Basically I wanted to know if I spread my classes out and took fewer classes per semester to keep my GPA up and graduating a semester or two later than my class would look bad when applying to medical schools.
Would taking 9-10 semesters to get my BS look bad?
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Not sure if srs, but I'll bite.
It wouldn't look good...med schools want to see that you can potentially handle the academic rigor of pre-clinical years, and they can't get a sense of that if you take the bare minimum 12 credits every single semester, unless you have a valid reason for taking the minimum, such as having to work to support a family or something. How do you think you would look beside the thousands of pre-meds who graduate in 4 years while keeping their GPA up?
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I'll actually oppose the view of the previous poster.
9-10 semesters is 4.5 or 5 years. Most people take 4 years, and I see more and more people taking longer.
If you can obtain a higher GPA by doing this, I think any perceived negative would be outweighed by the higher GPA.
9-10 semesters is 4.5 or 5 years. Most people take 4 years, and I see more and more people taking longer.
If you can obtain a higher GPA by doing this, I think any perceived negative would be outweighed by the higher GPA.
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I agree with Ismet, on this one. Taking a light load every semester to maintain a good GPA is going to be frowned upon by ADCOMs. If your taking a full load every semester, however, I don't think anyone will care very much if you graduated in 4 or in 5 years. They will just look at your GPA and how rigorous your course load was.
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If you're taking the minimum as a full-time applicant and using your extra time for activities (research, volunteering, clubs, work, etc.), this is passable. Otherwise, it'll just reveal it for what it is: laziness.
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Generally, people take longer than 4 years due to a change in major or scheduling conflict that requires them to add on additional semesters, not because they're choosing to take the bare minimum credits and choosing to pay another year of tuition just for a small GPA bump. Yeah taking 10 semesters of 12 credits each might be looked over if there is a high GPA or a valid reason, but under closer scrutiny, it can be iffy. And if an interviewer with an open file notices and asks about it, what will OP say? Taking the minimum for the sole reason of getting a better GPA is not a valid excuse.
Also, what is OP going to do when they get to medical school and it's even harder to keep up with than taking 18+ credits? Pre-clinical is easily the equivalent of ~25 credit hours.
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Maybe I'm being thick-headed here, but can you clarify what you mean by passable?
I don't mind working my arse off, but I only get one chance to be an undergraduate, and I'd rather spend that precious time doing research, teaching, volunteering, etc. than taking excess classes I don't need and won't remember in order to impress some adcom. Shouldn't that kind of independence be looked upon as favorably as taking 16+ units a quarter?
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Oh I definitely agree with your statement--but the OP won't even make it to the interview if his GPA is bad. It all depends on how much of a difference it would make to him.
At my University, Bio and Chem tests were scheduled the same day (as we used a CBT center), and I know a handful of friends who got B's and below because they couldn't handle the load.
In conclusion--it all depends on OP.
I took 10 semesters to get an engineering degree. It was pretty standard at my school. I also graduated with 140+ credits or something like that though. I got every interview I wanted and accepted at 3 schools so my opinion is that it doesn't matter. It never even came up.
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In my opinion, 3.8 in 10 semesters > 3.7 in 8 semesters.
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More students graduate in 5 than 4. If you're taking >13 credits and are involved in ECs and things, it's not that big of a deal, and if your GPA comes out better because of it, then that's all the better.
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Medical schools take academic rigor into account. It looks bad if you're taking intro classes in your junior year and it's the same thing if you're spreading out your schedule because you need a lighter load. If you can't handle a normal undergrad workload, how will you handle medical school?
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This thread and it's responses are ridiculous from a non traditional standpoint. Med schools should require some kind of work or full time endeavor outside of school; the awareness of real world to some people on this forum is astounding.
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I had to start working full-time hours as soon as I graduated from high school to support myself. At 18, working a full-time job and trying to take more than 12 credits was crazy. Of course I didn't exactly have any guidance being that both my parents were high school drop outs. Anyway, no, it would not look bad if you went part-time during undergrad, especially if you're on your own and financially need to support yourself.
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Won't look as good as if you had just done it in 4 years. I'm sure adcoms don't appreciate people trying to game the system.
So if a lady gets pregnant at 18 then takes 6 years to finish undergrad, she's gaming the system. Nothing says you have to be done in 4 years and like I said, it never came up in my 5 interviews that I took 5 years. However, I am 30 years old and worked ~50 hrs/wk while taking pre-reqs so questioning my ability to handle workload would've been silly. I also played college sports so that may have factored in too.
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I don't see why you guys are getting all defensive and talking about your lives. How are they relevant to the OP?
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If that's the case, I don't think you'll be troubled. If I were an undergrad again, I'd do that. Just make sure you take the minimum full time.
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I like how OP just made the thread and left. Smelling troll.
For those of you talking about working while taking classes, or those of you who took 140+ credits over 10 semesters, that is different from spreading 120 credits out over 10 semesters just to have more time to study.
