Pass/Fail course in science

[Noodles]

I am interested in the field of economic history and plan to attend graduate school. Currently, I'm an undergraduate at a very large public research institution and taking an introductory course in geology to fulfill a physical science general education requirement. I am considering changing the grading status of the course from A-F to Pass/Fail because I am not confident that I will earn an "A" in the course. I'm unsure if I will manage a "B" because I've been told by several students that the final exam is brutal for non-science types. Currently, I have a "B" average. If I change to Pass/Fail I will fulfill the general education requirement, but the grade will NOT be calculated into my GPA so it will not affect it one way or the other.

How does a Pass/Fail grade in a science course play in graduate school admissions? Would I be better off taking it Pass/Fail or risking a lower GPA?

I am interested in the MSc Economic (Research) program at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Does anyone know how this could affect my chance of admissions there? Thanks.

[Sparky]

I am interested in the field of economic history and plan to attend graduate school. Currently, I'm an undergraduate at a very large public research institution and taking an introductory course in geology to fulfill a physical science general education requirement. I am considering changing the grading status of the course from A-F to Pass/Fail because I am not confident that I will earn an "A" in the course. I'm unsure if I will manage a "B" because I've been told by several students that the final exam is brutal for non-science types. Currently, I have a "B" average. If I change to Pass/Fail I will fulfill the general education requirement, but the grade will NOT be calculated into my GPA so it will not affect it one way or the other.

How does a Pass/Fail grade in a science course play in graduate school admissions? Would I be better off taking it Pass/Fail or risking a lower GPA?

I am interested in the MSc Economic (Research) program at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Does anyone know how this could affect my chance of admissions there? Thanks.

For that specific program, you might have better luck asking in the economics forum. That said:

The chance that one grade in one class out of all of undergrad, unrelated to your major, will affect your chances of admission is very small.

First of all, graduate history admissions (and presumably other subjects) is largely not a numbers game. The majority of successful applicants have a GPA somewhere north of 3.5 (many schools throw out something in the 3.7s as an average) and a major (history or related field) GPA around there or higher. It is not about being a 4.0/800/800/6.0. (The exception to this is that most PhD adcomms will expect that someone with a master's degree will have earned a 4.0 or something close to it during M* work).

But beyond that: crunch the numbers. One grade will not affect your GPA that much.

If it's really, really stressing you out, by all means change to P/F. But admissions-wise? It probably won't matter.

(I had a couple of P/Fs on my transcript, one from an art class in undergrad, and a couple from when I took classes for the heck of it during my year off. And the classes I took that semester are extremely relevant to what I do--I actually mentioned them in the SOP for the school to which I was admitted--so I don't think that P/F hurts. Or at least, not with that specific program).

[limeinthecoconut]

I am interested in the field of economic history and plan to attend graduate school. Currently, I'm an undergraduate at a very large public research institution and taking an introductory course in geology to fulfill a physical science general education requirement. I am considering changing the grading status of the course from A-F to Pass/Fail because I am not confident that I will earn an "A" in the course. I'm unsure if I will manage a "B" because I've been told by several students that the final exam is brutal for non-science types. Currently, I have a "B" average. If I change to Pass/Fail I will fulfill the general education requirement, but the grade will NOT be calculated into my GPA so it will not affect it one way or the other.

How does a Pass/Fail grade in a science course play in graduate school admissions? Would I be better off taking it Pass/Fail or risking a lower GPA?

I am interested in the MSc Economic (Research) program at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Does anyone know how this could affect my chance of admissions there? Thanks.

I don't think it'll factor in - I failed the pass/fail for my science exposure course, and I don't think that affected my chances.