<p>agree with ucbalumnus,
There are many schools that offer “watered down” versions of the premed science classes fo the med students. That doesn’t make the premed students stupid or ignorant or lazy. It means that a different level of course content is necessary to complete the basic premed course requirement. Many premed students are not science majors. That said, the science majors may find the MCAT easier to prepare for than the non-science majors who took the less challenging science classes. And when they finish med school, they take the BOARDS, not the BAR. The bar exam is for attorneys. Maybe it isnt those premed students who need to learn more…</p>
<p>How about curve? My kid goes to UCLA, in the Chem class, the professor said only 5% would get an ‘A’. In another class, only 5 out of 35 people will get an ‘A’.</p>
<p>There are no easy classes at some schools…</p>
<p>Some top schools do not allow study abroad grades or grades from courses taken at other colleges to go into the GPA. Course credit may be allowed, but not the grades. Don’t assume you’ll even get credit unless you clear it with the department beforehand.</p>
<p>This is not new. People have majored in econ or even classics and as long as they had the prereqs (which are not that many really) they can go to med school, if they do well on the MCAT and have an excellent gpa. You do not have to major in bio or chem or any science. There are plenty of hard courses that you must pass in med school as well as national and specialty boards. Not to mention internship/residency/fellowship requirements. I would not worry that my doctor was not a bio major. </p>
<p>For law school, any major will do with a good GPA and LSAT. This was the case in the dark ages as well. That no special prerequisite is needed was also validated by my own personal experience.</p>
<p>There used to be a TV show (I think it was called “Dave,” or maybe “Hank”) about a guy who had a scheme to get a free college education. He ran a vending truck on campus, and when a student wanted to skip class, Dave (or Hank) would disguise himself as that student and attend class. In this way, he was piecing together a college education. (The irony was that he would perform amazing feats of running and jumping to escape the authorities, and the coach was always trying to find out who he was to give him an athletic scholarship.)</p>
<p>You could try that.</p>
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<p>I have to say, your relentless personal attacks are not what I expect from a parent. I simply misspoke. I knew that those aspiring to become doctors have to take the boards, and lawyers have to take the bar.</p>
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<p>Homie, when one comes across elitist and offensive on multiple threads, one should not wonder why they may get called on things. BTW, I didn’t find jym’s post to be a personal attack, just pointing out simple facts.</p>
<p>I never personally attacked anybody here. I just expressed my views on a general level and opened them for discussion. Also, facts can be personal attacks when directed to a specific person and not only to correct him (which is fine) but to do so with a sarcastic tone. Anyway, that was a cheap shot no matter how you look at it.</p>
<p>redshoes- even if the study abroad GPA is not calculated into the “homeschool” GPA, it does count in the LSAT GPA calculation- and that recalculated GPA is the one that counts for law school.
Almost all transcripts must be sent to LSAT/LSAC (?) for re-calculation of ones GPA. That includes transcripts from UG institution, most study abroad programs, summer school courses, on-line courses taken through other institutions and even college courses taken for credit while in high school.</p>
<p>And then there is my D who signed up for some of the hardest classes on campus because she is interested in them <em>and</em> switched out of a section with an easy-grading good professor and into a section with a great professor who is also the hardest grader of the bunch. She is happy as a clam, squeezing out the best education money can buy.</p>
<p>it’s just a sliver of kids who may be affected by a slight difference in gpa-<br>
but as an example if you received a 169 LSAT (top 3%)- it may be alot better to have a 3.8 gpa vs 3.78 for a T-14 admission. Some schools appear to have arbitrary cutoffs for admission. The higher the LSAT score, the less effect the .02 gpa would have. So a 3.78 with a 171 LSAT would do fine in the admission process as the LSAT score seems to play a much larger role in the admission process.<br>
But if my own kid had a 3.79 gpa with a 169 LSAT, I would have counselled her to pick her classes wisely to try to get a 3.8 gpa.<br>
As my own kid was in the 3.75 + range. I don’t think 2 or 3 grades would have made that much of a difference to bring her up to the 3.8 range. And I think most kids will not be affected by 2 or 3 grades in their overall gpa.<br>
but I do think it is worthwhile for everyone to know that all grades count (as I stated earlier) for law school admission from some HS classes to on-line courses to study abroad.</p>