<p>Quick question to UCSD veterans.</p>
<p>Do graduate school such as med schools look at rigor of course or GPA more. So if i was bio major, is taking 10a instead of 20a for good gpa okay? or like taking phys 1a instead of 2a.</p>
<p>i still have this high school mindset that rigor and gpa counts. just wondering if it applies over in college.</p>
<p>well for one thing, med school isn't technically graduate school. it's a professional school, and both med + dental + law + PhD-ish grad fall under "postgraduate studies."</p>
<p>unless your school is UCSD and actually knows the difference between math 10 and 20 series, it won't matter. and seriously, it isn't that much harder in the 20 or 2 series. people DO take those and go on to med school.</p>
<p>And on that note, pick the harder classes that you're interested in and think you'd do well in. You'll learn more AND you'll have a good GPA for med school. Double bonus!</p>
<p>Oh, and rigor doesn't count for much. Whereas APs in hs made you look competitive on paper, at least your grade was backed up by your AP score. In college, there's very little basis for comparison between Honors Math at two different universities.</p>
<p>If rigor counted, I wonder how many more people would start taking Honors Ochem and Honors Chem and Math 20 series here...hahaha. Most people play the conservative and take the easy route.</p>
<p>i'd say go for the 10 series if you can. Why work harder when you really don't have to? Unless you absolutely love physics or math, take the easier route if at all possible.</p>
<p>Because some classes provide more mental stimulation than others. Some students go to college to learn, you know.</p>
<p>And 20 series provides more flexibility with majors.</p>
<p>yea, i know but some people care about their GPA than stimulating their minds. Also, I think i implied what you said, i_lose, in my comments above.</p>
<p>I don't love math. Yet I chose to take 20 series math. And you will find many people like me.</p>
<p>Your GPA may be important, but if that med school dream fades, then what? I'm at the end of my second year now and at least half of my friends who came in gung-ho about going to medical school have dropped out or have such low GPAs that admission is unlikely. With that in mind, if you drop out, you have nothing to show other than A's that you earned in your sleep, no well-developed study skills, and a lack of curiosity about the world around you because you turn into a drone to just simply pump out numbers instead of learning where the equations came from. Neither of these traits, of course, will help in medical school, should you get in. I'm not saying to take hard classes so you can feel superior to people taking easier versions, or that taking easier versions mean you don't learn anything, but taking a risk every once in a while can lead to a lot of benefits. Don't be 100% conservative in college for the sake of maintaining a high GPA. I've taken lit classes meant for lit majors, harder math for the sake of learning, etc. And if you care enough about what GPA I maintain here, I can assure you that it's above a 3.9. You can still take hard classes and do well, as long as you have the least bit of interest in the subject. Know what your strengths and weaknesses are and choose the classes that correspond to those so that you maximize both your learning and GPA. Then simply apply yourself and enjoy learning.</p>
<p>Calc is rad. Go for the 20 series.</p>
<p>So apparently, we don't learn in the 10 series or the Phys 1 series? Gimme a break. I took Calc BC/5, and I learned so many new things in 10C. I didn't take physics in HS, so everything in Phys 1 will be new. So yes, you can LEARN from these classes. It's not like its a party class...</p>
<p>No, I did not say you won't learn anything, read my post again. The learning potential is greater when there are more challenges, and I stress that you should use your weaknesses and strengths to create a balanced, yet challenging schedule. But based on these replies, it must be true that 90% of premeds will do whatever it takes to get As, even if it means learning less and working less hard than would otherwise be required in a harder class. Open up your minds a little and take a harder class that you're interested in. I have no doubt that based on the responses on this board, if there were Honors Biology classes available, few would take it on, other than those who truly do love biology and want to pursue Ph.Ds.</p>
<p>And of course you learned new things in Math 10C. Calc BC does not cover 10C material, as C = multivariable and you did not cover multivariable in BC, most likely. As for physics, I took physics in high school. I realized that I hated it, hence my decision for 1 series, which I took, succeeded in and learned some things. I have no regrets about taking 1 series (although if I were to change back to a chemistry major, I would) because I was balancing my weaknesses with my strengths that provided me with the greatest learning combined with the highest GPA.</p>