Taking extra classes to boost GPA?

[IndieMed]

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I have to admit, I didn't think of this idea on my own. This seems to be the most common thing amongst the pre-medical students at my school. My theory is, if you have the money then do it! But what I want to know is, is this looked down upon by admissions? The extra classes I plan to take are all lower level (3 credit) science classes examples nutrition, health and heredity, human biology, etc.. All for the sole reason of boosting my Science (and cumulative) gpa and I know without a doubt that these piece of cake classes will grant me an A. Before I go doing this, I wanted to get some feedback. I don't think admissions would question the classes, they would just assume that everything was for my degree right? Its not like they're going to sit there and separate the degree vs non-degree classes out of the dozens of classes I've taken? Also, on the transcript, it doesn't come up as lower level or upper level, so.. if theres anything I'm missing here please let me know! Thanks alot

 

[acslater99]

Lower level classes is anything <3000. Upper level is anything >3000. Now this could differ by universities but I believe pharmacy schools would be able to determine which classes are lower level/upper level.

With that being said, I would take upper level courses. Why? Because not only does it prove to the admission committee that you are able to handle tougher courses but you also get a boost of confidence if you perform well. Taking the easy classes might be seen as a red flag so be weary of that.

 

[HipHopHippo]

As long as your prereq GPA meets their minimum standards they wont care. However, if you pay attention to this board you’ll see how much of a problem saturation is in this field and how many schools keep lowering their standards to keep class sizes the same. This should cause some concern because even if you get in somewhere, the 160k-200k+ in debt you’ll take on may not be worth it. Particularly if you’re spending extra money as an undergraduate. Retail accounts for 70% of all jobs and the over abundance of graduates means those jobs are particularly cut-throat.

I’m from the Northeast. There’s 2 schools in my state. Walgreens only planned to hire 14 graduates from the class of 2018 in my state. Nationwide they’re capping new grads at 32 hours (the bare minimum to receive benefits) but I wouldn’t expect that to last either. There’s obviously other retail pharmacies but they aren’t much better. I’ve met floaters from neighboring states that will drive 4 hours round trip for a 6-8 hour shift at my store. If you don’t find a job before the class after you you’re probably screwed too.

Look at the schools you are applying to and look at their graduation statistics. Make sure their NAPLEX scores are above the national average. If you want to pursue something besides retail look at their stats for hospital residency, ambulatory care, etc.

Taking on so much debt is a major decision and if you need to game the system so much to get in at a certain point you need to wonder whether it’s worth your time to do so.