<p>Hi. I'm an undergraduate junior in UC Berkeley. I'm a premed student, and my major is Integrative biology. I trasnferred from a junior college. I got 3.72 in my junior college including the grades from ESL classes. I finished 90 units when I was there for two years. </p>
<p>For one class I'm taking now, I'm not quite sure whether I should change grade option from letter grade to P/NP.
My current GPA is below 3.5 in UCB because I'm not accustomed to studying here yet. It is too low to go to good medschools. I completed 13 units in UCB so far. </p>
<p>In case I get all A's from the next semester, if I get A- for that course, I will get 3.81 when I graduate. If I get P for that course, I will get 3.82 when I graduate. Those cases are possible only when I get all A's from the next semester. </p>
<p>I think I cannot get an A in this course. A- seems to be also risky. If I do really well in this class from now on, it is possible to get A-. </p>
<p>That class is not required for my major.</p>
<p>So, should I change the grade option? How will 'Pass' be considered by admission officers? Do they like A- more than P although my GPA gets lowered a little bit? Should I keep the grade options because there is no possibility to get all A's?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Don't be a wuss. Challenge yourself. Work for that A-.</p>
<p>Or, to be a little more mild, "You don't want to give off the impression that you're simply wussing out."</p>
<p>The A- is CERTAINLY better than the P. PSAS has mentioned that adcoms will view W's as replacements for VERY bad grades and will compensate accordingly; in other words, applying that logic here means that a P will seem like you were trying to cover up a C, not an A-.</p>
<p>One more thing. Being an Asian candidate (i.e. race is against you) who was enrolled in ESL classes (remember how important verbal is on the MCAT, essays, and interviews) starting off at a community college and ultimately from UC Berkeley, you will have a tough road to medical school, and certainly a tough road into what you seem to think is a "good" medical school.</p>
<p>It's very early and certainly if you do somehow manage that 3.81, you will be in pretty good shape. But I want to warn you to be flexible about your options. If you end up at a medical school your parents have never heard of, that's still a wonderful result. If you end up at a different kind of health professions school or in a PhD program, that's still a wonderful result.</p>
<p>The one kind of result I hope you don't lock yourself into is one in which I see many of my friends: applying to medical school over and over again, never getting admitted but never accepted that, either.</p>