<p>My son is going into his junior year. At his school he has an option to take up to 8 classes as pass/fail as long as it's not a pre-med requirement or a course needed for your major. He hasn't done that yet. He's currently done with all his pre-med requirements. He wants to take biochemistry 2 in the fall semester as a pass/fail. How do med schools view that? He's got an A- in biochem 1 so I don't understand why he doesn't want to just take it for a grade. He said he likes biochem and it will take the pressure off. But I can't help but feel that med schools won't be too happy if you take a hard science class as a pass/fail. But what do I know. Any opinions from more knowledgable CC members?</p>
<p>I suspect it will depend on the specific school and the specific person reading his application how they will view a P/F for an upper level science.</p>
<p>The only thing I’ve heard is there is an assumption that any course with a grade of P was actually a C. </p>
<p>Will your S be applying during senior year? If so, I took biochem 3 P/F, but that was fall of my senior year (during interviews, most of which were multiple days). I would never have used P/F during junior year. Junior year grades carry a lot of weight on your AMCAS. If your S is just taking biochem 2 “for fun”, then delay it to senior year and use P/F.</p>
<p>Yes, he’s planning to apply next summer. Will be taking his MCATs at the end of this summer. Fingers crossed. You both basically confirmed what I already suspected. That’s it’s not a good idea. Thank you! I think he will still take biochemistry in the fall for the grade though. The professor that’s teaching it is the same that he took biochem 1 with and he really likes him. </p>