My interpretation: OP wants to take the same 120 credits people do in 8 semesters (aka average of 15 credits per semester) and spread it out over 10 semesters (aka average of 12 credits per semester so that they have more time to study and be able to get a better GPA). It would be nice if OP would come back and elaborate a bit more, but it doesn't make sense for them to ask about spreading out their credit hours just so they can work full/part time, because that work time eats into study time and their GPA probably wouldn't see an improvement anyway. Notice in my first response that I said needing time to work to support yourself/a family is a valid excuse for taking longer and taking a lighter course load. A major event in your life like an illness, a death in the family, a pregnancy, is also a very valid excuse. Just taking the bare minimum due to laziness is not a valid excuse.
/rant
For those of you talking about working while taking classes, or those of you who took 140+ credits over 10 semesters, that is different from spreading 120 credits out over 10 semesters just to have more time to study.
My interpretation: OP wants to take the same 120 credits people do in 8 semesters (aka average of 15 credits per semester) and spread it out over 10 semesters (aka average of 12 credits per semester so that they have more time to study and be able to get a better GPA). It would be nice if OP would come back and elaborate a bit more, but it doesn't make sense for them to ask about spreading out their credit hours just so they can work full/part time, because that work time eats into study time and their GPA probably wouldn't see an improvement anyway. Notice in my first response that I said needing time to work to support yourself/a family is a valid excuse for taking longer and taking a lighter course load. A major event in your life like an illness, a death in the family, a pregnancy, is also a very valid excuse. Just taking the bare minimum due to laziness is not a valid excuse.
/rant
If you are going to spread out the work load, at least take extra classes. You don't want to come off as anything but a diligent and hard working student.
If you spread oput the work load and take extra classes while maintaining a good GPA, you'll be fine. But if you just spread out course work that peopel complete in 4 years without taking extra classes, you might be looked down on by adcoms.
If you spread oput the work load and take extra classes while maintaining a good GPA, you'll be fine. But if you just spread out course work that peopel complete in 4 years without taking extra classes, you might be looked down on by adcoms.
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I like how OP just made the thread and left. Smelling troll.
For those of you talking about working while taking classes, or those of you who took 140+ credits over 10 semesters, that is different from spreading 120 credits out over 10 semesters just to have more time to study.
My interpretation: OP wants to take the same 120 credits people do in 8 semesters (aka average of 15 credits per semester) and spread it out over 10 semesters (aka average of 12 credits per semester so that they have more time to study and be able to get a better GPA). It would be nice if OP would come back and elaborate a bit more, but it doesn't make sense for them to ask about spreading out their credit hours just so they can work full/part time, because that work time eats into study time and their GPA probably wouldn't see an improvement anyway. Notice in my first response that I said needing time to work to support yourself/a family is a valid excuse for taking longer and taking a lighter course load. A major event in your life like an illness, a death in the family, a pregnancy, is also a very valid excuse. Just taking the bare minimum due to laziness is not a valid excuse.
/rant
Doh! My bad. I didn't even read all of the OP. Stupid is me. The OPs post makes me think of something an advisor would say to do though. At my University the average is 5 years, but it's all due to bad advisement.
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obviously starting a family or having to work 50 hrs/week while in undergrad is not what i meant. that's not gaming the system, but what OP is proposing is blatantly attempting to game the system.
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Right? Elaborating when making sweeping statements insulting the userbase would be nice...
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Misread the op, see above post. But with his post, if he's doing 12 semester units a semester that's still full time and on pace for 5 year graduation.
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Right, but you still could have elaborated. Your statement doesn't seem constructive to me even if the OP did say whatever you thought it did.
I don't mean to be aggressively critical, but I was as confused as LaughingMan, and it's just easier when people speak openly.
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Ok let me elaborate. The replies to the OP make it seem he would be disadvantaged in his application based on the fact that he doesn't graduate in 4 years. What they're forgetting is that everyone is different and let's be real at 18 years old- most people don't really know what they want out of life. Most traditional students are bulleting full speed towards medicine due to nature of competitiveness and some romantic idea of what's "good". The vibe I got from the replies (not realizing OP's apparent laziness) is that going outside of this is "bad". No offense, but most people that go into medicine are extremely competive in nature and have to go through ridiculous hardships to come out one day as an Attending. Then they've won. Well...what do they do now? Oh, you get to take care of sick people. That's my theory on Physician satisfaction. So relating that to this post, if this guy knows what he's capable of and not wanting to adhere to some off base pre-med assessment of application success- why not?
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Code:
Disclaimer: This post is just me appreciating my boasting rights.I did undergrad in three years, I have something like 137 credits, squeezed in about 100 hours of volunteering in there and no, I didn't even get an interview when I applied.
I did have a not so stellar mcat score, applied late and had a pretty bad personal statement now that I reflect upon it. Honestly, I had the same mindset, thinking that classwork rigor would be my miracle of getting my foot in some med school lobby all dressed up for an interview.
That's my 40% of a nickel.
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You could probably get in either way. But do you really want to pay for an extra year of undergrad and housing? That **** adds up.
