<p>I am currently a junior in high school with the intent to attend the University of Pittsburgh for a degree in neuroscience while following a premedical track. However, I am currently taking classes at Clarion University while in high school. At the moment, I have 12 credits in general education classes that Pitt will take as fulfilling prerequisites, and intend to do 14 more credits this summer. Along with one or two more prerecs in my senior year, I should be an entering sophomore. </p>
<p>So far, I have only been taking the boring general education prerequisites to get all of that stuff out of the way (I have a 4.0 college GPA currently). However, I am not as confident in my sciences as I'd like to be. Chemistry is my weak area, the one that I wish to improve. I was considering taken General Chemistry I and II at Clarion to get up to speed, not transferring the credits, and then taking it for real at Pitt. (Question #1) My concern is that this would reflect poorly upon my transcript for medical school admissions. Any insights?</p>
<p>My second question relates to the fact that I will, in all likelihood, be an entering sophomore. My intent in doing so was to give me more time to concentrate upon my core science classes. (Question #2) Would it reflect poorly upon my transcript if I took only 12 credits a semester? (Question#3) If so, would it reflect poorly if I "filled the void" with easy-ish classes? </p>
<p>1) It doesn’t matter if you transfer the credits to Pitt or not, you still have to report them on your med school application. (It’s an AMCAS rule. You have to report every college course you’ve ever taken–even co-enrollment courses from high school.) Thus med school admission committees will see that you’ve taken certain courses twice. Taking the same course twice puts you in a kind of double bind. Taking a course twice changes the expectations on the part of adcoms. If you take it twice and get an A the second time, the reaction is “Of course, he’s got an A, he’s studied the material before.” If your grade is less than an A the second time, you look less than capable.</p>
<p>You would be better off doing a self-study program in chemistry over the summer or taking a high school AP class–neither of which need to be reported to AMCAS.</p>
<p>2) Generally you should not the take the absolutely minimum number of credits allowed and “skate” thru a semester. It raises questions about your ability to do well under the heavy courseload in med school. A freshman might be OK taking 3 classes his first semester while adjusting to college, but for a sophomore, the expectations will be higher. A typical courseload would be 4 academic classes a semester or 3 academic classes per quarter.</p>
<p>3) You have to balance your courseload while adjusting to college. Four math/science or other time intensive classes every semester is going to give you burn out. But be careful about taking lots of easy, meaningless courses just to fill space in your schedule. An intro level class is fine; recreational basketweaving–not so much.</p>
<p>BTW, it’s a myth that science or math classes ‘take more time’ w/r/t studying than say an English, history, anthropology or philosophy class. Humanities/social sciences courses may assign several hundred pages a week to read–and that’s not including the outside reading you’ll need to do for the 2-5 papers you’ll writing for those classes.</p>
<p>1) If I audited the chem classes would they have to go on my transcript? If they do, I’m assuming admissions would look at it the same way as if I had just taken the class?</p>
<p>2) The only reason I would do a light load is because I will already have a year done, but want to spend a full 4 years at Pitt, since it will be “real” college to me. Would I be better off doing a non-science related minor or something of that sort then, to raise the number of credits per semester?</p>
<p>1) Audited classes go on your transcript. And your assumption is correct.</p>
<p>2) Do a minor if you are sincerely interested in the topic. Don’t take a minor just because you want to make your schedule look good.</p>
<p>Have you considered not taking any classes this summer? You could certainly find plenty of other sorts of productive stuff to do. Do some shadowing, hospital volunteering, maybe some community service. Get a summer job. Take a course for pleasure or enrichment instead of advanced academic standing. You’re going to be on an academic treadmill for the next 9-15 years—take some time out now to relax and bask in the glow having successfully finished high school.</p>
<p>Either way, I will definitely be taking Anatomy and Physiology I and II this summer at Clarion University, as I feel confident in my ability to get two As. When I apply to Pitt, the credits will probably be transferred, but without affect on my undergrad GPA there. When I apply to medical schools, will those two grades be factored into my science GPA as if I took them at Pitt?</p>