AMCAS Course Classification Guide

AMCAS course classification is based on the primary content of each course. Biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics courses count toward the BCPM GPA, while courses assigned to other classifications count toward the all other GPA. AMCAS then calculates standardized GPAs during application verification.

Correct classification matters because a course placed in the wrong subject area can change the GPA information sent to medical schools. Course titles and departments can be misleading, so you need to compare the actual subject matter with AMCAS classifications and enter every course as it appears on the original transcript.

AMCAS Course Classification at a Glance

• Classify a course according to its primary content rather than relying only on its title or the department that offered it.
• Biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics make up BCPM. Every other AMCAS classification falls under all other coursework.
• AMCAS applies its own grade-conversion and course-reporting rules, so its calculated GPAs will usually differ from your college GPAs.
• Repeated courses, academic forgiveness, withdrawals and other special course types require careful treatment when you enter coursework.

How AMCAS Course Classification Works

You choose an AMCAS classification based on the primary content of the course. The department offering it is typically not the deciding factor. A biology-focused course can therefore receive the Biology classification even when another department offered it.

Courses classified as Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics contribute to your BCPM GPA. Courses outside those four classifications contribute to the all other GPA, commonly called the AO GPA. Natural and Physical Sciences is a separate AMCAS classification and does not count toward BCPM.

How Should You Classify an Interdisciplinary Course?

For a course combining two or more subjects, review the course description on your school’s website to identify its primary content. AMCAS also directs you to consult your prehealth advisor when the most appropriate classification remains unclear. This content-based review is more reliable than making a decision from a short course title alone.

AMCAS Classifications and BCPM

The complete classification table below shows which AMCAS subjects belong to BCPM and provides examples within each category. It follows the AAMC AMCAS Course Classification Guide in the 2027 AMCAS Applicant Guide.

Use the table as a classification reference, not as a substitute for reviewing what your individual course taught. Similar course names can represent different primary content at different institutions. If a title does not clearly indicate the subject, compare the syllabus or catalog description with the AMCAS categories before making your selection.

Commonly Confused Courses

Biochemistry and Statistics

Biochemistry is listed under Chemistry, so it receives a BCPM classification. Statistics and Biostatistics are listed under Mathematics and also count toward BCPM. These examples show why the classification table is more useful than assumptions based on a major or department.

Psychology, Kinesiology and Nutrition

Psychology and Sociology fall under Behavioral and Social Sciences rather than BCPM. Kinesiology, Nutrition, Public Health and Pharmacology and Pharmacy are listed under Health Sciences. Health Sciences coursework is not part of the BCPM group, even when a course relates to health or medicine.

Engineering and Environmental Science

Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering are classified as Engineering, not as Biology or Chemistry. Environmental Science and Policy belongs to Natural and Physical Sciences, another non-BCPM category. In contrast, Neuroscience, Physiology, Genetics and Anatomy appear under Biology and count toward BCPM.

How AMCAS Calculates GPAs

AMCAS calculates standardized GPAs during application verification. Medical schools can use those calculations to compare applicants educated under different grading systems and academic calendars. AMCAS does not try to make its GPAs match the figures on your official transcripts, so the results almost always differ from the GPAs calculated by the schools you attended.

Any course carrying both credit hours and a letter grade enters the AMCAS GPA calculation, even if it did not count toward your degree or your institution’s GPA. AMCAS also adds transcript courses omitted from your application during verification and excludes grades entered in the application that do not appear on the official transcript.

According to AMCAS, grade and credit types receive the treatment summarized below.

AMCAS converts eligible grades to its standard weights before calculating the results. The standard letter-grade weights appear below.

You can use IMA’s AMCAS GPA calculator to estimate your cumulative, BCPM and AO GPAs before verification. An estimate can help you check your entries, but it is not an official AMCAS calculation.

If AMCAS Changes Your Course Classification

AMCAS can change a classification that clearly does not apply to a course. You remain responsible for selecting the correct category when completing your application.

If you disagree with a classification changed by AMCAS, you can submit an Academic Change Request. AMCAS does not return an application merely because it changed a course classification. This differs from certain missing-coursework problems that can cause an application to be returned.

