Pass/Not Pass Classes

[rls303]

Hi,
At my university, there is a program where one can opt to get units on a pass/not pass basis. There are also a few 1 unit seminars that are optional. I know that this does not get counted into my university gpa, but do some medical schools take a pass into account in the overall GPA as a "C"?

I've checked with a couple of UC schools admission counselors and they have said that they would always like to see a class taken for a grade. However, one of my History Writing TA's is notorious for marking you down even if you write really well. Hence, I'm considering taking this class as a P/NP as opposed to taking the risk of receiving an unfavorable grade.

Thanks in advance! Really glad I found this helpful forum!

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[brickandlace]

I don't think med schools would care much if you took a History class Pass/Not Pass.

On another note, your uni seems to be much nicer than mine - we call them Pass/FAIL classes. Fail sounds a lot harsher than Not Pass haha

 

[orangeANDgreen]

I don't think medical schools factor pass/fail into you GPA. It seems unfair because they would assume you did as bad as possible and just barely passed if they gave you a C

 

[amakhosidlo]

I took a class P/NP, failed it, and still got in to five schools. It doesn't matter.
(Caveat emptor; I took the class for S&G's, it wasn't a pre-req or BCPM or anything..)

 

[Catalystik]

Pass/Fail grades are not factored into your application GPA, as orangeANDgreen said. They are listed on your transcript however for med schools to see. As long as the class is not a prerequisite, and there aren't a lot of P/F classes, you'll be fine.

 

[rls303]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the helpful responses. If I opt to take this class pass/not pass, it would be about 4 classes thus far that would have been taken P/NP and 3 out of the 4 were only P/NP...would this be considered too much?

Thanks

 

[RogueUnicorn]

haha "not pass" is a funny way of saying fail

 

[Catalystik]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the helpful responses. If I opt to take this class pass/not pass, it would be about 4 classes thus far that would have been taken P/NP and 3 out of the 4 were only P/NP...would this be considered too much?

Thanks

In how many semesters or quarters?

 

[rls303]

In how many semesters or quarters?

Hi,
In 14 quarters (2 of these quarters were just summer sessions).

Thanks

 

[Catalystik]

Then you're good. No worries!

 

[MikeJY]

I'm an undergraduate senior this year, and I'm about to take a few graduate level courses. I am completely done with my prereqs, both for medical school and for my degree. The only thing I need toward completion now is simply hours. Hours of any kind, which means that they may be satisfied by pass/fail courses.

Since it is my last semester and now I'm just waiting to hear back from schools, it shouldn't matter if I opt to take all pass/fail, right? Considering they are grad courses and I don't need them. In the off chance that I don't go to medical school next year, will this look badly on me?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[scapermoya]

at my uni they require that no more than 30% of your units are pass/not pass. i feel like that is too high for medical schools though. keep it below 20% and limit to non-BCMP classes, you'll be fine.

i personally took a few pass/not pass classes so that I could take extra things I was interested in without them affecting my other, more 'important' classes. you might even see it as a plus.

 

[scapermoya]

I'm an undergraduate senior this year, and I'm about to take a few graduate level courses. I am completely done with my prereqs, both for medical school and for my degree. The only thing I need toward completion now is simply hours. Hours of any kind, which means that they may be satisfied by pass/fail courses.

Since it is my last semester and now I'm just waiting to hear back from schools, it shouldn't matter if I opt to take all pass/fail, right? Considering they are grad courses and I don't need them. In the off chance that I don't go to medical school next year, will this look badly on me?

Thanks for the advice.

don't burn a semester. it's a waste of time and a waste of money. the medical schools want workaholics, don't give them a reason to suspect that you aren't one.

 

[bmxbobby2004]

hi, i was wondering how a no pass on the English pre-rec would look? would this be factored into my gpa as an F?

thanks!