Survivor DO
Survivor DO
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These people don't know what they're talking about. It probably won't come up in the interview and most likely would not even be noticed by the admissions directors. Most people that tell you otherwise are probably mad that they didn't come in enough AP credits to take a manageable course-load or overdid the science courses.
Worry about your GPA and rock the MCAT. Get involved with something medically related and polish your speaking skills for the interview. The rest of the stuff people worry about contributes negligibly to the admissions decision.
Worry about your GPA and rock the MCAT. Get involved with something medically related and polish your speaking skills for the interview. The rest of the stuff people worry about contributes negligibly to the admissions decision.
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Says the sophomore who hasn't even applied yet?
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Let's focus discussion on the content of each other's contributions and eschew meaningless insults, shall we? Let claims stand by merit of support and reason; you know very well that an hSDN student could be more informed than a senior college student and applicant, or even a medical student. Surviving the process speaks little toward comprehensive understanding of it, and true insight can defend itself adequately when challenged.
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If one isn't paying for school (cheapo state/parents), I highly recommend the five year option for growing in general. Not saying take a light load... just saying take your time and enjoy.
A guy that's accepted and out of school for many years says so also. I can almost guarantee that it won't come up at 5 years. Maybe if you go way over that it could be possible but 5 is no big deal. Pre-meds just usually have easy undergrad majors so they have skewed views. Also, SDN is pretty known for thinking that you have to have a >3.9 and a 35 MCAT to get into med school. You have to filter what is said on these forums sometimes.
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The notion that one must take an insane load of credits or Adcoms will thumb their noses is utter conjecture. I really don't think there is an issue with graduating in 10 semesters if the credit load is full time and there's some EC(s) going on. Crushing yourself with 18-20 units of hard sciences courses in an attempt to look attractive to med schools and ending up with a subpar GPA is not going to do you any favors. In fact, it's asinine. Furthermore, not everyone took a butt load of APs in high schools, nor has everyone had the liberty to start out in courses like Stats/Calc and the science prerequisites. I would think med schools would take this into account.
And you have more insight into the specifics on how all Adcoms function because you sit on on - correct? Since I assume you didn't have an issue with your credit load, how can you then turn around and proclaim a decree on credit load? That, whilst committing the logical fallacy of telling people who haven't applied that their opinions are wrong when in reality, the fact that you've applied has absolutely no bearing on the topic in this thread.
And you have more insight into the specifics on how all Adcoms function because you sit on on - correct? Since I assume you didn't have an issue with your credit load, how can you then turn around and proclaim a decree on credit load? That, whilst committing the logical fallacy of telling people who haven't applied that their opinions are wrong when in reality, the fact that you've applied has absolutely no bearing on the topic in this thread.
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A B.S.E. is a WHOLE different animal from a normal B.S. You can take 15-18 credits every semesters and still not finish in 10 semesters
As many have said, it won't look good if you are doing it to boost a GPA without as much rigor, but how about taking 12 hours a semester and take 6-8 hours every summer? You will graduate with your class on time that way.
If B.S.E. means BS in engineering, then you're slightly exaggerated. I had so much because I changed after sophomore year. You can graduate with 132 I think (I'm sure it's changed in the last 10 years). 15 credits per semester and not graduating in 10 semesters would be crazy for any degree. Engineering is probably the hardest but you should still be done in 4.5 to 5.5 years.
Mesinan is right. There are all kinds of tricks to easily get done in 4 with a light load especially if your degree is easy. Summer classes make everything easy and some schools have J-terms which also make it easy. This discussion is silly. Like I said, my interviewers spent probably 20 seconds looking at my courses and probably didn't even realize how long I was in school. The things that came up most for me was my GPA, college sports I played, my LOE's, my career, and my family.
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Says the person who spoke to several admissions representatives at his university a couple weeks ago.
Okay, I did exaggerate, but come on, we all know exaggeration sells.
It's not all credits though. As an example, I graduated with WAAAAAAY over 120 credits, but still had to take 4 classes my final semester because I didn't have enough COURSES to graduate, and I was only a BS in Biology. It's just tough when so many of our classes are 4-5 credits (my school also had intensive language requirements, so maybe that contributed to the credit overload as well).
Yea. It's those school-specific or cultural requirements that screw you. Some count toward one grouping of requirements, and some don't. It's really pretty confusing and sometimes hard to schedule if you don't go to a large school with numerous offerings of certain courses. I ended up have 2 social science courses that meant nothing because they shifted cultural requirements in my second year and I wasn't aware of it until late in my third year.
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All right, I'll admit I was being a little snarky with that comment.
To the original OP, it shouldn't hurt but you should also take cost and time into consideration. Many of my classmates worked hard to either graduate early or on-time to minimize tuition and fees. In Texas, you actually get a tuition rebate if you graduate on-time.
To the original OP, it shouldn't hurt but you should also take cost and time into consideration. Many of my classmates worked hard to either graduate early or on-time to minimize tuition and fees. In Texas, you actually get a tuition rebate if you graduate on-time.
