I’m considering taking Spanish 101-103 this quarter. This would be course regression because I’ve taken upper level Spanish courses recently, up to the Spanish 303. My adviser says that’s generally not a good idea, but do you think it’s likely to actually make a difference in terms of whether I get into medicals schools or not?
Why do I want to do this? It’s part of my MCAT prep strategy.
1. Taking courses in general will help support me financially so I can work less and study more.
2. It will also enable me delay paying back my student loans for 6 months after I graduate.
3. Taking low-level intro Spanish courses specifically will give me more time to study for the MCAT because I won’t have to study outside of class for the classes, I’ll just have to show up and do the homework. I could take upper-level courses, but I’m worried that that would be too much of a distraction from the MCAT.
For context, I did my first 2 years of college several years ago and got a GPA of 2.32. I dropped out in 2011, lived in India and Dubai for 2 years and tried a few careers. I became convinced I had to pursue medicine and transferred to a different college in 2015 to do my pre-reqs and finish my undergraduate degree.
By the time I apply in summer 2017, I’ll have a cumulative GPA of 3.2. My GPA will be on the low end of applicants, but I’ll have a strong trend of improvement in my favor.
So do you think this course regression is a reasonably small risk to take, or given my rocky history is it important that I find another way?