<p>Would getting a B in say creative writing have the same weight as getting a b, in say, general chemistry or biology/physics/math? Just curious. I am aware that there is a science gpa separate from your cumulative gpa but in the cumulative gpa, is there a distinction made between an elective and BCMP class in terms of weight attributed to the respective grades?</p>
<p>Your goal is to have college GPA=3.6+.</p>
<p>meursalt, given that the application separately calculates a BCPM GPA, what do you think is the weight given to BCPM courses vs. the rest of them?</p>
<p>Of course, when looking at your cumulative GPA, all courses have the same weight regardless of what they were.</p>
<p>It was reported here in the past that the BCPM GPA and the cumulative are not much different, like within 0.05 to 0.1.</p>
<p>One of the reasons why some students think it is easier to maintain the cumulative GPA is only because they have more flexibility to hand-pick easier non-science classes at many colleges (e.g., at some colleges, they are allowed to even AP out some freshman classes that would take too much of their study time from studying other “more important” BCPM classes.) If they are required to take the extremely rigorous classes offered by non-science majors, all of a sudden it is not that easy anymore.</p>
<p>A physics professor at a university complains that it is a national campaign of wasting the brightest mind in this country because of the grade centric nature of premed life. (e.g., can you believe that a student who has taken AP Physics C and Calculus BC in high school just because they want to get into a top college and then take algebra-based physics in college?)</p>
<p>I am always smiling when I see something like “hand-pick easier non-science classes”. The only A-'s that D. got in college were in singing classes of her Music Minor. She did not say that they were hard. But singing in duets with Music Majors who posessed awesome voices and many had years of pre-college voice training (none in my D’s case) definitely put D. at disadvantage. She did not care one way or another, just had fun and also improved her vocals a lot. However, she would not admit that she can sing, not after singing with real musicians.<br>
Also, side note, music was the most popular topic of discussion during D.'s Med. School interviews.<br>
So, do not calculate too much, allow yourself to pursue whatever you personally like, it will pay at the end. But be reasonable to have enough time for your major goal. In my D’s case, she wanted to pursue Music Performance minor, but after closer look realized that it was very time consuming. Music Composition was easy enough, less time consuming and allowed her to develop in area of her interest.</p>
<p>MiamiDAP, Like your D, DS took many (like 7 or 8?) classes for music majors – some of his A- were for those classes. He just could not spend as much time as those music majors on his project or those who are not music majors but are going into music production or performance careers. One of his classmates, a math major, arranged and produced tons of very high quality music videos for would-be pop singers like Sam Tsui (if you happen to know who he is.) I believe only one music-related class (music history) he took is not for music major because the corresponding music hostory classes for music majors are 3 or 4 semesters and he really could not have room for that.</p>
<p>His attitude toward GPA is: As long as it is good enough, he is OK with it. He seems to have this attitude even right now: When the professor said that 80 (out of 100) is a very solid grade, he hopes he could get like 88. He would not try hard to get, say, above 95. (Maybe it is too hard any way.) He did study more now than when he was a premed, but he seems to be more motivated in studying what is relevant - I heard he was even studying on the plane on the trip home during this winter break. In the past, as a premed, he played computer games while in flight. </p>
<p>Is the “passing” grade at most medical schools 75 or some score like that?! I really do not know.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Same with my son…his only A- has been in an extra Spanish class that he took for fun.</p>
<p>Who knows what to make of how Adcoms are going to view specific grades. On one hand, a B in - say Art History - seems rather insignificant for a future MD, but then an A in Art History may demonstrate that this person puts his full effort even in non-essentials. </p>
<p>I think good grades in all subjects sends the following message to Adcoms…“no matter what you throw at me, even if it’s not interesting to me, I’ll try my best and perform well.”</p>
<p>
Or, it could mean the grade given for this class is more lenient, or the premed is better at signing up “grade efficient” classes.</p>
<p>The fact that the student can take ANY classes outsides the prereq classes could dilute the value of GPA. I think it is because of this, adcoms sometimes only demand “good enough” grades as they have no way to tell whether the classes the student takes are graded harshly or leniently, and the course load is heavy or light. Some CCers posted there hat this same applies to MCAT as well: You only need to have a good enough MCAT score: 36=37=38=39.</p>
<p>it could mean the grade given for this class is more lenient</p>
<p>That could be true even for pre-med pre-reqs. Some profs within the same school can have reps for being easier graders, having more generous curves…and kids often know that and target those profs.</p>
<p>Talking about Spanish, it was one of the best classes that D. took in UG. Spanish was required anyway and she placed into 3rd year. She could speak after one semester! Very useful for a future MD. Currently, D. is taking Medical Spanish class outside of her Med. School program.</p>