I’m taking the March MCAT, and I’ve currently only registered for 3 courses (all decently rigorous, all either pre-med prereqs or upper-level major requirements) instead of the typical 4 courses next semester so that I can find time to study for and ace the MCAT.
I’ve always overloaded my schedule every semester by taking the equivalent of 5 courses while maintaining a high GPA so I figured having just one semester of just 3 courses would be a non issue. However, I’ve recently been told that med schools might frown upon it due to it seeming like I can’t “manage” a full course load on top of studying for MCATs.
Is this true? Do I need to register for an additional course? I really don’t want to do this, as I feel like I’ve already “proved” that I can in fact manage overloading my schedule from my previous semesters.
As long as you’re full time (and since you seem to be attending a 4-credit/course , 3 courses would keep you at 12 credits), it’s absolutely fine - as long as you don’t neglect your studies of course. Many successful students have done that.
I don’t think it’s a problem, but understand that med schools aren’t going to see that semester as “she took 3 classes because she was studying for the MCAT”. They’ll have no idea when you studied for the MCAT…nor will they care.
More likely, they may think, "she took a lighter load, but maybe she couldn’t get a class she needed, or was doing research that semester, or working a part-time job. It’s just one semester.
Impossible to know what effect, if any, such a strategy would have as adcoms don’t disclosure this info. As most kids probably prep for MCAT in months leading up to MCAT, I don’t think this is a strategy that even registers with adcoms unless the grades in the 3 courses are not good. But for what it’s worth S took 3 UD bio courses (maintaining FT status) leading up to MCAT, got As, didn’t turn out to be problem. In the interest of full disclosure, S also continued to work PT.
Provided that you have enough credits, even if you take a semester off to study Mcat is not a problem. My D did just that although she was in a quarter system.