After a long decision, i’ve decided to pursue med school as opposed to engineering. For the past 3 semesters I’ve had 12,14,14 credits a semester. (Each class being 4 credits, with TA work and other labs counting as 2). I’m planning on having around 14-15 creds until I graduate…and I plan on staying at college for 5 yrs instead of 4 to really gain some shadowing experience and volunteering and think about if doctoring is something I would really want to do. Also my first year was basically devoted to being a physics major so i’m kind of starting from scratch. Would the fact that I am gonna graduate in 5 yrs along with the 14-15 credits a semester make med schools think my transcript isn’t competitive?
You can be a physics or engineering major and still pursue med school. It’s not an either-or. (My older d was a physics major who went to med school.)
Are you saying that so far, you’ve only taken 3 courses/semester (12 credits) or 3 courses with lab and/orTA ing/semester?
Is that considered full time? I thought most colleges require 4 courses/semester for full time enrollment.
Graduating in 5 years isn’t going to be an issue, but…
med schools will want an explanation if you consistently underload your semesters (less than 4 academic classes/semester, not counting labs or TA duties). Adcomms want to see that your are capable of managing a heavy course load that simulates the workload of medical school. A occasional light semester is fine, but not every semester.
You can always take a gap year to buff up your ECs, You don’t need to spend an extra year in college just for ECs. BTW, working full time in clinical position during a gap year will clarify for you really whether or not you want to pursue medicine as a career.
If I take 4 courses from second sophomore year semester out, will that be fine?
15-18 credits/semester is a typical pre-med courseload at semester-based colleges where 1 class = 4 credits.
If you step up your game, it won’t be the your courseload that keeps you of med school.