Should I keep studying or apply as soon as I'm done?

[blacksugar]

Hello! Nice to meet you all! Thank you everyone for your help last December (when I was sitting at a 2.67). I'm happy to say that I buckled down and now my cGPA is 3.54 (I know it's still mediocre but come on, I was at a 2.67 aha).

My friend and I were talking about our majors yesterday which brought up several questions. First of all, I'm a biology and an East Asian studies double major with possibly a bioethics minor. The minor was pretty unintentional--I took it out of interest but I ended up with enough credits to minor in it as long as I have 1.0 more credits.

The thing is, I know med schools don't care about your major but my friend pointed out that maybe admissions will think I majored in EAS because I was better in the arts (it wasn't intentional but I did end up getting much better marks for my arts courses than the sciences) and that I should focus on raising my science grades more since part of the reason why I got that 2.67 was because I failed first year calculus and got a C in ochem. I don't plan on retaking that calc course (since it's not required for my major) but I know I will take more chemistry courses since I need it. Is this true? Will they look at me unfavourably if it's only arts courses bringing my average up? (That being said, my biology marks were fine).

Secondly, I've been very fortunate to have a family who can support my education for as long as I want and my hunger for knowledge was actually one of the reasons why I chose science in the first place. I'm a bio/EAS major as of now but I would love to go back to school and learn compsci/astrophysics too. My dad doesn't care when and how I do it and if things keep going the way they are, I'll graduate before 4 years (more like 3.5)(since I'm planning on going to summer school every year and the bio/eas major doesn't require *too* many courses). Would it be okay for me to stay for maybe 5 years and take a few more courses I'm interested in? Or is that a foolish idea and I should just apply as soon as I'm ready? I'm saying this without really caring for my GPA because my school caps the number of first-year courses you can take so any first-year astrophysics/CS course I take will just be on my transcript, but it won't be counted in my GPA no matter how high/low it is. If I do well, I can continue and major in then and if I don't do well, I can just stop after the beginner courses and apply to med school without worrying about the consequences.

Such simple questions but so much writing, haha. Thanks for reading and hope everyone has a great day

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[cactusman]

Hello! Nice to meet you all! Thank you everyone for your help last December (when I was sitting at a 2.67). I'm happy to say that I buckled down and now my cGPA is 3.54 (I know it's still mediocre but come on, I was at a 2.67 aha).

My friend and I were talking about our majors yesterday which brought up several questions. First of all, I'm a biology and an East Asian studies double major with possibly a bioethics minor. The minor was pretty unintentional--I took it out of interest but I ended up with enough credits to minor in it as long as I have 1.0 more credits.

The thing is, I know med schools don't care about your major but my friend pointed out that maybe admissions will think I majored in EAS because I was better in the arts (it wasn't intentional but I did end up getting much better marks for my arts courses than the sciences) and that I should focus on raising my science grades more since part of the reason why I got that 2.67 was because I failed first year calculus and got a C in ochem. I don't plan on retaking that calc course (since it's not required for my major) but I know I will take more chemistry courses since I need it. Is this true? Will they look at me unfavourably if it's only arts courses bringing my average up? (That being said, my biology marks were fine).

Secondly, I've been very fortunate to have a family who can support my education for as long as I want and my hunger for knowledge was actually one of the reasons why I chose science in the first place. I'm a bio/EAS major as of now but I would love to go back to school and learn compsci/astrophysics too. My dad doesn't care when and how I do it and if things keep going the way they are, I'll graduate before 4 years (more like 3.5)(since I'm planning on going to summer school every year and the bio/eas major doesn't require *too* many courses). Would it be okay for me to stay for maybe 5 years and take a few more courses I'm interested in? Or is that a foolish idea and I should just apply as soon as I'm ready? I'm saying this without really caring for my GPA because my school caps the number of first-year courses you can take so any first-year astrophysics/CS course I take will just be on my transcript, but it won't be counted in my GPA no matter how high/low it is. If I do well, I can continue and major in then and if I don't do well, I can just stop after the beginner courses and apply to med school without worrying about the consequences.

