Pass/No Pass Classes-How do adcoms interpet these? :/

[riseNshine]

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Hi everyone,

I'm wondering how adcoms look at pass/no pass courses. I searched through some of the old threads and consensus seems to be that if they are humanities courses, then it's okay. But, I cannot help but think that if an adcom views your grades for the semester and 1 of the 3 courses was pass/no pass, they will wonder what happened or question your ability to handle the workload. Basically, I have the option to pass/no pass a course before the final which is coming up very soon and it is a biomedical ethics course. I don't know if I should go ahead and do the pass/no pass because the chances of getting an A are slim, while a B is plausible, but damages the gpa a bit. (It's one of those classes where points are taken off for nit-picky details making it difficult to gauge how you'll do despite a lot of studying)

Should I take the B anyways just because it is an ethics course and adcoms would probably prefer seeing the grade with a minor drop in GPA versus would it be better to just take it pass/no pass and maintain the gpa.

Thanks in advance.

I would love your help!

 

[plumhill]

Most of the time, you can only P/F so many courses...so if you only want to P/F it because you're about to get a B, that's a waste. Also, contrary to what SDN may have drilled into your head, getting a couple of B's in college is NOT the end of the world. Even very successful students who receive many II's and acceptances have gotten a few B's along the way. Finish the course strong and then move on. Heck, you might even get lucky and pull off a B+/A-!

 

[ShenanigansMD]

My ethics course only had the P/NP option...

 

[zipnogg]

I took an English class p/np but took the second English class for a grade. As you know, medschools require a full year of English. So I don't think taking an ethics class p/np is any biggie. But taking one out of only three classes as a p/np might be a good idea esp if you're already getting a B (not a terrible grade).

 

[plumhill]

If the course only has a P/NP option, then that isn't a huge deal unless you don't pass the course.

 

[Narmerguy]

If you don't take many classes P/F, I think you would be fine with taking this one p/f. There are 100 different reasons why a student may choose to take a class p/f.

That said, people overdo this sometimes. There's nothing wrong with a few B's on the transcript.

 

[Classof2013PreM]

I'm a current applicant, and I've taken three classes P/NP already (all humanities courses). This cycle has been pretty successful so far, so it's doesn't seem to be much of a detriment to your application,

 

[tarheel1408]

I'm a current applicant, and I've taken three classes P/NP already (all humanities courses). This cycle has been pretty successful so far, so it's doesn't seem to be much of a detriment to your application,

Well, to be fair, not many things will derail an application with a 42 MCAT...😛

 

[riseNshine]

Thanks everyone. What if there's a transcript notation stating that the grading was changed from letter grade to pass/no pass after the deadline, like a week before finals.

 

[AestheticGod]

I thought P/F was considered as bad as a withdraw?? God damn, i withdrew from two damn classes cause I was gonna get a C in them....
And don't you have to apply for P/F at the start of the class?

 

[riseNshine]

yes, you normally do choose the p/np option in the beginning, but you can petition to do it later, except there will be a mark on your transcript stating you changed it to p/np, which is why I'm concerned

 

[plumhill]

I thought P/F was considered as bad as a withdraw?? God damn, i withdrew from two damn classes cause I was gonna get a C in them....
And don't you have to apply for P/F at the start of the class?

I've never heard that P/F was as bad as a withdraw. Every school's policy is different regarding if the change to P/F is marked, but there are a ton of reasons why someone might want to P/F a course. Also, there's usually a deadline in the middle of the quarter/semester for changing a class to P/F. At my institution, its actually encouraged to take a few classes outside of your major area/strength area and "broaden your mind," and to do so using P/F so that it doesn't hurt your GPA.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

I thought P/F was considered as bad as a withdraw?? God damn, i withdrew from two damn classes cause I was gonna get a C in them....
And don't you have to apply for P/F at the start of the class?

The only real hard and fast rule about P/F is that you generally aren't allowed to do it for any pre-reqs (all the schools I talked to in the past wanted to see grades for those). Otherwise, I don't believe it really hurts or helps you taking a course P/F.

 

[AestheticGod]

The only real hard and fast rule about P/F is that you generally aren't allowed to do it for any pre-reqs (all the schools I talked to in the past wanted to see grades for those). Otherwise, I don't believe it really hurts or helps you taking a course P/F.

Wow serious? God damn it..i could have saved myself a C that i made and also two freaking withdraws. Wish I could change the C to a P right now.

 

[riseNshine]

Thanks for the help! If anyone has any other input, it would be greatly appreciated. Looks like doing it once won't raise red flags. I'm just concerned they might assume I was barely getting by in the class which is why I'm unsure whether to take the B or not.