Review any change carefully because classification determines whether the course contributes to BCPM or AO. AMCAS states that it is not responsible for an incorrect GPA calculation resulting from an applicant’s incorrect classification. Your supporting materials should therefore make the content-based choice defensible before you submit the application.

How AMCAS Reports GPAs to Medical Schools

AMCAS reports GPA information by academic status, including high school, freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, postbaccalaureate and graduate. Within the applicable levels, it separates Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics coursework from all other coursework. The AO GPA is therefore the GPA for courses outside the BCPM group, not a second version of your overall GPA.

Postbaccalaureate coursework appears in a separate Postbaccalaureate GPA and is also included in the Undergraduate Total GPA. Graduate coursework is reported separately. Pass/fail, AP, CLEP and other test credit generally does not affect AMCAS GPAs, but AMCAS reports the associated hours to medical schools as Supplemental Hours.

The calculated GPAs appear only after your application reaches Processed status. Once processing is complete, the printable application includes figures such as your Cumulative Undergraduate GPA and Graduate GPA.

GPA is one part of the academic information considered in medical school admissions. IMA’s MCAT GPA grid guide explains how group-level admissions data connects MCAT scores with GPA ranges without turning those outcomes into a personal admission probability.

Year in School and Academic Status

AMCAS generally expects each undergraduate academic status to represent about 24 to 35 semester and supplemental hours. Its year-in-school guidelines place freshman status at 24 to 35 semester hours, sophomore at 36 to 65, junior at 66 to 95 and senior at 96 or more. Full-time students enrolled continuously usually advance after every two semesters, three to four quarters or two to three trimesters.

College-level courses completed before your high school graduation date receive high school status. AP, exempt, IB and CLEP credit does not receive HS status. Community college courses taken before you attend a four-year institution should usually be assigned freshman or sophomore status.

Postbaccalaureate status applies to undergraduate-level work taken after your first bachelor’s degree. It also applies to undergraduate coursework completed during a graduate program when that work is not applied to the graduate degree. Graduate status covers professional or graduate-level coursework that is not applied to an undergraduate degree.

The AMCAS academic year begins in summer or fall. As a result, a spring course belongs to the academic year that started in the previous calendar year. For example, AMCAS places a spring 2017 course in the 2016-17 academic year.

Special Course Types That Change Your AMCAS GPA

Repeated Courses and Academic Forgiveness

AMCAS includes every attempt at a repeated course, even when your school excludes an earlier grade from its own GPA. If the institution granted AP credit for a subject and you later completed the corresponding college course at that same institution, AMCAS treats the college course as a repeat. Courses intended to be taken more than once, such as thesis, chorus or independent study, are not marked as repeats.

Academic forgiveness does not remove the original attempt from AMCAS. You must enter the original grade and attempted credits even if your school replaced that grade. Leaving out the original can cause AMCAS to return your application for correction, which may lead to missed deadlines and forfeited fees. Failed courses also remain in the calculation when their grades and credit hours meet AMCAS requirements.

Incomplete Grades and Withdrawals

An unresolved incomplete receives no AMCAS grade. If the school assigns an IF or F and the attempted hours are known, AMCAS includes the failure. An unauthorized, unofficial or administrative withdrawal may also be treated as an F depending on the institution.

An official withdrawal normally receives no AMCAS grade unless the school treats a withdrawal-failing grade as an F. A course dropped during the normal drop-add period does not need to be entered when it does not appear on the transcript.

Pass or Fail and Deferred Grades

AMCAS defines a pass-fail system as one with no more than two passing grades and one failing grade. A system with three or more passing grades is also treated as pass/fail unless the school provides a letter-grade conversion. Binary grades have no GPA weight and generally appear in Supplemental Hours.

Deferred Grade applies to a single course that officially extends across more than one term, such as research, thesis or dissertation credit. A deferred multiterm grade has no GPA value or weight while it remains deferred.

Current Courses and Military Credit

Current and future courses do not bind you to complete the listed schedule. They show medical schools which courses, including prerequisites, you expect to finish before matriculation, and they do not receive GPA weight while they remain current or planned.

