<p>Ok, so I am currently a freshman, planning on going premed for sure. I had several AP credits, which made me a junior after my first semester. I really want to focus on history, but this means that I need to take intermediate/advanced history classes right now.</p>
<p>However, as I look down the road at what classes to take, I run into a problem. This semester, for example, I am taking my first semester of organic chemistry and an advanced Islamic history class, along with 3 other basic classes. This puts me at 17 credits for the semester. Judging by the difficulty of my classes at this point, i don't know if i am prepared to do the large amount of work needed to get good grades this semester.</p>
<p>I am considering dropping my history class and focusing more on my organic chemistry class. However, this would bring me down to 13 credits, which is much less than other students.</p>
<p>sorry for a long post, but in short, my question is: Do medical schools prefer applicants who have near-perfect GPAs but may have taken lighter course loads? Or do they want students who loaded themselves up with credits but didnt have enough time to well in them?</p>
<p>Medical schools want both - students who loaded themselves up with credits AND did well.</p>
<p>It's worth mentioning that you don't need a near-perfect GPA to get into medical school. The average accepted applicant has a GPA of 3.6. Being an A- student is plenty good enough for medical school.</p>
<p>The average number is around 15 credits per semester at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, but do you think it is important to be at 15 for every semester?</p>
<p>If the average is 15, then your average over eight semesters should be 15. A few semesters below 15 is fine as long as you have a few semesters above 15 as well.</p>
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would you say that a 4.0 GPA with maybe 12-14 credits per semester is more valued than something like a 3.75 with heavy workloads?
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<p>Getting a 4.0 is very possible (I have only received one grade less than an A so far), but it is very strenous and isn't worth it. I don't know anyone with a 4.0. You would have to sacrifice a lot of intellectual pursuits by taking easy classes to get a 4.0. I'm taking several tough courses this semester, and I am willing to take the GPA hit to learn more.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Getting a 4.0 is very possible (I have only received one grade less than an A so far), but it is very strenous and isn't worth it. I don't know anyone with a 4.0. You would have to sacrifice a lot of intellectual pursuits by taking easy classes to get a 4.0. I'm taking several tough courses this semester, and I am willing to take the GPA hit to learn more.
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Note that this isn't necessarily true for everyone. There are people at every university, who are able to coast through these tougher classes. They can put in less effort than the rest of us, and still do well.</p>
<p>I'm not saying those people don't exist (a kid on my floor last semester set curves on exams, and studied way less than I did). I'm saying they are very rare, and in higher level courses that are more substantive, it may be hard to just coast along.</p>