Pass/Fail classes

[Mistress S]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I'm just wondering what sense people have of how adcoms view classes (not pre-reqs) taken for pass/fail rather than a grade option. I'm a senior and finishing up my degree reqs, and I have to take a fine arts class to do that. It would be nice to just take it pass/fail since it's not a pre-med class or for my major, just a degree req I have to get out of the way, and I have a lot going on next term with studying for the MCAT and researching my thesis. Also, what about taking science courses pass/fail? Despite having taken courses in all the required areas for my bio minor, I am one credit shy of what I need, and it would be easier to take another bio class (something upper division that interests me, maybe immunology or molecular bio) pass/fail so I can learn about it without having to stress too much as I work on the other things I mentioned above. Do adcoms look down on pass/fail classes like this? I've only ever taken labs pass/fail before, and those were offered that way, so it wasn't a choice I had to make or anything. Any thoughts/experience with this?

 

[applyingnotfun]

I go to Brown, where we can take any class we want pass/fail. in my 3.5 yrs I have taken about 4 or 5 class pass/fail. One of these was for my major (an upper level Math class), and the rest were non-science, non-premed classes (philosophy, sociology, etc.). Thus far I have interviewed at Duke, Vandy, Emory, among others and I have interviews coming up at Pitt, and UPenn all pretty good schools. So, I would say a couple pass/fail classes will not hurt you, particularly this art class you mentioned. I don't know about the bio though, may not be a good idea. hope this helps.

 

[jlee9531]

just as long as it isnt a prereq for med school you should be fine.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

You don't want to over do it. If a large percentage of your grades are P/NP grades, adcoms will wonder how many of those P's should have been C's and B's.

 

[lessismoe]

I took a virology class pass/fail one quarter due to an illness in the family, and no one asked about it thus far. However, it might be a good idea to have a good reason ready just in case you happen to get asked about it in one of your open file interviews.

I'm not sure how adcoms feel, but I think that "personal exploration" is a great reason. I mean, it shows you care about your GPA, but you still want to expand your horizons without having to worry about being "the best" or "talented" at everything.

 

[Optimist]

If it's a degree requirement, make absolutely sure it will be sufficient. At my school, only electives can be taken pass/fail. If you're just trying to get enough credit hours to graduate, then it's probably okay.

And I don't think a couple of P/F courses will make much difference for med school admissions.