Military Credit is limited to non-letter-graded credit from a U.S., U.S. territorial or Canadian military institution. ROTC coursework does not use the Military Credit designation.

How AMCAS Converts Different Grading Systems

AMCAS factors grades and credit hours as the school assigned them, subject to its conversion rules and stated exceptions for certain foreign coursework transferred to a U.S. or Canadian institution and official study abroad coursework. It counts plus and minus grades even when the applicant’s school does not. AMCAS gives both A+ and A a weight of 4.0.

Some grading systems use increments of 0.3 or 0.7, while others use half steps. For a half-step system, AMCAS converts grades such as AB, BC, CD and DE to the corresponding weights shown in its conversion framework. Refer to the grade-weights table above instead of applying your institution’s local calculation to every course.

Numeric percentage systems require the conversion assigned to that school system. One example in the AMCAS Grade Conversion Guide converts 100 through 93 to A and 92 through 90 to A-, but you should not assume that one example governs every percentage-based institution.

Passing grades in pass/fail systems convert to P and failing grades to N, with neither carrying GPA weight. Narrative evaluations are also excluded from the AMCAS GPA.

How to Prepare Your Coursework Entries

Work from an official transcript for every institution rather than from memory or an unofficial course history. Enter each course under the school where you originally attempted it, even when another institution later accepted the credit. Use the English course name and the course number exactly as they appear on the original school’s transcript.

Compare the transcript against your entries before submitting the AMCAS application. Pay particular attention to transferred courses, repeated attempts, forgiven grades, academic status and spring-term academic years. As the GPA section above explains, verification works from your official transcripts, so careful entry reduces avoidable discrepancies.

After entering your courses, estimate the GPA effect by separating BCPM from AO and applying the appropriate AMCAS weights. Then review whether your GPA is competitive for medical school while remembering that an estimated GPA is not the processed figure medical schools receive.

Putting Your AMCAS Coursework Together

Course classification, grade conversion and academic status all feed the GPAs that medical schools see, so small entry decisions add up. Classify each course by what it actually taught, enter every attempt exactly as your transcripts show it and expect your AMCAS GPAs to differ from the numbers your college reported.

Once your coursework is in good shape, turn to the rest of your application schedule. IMA’s AMCAS 2027 application timeline shows what to finish before and after you submit.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the AMCAS GPA?

The AMCAS GPA is a standardized calculation produced during application verification. AMCAS uses its own treatment of grades, credit hours and course types so medical schools can compare applicants who attended institutions with different calendars and grading systems. The calculation appears after the application reaches Processed status.

What Is the AO GPA on AMCAS?

The AO GPA covers all coursework outside Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics. AO means all other, so it includes eligible courses assigned to AMCAS classifications that do not belong to the BCPM group.

Is Biochemistry a BCPM Course?

Yes. AMCAS lists Biochemistry under Chemistry, which is one of the four BCPM classifications. A biochemistry course classified this way contributes to the BCPM calculation.

Does Psychology Count Toward BCPM?

No. AMCAS places Psychology under Behavioral and Social Sciences rather than Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics. Eligible psychology grades therefore contribute to the AO GPA instead of BCPM.

Does AMCAS Count Retaken Courses?

Yes. AMCAS counts the grades from every attempt at a repeated course, even when your institution excludes the earlier attempt from its GPA. Courses designed to be repeated, such as thesis or independent study, are not marked as repeats.

Does a Withdrawal Affect My AMCAS GPA?

An official withdrawal generally has no AMCAS GPA weight. A withdrawal-failing grade can be treated as an F when the school counts it that way, and some unauthorized, unofficial or administrative withdrawals may also be treated as failures depending on the institution.

Can AMCAS Change My Course Classification?

Yes. AMCAS can change a classification that clearly does not fit the course. If you disagree, you can submit an Academic Change Request, and AMCAS does not return the application solely because of a classification change.

Why Is My AMCAS GPA Different From My College GPA?

Your AMCAS GPA differs because AMCAS applies standardized rules rather than copying your institution’s calculation. It can count plus and minus grades, every repeated-course attempt, failed coursework and eligible courses that your school excluded from its own GPA.