What truly is considered a "light" courseload?

[YankeesfanZF5]

I have always taken between 13 to 16 credits while working a couple part time jobs, doing volunteer work, shadowing, maintaining hobbies and social life. Grades have been good (3.9) but I'm thinking about picking up a double major in bio and chem. This leads to me going a 5th year but my concern is my class schedule for the next two years would be all 13 to 14 credits with two to three science classes per semester. I think I can get all As because that is only like 4 classes per semester but is that too light? Do med schools really care as long as you are working to improve yourself? I will still be working and doing the other pre med activities, I don't know if that matters.

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[teenyfish]

What's the point of a double major? Do you really need it? Is it worth the extra year & money?

 

[jdav_7]

What's the point of a double major? Do you really need it? Is it worth the extra year & money?

With a 3.9 GPA, it's doubtful double majoring will help. More likely to hurt. Graduate in 4 years and get a grad degree if you want more science.

 

[bananafish94]

What year in school are you? I decided that I wanted to double major in biology and chemistry when I was a junior and was able to do it with 1-2 additional classes per semester and one over the summer between junior and senior year. But that was just because I wanted to do it; I doubt it made any difference with medical schools. I definitely would advise against taking a fifth year. The cons would vastly outweigh the pros, and I imagine there's a certain amount of stigma against it for medical school admissions.

As for what constitutes a light load, it sounds like you're doing fine. 13-16 hours per semester is reasonable. I would consider a "light" load to be intentionally diluting your course load such that you only challenge yourself with the medical school pre-requisites and then take a bunch of notoriously easy classes to inflate your GPA. But it doesn't sound like you're doing that.

 

[YankeesfanZF5]

What's the point of a double major? Do you really need it? Is it worth the extra year & money?

I don't really need it, I just heard it looks good on an application and can give you some diversity. My parents offered to pay for the 5th year and I have my other 4 years already paid for. The premed advisor, which is the head of the chem department recommends it. I plan to take the mcat summer after senior year and apply the year after that and was looking for time fillers.

 

[YankeesfanZF5]

With a 3.9 GPA, it's doubtful double majoring will help. More likely to hurt. Graduate in 4 years and get a grad degree if you want more science.

My bcpm gpa is around a 3.8, so I figured I could try to improve that some. Haven't taken GRE and don't know what master's I could do and get funded.

 

[jdav_7]

My bcpm gpa is around a 3.8, so I figured I could try to improve that some. Haven't taken GRE and don't know what master's I could do and get funded.

3.8 is plenty high and will improve enough from just the one major. I promise that doing something to set yourself apart - whether it's funded or not - would be a far better use of your time than an additional undergraduate major. Consider a one year clinical translation degree or the like.

 

[YankeesfanZF5]

What year in school are you? I decided that I wanted to double major in biology and chemistry when I was a junior and was able to do it with 1-2 additional classes per semester and one over the summer between junior and senior year. But that was just because I wanted to do it; I doubt it made any difference with medical schools. I definitely would advise against taking a fifth year. The cons would vastly outweigh the pros, and I imagine there's a certain amount of stigma against it for medical school admissions.

As for what constitutes a light load, it sounds like you're doing fine. 13-16 hours per semester is reasonable. I would consider a "light" load to be intentionally diluting your course load such that you only challenge yourself with the medical school pre-requisites and then take a bunch of notoriously easy classes to inflate your GPA. But it doesn't sound like you're doing that.

I will be going into my senior year. What are the foreseeable pros and cons of a 5th year to you? Sadly, particular classes are only offered for chemistry majlr every other year, so that is why it will take 5. Not intentionally taking anything easy just upper level biology classes and psych classes I like and need and the prerequisite courses. Do med schools care about course load as long as you are full time and taking challenging courses? How can they tell?

 

[YankeesfanZF5]

3.8 is plenty high and will improve enough from just the one major. I promise that doing something to set yourself apart - whether it's funded or not - would be a far better use of your time than an additional undergraduate major. Consider a one year clinical translation degree or the like.

