<p>How do medical schools determine what is considered in a premed student's science GPA (BCPM)?
I am currently enrolled in a Physics class at my college, it is not the required premed Physics course, but an 'elective' Physics course. It is PHY 201: Physics of the Heavens and the Earth. Would this course be factored into my science GPA? What will medical schools think of me for taking this course?
Thoughts?</p>
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I am currently enrolled in a Physics class at my college, it is not the required premed Physics course, but an 'elective' Physics course. It is PHY 201: Physics of the Heavens and the Earth. Would this course be factored into my science GPA?
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<p>Yes it will - any Biology, Chemistry, Physics, or Math (BCPM) class will count for your science GPA. And this is all determined by the AAMC, which handles the application service, so individual med schools will not calculate your GPA differently.</p>
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What will medical schools think of me for taking this course?
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<p>um... they'll think you took an extra science course. There's really nothing particularly great or bad about it.</p>
<p>It is an 'appreciation' of Physics course. Meaning the background info of Physics... history and stuff.</p>
<p>I actually disagree; I think the presence of this course will be a mild negative. My own premed advisor (one of the best in the business) always warned us that classes equivalent to "Dinosaur Biology" (science classes designed for non-science students) were to be avoided if at all possible, and I tend to agree with her. Play around with other courses in your GPA, but don't do things that will appear as if you're trying to inflate your BCPM.</p>
<p>Whether that's what you're really trying to do or not is almost less important than the perception.</p>
<p>if a course is classified as public health, but is actually a biostatistics course, does it count as math and will be calculated into the BCPM?
how do you check which courses are factored into BCPM and which are not?</p>
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if a course is classified as public health, but is actually a biostatistics course, does it count as math and will be calculated into the BCPM?
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<p>yes, biostats counts as math and will factor into BCPM</p>
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how do you check which courses are factored into BCPM and which are not?
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<p>you can't. in the AMCAS help there are guidelines but it comes down to your judgment, however if AMCAS disagrees with you they'll change the classification.</p>
<p>It is an 'appreciation' of Physics course. Meaning the background info of Physics... history, newton, einstein, discoveries, etc.</p>
<p>Submit it to AMCAS. They usually give you the benefit of the doubt and treat it as a Science course rather than a history course. My friend was a mathematics major and was debating whether to submit his course, "History of Mathematics" as a Science course. He ended up doing it and got credit for it. If you don't. AMCAS just marks it down on your app and nothing really bad happens.</p>
<p>Yeah its in the Physics department, so it has a physics course number, and the course title doesn't really reveal too much that it is more of a history of physics class. I doubt AMCAS will change it.</p>