Full Course Load In 4Th Year?

[vellichor]

I'll likely be applying this summer to schools across Canada, and I've maintained a full course load all three years so far (~30 credits per year). Does anyone know whether it would be a bad idea to take a reduced course load in 4th year (let's say one or two classes less) for the sake of extra time to do ECs in case I have to apply for a second time next year? Which schools would doing this hurt my chances for? Sorry if this is already covered in another thread but I couldn't find much.

 

Thanks!

[m_jacob_45]

I would not recommend doing this since if you have to reapply next year it will decrease your chances at U of T since you won't be eligible for weighting (unless your gpa without weighting is 3.95+). Western would also not count your 4th year as one of your best two in the case that you have to reapply. I think its important for everybody to consider having to reapply as a real possibility since many people do not get in on their first attempt. Dropping to 4.0 should not negatively impact you at Queens, U of T or Ottawa, however. Can't comment on the rest of Canada as I'm not that familiar with other schools. Good luck with your decision! 

[Bambi]

I agree it is a bad idea.

[vellichor]

Thanks for the input! My current cGPA is 3.97 but of course that could always go down. Do you folks think taking a full course load in 4th year and risking a GPA drop because of that would still be a better option than taking a reduced course load? Does it make a difference at all at that point?

[TechToMD]

Why do you believe you will have a GPA drop? You have been taking a full course load and managed a 3.97 GPA thus far, correct?

 

Personally I would take a full course load because you will introduce some extra disadvantages (loss of wGPA at U of T, etc.). Also if you are applying prior to 4th year and take a full course load, your marks in 4th year still will not affect this application cycle so I don't think there's much to lose. I think you will just have to work a little bit harder.

 

I just don't think dropping 1 or 2 courses will have a huge improvement to your GPA so I don't see the utility. You could always take bird courses if you want a lighter load anyway.

[lulu95]

I've unfortunately overloaded my fourth year (34 credits) due to the way courses worked out, which has admittedly been difficult to balance with application prep. It's important for you to consider which schools you want to apply to, and whether you really need more ECs (quality vs quantity). For example, since you already have a 3.97, it's possible that you would be able to get by at UofT without needing the wGPA to help you out, so if you have truly poor ECs, it's possible that reducing your course load so that you have a day or afternoon off to do ECs may boost your app. Someone above mentioned Western, but you already have 3 full load high GPA years, so it shouldn't be a big problem. Alternatively, you could also consider taking easier electives to fill out your course load (and humanities prereqs to qualify for more schools) while still leaving time to do other things. 

[vellichor]

Hi everyone, sorry to revisit a slightly old post but I'm still a little conflicted so I thought I'd add in a little more information here. Basically, because of my transfer credits from high school AP credits, I only need about 15 more credits to graduate/fulfill my degree requirements going into 4th year next year. If I do a full course load, they would all be random electives that I don't actually need to take. Financially, it seems slightly frivolous, but I suppose I also wouldn't be totally against it if I could see any major advantages, but I can't really- for example, is it even possible to apply to Dalhousie after finishing a degree in which you didn't have a full course load in your last year? 

 

Anyone have experience/advice with this kind of situation? 

[biochem4]

Hi everyone, sorry to revisit a slightly old post but I'm still a little conflicted so I thought I'd add in a little more information here. Basically, because of my transfer credits from high school AP credits, I only need about 15 more credits to graduate/fulfill my degree requirements going into 4th year next year. If I do a full course load, they would all be random electives that I don't actually need to take. Financially, it seems slightly frivolous, but I suppose I also wouldn't be totally against it if I could see any major advantages, but I can't really- for example, is it even possible to apply to Dalhousie after finishing a degree in which you didn't have a full course load in your last year?

 

Anyone have experience/advice with this kind of situation?

I am in this situation. I had transfer credits from my previous institution and the number of credits that I have to take are already specified in order for me to move on to the next year of my undergraduate studies.

 

Example, I only need 22 credits from major courses to move on to 4th year. This made me generate some questions in mind:

 

1) I was wondering if I could take some of these credits on summer and replace them with gen eds or electives then load even more of them for me to have a full course load in that year, even though I am not required to do so.

 

2) I know that we can take any courses that we want as long as they won't hurt our GPA, but do med schools care whether the courses count or not toward the degree program?

 

Could anyone help us on this? thanks