Dropping a course

[andy_uw]

Hi,

I'm pretty sure it have come up already, but I coudn't find any relevant post,

please excuse me if it is not the first time bring up this topic.

 

I am in my 3rd year of Physiology,

and I have applied to several med schools this year(Hoping to get in after 3rd year)

I have recieved my midterm mark today, and it was shockingly low!

I was wondering if there will be any negative consequence

for dropping this course and change it to something else

I will drop so that it won't appear on the transcript (i.e. no academic penalty),

but I was wondering how med schools will look at this, since I have

already sent my transcript which said I am currently taking this course.

I can explain that it is due to because of my change in interest

(which is also partly true, because I really didn't like this course - which was anatomy - and change to genetic.),

but will they think that I'm trying to get away from away from low mark? (although that is partly true:o )

 

Any thoughs or comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your help!

[Chowchilla]

two schools might have a problem (if you've applied to them): western and uoft. western requires full course loads (5.0 credits) in your two best years. if you were planning on your current year being one of them, then you'll have a problem if you drop the course (unless you make up by signing up for another course next semester or something). and as for uoft, they will not apply their weighting formula if you have less than 5.0 credits every year.

[andy_uw]

Thanks for your reply, Chowchilla.

 

However, I'm still going to make it full course load (5.0credits)

because if I do that, I'll be taking 4 courses in 1st semester, and 6 courses in 2nd semester. What I was wondering is how they'll look at it when I drop a course and change it to something else(especially the course I'm dropping is anatomy, which is I suppose, medically related?)

 

Thanks again:D for reply, tho

[EMD]

However, I'm still going to make it full course load (5.0credits)

because if I do that, I'll be taking 4 courses in 1st semester, and 6 courses in 2nd semester.

I wonder about the wisdom of doing that. Have you done that before (take 6 course in a term)? If you had problems with one course when you were taking five... what happens if something is a bit more difficult and you're taking six?

 

What I was wondering is how they'll look at it when I drop a course and change it to something else(especially the course I'm dropping is anatomy, which is I suppose, medically related?)

I'm not sure the ad com would know-- until the end of the year. That said, it is possible (in theory) that you're sitting in an interview and you someone asks "How was that anatomy course?" or "Did you ever drop a course 'cause you found it too difficult?"

[andy_uw]

EMD:

The thing is I really don't enjoy courses that require lots of memorization. For some courses like math, physics, chemistry, or genetics(I found it more based on problem solving in my school), I'm not trying to show off or anything, but those problem-solving courses really fit me well, and I could do really well with little effort, and I like them.

For some courses like anatomy, biochemistry, and any courses with intense-memorizing, even though I try really really hard, I can't get what I want. Of course I can do decent if I try harder, but cannot excel it compare to the effort I put it into.

I'm sure that if I drop one memorizing course and add two problem-solving based courses, I would actually handle better.

The reason I picked this course was because it is mandatory if I want to do major in Physiology(which I really enjoyed - it is also a bit more problem-solving based in our school), now I'm thinking about switching into genetics by taking required genetics course in 2nd semester.

 

When Med adcom asks, I'm not planning to hide anything, but that's what exactly I'm going to say. I will say I found that I will enjoy those genetics courses more than anatomy, because while I admit memorizing is my weakness but problem-solving and thinking critically are my strengths.

 

Greatly appreciated your comments.

[Chowchilla]

Thanks for your reply, Chowchilla.

 

However, I'm still going to make it full course load (5.0credits)

because if I do that, I'll be taking 4 courses in 1st semester, and 6 courses in 2nd semester. What I was wondering is how they'll look at it when I drop a course and change it to something else(especially the course I'm dropping is anatomy, which is I suppose, medically related?)

 

Thanks again:D for reply, tho

schools don't care what order you take the courses as long as the total comes out to 5.0 credits at the end of the year. so stop worrying.

[EMD]

EMD:

The thing is I really don't enjoy courses that require lots of memorization. For some courses like math, physics, chemistry, or genetics(I found it more based on problem solving in my school), I'm not trying to show off or anything, but those problem-solving courses really fit me well, and I could do really well with little effort, and I like them.

For some courses like anatomy, biochemistry, and any courses with intense-memorizing, even though I try really really hard, I can't get what I want. Of course I can do decent if I try harder, but cannot excel it compare to the effort I put it into.

I'm sure that if I drop one memorizing course and add two problem-solving based courses, I would actually handle better.

The reason I picked this course was because it is mandatory if I want to do major in Physiology(which I really enjoyed - it is also a bit more problem-solving based in our school), now I'm thinking about switching into genetics by taking required genetics course in 2nd semester.

 

When Med adcom asks, I'm not planning to hide anything, but that's what exactly I'm going to say. I will say I found that I will enjoy those genetics courses more than anatomy, because while I admit memorizing is my weakness but problem-solving and thinking critically are my strengths.

 

Greatly appreciated your comments.

Sounds like you may need a different study strategy. Flash cards is what worked for me... whereas it is time consuming to make 'em. If you're not a Luddite-- you can go electronic; there are about a dozen programs out there.

 

Any how, my background is in engineering and I also spent the better part of two years in industry. I know a little bit about problem solving and I've solved a few problems outside of the sheltered world of academia. As far as I can tell, from medical school/being a fourth year medical student, most of undergraduate medicine, i.e. medical school (and probably most of clinical medicine) is pattern recognition and amounts to memorization-regurgitation/following a protocol or algorithm. If you're not doing research--things get quite repeatitive and the fun (if the medical practioner has any) is working with the patients (i.e. patient interaction) or working with the hands.

 

Personally, I think a lot of the memorization in medicine is unnecessary but that's my bias coming from engineering. I've come to terms with having to memorize a whole bunch of stuff... that I'll forget after the exam. I don't want to discourage you from medicine, but if you really do not like memorization at all pre-clerkship (the first two years of med school) is going to be pretty rough.

[Kiel]

Sounds like you may need a different study strategy. Flash cards is what worked for me... whereas it is time consuming to make 'em. If you're not a Luddite-- you can go electronic; there are about a dozen programs out there.

 

Any how, my background is in engineering and I also spent the better part of two years in industry. I know a little bit about problem solving and I've solved a few problems outside of the sheltered world of academia. As far as I can tell, from medical school/being a fourth year medical student, most of undergraduate medicine, i.e. medical school (and probably most of clinical medicine) is pattern recognition and amounts to memorization-regurgitation/following a protocol or algorithm. If you're not doing research--things get quite repeatitive and the fun (if the medical practioner has any) is working with the patients (i.e. patient interaction) or working with the hands.

 

Personally, I think a lot of the memorization in medicine is unnecessary but that's my bias coming from engineering. I've come to terms with having to memorize a whole bunch of stuff... that I'll forget after the exam. I don't want to discourage you from medicine, but if you really do not like memorization at all pre-clerkship (the first two years of med school) is going to be pretty rough.

What specialty do you want to pursue EMD???

[peachy]

I was wondering if there will be any negative consequence

for dropping this course and change it to something else

Tons of people end up taking different courses in their application year than they had on their transcripts in October. I switched a whole bunch of my courses that last year. The only way it could possibly come up is in an interview, and a simple answer like "I decided that X course was more interesting for me than Y course" is unlikely to cause you problems. I really don't think it's worth worrying about.