Question about Course Load

[randomq5]

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Hi,

So I'm an an engineering major at a university in california that uses the quarter system. This quarter, I am taking two engineering classes and one biochemistry class. I'm working really hard to raise my BCPM GPA, and since the engineering class will not count in the BCPM GPA, would it be OK to take one of the two engineering class as a pass/fail grade?

In short, do med schools view P/NP classes negatively (this would be second and probably last one), and which is important: course load or grades achieved? I.E., if I get an A in the bio class, will they see that that's because I really only had one other class to worry about?

Thank you.

 

[vivalavie]

Hi,

So I'm an an engineering major at a university in california that uses the quarter system. This quarter, I am taking two engineering classes and one biochemistry class. I'm working really hard to raise my BCPM GPA, and since the engineering class will not count in the BCPM GPA, would it be OK to take one of the two engineering class as a pass/fail grade?

In short, do med schools view P/NP classes negatively (this would be second and probably last one), and which is important: course load or grades achieved? I.E., if I get an A in the bio class, will they see that that's because I really only had one other class to worry about?

Thank you.

Near as I can tell they don't care what kind of course load you have, adcoms look at your grades and they don't like excuses. P/NP is, of course, viewed negatively, but worse than a B-? probably not. Still, I'd recommend spreading out your courses and taking them all for a grade, take a few in the summer if you have to.

 

[randomq5]

Near as I can tell they don't care what kind of course load you have, adcoms look at your grades and they don't like excuses. P/NP is, of course, viewed negatively, but worse than a B-? probably not. Still, I'd recommend spreading out your courses and taking them all for a grade, take a few in the summer if you have to.

Unfortunately, I don't have much room to take any more summer classes or spread out my classes much more since my major is completely unrelated to the biological sciences.

Essentially, would it be better to take the engineering class for a grade and get a B/B-, or probably to better in the bio class & get a P in an engineering class? Thanks again.

I'm just unsure how it looks since it's my major :S. As I said though, this would be my second and probably final class taken as P/NP.

 

[vivalavie]

Unfortunately, I don't have much room to take any more summer classes or spread out my classes much more since my major is completely unrelated to the biological sciences.

Essentially, would it be better to take the engineering class for a grade and get a B/B-, or probably to better in the bio class & get a P in an engineering class? Thanks again.

I'd say take the B. One B in a non-prereq class isn't gonna hurt you. On the other hand, try for an A. It could also be argued that 2 p/f courses won't hurt you much, so it's really your call. Neither one by itself is really gonna be an issue for med school, just don't expect adcoms to coddle you or sympathize that you had a tough course load, they don't care.

 

[randomq5]

I'd say take the B. One B in a non-prereq class isn't gonna hurt you. On the other hand, try for an A. It could also be argued that 2 p/f courses won't hurt you much, so it's really your call. Neither one by itself is really gonna be an issue for med school, just don't expect adcoms to coddle you or sympathize that you had a tough course load, they don't care.

I'm not after sympathy or anything; but wouldn't it be more important to get an A in the bio class? It seems like the P/NP would be more of a secondary issue to me, but I'm not too sure. Thanks.

 

[randomq5]

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