After my agita over MCATs that some of you witnessed (and were kind enough to offer advice about), I decided that I’m holding off for this application year. I am taking a full load of classes (A&P I, Biochem I, Cell Biology and Genetics) this semester, but since I’ve decided to take a Kaplan prep class in the spring, I was thinking off only taking a half-load of classes (A&P II, and probably Population Genetics) so I could spend more time preparing for MCATs in April or May.
Would that look bad to an admissions committee? A&P at my school is possibly even more rigorous than most classes I’ve taken, so it’d not like I’d be completely slacking on the academics.
As ever, thank all of you for all your advice.
I didn’t take full time last fall or spring. So far I haven’t been asked in an interview, but my response will be in the Fall I had a “EMT type” Cert class that I spent six hours a week in and in the spring I had my kaplan Class I spent six hours a week in. On top of volunteering. I have 5 interviews with that courseload on paper so I think it won’t be a big deal and you’ll have a solid reason why.
- starri Said:
After my agita over MCATs that some of you witnessed (and were kind enough to offer advice about), I decided that I'm holding off for this application year. I am taking a full load of classes (A&P I, Biochem I, Cell Biology and Genetics) this semester, but since I've decided to take a Kaplan prep class in the spring, I was thinking off only taking a half-load of classes (A&P II, and probably Population Genetics) so I could spend more time preparing for MCATs in April or May.
Would that look bad to an admissions committee? A&P at my school is possibly even more rigorous than most classes I've taken, so it'd not like I'd be completely slacking on the academics.
As ever, thank all of you for all your advice.
Would that look bad to an admissions committee? A&P at my school is possibly even more rigorous than most classes I've taken, so it'd not like I'd be completely slacking on the academics.
As ever, thank all of you for all your advice.
The adcom will not know or take into consideration the rigors of a particular course. You could argue that taking a very difficult class is a liability as you can risk a lesser grade. In any case, if you have a few semesters of full time work, taking a half load will not negatively impact your competitiveness.
That all sounds pretty reasonable. I’m just trying to figure out how to fit all this in, plus volunteering/shadowing. I started off slowly just to get my feet wet, had a medical reason where I wasn’t able to complete what was to have been my first full-time semester, and then last year did two full loads, and then this fall is a full load as well. The Pre-Health Advisory committee at my school seemed to think the health reason wouldn’t be a problem, so…
I don’t know, my problem is that there are so many variables, and one of my self-defeating attitudes (one I’m working on) is to try and calculate all possible outcomes.
I sound like a mess, don’t I?
starri - the semester I took my MCAT, I only took 4 credit hours (OChem II and OChem II lab) so I could study for the MCAT, work, volunteer, shadow, and do research. Taking a very light load in that one semester has not hindered my ability to obtain interview invites (I took 12 hours each of the previous three semesters). If you also took full loads other semesters then, based on my experience, I think you’ll be fine taking a half-load of classes in your last semester so you can free up time for other activities.
Cool. I need to keep at least a half-load for financial aid, so that means six. Of course, looking at your profile in your sig, my GPA is nowhere good as yours. 
Good luck!