I was thinking about going and getting my EMT basic and then paramedic in my time between undergrade and med school? Pretty original but I like what they do and would give me good clinical experience. Or CNA maybe. Good way to go or nah?Any grad school reccomendations? Types of coursework I mean?

 

[jdav_7]

I will be going into my senior year. What are the foreseeable pros and cons of a 5th year to you? Sadly, particular classes are only offered for chemistry majlr every other year, so that is why it will take 5. Not intentionally taking anything easy just upper level biology classes and psych classes I like and need and the prerequisite courses. Do med schools care about course load as long as you are full time and taking challenging courses? How can they tell?

They look at your transcripts. Course load is generally not a talking point unless it's in reference to explaining a poor GPA or if it's ridiculously easy (which is rare). Basically get a good mcat score and GPA, then no one cares about your major after that!

 

[jdav_7]

I was thinking about going and getting my EMT basic and then paramedic in my time between undergrade and med school? Pretty original but I like what they do and would give me good clinical experience. Or CNA maybe. Good way to go or nah?Any grad school reccomendations? Types of coursework I mean?

Clinical experience trumps all! But if you're doing grad school it depends whether you want research or not. If you're not doing it for research then I'd say don't bother with your already-solid GPA and just stick with clinical experiences.

 

[bananafish94]

I will be going into my senior year. What are the foreseeable pros and cons of a 5th year to you? Sadly, particular classes are only offered for chemistry majlr every other year, so that is why it will take 5. Not intentionally taking anything easy just upper level biology classes and psych classes I like and need and the prerequisite courses. Do med schools care about course load as long as you are full time and taking challenging courses? How can they tell?

Unfortunately I see far more cons than pros. First of all, it's really expensive. Second of all, even though this obviously isn't the case, some admissions people might look at the fact that you took five years and assume that you needed five years to finish college, which could cause apprehension.

They do care about course load, but they care more about GPA. I think that above ~3.75 everything is basically the same, but you wouldn't want to let course difficulty drop you to 3.5/3.6. I imagine they tell using A) a committee letter (if it's available) which allows people from your college to tell the medical schools if you actually challenged yourself, how you compare to other students in your cohort, etc. and B) just by looking at your transcript. Somebody who takes 16 hours/semester with lots of upper-level courses is going to be more impressive than someone who clearly did the bare minimum to graduate their major while diluting their schedule with softball courses.

 

[Mad Jack]

The idea that a courseload over twelve credits will hurt you is overblown, I really wouldn't worry about it. Hell, even a couple semesters of 8 credit course loads weren't even commented on when I applied.

 

[Mad Jack]

Unfortunately I see far more cons than pros. First of all, it's really expensive. Second of all, even though this obviously isn't the case, some admissions people might look at the fact that you took five years and assume that you needed five years to finish college, which could cause apprehension.

They do care about course load, but they care more about GPA. I think that above ~3.75 everything is basically the same, but you wouldn't want to let course difficulty drop you to 3.5/3.6. I imagine they tell using A) a committee letter (if it's available) which allows people from your college to tell the medical schools if you actually challenged yourself, how you compare to other students in your cohort, etc. and B) just by looking at your transcript. Somebody who takes 16 hours/semester with lots of upper-level courses is going to be more impressive than someone who clearly did the bare minimum to graduate their major while diluting their schedule with softball courses.

A fifth year is more common than it is uncommon. It's not like they see you took five years and think, "oh god, this guy must be an idiot." Only 19% of college students complete their degree in what is viewed as the "traditional" 4-year window. It is literally a non-issue.

 

[bananafish94]

It's not like they see you took five years and think, "oh god, this guy must be an idiot."

I didn't say that. I'm just saying you never know what biases the people making these decisions might have.

Only 19% of college students complete their degree in what is viewed as the "traditional" 4-year window.

Wow! I had no idea it was that low, that's interesting. Still, I suspect that for people applying to medical school that percentage is dramatically higher (just a hunch). Maybe later I will see if I can find any data on that. The four-year graduation rate for my school was around 70% and googling some of the rates for the major schools around me gives a lot of numbers in the 70s to 90s.

It is literally a non-issue.

