What does science GPA really include?

[pezzang]

Does the science GPA (for med school) only account for premed (into bio/phy/orgo/gen chem) or does it include all the science courses taken during the undergraduate years? Also, if the science GPA is the overall GPA of all the science classes, does it also include such fields as psychology? Thanks.

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[Veshy]

The science GPA (BCPM) includes Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math courses. So most of your pre-med prereqs (not English) fall under that category. Other courses you take in those 4 subjects get included in the BCPM GPA as well. Check out the 2007 AMCAS instruction manual for more specific information:

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/2007amcasinstrucfinal.pdf

 

[pezzang]

The science GPA (BCPM) includes Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math courses. So most of your pre-med prereqs (not English) fall under that category. Other courses you take in those 4 subjects get included in the BCPM GPA as well. Check out the 2007 AMCAS instruction manual for more specific information:

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/2007amcasinstrucfinal.pdf

Thanks for the link. I read the manual but it doesn't say if BCPM would include classes like neurobiology, genetics, physiology or statistics. Also, would statistics class (statistics for behavioral scientists) offered by psychology department count as a part of BCPM? Does anybody know if the classes I mentioned above would qualify as a part of the science GPA (BCPM)? Thanks!

 

[Phillyborn]

The science GPA (BCPM) includes Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Math courses. So most of your pre-med prereqs (not English) fall under that category. Other courses you take in those 4 subjects get included in the BCPM GPA as well. Check out the 2007 AMCAS instruction manual for more specific information:

http://www.aamc.org/students/amcas/2007amcasinstrucfinal.pdf

Does that mean any class that falls under a department heading outlined as BCPM, or just ones that are directly that topic?

I know that is kind of unclear, but for example if I took these three classes, which ones would count towards the BCPM?

Anatomy 301: Human Anatomy
Physiology 421: Directed Physiology Research
Biomedical Engineering 351: Cell Biology for Biomedical Engineers

Would only the Anatomy class count as it is a mentioned department and course topic? Or would Anatomy and Physiology both count because they they are offered by BCPM departments?

What about courses that are offered through multiple departments for registration purposes (the classes meet together, test together and everything, just have different registration numbers)? ex. BIOL 351 meets with BMEN 351, just have different course numbers. Is one course considered in the BCPM and one not?

 

[Robizzle]

heck yes they would

 

[pezzang]

heck yes they would

How about statistics for behavioral scientist offered by psychology department? Is that a part of BCPM because statistics a type of math even though it's not offered by math department? It;s getting kinda complicated...

 

[Phillyborn]

Thanks for the link. I read the manual but it doesn't say if BCPM would include classes like neurobiology, genetics, physiology or statistics. Also, would statistics class (statistics for behavioral scientists) offered by psychology department count as a part of BCPM? Does anybody know if the classes I mentioned above would qualify as a part of the science GPA (BCPM)? Thanks!

Not sure about the nuerobiology, but page 76-79 is what you're looking for. It lists genetics, physiology and statistics all as BCPM.

 

[pezzang]

Not sure about the nuerobiology, but page 76-79 is what you're looking for. It lists genetics, physiology and statistics all as BCPM.

So even though statistics class is offered by psychology department, it's still counted as BCPM because it's a math class in a wrong department?

 

[Robizzle]

yes. it doesn't have to be IN THE DEPARTMENT to be classified as that subject. for instance i'm in engineering and most of my classes, even some bio related classes, have been offered through the college of engineering. i listed all those as bio =).

and yes statistics is math.

 

[ucsdfootball]

Does the science GPA (for med school) only account for premed (into bio/phy/orgo/gen chem) or does it include all the science courses taken during the undergraduate years? Also, if the science GPA is the overall GPA of all the science classes, does it also include such fields as psychology? Thanks.

I was wondering the same thing too. I'm a bioinformatics major, so I've taken a lot of interdisciplinary courses like Computational Biology, Biological Databases, etc. and I dunno if those are included in the Science GPA. Anyone know?

 

[jackieMD2007]

Okay. You guys. This is NOT that difficult. In your AMCAS, when you are in that section, go to HELP, Click "Course Work", Pick "Course Classification" and you will get a whole list.

For example, the following classes, you would designate as BIOL, no matter what department you took it in. If the course is called "Botany" or "Neuroscience" or "Anatomy", AMCAS calls it BIOL. See? It is on the list. I would recommend copying and pasting this info into a word document and printing it for yourself. "Biomedical engineering", for example, is clearly listed under ENGI. "Biochemistry" is clearly listed under CHEM. Just use the AMCAS designations. Otherwise it takes FOREVER to get verified because you couldn't be bothered to use the directions.

Biology (BIOL) - BCPM

· Anatomy

· Biology

· Biophysics

· Biotechnology

· Botany

· Cell Biology

· Ecology

· Entomology

· Genetics

· Histology

· Immunology

· Microbiology

· Molecular Biology

· Neuroscience

· Physiology

 

[the12thmd]

For some reason I put Biochemistry under Biology. Should I email them, or will they catch and fix the error?

 

[Punkn]

For some reason I put Biochemistry under Biology. Should I email them, or will they catch and fix the error?

They'll change it for you. No need to e-mail them.

 

[Compass]

Where does Bioinformatics go? And I guess none of my computer science courses are science courses T_T

 

[Phillyborn]

Where does Bioinformatics go? And I guess none of my computer science courses are science courses T_T

I would think Bioinformatics would be a computer science class. Despite the "bio" in the title, it's still lots of data sorting. I think along those lines though, things get tricky when you have classes like Biomechanics (not explicitly listed and could fall into several categories depending on the department, which we've just been told doesn't matter)

 

[hermit]

For some reason I put Biochemistry under Biology. Should I email them, or will they catch and fix the error?

Uh oh. So when I look at the MSAR and it says something like "14 hours of biology", biochemistry cannot count for three of those hours? (obviously this question applies only to schools who do not separately list biochemistry as a requirement)