Pass/Fail Classes in Undergrad

[TheBookCookout]

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With the current situation surrounding coronavirus, my university has decided to give students the opportunity to convert any of their grades this semester to pass/fail. I know that the pass/fail designation will not be accepted for prerequisites, but I am wondering how it looks to the admissions committee when electives or other classes are just "passed". Does anybody know if this would look poorly on an application?

I am planning to go through the semester as I normally would. I'll try my best, but if I get a B in anything, I think I will convert it to pass/fail assuming it isn't a prerequisite. What do people think about a strategy like this? Is it better to have a B, which will lower my GPA, or a "pass"? I'm curious about this, especially for upper level science classes.

 

[artist2022]

I think it would look highly sus if you had a few "A's" and then a few "Pass's" in the same semester. Schools would wonder why you didn't either have grades for all of them, or why you didn't P/F all of them. I would highly recommend against doing that and just picking one or the other, instead of trying to have the best of both.


tl;dr: Don't do it

 

[TheBookCookout]

I think it would look highly sus if you had a few "A's" and then a few "Pass's" in the same semester. Schools would wonder why you didn't either have grades for all of them, or why you didn't P/F all of them. I would highly recommend against doing that and just picking one or the other, instead of trying to have the best of both.


tl;dr: Don't do it

Thank for the input! I agree it would look pretty suspicious. In the case of a B, my first instinct would be to take the "Pass". But that's basically telling admissions that I didn't get an A anyways. Better for them to know it's a B than to wonder if it's a C!

 

[Jedi_Knight]

My uni just announced the same.
Since this is a once in a lifetime pandemic, would a pass/fail be overlooked by med admissions committees?

 

[artist2022]

My uni just announced the same.
Since this is a once in a lifetime pandemic, would a pass/fail be overlooked by med admissions committees?

No idea, probably better to ask in the pre-med forums where there are adcoms to help answer this. Or @Goro, @gyngyn, @Catalystik

 

[gyngyn]

No idea, probably better to ask in the pre-med forums where there are adcoms to help answer this. Or @Goro, @gyngyn, @Catalystik

It is inevitable that many schools will make accommodation during this period of academic disruption.

 

[Jedi_Knight]

Here's your answer @Jedi_Knight !

So will the pass/ fail count towards a pre-requisite? Im specifically asking about a pass on organic chem

 

[TheBookCookout]

So will the pass/ fail count towards a pre-requisite? Im specifically asking about a pass on organic chem

Several med schools have reached out to my university's pre-health committee saying that they will still not be accepting pass/fail for prereqs. I'm sure some schools will make exceptions, but what I am hearing from many of my pre-med peers and their advisors is that it is better to not go with the pass/fail grading system.

Think about the application cycle as a competition. If you are being compared against a student who was able to get an A in ochem in the same semester, while you opted for the pass/fail option, the other applicant will be looked upon more favorably. At least that seems most reasonable to me.

However, these are unprecedented times we find ourselves in, and not everyone's experiences will be the same. If you have no other option but to go pass/fail, I would reccomend reaching out to the med schools directly to make sure it's ok. That would be your best resource, seeing as most of the people here are pre-dent.