some advice please

[uclakid]

Hey, guys. I am hoping you can give me some honest advice.

I haven't been taking very heavy course loads during my three years at ucla. In other words, I take 3 classes (not all of them are tough). I just got into the habit. Do you think med schools will look at my transcript and actually care about my course load each quarter? I mean because of this "slowness", I am going to need more than 4 years to graduate...will they think I can't handle a lot?

thanks

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[Brickhouse]

Naw you're fine. My final quarter at UCLA I took History of Jazz, British Women Authors and Band.

 

[uclakid]

bump

 

[UCLAstudent]

Don't worry, you'll be fine. I usually only take 3 classes plus chorale. I also take summer school, though.

 

[mosoriire]

During the application process, I corresponded with a lot of adcoms members who told me that they take the course load into consideration. They have to. Otherwise, everyone could take two classes a semester, get a 4.0, and go to med schl. It wouldnt be fair to those who are struggling with more intense work loads. Now if it's just a couple of semesters (two or three) interspersed by semesters with rigorous work, that's another thing entirely....

I think you should definitely ask your pre-health counsellor if you have one.

 

[uclakid]

there's probably only been one quarter where i've taken 4 classes...the rest of the time i've taken 3...and my gpa is always around a 3.5...so basically i still can't manage a 4.0...

this must look horrible to them, huh?

 

[medicine2006]

I graduated in March of 2000. Being from UCLA I had a built in excuse. There were so many people wanting to take the same damn pre-med courses and electives that even if I wanted to I couldn't have graduated in exactly four years because there weren't enough spots for all the students. I had to wait till fall of my fifth year to take my last remaining course but I decided to stretch it to winter quarter to graduate. It also depends on your major some have more pre-reqs. Well that and the fact I had to work part time my third year and almost full time my 4th and 5th years.

But if you have no excuse like unavailable classes or work or family obligations then I guess you are taking it kinda easy. But I'm not judging and niether will the ADCOM unless you take more than five years to graduate UCLA.

 

[jlee9531]

its not gonna matter uclakid.

just do well and you will be golden.

 

[Blade28]

I think if you can keep your grades up (GPA of 3.5+), you should be fine.

 

[oldtimer]

If you consistently take light courseloads, med schools may wonder if you can handle the rigor of the med school curriculum where you can't pick and choose your courseload. I received comments from my interviewers to the effect that they were very impressed by the difficulty of my courseload in college. I definitely think adcoms take into consideration the level of difficulty of your school, major, and courseload, among other things.