Tackling My Weakness vs Protecting my GPA

[deleted877060]

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The biggest aspect of the pre-med process that I despise is that since GPA is so important, it stops people from taking classes/exploring majors they want in fear of hurting their GPA.

Reading and writing has always been my weakness, and taking an intense writing class this semester has only confirmed this about myself. Part of me really want to take more humanities classes than required since I'm really interested in history/philosophy but I am also hesitant because, well, I fear it might unnecessarily hurt my GPA, which is perfect as of now.

Has anyone had this dilemma? Is it worth it to try to conquer your weakness in the expense of GPA? Sorry if the answer was obvious. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[863168]

First and foremost, it isn't that your GPA is important, it's about your presentation being important. For all intensive purposes, your GPA is the first thing that will be filtered and seen by admission committees. Due to the lucrative nature of the profession, a variety of majors from engineering to the humanities will be applying to medicine. Due to the selective nature of the medical schools in the United States, a small selection of these majors will be selected on some stipulation of presentable merit. However, it's not that GPA itself has intrinsic value, but it's the connotative value that it brings to an administrator in understanding the potential of the applicant. Understanding the flaw that extracurricular activities have a degree of variability with understanding the scope of involvement and investment of intelligence results in an emphasis on GPA. GPA is a consistent investment by the student having a normative quality that the student ought to be invested in the long-term of their studies throughout their 4 years of undergraduate education. It is also a soft marker of objectivity that shows how students respond to an unbiased stimulus. If students refuse to adapt to a low GPA, then it is an indicator that they will not be able to adapt to a high volume, stressful medical curriculum that will make them feel challenged. In understanding how GPA can be used to extrapolate a descriptive snapshot of a student, although limited one should be able to respect the idea of GPA being valued as a numerical measure of academic strength.

 

[deleted877060]

If students refuse to adapt to a low GPA, then it is an indicator that they will not be able to adapt to a high volume, stressful medical curriculum that will make them feel challenged.

I take to interpret that you think it is totally worth it to pursue a tougher coursework (for me), to be challenged constantly, instead of only taking classes I think I'll be comfortable with?

 

[863168]

I take to interpret that you think it is totally worth it to pursue a tougher coursework (for me), to be challenged constantly, instead of only taking classes I think I'll be comfortable with?

No. Because adcoms don't understand who you are and what you are bad at with respect to courses. You are a stranger knocking on their door asking to be let in and you smell strange. If they see that you have stock piled on humanities which are considered by lay men to be easier than STEM based courses then they may presume that you are padding your transcript. With all things, this assessment is contextual and conditional. Adcoms aren't homologous and I have never been one. However, not playing to presentation means that you are that many degrees less interested in becoming a physician than the swaths of people who are taking comfort classes that are cogent with their goal of getting accepted into medical school. In the end, this determination is ultimately up to your own decision of how to value your college education. I commit to refusing to take solid stance because I have seen students who sought a challenge and ended up needing to spend 30k-50k on a post-bac SMP (and failed!). On the other hand, I have seen students only check the boxes and get in, however they regretted not taking the road less traveled. The only solace that either student has is that they themselves picked the road they decided to walk on.

 

[deleted877060]

No. Because adcoms don't understand who you are and what you are bad at with respect to courses. You are a stranger knocking on their door asking to be let in and you smell strange. If they see that you have stock piled on humanities which are considered by lay men to be easier than STEM based courses then they may presume that you are padding your transcript. With all things, this assessment is contextual and conditional. However, not playing to presentation means that you are that many degrees less interest in becoming a physician than the swaths of people who are taking comfort classes that are cogent with their goal of getting accepted into medical school.

I am not going to "pile up" on humanities. I am merely considering taking a few more classes than required, not majoring in a humanities field or anything.

 

[deleted877060]

The only solace that either student has is that they themselves picked the road they decided to walk on

Yeah, I can see students regretting whichever choice they picked. I guess there's no such thing as a decision that I cannot possibly regret.

 

[863168]

Viewing life is a lot like DNA transcription. Do you appreciate a transcript for being a specialized piece of information or do you see it as a waste of telomeres real estate that could have been spent doing something else? Time itself can never be returned, hence any action is in zero-sum with any other action that could have been slotted within that frame.

 

[ChymeofPassion]

Viewing life is a lot like DNA transcription. Do you appreciate a transcript for being a specialized piece of information or do you see it as a waste of telomeres real estate that could have been spent doing something else? Time itself can never be returned, hence any action is in zero-sum with any other action that could have been slotted within that frame.

DNA polymerase liking a post about DNA transcription. Lul