"Gaming the System" for Grades?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>I thought I'd throw this out there for fun. ...Has anyone ever considered trying to find the EASIEST professors to take classes from (via things like ratemyprofessor.com ...word of mouth..."class shopping"...etc.) in order to have the best chances of having a high GPA/good grades? </p>

<p>Or do you guys think that's a waste of time and/or something that might have other negatives (like it could backfire or maybe you don't learn what you should and will struggle later, etc.)?</p>

<p><em>Note: I'm not saying that one would not earn their grade in a class...they certainly would still have to...but perhaps just finding easier professors with less stringent requirements.....that could make earning the grade easier....</em></p>

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<p>That’s…pretty standard? People take and avoid those courses for those reasons all the time; I’ve done both, myself. I’m not really sure what you’re driving at here.</p>

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<p>Well…I guess this has to do with whether or not you would feel you’re missing something…or that such an easy path could backfire by not preparing you for the rigor of graduate school or a challenging work situation that required a greater level in difficulty of thought? </p>

<p>Always going the easy route could have disadvantages, no?</p>

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<p>Too much energy devoted to the wrong cause that will backfire, for sure, there is nothing “easy” in Med. School, better get used to working your hardest which still will not be as hard.
However, it is a great advantage to alternate classes. D. had no more than 3 very hard classes / semester, others were easy in her Music Minor. They provided great R&R being away from hard science classes and it served her very well. Actually these easy classes lowered her GPA as she got three A- in singing classes singing duets with advanced voices of music majors, but she improved her singing whole lot, so it was all worth it.</p>

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<p>Assuming the information is the same and just the ability to earn the highest grade improves than ofcourse take the easier professors</p>

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<p>brownug. I have taken the time at lunch to read all your past posts. Every one of them. Not in a stalkery-way, more in a honest attempt to understand where in God’s name you are coming up with this stuff. You’ve described yourself alternatively as: </p>

<ol>
<li>someone who has taken the LSAT and scored a 176.</li>
<li>someone who had a dip in their GPA senior year of college</li>
<li>someone who just finished an unsatisfactory freshman year in college</li>
<li>Someone asking about studying for the LSAT (after the 176)</li>
</ol>

<p>And you just joined in May??</p>

<p>You’ve asked questions (for yourself) about PhD programs in the liberal arts, law school, transferring law schools and (for your sister who is entering W+M this fall) about med schools. And then random questions about mythical University of Phoenix applicants to med school, the strategy of racial box checking for ORM’s, and complaints about profs. </p>

<p>I want my 15 minutes back.</p>

<p>Posters on this bb (and on this forum in particular) forum try to be helpful. For some of us , it is to repay kindnesses shown to us by others when very real situations were in front of us or our children. It takes time to answer questions.</p>

<p>There are serious issues facing pre-med students and they come here looking for help. There are places to play on CC and places to be serious about your future and IMHO, this is one of the more serious forums. (Although from time to time we can get silly, too. ;)) </p>

<p>Please do not waste our time.</p>

<p>Be honest with us about who you are and what you are facing. Similar to medicine, getting an accurate history is imperative in getting good answers on CC. A garbage history will give you garbage answers.</p>

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<p>A rather naive question, no? (Hint: D1 athletes have been doing this since the beginning of time.)</p>

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<p>I recommend:</p>

<p>High School Life
College Life
Parents forum
Parents Cafe
CC Cafe</p>

<p>You are more likely to be greeted by an enthusiastic crowd to engage in a discussion of any hypothetical situation that suits your fancy on these other forums.</p>

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<p>^
I suspect the OP will get reemed a new one if playing on the parent forums. :)</p>

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<p>Yeah, although there have been some threads that go on for pages and I just shake my head wondering why anyone would choose to play :confused:.</p>

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<p>Not at all. These are legitimate questions I want to learn about. </p>

<p>I am obviously not 10 different people, lol, but prefer to ask questions with anonymity (employers…even grad school admissions committees may Google ya nowadays!)…so give different background scenarios…although the hypothetical questions are all real ones that involve me and family and friends. </p>

<p>I may not use this info right away…I have 1.5-2 years before this info applies to me, but want to just get advice for various paths I’m considering (and that others I know are considering…so we can talk about these things). </p>

<p>I actually appreciate everyone’s advice a lot!!!</p>

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<p>If this is real, then what’s the point of taking classes you really don’t enjoy but just for the sake of getting good grades? That defeats the whole point of learning. If that was your true intent, you should have stayed in high school.</p>

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<p>This is neither a necessary or advisable practice. </p>

<p>You can easily ask questions without posting specifics that would identify you. Members do this all the time, it’s not until you start posting abundant little factoids about yourself that others can connect the dots.</p>

<p>On a discussion board your credibility is important, and your posting history is open for all to view. Anomalies lead to the suspicion of ■■■■■■■■, and note the TOS:</p>

<p>[College</a> Confidential - FAQ: College Discussion - TOS & FAQ](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_new_faq_item]College”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/faq.php?faq=vb_faq#faq_new_faq_item)</p>

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<p>OP,
You seem to exist in your room just wasting your time, get life, spend time with your friends, have fun, see things the way they are, not thru some distorting lenses, really, get a grip!!! Do you talk to your parents? They might have advice that we are not allowed to give to you here. This is my strongest advice, if you even consider any, seems though, not at all…</p>

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<p>ptontiger - No…these are just literally like water cooler or hanging out chatting in a dorm type questions…yes, they’re hypothetical and yes they’re a bit weird, lol, but we ALL have wondered about these things, right? </p>

<p>Of course I would NOT recommend people do something as stupid as attend University of Phoenix JUST to get a high GPA for the sake of going to medical school…so many other factors to consider and the logic is pretty narrow …but I’m wondering aloud about various strategies, in general, that people use to maximize their chance of getting into medical school, but without “losing” anything in the process either. </p>

