<p>For sciences majors, some people say that the # of credits you take and the level of the courses don’t really that much. In fact, most employers or grad school just skim over it. The gpa is supposedly more important. </p>
<p>So whats the point for people maxing out their credits when somebody could have taken one less class each term and slide by with similar gpa and work slightly less hard? hm</p>
<p>Well, to elaborate on the question, does it matter what classes and how much of it you take outside of the core classes needed for your major to graduate? I know experience is equally important(or more so) so I dont want to waste all my time maintaining a gpa with a monster courseload if somebody else can just slip by with something easier</p>
<p>Well, without getting deep into pros and cons, I will state one pro to taking extra electives in your major area…</p>
<p>GRE Subject exams. Many of the sciences (not mine anymore…but most others) have specific GRE exams that test all of the specialties in the field. So, if you take more electives, you have a greater chance in understanding all of the material on the exam and not have to guess on an entire section. Now, this is a minor reason, as GREs aren’t used as a strong admissions criteria, but it is a reason none-the-less.</p>
<p>more likely, it’s because all those classes are required for the degree. Science and engineering majors often take more credits just to satisfy all their subject requirements, especially if they want to take a class or two that’s not a requirement (just out of interest)</p>