Such simple questions but so much writing, haha. Thanks for reading and hope everyone has a great day

What's your BCPM GPA? Is there a trend?
Would you audit the first-year courses, or does the school report a grade on the transcript and simply not factor it in? If grades are reported, they will be factored into your GPA by AMCAS regardless of your college's policies.
Staying an extra year is fine if you have the resources and would like to do that.

 

[DrDwayneJohnson]

Hello! Nice to meet you all! Thank you everyone for your help last December (when I was sitting at a 2.67). I'm happy to say that I buckled down and now my cGPA is 3.54 (I know it's still mediocre but come on, I was at a 2.67 aha).

My friend and I were talking about our majors yesterday which brought up several questions. First of all, I'm a biology and an East Asian studies double major with possibly a bioethics minor. The minor was pretty unintentional--I took it out of interest but I ended up with enough credits to minor in it as long as I have 1.0 more credits.

The thing is, I know med schools don't care about your major but my friend pointed out that maybe admissions will think I majored in EAS because I was better in the arts (it wasn't intentional but I did end up getting much better marks for my arts courses than the sciences) and that I should focus on raising my science grades more since part of the reason why I got that 2.67 was because I failed first year calculus and got a C in ochem. I don't plan on retaking that calc course (since it's not required for my major) but I know I will take more chemistry courses since I need it. Is this true? Will they look at me unfavourably if it's only arts courses bringing my average up? (That being said, my biology marks were fine).

Secondly, I've been very fortunate to have a family who can support my education for as long as I want and my hunger for knowledge was actually one of the reasons why I chose science in the first place. I'm a bio/EAS major as of now but I would love to go back to school and learn compsci/astrophysics too. My dad doesn't care when and how I do it and if things keep going the way they are, I'll graduate before 4 years (more like 3.5)(since I'm planning on going to summer school every year and the bio/eas major doesn't require *too* many courses). Would it be okay for me to stay for maybe 5 years and take a few more courses I'm interested in? Or is that a foolish idea and I should just apply as soon as I'm ready? I'm saying this without really caring for my GPA because my school caps the number of first-year courses you can take so any first-year astrophysics/CS course I take will just be on my transcript, but it won't be counted in my GPA no matter how high/low it is. If I do well, I can continue and major in then and if I don't do well, I can just stop after the beginner courses and apply to med school without worrying about the consequences.

Such simple questions but so much writing, haha. Thanks for reading and hope everyone has a great day

AMCAS calculates your GPA differently than your undergraduate institution. It will factor these grades into your GPA, which is what medical schools will use when evaluating your application. Your non-science classes will help raise your cumulative GPA, but not your BCPM (biology, chemistry, physics, and math) GPA. Both of these GPAs need to be in good standing when you apply. Your C in Calculus will make that year's GPA low, but an upward trend will look good. If you do astrophysics, then make sure you do well in your upper level science/math courses.

In regards to everything else, medical schools aren't going anywhere. If you want to take a fifth year to pursue your interests then you should definitely do it (and do it well), provided it will not be a significant financial burden.

 

[blacksugar]

What's your BCPM GPA? Is there a trend?
Would you audit the first-year courses, or does the school report a grade on the transcript and simply not factor it in? If grades are reported, they will be factored into your GPA by AMCAS regardless of your college's policies.
Staying an extra year is fine if you have the resources and would like to do that.

I see! Thank you very much for this insight, I had no idea. So when they calculate the GPA, do they look at both BCPM and cGPA? I guess that makes sense since most med schools in the US required a year of bio/calc/chem/physics even if you were an arts major... I will make sure to work harder on my science courses then. And yes, the first year marks were pretty devastating but times have gotten better now (I had a lot of difficulty first year since I moved alone to a province that no one in my family had been to+the classic depression and anxiety) so hopefully the upward trend will continue. Thank you again for your help!