<p>Just wondering if there are little things here and there that people can do to improve their chances of good grades for medical school, given how tough the competition is…Make sense? The best strategy of all may just be to STUDY HARD and SMART (like managing time properly)!!! But I’m just curious about these other things as well…like what the trade off is to take an easier class with an easier prof…things like that. </p>

<p>So…yeah, these questions are serious questions even if the scenarios can get a little BONKERS at times, lol. I take it most college-aged people will be mature enough to figure out which ideas are truly dumb ones and whether any of them may be good ideas. </p>

<p>I personally still think the best idea is to work hard and smart in your studies! But I actually like what one poster said (can’t remember if it was this thread or another), where she said her son or daughter did well (I think) by having some kind of rule on the: </p>

<p>MAXIMUM # of “hard” classes he/she wuold take a semester. </p>

<p>So, e.g., if you had to take orgo chem and physics one semester, she said her child would make sure the OTHER classes taken that semester were NOT hard. Stuff like that…rather than someone who might try to be macho and take a BUNCH of HARD classes ALL in the same semester…I mean some people mgiht be smart enough and/or hard working enough to pull that off and get A’s…but I’m guessing for many that it would be smarter to spread your hard classes out across semesters in a way that your schedule is balanced with easier ones too to try to give yourself an “EASIER” path to getting good grades, learning/mastering the material, and simply to keep sane, lol. </p>

<p>Stuff like that …is what I’m curious about. </p>

<p>I do know that many people use Ratemyprofessor.com nowadays when course shopping…but I’ve had an impression that it’s usually the complainers that post there more often than people who did well and enjoyed the class. Could be wrong…anyone have thoughts on the site?</p>

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<p>“I personally still think the best idea is to work hard and smart in your studies”
-If you dop not, you are out, period. All pre-meds know that. Get as close to 4.0 as possible. The rigor of your classes will be obvious to adcoms. Do not underestimate other factors, including many various EC’s, both medically related and in your personal area of interests…and absolutely make sure to enjoy your 4 years in UG, make firends, spend time with that. Med. Schools are NOT looking for hermits who spend their time in their room studying. Your interview will not be about your academics, it will be about you as a person. Your academics will be reflected in your application, there is no reason to waste valueble time discussing it further. It is extremely important for the Med. School to get students who interact easily with people, there are a lot of group discussions, they purposely switch groups to allow different personalities to learn how to adjust to each other, besides that easy connection to a patient is absolute must in medical profession. Without that trust, the success of treating desease is not possible.<br>
So, make sure you live very balanced life while in UG, develop as a person in addition to being excellent student with the most regorous and interesting (for you personally) schedule.</p>

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<p>THANKSSSS!!! Very good advice that corroborates with what others have written in other posts and threads. Will keep all that in mind for younger sis. </p>

<p>Also…</p>

<p>"-If you dop not, you are out, period."</p>

<p>What did your first sentence mean, by the way???</p>

<p>lol …written kind of funny…</p>

<p>LASTLY…and this is my absolute last comment here guys. I have school soon and need to get ready for that and stuff but also just gonna take everyone’s advice from these forums (in the pre-law section) and implement it into my schedule and planning…it’s all been very helpful and I’ll be sure to chat with my sis about these things too for pre-med. </p>

<p>But one last question is about what you said that the rigor of one’s coursework will be obvious to the adcom. …</p>

<p>That was the part my sister already was wondering about…Are you saying that ON TOP of the general pre-med track coursework that students should SEEK OUT EVEN MORE rigorous work THAN OUT? Or just the pre-med track is rigorous enough???</p>

<p>That does seem kind of scary to have to take even harder classes on purpose to impress the med adcoms. Just out of complete curiosity…if this is, in fact, what you’re saying…what gets harder than Orgo Chem. that pre-meds would WANT/SHOULD take to show rigor? I ask b/c to me the pre-med track already sounds very very rigorous and tough. So aside from like majoring in engineering or taking MORE physics classes…basically super hard stuff, where you also run the risk of lower grades, I’m not sure what you mean by “rigor.” </p>

<p>Thanks again! And if I don’t comment back it’s because I’m busy with upcoming school, lol. But know that I’m very grateful to everyone who has posted here and elsewhere with very very informative and helpful info to think about the next few years!!! Best wishes everyone!</p>

18

<p>The serious pre med seeks out challenging classes in his area of deepest interest, whether it’s microbiology or 18th C. British Lit or contemporary American philosophical thought or theoretical astronomy.</p>

<p>These types of classes demonstrate 2 things adcoms look for: </p>

<p>1) the academic ability to succeed at the highest level of difficulty and/or competition</p>

<p>2) a certain level of intellectual curiosity which is the hallmark of scientist. (Physicians are, after all, a kind of scientist.)</p>

<p>The members of the adcom know how read a transcript. They can recognize the difference between a transcript filled with introductory level and “gut” classes like Underwater Basket Weaving, Rocks for Jocks and Physics for Poets, and a transcript that has a health component of upper level coursework in an area of demonstrated interest.</p>

<p>A transcript with a few blemishes where a applicant has taken difficult, challenging classes is more likely to be favorably reviewed by the adcom than a perfect transcript filled with obviously easy classes.</p>

<p>So, yes, by rigor, the poster is suggesting that you do need to go be beyond Orgo. But the ‘beyond Orgo’ doesn’t necessarily have to be biology, chemistry or any specifically pre-med area. (One of my kids, for example, took grad quantum mechanics because she was interested in the topic. I know another med student who wrote and performed an hour-long recital of original musical compositions.)</p>