<p>Of course it's a very soft process. Two equal candidates with different courseloads will certainly be different. Duke has specific courses that we're advised not to take because they look wussy (my word, not my advisor's). So no, no, GPA and MCAT scores are not the only indicator of prowess, and your class load does matter some.</p>
<p>Furthermore, since many schools don't make cuts before secondaries, the widely accepted myth that schools use GPA and MCAT scores to screen their secondaries is simply bogus. Based on my experience, they don't even just screen interviews based on numbers.</p>