 

[blacksugar]

What's your BCPM GPA? Is there a trend?
Would you audit the first-year courses, or does the school report a grade on the transcript and simply not factor it in? If grades are reported, they will be factored into your GPA by AMCAS regardless of your college's policies.
Staying an extra year is fine if you have the resources and would like to do that.

Ah, thanks for letting me know. I my BCPM GPA is still pretty bad (I can't check right now since our systems are down due to enrolment starting) but I don't think it's cracked 3.0 yet since most of the courses I took second semester and summer semester were arts. Next fall will be more intensive in the sciences again.

I can audit 3 more courses if I wish to do so but if I don't, they will be on my transcript, just not calculated in my graduating GPA. I didn't know AMCAS would calculate the GPA themselves regardless, so thanks for letting me know!

 

[candbgirl]

How did you raise your cGPA a point in 7 months?(2.67->3.54). You do realize that every course you have ever taken in college (at any college) counts in your GPAs? You must submit transcripts from every college(cc, uni, etc) to
AMCAS.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

 

[blacksugar]

How did you raise your cGPA a point in 7 months?(2.67->3.54). You do realize that every course you have ever taken in college (at any college) counts in your GPAs? You must submit transcripts from every college(cc, uni, etc) to
AMCAS.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile app

Yes, I understand but my school has something called credit/no credit which does NOT show the mark for that particular course, no matter where I submit my marks to (the transcript just shows if I got a credit for it or not).
The very first semester of university, I had a 2.67. Winter semester I had a 4.0 (but I only took arts courses and 1 biology course). The first sub-session of my summer semester was a 3.65. Cumulatively, it added to a 3.53 (not 3.54 actually oops). Wouldn't have been possible if I was in my fourth year but this was just my first year so I managed to save it just in time.

 

[Goro]

Hello! Nice to meet you all! Thank you everyone for your help last December (when I was sitting at a 2.67). I'm happy to say that I buckled down and now my cGPA is 3.54 (I know it's still mediocre but come on, I was at a 2.67 aha).

My friend and I were talking about our majors yesterday which brought up several questions. First of all, I'm a biology and an East Asian studies double major with possibly a bioethics minor. The minor was pretty unintentional--I took it out of interest but I ended up with enough credits to minor in it as long as I have 1.0 more credits.

The thing is, I know med schools don't care about your major but my friend pointed out that maybe admissions will think I majored in EAS because I was better in the arts (it wasn't intentional but I did end up getting much better marks for my arts courses than the sciences) and that I should focus on raising my science grades more since part of the reason why I got that 2.67 was because I failed first year calculus and got a C in ochem. I don't plan on retaking that calc course (since it's not required for my major) but I know I will take more chemistry courses since I need it. Is this true? Will they look at me unfavourably if it's only arts courses bringing my average up? (That being said, my biology marks were fine).

Secondly, I've been very fortunate to have a family who can support my education for as long as I want and my hunger for knowledge was actually one of the reasons why I chose science in the first place. I'm a bio/EAS major as of now but I would love to go back to school and learn compsci/astrophysics too. My dad doesn't care when and how I do it and if things keep going the way they are, I'll graduate before 4 years (more like 3.5)(since I'm planning on going to summer school every year and the bio/eas major doesn't require *too* many courses). Would it be okay for me to stay for maybe 5 years and take a few more courses I'm interested in? Or is that a foolish idea and I should just apply as soon as I'm ready? I'm saying this without really caring for my GPA because my school caps the number of first-year courses you can take so any first-year astrophysics/CS course I take will just be on my transcript, but it won't be counted in my GPA no matter how high/low it is. If I do well, I can continue and major in then and if I don't do well, I can just stop after the beginner courses and apply to med school without worrying about the consequences.

Such simple questions but so much writing, haha. Thanks for reading and hope everyone has a great day

Apply when you have the best possible app.

 

[blacksugar]

Apply when you have the best possible app.

And of course, the most practical advice