Will medical schools care about pass/fail?

[The Madden Bus]

Ok, so I took all the pre-med requirements (General Chem I &II, Organic Chem I&II, Biology I&II, Physics I&II) for a letter. I also took Biochemistry I&II for a letter. But I'm contemplating taking Genetics pass/fail (it also happens to be a summer course I'm taking right now) because I need the class for my major, but I'm afraid it could bring down my GPA. I still didn't get the first test back yet so maybe I shouldn't freak out. But I was wondering, will medical schools care if I take that class pass/fail?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MChitty]

I'm not sure if this applies, but I had friends that went to MIT (where they have the first semester P/F) and some med schools required that they release their grades. So even if some schools do accept it, you may be required to show your grades to other schools.

 

[The Madden Bus]

I'm not sure if this applies, but I had friends that went to MIT (where they have the first semester P/F) and some med schools required that they release their grades. So even if some schools do accept it, you may be required to show your grades to other schools.

I think that's a different situation because MIT only does P/F for their first semester. I'm talking about if you take a class P/F instead of for a letter.

 

[MChitty]

On a different note, will the class count for your major if it's pass/fail? At my school, we had to take the class for a grade if it was a major requirement as you have to get above a C.

Also, I feel like taking something pass/fail would really look like you're grade padding, which is usually seen as something negative.

 

[sanchopanza]

Don't take any classes pass fail if you don't have to. Own the challenge.

 

[SketchLazy]

I'm not sure if this applies, but I had friends that went to MIT (where they have the first semester P/F) and some med schools required that they release their grades. So even if some schools do accept it, you may be required to show your grades to other schools.

My school didn't make it a requirement but they strongly discouraged taking any major requirements as pass/fail. It might not come up at all, but a lot of medical schools state that they also discourage taking major-related courses as pass/fail. Genetics over the summer was killer at my school especially with this one instructor, but you just have to do it. Even if you get a B, one class does not affect your GPA that much. Usually if you get an A, it only goes up a couple hundredths of a point, and a B brings it down maybe twice that.

 

[The Madden Bus]

My school didn't make it a requirement but they strongly discouraged taking any major requirements as pass/fail. It might not come up at all, but a lot of medical schools state that they also discourage taking major-related courses as pass/fail. Genetics over the summer was killer at my school especially with this one instructor, but you just have to do it. Even if you get a B, one class does not affect your GPA that much. Usually if you get an A, it only goes up a couple hundredths of a point, and a B brings it down maybe twice that.

so pass/fail is frowned upon for genetics or will medical schools just not care if I take it pass/fail?

 

[TheRealMD]

so pass/fail is frowned upon for genetics or will medical schools just not care if I take it pass/fail?

Ask yourself why a person would want to take a class pass/fail unless they didn't care about it or were between a passing and failing grade. It just looks weird.

Then again, it really depends on the university but I didn't think many colleges let you take any class pass/fail if it's going to count towards your degree.