Guest krnboy Posted December 25, 2003 Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 Right now I'm taking 5.5 courses each year (I'm in first year btw). I'm not doing so well on one of my course and it's going to pull my GPA down a lot. Therefore, I'm thinking of dropping that course and take it during the summer course. How would the medical school view this? I'll be taking basically 4.5 course for the school year and 1.0 credit course during summer time. I need to make this decision fast.... Any help regarding this matter would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Shahenshah Posted December 25, 2003 Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 well I was in a similar situation so I might be able to help..first of all you need to realize the following implication of going to a 4.5 course load...what u take in the summer is not included in the course load for the year (the marks might still count at places like mcmaster, but UofT etc will only consider your 4.5 courses from april to sept)..what does this mean: well UofT will not weigh your marks (ie. drop your lower marks etc), Western will not include the 4.5 course year in the gpa calculation (i.e you have to pull another full 5 course load year for that gpa to count) ..I'm not sure what the effect is for your Queen's application...As for Ottawa, the year will still be counted and included in the weighted gpa calculation...there is also a small subjective risk since some universities unofficially frown on a less than 5 course load year (for example they say things like most of our admitted students have taken 5 full courses etc)...well those r the risks...now what u have to decide is how much of an effect does that 1 course have on your gpa..if that course is causing your whole years' gpa to drop below say 3.7 (ie without that course it goes up above 3.7) then it might be worth it to drop it..otherwise I would just leave it.. just my 2 cents..you should make a decision based on your situation (oh and one more thing: once u decide, don't look back and regret the decision:) ) as for me, I took 4.5 courses in my first year and got into Ottawa with no problems and it was not even brought up during my interview... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Lactic Folly Posted December 25, 2003 Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 Is it possible to add another .5 to the second semester? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted December 25, 2003 Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 As long as you're taking a full courseload every semester (for most universities this is 5 courses) then the med schools don't care much beyond that. But, GPA for summer courses doesn't count for many/most med schools. Med schools don't care if you take summer courses, they will even accept it if you take prereqs in the summer, but they won't use the GPA from summer courses. (Some summer course marks are higher; some students find it easier to do well focusing on only one course.) The other issue is whether it is too late to drop the course without it showing up on your transcript as a "W" or whatever your school uses. I don't know how the med schools would look at So if this .5 credit you want to drop was an extra one anyways and you won't be penalized on the transcript, you are PROBABLY fine to drop the course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest krnboy Posted December 25, 2003 Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 Thanks The course that I want to drop and retake in summer time is biology. It'll drop the mark from 3.9 to 3.5 since 70-75 = 3.2 I believe. I'm having a bit of a dilemma right now I want to go to med school after my third year, but it seems that if I take biology in the summer time, med school will not take my first year marks. Does this mean I'm "screwed" in getting into the med school even in my 4th year? I have an appointment with a guidance council. on January 5th. I don't think she'll be as much of a help as you guys. >: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest UWOMED2005 Posted December 25, 2003 Report Share Posted December 25, 2003 Like I said, it all depends on whether you have a FULL courseload after dropping biology. You said you were taking 5.5 credits: assuming U of T's full courseload is 5 credits, yuo should be fine if you drop bio. But don't trust me, see what that guidance council has to say. I took biology over the summer after first year, by the way. Couldn't fit it into my schedule in first year. No problems. And it probably won't screw you come 4th year anyway, there's enough med schools that will can a year or look at your best years that nothing you do this year (short of psychosocial issues that would make you an unsuitable candidate, ie kiddie porn or beating someone to death) should completely eliminate you from getting into medical school eventually. But doing well in first year can take some of the stress off in future years: you'll have one good year under your belt that can't be taken from you, and you'll start 2nd and 3rd year with the satisfaction of knowing you were good enough to do well in 1st year. Good Luck and Merry Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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