<p>I'm going into 3rd year on September. My current BCPM GPA, which is largely based on intro BCPM courses, really sucks because I didn't really study during freshman. While completing my major's (biochem) req's, I'm thinking of overloading myself with 100 or 200-level BCPM courses and getting all A's to increase my BCPM GPA. How will adcoms look at someone with a 3.8+ BCPM GPA largely based on a combination of intro science req's + some biochem's (for my major req) + a bunch of 100 and 200-level BCPM courses?</p>
<p>I heard someone saying "Medical schools couldn't care less about which courses you take, as long as you score well in them."</p>
<p>If that's true, then I see nothing wrong with doing what I said above. But if that's false, then I'll have no problem taking 300 and 400-level BCPM courses instead and getting A's. It's just that, if possible, I want to save time and effort and still manage to increase my BCPM GPA to 3.8+</p>
<p>From my own experience, I have seen no correlation b/w difficulty and how advanced the course is. Some of those intro courses are curved rather harshly while some of the upper level courses are graded leniently. I have, in general, found 300 and 400 level courses to be more interesting and, consequently, I did much better in them than in my 100 and 200 level courses.</p>
<p>however, i have fellow 4th year friends who are bio majors taking classes such as bio106 “intro to nutrition”. if that is what you mean, ysk1, then i think any adcom would see right past that. they are not idiots.</p>
<p>Both responses are on the money. Adcoms will look for a rigorous courseload, but they’re working with imperfect information. (They don’t exactly have time to go looking this stuff up.) So don’t take insulting classes. And take several that have big numbers. But a little digging about which classes are particularly brutal can save you a lot of annoyance.</p>
<p>Thanks for such great posts, guys.
So unless a course number and title are obviously insulting, like “bio 106-intro to nutrition”, then you’re good to go, right? For example, will the following be fine?: </p>
<p>BIO 204-Intro to Ecology
CHEM 180-The Chemistry of Life
CHEM 260-Atoms, Molecules, Spectroscopy
PHYS 190-Intro to Astronomy
MATH 113-Euclidean Geometry
MATH 160-Mathematics in Action
MATH 178-Fractals and Chaos</p>
<p>CHEM 180-The Chemistry of Life
CHEM 260-Atoms, Molecules, Spectroscopy
PHYS 190-Intro to Astronomy
MATH 160-Mathematics in Action</p>
<p>Just from looking at the titles of those courses, they may seem insulting, but actually reading some of their course descriptions proves you otherwise. But adcoms never look at course descriptions, but just its number and title, right? Should I avoid any 100 or 200-level courses with such insulting titles?</p>
<p>It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take fluff courses if you are certain you can’t ace more rigorous ones. Bringing up your gpa is a priority. Getting a 3.8+ in fluff courses and being forced to do a post bac is better than screwing up undergrad by failing hard classes.</p>
As I said above, why I’m interested in lower division courses is not because I’m not certain I can ace upper levels, but because I want to save as much time and efforts as possible while boosting my BCPM GPA to 3.8+.</p>
<p>Also, what do you mean by “Getting a 3.8+ in fluff courses and being forced to do a post bac”?</p>
<p>ysk, it’s not working out that way for my D. Her upper levels are all populated by bio majors .Histology and Topics in Biomedical Science were great courses that she was excited to take. The pre-med killers at her school are Intro Bio, Intro Chem, and Orgo. If you make it through that gauntlet unscathed some of the pressure is lifted and some of the “competitors” are no longer in the game. D has been told that there are a couple more killers among the course she plans to take (I think Cell and Neuroscience).</p>
<p>It might be counterintuitive, but it’s something that most of us have noticed at one point or another. I’ve definitely found my upper-level bio and chem courses easier than my lower-level courses. It’s the weeder courses and the courses that people expect to be easy A’s that you’ve got to watch out for, at least in my experience.</p>
<p>Hmm…if most people think upper level courses are harder but they’re actually not, then wouldn’t it make more sense to take upper level courses? You’d get credit for taking harder courses when in reality the courses aren’t harder.</p>
<p>I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to pay $40,000 a year in tuition to take “Physics of Underwater Basketweaving.” There should be plenty of 200, 300, and 400 level bio courses at your school that are both interesting/intellectually stimulating while relatively easy. Ask around and you’ll find what those courses are.</p>