I've already seen the AAMC Course Classification Guide (https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fast...ab328dc/amcas_course_classification_guide.pdf), but how would a course with the title "Public Health Microbiology" be classified? At my school, this course is listed only under the School of Public Health, not under any of the biology departments. Will AMCAS place more weight on the course's official designation as a Public Health course and file it under non-science courses, or will AMCAS place more weight on the course's title and description and file it under BCPM courses?
Would this course count as a BCPM/Science GPA course?
- Thread starter agun77
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Figuring out if a course qualifies as BCPM is extremely easy.
1) What department is the course under?
2) If it is under B-C-P-M then it = BCPM. If it is not categorized as such either directly or through cross-registration then it is not a BCPM course.
1) What department is the course under?
2) If it is under B-C-P-M then it = BCPM. If it is not categorized as such either directly or through cross-registration then it is not a BCPM course.
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deleted781806
Incorrect. The course classification of BCPM has little to nothing to do with what Department teaches the course, but rather the content of the course itself. While they generally do align, it is not always the case. If the "Public Health Microbiology" course was primarily taught as a Public Health course it is not BCPM, but if it was primarily taught as a Microbiology course it would count as a Biology course and thus BCPM, per AAMC guidelines.
"Course Classification Guide: The following guide provides examples of how course are often categorized. Please select course classifications based on the primary content of the course. In the case of interdisciplinary courses, where two or more subject matters are combined into one course, refer to the description of the course on your school’s website or consult with your pre-health advisor to choose the most appropriate course classification." (AMCAS Instruction Manual)
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What about this? The course is called drugs and behavior, which makes it seem psychology obviously but it was very neuroscience heavy. I was a neurobio and not a psych major and I thought it was easy but I know many of the psych majors found it difficult because of the unusual amount of bio emphasis. Should I just classify it as non-BCPM? I feel like the syllabus would show that it is BCPM but the description not as much
"An overview of drug effects on chemical transmission in the nervous system, with an emphasis on the behavioral/psychological effects of drugs."
But I see pharmacology is not BCPM and I remember them saying this class is basically intro to neuropsychopharmacology so probably not BCPM
"An overview of drug effects on chemical transmission in the nervous system, with an emphasis on the behavioral/psychological effects of drugs."
But I see pharmacology is not BCPM and I remember them saying this class is basically intro to neuropsychopharmacology so probably not BCPM
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deleted781806
I think you might have your answer right there. Sounds more like a neuroscience/biochemistry course rather than a psychology course, so I would initially list it as BCPM and as long as you don't have a bunch of "questionable" course classifications, it won't delay your verification process.
IIRC "pharmacology/pharmacy" as a course classification generally refers to those taken from Pharmacy schools at a professional level, at my UG we were told that literally nothing offered at our institution would count in the "Health Sciences" category because those are emphasized in professional/vocational programs.
Here's the official course catalog description for Public Health Microbiology (listed as Public Health 162A):
"Introduction to properties of microorganisms; their relationships with humans in causing infectious diseases and in maintaining health. With 162L, satisfies most requirements for a laboratory course in microbiology. May be taken without 162L."
For what it's worth, I'm not taking 162L (the matching laboratory course) because it doesn't fit in my schedule. This shouldn't matter for classification purposes, though.
This description should warrant BCPM categorization, right?
By similar logic, my biostatistics class, which is also solely listed under Public Health, should be BCPM as well.
How about Nutritional Science & Toxicology 110: Toxicology?
Course description:
"A comprehensive survey of the principles of modern toxicology and their applications in evaluating the safety of foods, additives and environmental contaminates. Mechanisms of metabolic activation, detoxification, gene regulation, and selective toxicity are emphasized."
How about Nutritional Science & Toxicology 110: Toxicology?
Course description:
"A comprehensive survey of the principles of modern toxicology and their applications in evaluating the safety of foods, additives and environmental contaminates. Mechanisms of metabolic activation, detoxification, gene regulation, and selective toxicity are emphasized."
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deleted781806
I listed my Biostatistics course as MATH when I applied, no problems there. It was listed under the Biology Department, fwiw. The Toxicology course sounds like it could count as one of the BCPM categories as well, probably BIOL or CHEM.
Just read the AMCAS Instruction Manual... which you should have done already but here we are.
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OK then. I'm currently finishing my third year of college and am planning to apply to medical school after I graduate next year, so I haven't read the AMCAS Instruction Manual yet. Thanks for letting me know the importance of the Manual, though; I'll definitely read it sometime early next year, once I've taken the MCAT!
Yep, I'm a Berkeley student! Hi!
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deleted781806
Sorry, I assumed you were in the process of applying due to the nature of your question. But yes, you should read the Manual when you apply, it will answer all of your questions.
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Took this exact same course (well sounds pretty much exactly the same), and successfully classified it as BCPM
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My Bioethics course that was a part of my SMP is an ethics course that was categorized as BIOL and AAMC gave me zero issues with that designation. So clearly there is merit to what I said. Otherwise they would have changed it.
Additionally, I had a neuroscience course that was over 50% hard science content and I labeled it as BESS (behavioral + social science) and once again my AMCAS application was verified with no issues.
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deleted781806
Well for one, you should have made it a BCPM classification if you got a good grade in it. AMCAS reviewers aren't there to fix and check every single thing you enter in classification-wise, they're just making sure whatever you put down makes sense. They're not going to bump something into BCPM if you didn't think it was that in the first place, but that's not the system's fault. The Bioethics course may have sounded like it was hard-science based and therefore not changed by the reviewer, it's not a magic system that pulls up each and every one of your course descriptions to verify if you're accurate or not, only aberrant classifications would get any notice.
In any case, the classification of your coursework must be based on the primary content of the course, and will be verified by AMCAS using that as the guideline. Using the academic department that the course was taught in is in no way, shape, or form the correct way to determine its classification.
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I put the undergraduate neuroscience course under BESS because it would have lowered by BCPM. It was a hard science course, with a hard science description, but categorized as PSYC with no cross-registration. I didn't want them to change it, and they didn't.
Are you saying that AAMC looks up each course description? Additionally, as for the graduate class there is no course description for the "Medical Literature and Ethics" one, as it is only for SMP students so no one else can register for it anyway. They wouldn't be able to gauge the content level.
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deleted781806
If they are concerned that you misrepresented the course classification, they would have to look at the official course description. Obviously they are not going to do this for every single course you list, like I said before. They are most likely to take your word for it, I would assume, especially in the case of an SMP course. [Although graduate coursework is calculated in its own GPA category if I remember correctly, but it was not something I had to deal with personally so I would defer to whatever the official AAMC documents state].
But I'm not here to get into the semantics of how your application played out, I was just letting the OP know how they should approach this in the next few years. Just read the AAMC Guidelines and follow them, that's the only advice that's worthwhile giving.
