Undergrad Load

[tonymarc]

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So I have always wondered how schools look at an applicant that took 12 hrs every semester, worked, and volunteered. Would he be looked at any less than lets say someone taking 18hrs?

My other question is that my family owns a business and that's where I work, however unlike other places I don't get paid. I basically work and in return my parents pay for my food, gas, and whatever financial aid doesn't cover.

Those of you that work with family especially if it's a small business know that you put in way more work than a regular employee. Especially when your family isn't rich.What's everyone's take on this?

Thanks in advance
Tony

 

[justAstudent]

Nothing wrong with it. Just keep doing what you're doing and maintain that GPA.

 

[NickNaylor]

As long as you do well, you have nothing to worry about. The problems begin if you're doing a consistent 12 hours and not doing well. Some schools might question the "rigor" of your schedule since you're "only" doing 12 hours. But as long as you do well and include your experience of working with your parents in your app, it likely won't affect you negatively.

The thing to keep in mind is that there will always be superfreaks that have done everything you've done and more. You are never the strongest applicant. Just accept that. Once you do, you can then focus on what's most important: making the most out of what you have done and ensuring that its done with excellence.

 

[tonymarc]

What if you didn't do so well at the start 3.0 semesters and then gradually.started to improve, but of coarse you had your reasons?

 

[Ace-Co-A]

So I have always wondered how schools look at an applicant that took 12 hrs every semester, worked, and volunteered. Would he be looked at any less than lets say someone taking 18hrs?

My other question is that my family owns a business and that's where I work, however unlike other places I don't get paid. I basically work and in return my parents pay for my food, gas, and whatever financial aid doesn't cover.

Those of you that work with family especially if it's a small business know that you put in way more work than a regular employee. Especially when your family isn't rich.What's everyone's take on this?

Thanks in advance
Tony

As others have mentioned, nobody cares how many credits you take as long as you (1) fulfill pre-reqs and (2) graduate with a Bachelor's degree.

One of my 'mistakes' in college was taking on too many credits and spending too little time on ECs.

 

[xnfs93hy]

So I have always wondered how schools look at an applicant that took 12 hrs every semester, worked, and volunteered. Would he be looked at any less than lets say someone taking 18hrs?

My other question is that my family owns a business and that's where I work, however unlike other places I don't get paid. I basically work and in return my parents pay for my food, gas, and whatever financial aid doesn't cover.

Those of you that work with family especially if it's a small business know that you put in way more work than a regular employee. Especially when your family isn't rich.What's everyone's take on this?

Thanks in advance
Tony

No.

 

[Oso]

The thing to keep in mind is that there will always be superfreaks that have done everything you've done and more. You are never the strongest applicant. Just accept that. Once you do, you can then focus on what's most important: making the most out of what you have done and ensuring that its done with excellence.

This is fantastic advice for applicants in general, but especially for the SDN community, where many people evaluate their competitiveness solely by comparing GPA, MCAT, # of EC's, etc. Then they feel discouraged or not good enough when there's a stronger applicant.

It's easy to feel inadequate when someone has slightly higher stats or more volunteer hours, but you have to remember that you are your own person with your own application and your own motivations and interests. You need to focus on those things that make you who you are and believe in them, do the best you can with them, and be proud of them. Feel confident in the things you've done and don't think too much about how there's applicants out there with higher scores or more research, because there are always going to be better applicants, and constantly worrying about that isn't going to do you any good.

I remember a few applicants on the interview trail who were asking each other about their research, and a few seemed kind of intimidated by others' work. I wanted to be like 'dude, you're good enough to be interviewed, so just believe in yourself and stop comparing yourself to others'. You don't need the highest MCAT score or highest number of poster presentations or clinical volunteering hours to get accepted. But you definitely need self-confidence.

Anyways, sorry for temporarily derailing the thread. OP: 12 credit hours is fine, as long as you're keeping yourself relatively busy outside of that. Good luck.