<p>Looking for some insight. DD is currently in Granada, Spain. Her UG university specifies that she must take integrated classes in Spanish for the classes to count towards her minor at her university. DD is a junior, has had 6 years of Spanish and wanted to go to become more fluent and see a beautiful place. DD is now panicking because she fears now she will not place into these integrated classes and if she does, she may not be able to get an A. Supposedly, Spaniards are happy to get a B (her statement). DD is not wanting this to impact her GPA and possibly Med School admissions. Being a type A, she is freaking out. I suggested that if possible, she cut some of the integrated classes and take ones taught in English instead. While they wont count for her minor, I think minimizing the possible hit to her GPA is the smartest thing to do. Any thoughts on this travel abroad dilemma??</p>
<p>I don’t know how many classes we’re talking about here, but medical schools look at both the overall GPA and the combined bio, chem, math, and physics GPA. If her BCMP gpa is good, then a couple of B’s in Spanish courses won’t kill her (a couple B’s in anything won’t kill a medical school application).</p>
<p>That said, she should probably think about her own language skills and try and figure out if a B is reasonable. Only she knows how proficient she really is and if she would have any hope of keeping up. A semester full of D’s would be difficult to overcome. Especially when it was a on semester abroad and the assumption is that the classes are already easier than they would be at a student’s home university (though I actually found my classes while studying abroad to be harder in general).</p>
<p>I also studied abroad in Spain. If the grade gets transferred into her school and shows up on her transcript, it counts. if it doesnt, then it wont count since amcas doesnt care about foreign grades (you dont need to send in a transcript). usually, spanish universities grade on a different scale (1-10 if i remember correctly).</p>
<p>Spring, my daughter recently found herself in the same position in a different country (direct enrolled in Brazil for eight months). Their grading system was 1-10. The equivalent to a “C” was perfectly acceptable and a “B” was outstanding. My daughter conferenced with her professors. They were all facinated when the difference in the grading systems was explained. One even asked to see her transcript so that he might compare his assessment of her work with past assessments back home in similar classes. Long story short, she had great results. A few professors adjusted her grades to reflect our system, others gave her extra credit work. Not a perfect situation, but better than the alternative.</p>
<p>Thanks Seekingknowledge, I will pass your ideas along to her. I got to skype with her today and got more information. This is the first time Tulane is using this company. Company workers have told the students that Tulane is forcing the “integrated” thing eventhough the students may not be up for that level of challenge. The test is tomorrow and I said wait and see what happens. If my D has a problem there will likely be others that do too and then Tulane will have to figure out what to do with kids that wont make it. The company is trying to get Tulane to go P/F but my D doesnt think the university will do it. I guess if she could meet with Professors like Seekingknowledge suggests and work something out that would be best. She is just upset that the last group that went with a different company didnt have to have integrated classes. They were just required to have classes in spanish but the class was made up of kids from the US.</p>
<p>I hope things work out for your daughter spring. Again, my daughter was direct enrolled, so the study abroad office at her home university and in Brazil was not much help. She knew she was the only one piloting her ship and wasn’t ready to let it sink. Talking to her professors about the difference in the grading culture worked out for her, but I certainly understand your daughter’s stress level. Been there…</p>
<p>Everybody is in this situation when they “stepped away” from their main focus. They take a risk and rewarded with new experiences. It was the same for my D. when she had to sing duets with Music majors in her Music Minor classes. So, she got the only A-'s in her whole transcript. It was almost “impossible” task, kids definitely had pre-college voice training, she took a risk. Reward - great voice development and an awesome topic for Med. School interview discussions (the most popular topic was her Music Minor).
Do not worry. Rich experience is always is plus, never a minus. Med. Schools are looking for well rounded people. More so, they appreciate Spanish fluency A LOT. D. had an opportunity to go abroad and work at clinics in poor area because she had Spanish and improoved it a lot by taking Medical Spanish outside of her Med. School. Your D. will have great advantages because of her Spanish. One “B” is OK to pay for these advantages. Seriously, I would not worry about it at all, just let it be…</p>