend" enjoyed his freedom too much when he first started college. He rarely attended class and took poor grades instead of withdrawing. Most poor grades from his past have been retaken at 4.0. But, there are still a couple of bad grades left that he could repeat.

If you had time to take an extra couple of classes, would you do course repeats (photography, family ecology, underwater basket weaving) to bring your cgpa up to 3.19 or take recommended science classes like Micro, Biochem, and Patho? If you hit the 3.0 threshold with 200 undergrad hours, is it worth inching up to 3.19 cgpa with some courses that won't help much in the future? Or, would adcoms like to see some more science at that point?

Thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MedicFL]

Lets say you had a friend with an upward trend.

The good:
Last 120 hours 3.5 cgpa (2006-Present)
Last 60 hours 4.0 cgpa
Overall sgpa 3.8
Only took 2 science courses while he was a less than ideal student
The rest were taken informal post bacc at 4.0

The okay:
3.0 AACOMAS cgpa after course retakes

The ugly:
First 80 hours 1.7 cgpa (circa 2000-2004)

Pretty good EC's including EMT position and plenty of volunteering, shadowing, leadership, etc.

This "friend" enjoyed his freedom too much when he first started college. He rarely attended class and took poor grades instead of withdrawing. Most poor grades from his past have been retaken at 4.0. But, there are still a couple of bad grades left that he could repeat.

If you had time to take an extra couple of classes, would you do course repeats (photography, family ecology, underwater basket weaving) to bring your cgpa up to 3.19 or take recommended science classes like Micro, Biochem, and Patho? If you hit the 3.0 threshold with 200 undergrad hours, is it worth inching up to 3.19 cgpa with some courses that won't help much in the future? Or, would adcoms like to see some more science at that point?

Thanks

I really hate when people get on here and post I have this "Friend" either one your friend is too lazy to seek out their own answers and thus we shouldn't waste our time responding or people need to learn to own up to mistake THEY made and seek the honest advice. Sorry just my little rant I think since your science GPA would still be pretty good if you went back too a few more sciences with good grades and maybe repeated a couple of the F or D classes you would be in ok shape just do well on the MCAT. I mean if your SGPA is good and you got a decent score on the MCAT 28+ you wouldnt be in bad shape..

 

[MightyMoose]

I agree with ^^^. It is always an odd situation when someone posts for someone else. Although, my sense is that you're this "Friends" boyfriend/girlfriend, or a "friend" that wants to say, "See, I told you so!"

Beyond that, I don't see why it has to be all or nothing? Why not take classes that are required at some schools (i.e., Biochem, Genetics, etc.) and then mix in 1 or 2 repeats? I would probably opt for a mix, but I prefer science classes to the other stuff.

 

[elektron]

I think it's pretty obvious that the OP is talking about himself and did own up to getting bad grades because of skipping classes.

That being said, I think the best thing to do is utilize the AACOMAS grade-replacement policy and repeat courses with the worst grades to bring up your cGPA as much as possible. Assuming that none of the schools you're applying to require the upper level science courses, and since you have such a high sGPA already, this should give you the best shot for DO schools.

Also, as already mentioned, study hard for and do well on the MCAT.

Good luck!!!

 

[UpwardTrend]

Thanks guys.

This will be my situation by the time I apply. I just don't like saying it's me now because I still have several classes to take before I get there.
Some of the schools that I am applying to require, or strongly recommend Genetics and Biochemistry. I was planning on taking those after the application, during the gap year. I was just wondering what would look better at application time. I think I'm going to go with increasing my cgpa for the application. I will put Genetics and Biochemistry down on the AACOMAS as courses I plan to take. Thanks for the MCAT advice, I will definitely follow the 30+ habits thread.

Sorry for the confusion.