I don't think it's a non-issue. Maybe not a big issue, but given the option I believe it is preferable to graduate in four years.

 

[Mad Jack]

I didn't say that. I'm just saying you never know what biases the people making these decisions might have.

Wow! I had no idea it was that low, that's interesting. Still, I suspect that for people applying to medical school that percentage is dramatically higher (just a hunch). Maybe later I will see if I can find any data on that. The four-year graduation rate for my school was around 70% and googling some of the rates for the major schools around me gives a lot of numbers in the 70s to 90s.

I don't think it's a non-issue. Maybe not a big issue, but given the option I believe it is preferable to graduate in four years.

If you have more than the minimum number of credits required for graduation, it's a literal non-issue. If I look at a transcript and see 140+ credits, the fifth year explains itself. At best, it's a question to ask the applicant later, but it isn't a negative. Medical school also tends to ask for a lot of prerequisites that don't fit well into many majors, particularly if you already have a minor or second major, so seeing a minor or second major on a transcript is another thing that pretty much makes the extra year amount to a shrug and a reading of the rest of the app. I mean, hell, the average age of medical school matriculants these days is 25 and some change, a lot of those people either took longer to finish or spent extra time doing other things and then came back to do prereqs- the "traditional" 22 year old medical student with 4 year BS in bio that goes straight to medical school is rapidly becoming an uncommon sight. Adcoms have often reviewed literally thousands of applications in their time on the committee, and they can assess pretty quickly whether a fifth year was done for a good reason or not- OP is fine.

 

[jdav_7]

If you have more than the minimum number of credits required for graduation, it's a literal non-issue. If I look at a transcript and see 140+ credits, the fifth year explains itself. At best, it's a question to ask the applicant later, but it isn't a negative. Medical school also tends to ask for a lot of prerequisites that don't fit well into many majors, particularly if you already have a minor or second major, so seeing a minor or second major on a transcript is another thing that pretty much makes the extra year amount to a shrug and a reading of the rest of the app. I mean, hell, the average age of medical school matriculants these days is 25 and some change, a lot of those people either took longer to finish or spent extra time doing other things and then came back to do prereqs- the "traditional" 22 year old medical student with 4 year BS in bio that goes straight to medical school is rapidly becoming an uncommon sight. Adcoms have often reviewed literally thousands of applications in their time on the committee, and they can assess pretty quickly whether a fifth year was done for a good reason or not- OP is fine.

In speaking with many admissions committee members, I've found that most of them actually value non-traditional students who bring unique degree plans to the table. No one is going to sneeze at a five year degree as if it's inferior to someone who graduated in four, just as me graduating early gave me no competitive advantage over someone who graduated in four. The goal is to show you are competent enough in school to thrive in medical school. If it takes you 3 years to do that, great. 4? Awesome. 5? Sweet. 15 with 3 breaks and multiple full time employments between? Sure. I could go on, but I'm sure you see what I mean. The truth is that a double major in 5 years probably won't be at all seen differently than a single (or even double) major in 4, so why waste the money and time?

 

[Dr. Stalker]

Basket Weaving 102 - 3 credits
Biology of Respiration 101 - 3 Credits
How to breath (Lab, CO-REQ: Biology of Respiration) - 1 credit
Introduction to University (either as a student, or as the professor, whose official title is student instructor) - 3 credits
Internship at Buzzfeed (for college credit) - 3 credits

 

[Mad Jack]

In speaking with many admissions committee members, I've found that most of them actually value non-traditional students who bring unique degree plans to the table. No one is going to sneeze at a five year degree as if it's inferior to someone who graduated in four, just as me graduating early gave me no competitive advantage over someone who graduated in four. The goal is to show you are competent enough in school to thrive in medical school. If it takes you 3 years to do that, great. 4? Awesome. 5? Sweet. 15 with 3 breaks and multiple full time employments between? Sure. I could go on, but I'm sure you see what I mean. The truth is that a double major in 5 years probably won't be at all seen differently than a single (or even double) major in 4, so why waste the money and time?

Yeah, I think my 180+ credits were spread over 8 years lol. I really took my sweet time.

 

[lpp06]