Selecting Classes Purposely for BCPM

[sarahss]

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Do you guys suggest selecting classes based on if they count for BCPM GPA? Like picking psychology coded classes that are on the fence between biology and psychology, or is this not a good idea because it might not be approved by AMCAS as bcpm?

 

[charju]

not worth the effort... imo... just take classes you like.. and the ones you cant pick cause its your major or pre-reqs.. unless your gpa is bad and your trying to improve it...

i took two accounting classes as a biology major.. cause i thought it might be fun .. at least now i can read balance sheets and income statements for stocks lol
maybe that might give me a few brownie points for being well rounded.

 

[WildEMDoc]

I don't go out of my way to do so, but I'll admit I do take advantage of a little grade inflation.

This semester I had to take a class outside my department that was upper division and met specific requirements. These classes that all people at my school have to take are know to be very easy. So I chose a physics class that I have a guaranteed A in.

 

[sarahss]

So if I'm choosing between 2 psychology classes I'm interested in, should I go with the one that sounds more like it fits under BCPM in order to boost that gpa? the class is called "physiology-psychology" which is like biological psychology. It's not coded as a Bio class, so there are no guarantees that it will be counted as BCPM even though i think the course about 50% bio?

 

[bananaz]

So if I'm choosing between 2 psychology classes I'm interested in, should I go with the one that sounds more like it fits under BCPM in order to boost that gpa? the class is called "physiology-psychology" which is like biological psychology. It's not coded as a Bio class, so there are no guarantees that it will be counted as BCPM even though i think the course about 50% bio?

I wouldn't assume that just because it's a psych class it's going to be an easy A. My school has a class called biopsychology which I took with the same reasons in mind, and it turned out to be a lot more involved and difficult than the other biology classes I had taken. Now I am hoping it won't be counted in BCPM. So I would take whatever class interests you the most and you think you can excel in. If that's physiology-psychology then great, but if not then you'll probably be better off in a class you enjoy, especially since AMCAS may or may not accept the grade as BCPM anyway.

 

[muhali3]

I do it, but only for classes I know I will get an A in. All my classes this semester are BCPM: Astronomy, Inorganic Chem, Biochem, Immunology, Brain Diseases. You should only do this if you have a low BCPM that you are trying to bring up. On AMCAS, the GPAs for each semester are broken down by cGPA, sGPA, and aoGPA so it will be obvious if you purposely overload on BCPM courses.

I would take the physiology/psychology though, it sounds like the biological bases of behavior class at my school.

 

[Faol]

Do you guys suggest selecting classes based on if they count for BCPM GPA? Like picking psychology coded classes that are on the fence between biology and psychology, or is this not a good idea because it might not be approved by AMCAS as bcpm?

I'd do it if, like previous posters have said, you need to bring up your bcpm. Mines lower than I'd like and my major and 2nd minor are both much harder than my psyc minor so i try to pick psyc classes that might be accepted as bcpm. And even if the class isn't accepted you still get an A, assuming your psyc program is as easy as mine. 😀

 

[AceXIII]

If it's not coded as a BCPM course, it will NOT count as a BCPM course. I'm a psych minor and I had two bio based psych courses but neither counted towards BCPM.

 

[glasshalfMD]

If it's not coded as a BCPM course, it will NOT count as a BCPM course. I'm a psych minor and I had two bio based psych courses but neither counted towards BCPM.

That's weird, because mine did (physiological psych and cognitive neuroscience) - as well as my psych stats class. I think it depends on the AMCAS person that individually reviews your file.

And for the record, the two psych classes I mentioned were two of the most difficult courses I took in all of undergrad. Don't dismiss them as an easy A. I loved them both though, and got a lot out of them 🙂

 

[Ischemic]

Taking a class that has a rep of being "easy A" doesn't necessarily mean it'll be an easy A if you don't like the subject material or you find it a drag to study for it. But honestly if you need a grade boost, why not? I took some intro level science classes for non majors as a senior to get some easy As. Plus I had senioritis and didn't really want to study too hard

 

[sarahss]

If the psych class is recognized by my school as having 50%+ biology, would that make it more likely for AMCAS to accept it as BCPM? (the course fulfills a "natural science" requirement at my school)