schedule rigor vs. research time

[aliceofbattenberg]

Hello everyone,

First of all, a big thanks to everyone who takes time out of their very busy schedules to post in these forums. It is such a benefit to those of us still in the pipeline, especially when we don't have any family members in medicine or science.

I'm trying to think about my schedule for the upcoming semester. It will be my junior spring semester, so the last semester of grades that the admissions committee will see. I'm a math major with a 4.0 (one W in a graduate level class) at a public flagship and I'm taking the MCAT this January.

My current options are:
a) 13 hours of class, with a more challenging physics elective
b) 16 hours of class, with two "easier" engineering electives

• How do admissions committees view number of class hours taken per semester? Obviously it's best to do the challenging schedule AND the best research, but what's the second-best option?
• I am currently doing two research projects full time, which ends up being 25-30 hours a week of work on top of my other involvement. Research is my #1 passion, and I would really like to keep this up. My inclination is to do the 13 hours and put as much time into my projects as possible. However, I'm currently at 12 hours, because I had to drop a graduate level math class after dealing with significant health challenges early in the semester. If credit hours are a big consideration, I'm worried about the final two semesters being 12 hours and 13 hours.

Please let me know what you think!

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[Neuronix]

Admissions committees generally don't even notice the number of class hours take per semester.

Best is to get 4.0 GPA and super high MCAT.
Second best is to get as much research time as possible.

There is of course a caveat, you can't take it to extremes. Take a real major, graduate on time. Otherwise, those things matter the most.

The W you mentioned doesn't matter.

Good for you so far and good luck.

 

[aliceofbattenberg]

Admissions committees generally don't even notice the number of class hours take per semester.

Best is to get 4.0 GPA and super high MCAT.
Second best is to get as much research time as possible.

There is of course a caveat, you can't take it to extremes. Take a real major, graduate on time. Otherwise, those things matter the most.

The W you mentioned doesn't matter.

Good for you so far and good luck.

Thank you so much for your help and your quick reply! I'm meeting with a professor tomorrow who has advised a few pre-MSTP students. I'm curious to see what he says as well.

I really, really want to believe you because it would make my life so much better. I guess I just find it hard to understand that a "lighter" schedule vs. a more rigorous schedule wouldn't even be used as a dealbreaker between two candidates. I don't want to make a choice to work less hard and then have it be a regret later.

 

[Neuronix]

Nobody will notice or care. The dealbreaker between two strong candidates is the interview.

 

[K31]

It's so difficult to compare the rigor of two schedules between two candidates, much less between schools. An admissions committee member scrutinizing your class schedule is highly unlikely. Agree with above, MCAT/GPA is most important, followed by research (and the ability to talk intelligently about it).