Part-time Courseload for Last Semester?

[vnatch]

I am currently a senior applying to a variety of PhD programs this cycle. I am having a hard time deciding my coureload for next semester, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how it impacts my grad school chances.

Basically, I have already completed my biology major and only need one additional course to complete a second major in Statistics. Additionally, I am a member of the Distinguished Major Program for Biology, which means I have to take a seminar and write a thesis/give a presentation on my research. Since I only need to take the one statistics class and the DMP seminar, I could potentially be a part-time student during my final semester. The benefits are that I would probably save about half of the cost of tuition, and I would have a LOT more time to commit to my lab. I already spend a good deal of time researching this semester, but over the past summer I got to work there full time and I would really love the opportunity to be researching many more hours than I am doing at present, which I could definitely do if I was part time.

Since I will be including this information in my SoP's for graduate school, my main question is if this will somehow impact my chances, or if this will be seen as unfavorable. I would think that they wouldn't mind me cutting out a lot more time to pursue research, but on the other hand I feel like admissions committees may view this as a bad thing since I am not taking nearly as much coursework. Does anyone have any opinions about this?
 

(Note: the opinion of grad schools won't necessarily be a make-it-or-break-it in my decision, but I think it would be a good factor to consider.) 

[Bioenchilada]

1 hour ago, vnatch said:

I am currently a senior applying to a variety of PhD programs this cycle. I am having a hard time deciding my coureload for next semester, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me how it impacts my grad school chances.

Basically, I have already completed my biology major and only need one additional course to complete a second major in Statistics. Additionally, I am a member of the Distinguished Major Program for Biology, which means I have to take a seminar and write a thesis/give a presentation on my research. Since I only need to take the one statistics class and the DMP seminar, I could potentially be a part-time student during my final semester. The benefits are that I would probably save about half of the cost of tuition, and I would have a LOT more time to commit to my lab. I already spend a good deal of time researching this semester, but over the past summer I got to work there full time and I would really love the opportunity to be researching many more hours than I am doing at present, which I could definitely do if I was part time.

Since I will be including this information in my SoP's for graduate school, my main question is if this will somehow impact my chances, or if this will be seen as unfavorable. I would think that they wouldn't mind me cutting out a lot more time to pursue research, but on the other hand I feel like admissions committees may view this as a bad thing since I am not taking nearly as much coursework. Does anyone have any opinions about this?
 

(Note: the opinion of grad schools won't necessarily be a make-it-or-break-it in my decision, but I think it would be a good factor to consider.) 

The admissions committee wont care about the classes that you take next semester since interview invites are sent either late this year or very early next year. As long as you graduate, they don't care about your spring classes. Heck, even not doing research next semester won't even matter, they just want a proof of degree completion before you enroll. 

I also don't know if it's a good idea to talk about coursework in your SOP, most times it just ends up being a waste of space since they just care about your research experience and how they impacted your decision to pursue a PhD.