<p>Hey everybody,</p>
<p>Prior to the new MCAT being introduced, my understanding of the med school math requirement was one year of calculus. It seems as though the requirement has been tweaked with the introduction of the new MCAT for applicants after 2015. My understanding of the new, tweaked requirement is that only one semester of calculus is needed with the addition of a semester of statistics. Am I correct to interpret it that way? If one has taken one semester of calculus (rather than two), would it be considered "taking the easy way out" or is it completely fine with this new requirement tweak? Would you suggest to take a second semester of calculus or would one semester of calculus with the addition of a semester of statistics be sufficient? Any input is very much appreciated!</p>
<p>Every med school has different requirements, and some require statistics while others just “recommend” it.
I would suggest you 1)check the requirements for the med schools you’re interested in and 2)still take the two semesters of calculus and one semester of statistics since that’d cover all your bases.
I don’t believe any math requirements are changing because of the new mcat (for now), I think schools are just recommending statistics in preparation for the new topics. </p>
<p>I see. I understand that covering all my bases would be best. I was just trying to clarify my understanding so that if it were possible to skip out on the second semester of calculus to make my schedule less packed (making more time to focus on individual courses). Thank you for your advice. I would love to hear any other input or experience that anybody has to offer! Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>While schools are somewhat different in requirements, it has always been OK to have one semester of calc and one semester of stats. Specifically, that is what my D. had. And she has CHECKED with adcoms of few of the Medical Schools (one was in top 10) at the time that she applied. She was told that it was fine despite the fact that she got credit for AP Calc. Overall, math was the easiest req. to fullfill. Stats are much more useful for medicine. Lots of Research procedures and calculations are based on stats. In fact, D’s research project at Medical School required to hire a statistician.
If you want to clarify your understanding, the only way to do it is to contact the Med. Schools adcoms. Nobody else can clarify requirements at specific schools. </p>
<p>Each school has different pre-reqs you need to fill to apply. Only 19 Med schools actually require math as a pre-req, although this does not mean that you shouldn’t take math. Just call the schools you might consider and ask them.</p>
<p>Overall though this makes sense since stats covers very important topics for things that relate to clinical trials, the relative success rate of one treatment for disease X versus another treatment, etc. It’s a good foundation to understand how the standard of care for lets say, stage 3 melanoma is decided based on certain distributions of patient outcomes. </p>
<p>Now on the other hand, the second semester of calculus mainly teaches differential equations and higher level integration, which is only used regularly in a field like cardiology for the evaluation of Echocardiograms and understanding the stroke volume of the heart etc. Most physician specialties wouldn’t use differential equations on a regular basis, while statistics is prevalent in almost every specialty.</p>
<p>If you check the MSAR or the excel file Cal made that can be downloaded here: <a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Medical/PrepPrereq.stm”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Medical/PrepPrereq.stm</a>
You’ll see that it’s far more than only 19 med schools that require math.</p>
<p>Thank you for the very helpful information everybody. It seems as though it’s not completely necessary but could possibly broaden my options. I just need to weigh out both decisions and see what is best for me.</p>
<p>@hooper9
</p>
<p>If your options include programs like Harvard HST, then you will need calculus I/II/III, ODE, & linear algebra (and/or upper level sciences that integrated these math skills) </p>
<p>…on the other hand, places like very highly ranked and regarded U of Mich, Norhtwestern, U of Chicago and I am sure many others used to require only 2 semesters and having 1 of calc and another of stats was just fine.<br>
Overall, if you are concerned with math helping you academically, your undertanding of concepts and ability to use them outside of math are much more important than number of semesters. While D. was an SI to Gen. Chem prof for 3 years of UG, she pointed out to many students about failure to properly usage of math in Gen. Chem (as one example). Most were amazed at how much easier to understand Gen. Chem using math concepts. As I have mentioned, this is just one example. And it did not require lots of semesters math, but correct understanding and proper application of math concepts.</p>
<p>If you are applying to Texas schools, different schools seem to require either calculus or statistics ensuring that one takes both.</p>
<p>@plumazul - Harvard HST needs that much Math, seriously?</p>
<p>I am repeating this ove and over: there should be no guessing games in such a serious matter as Med. Schools requirements. Contact adcoms of Med. Schools on your list. My D. did just that and specifically one of her quesion was about Math. She got answers and did NOT need to guess. </p>
<p>@MiamiDAP I agree with you that contacting adcoms would give me my answers but as I am currently in community college (applying in the fall), I do not know yet which medical schools I am interested in applying to/which I have a reasonable chance of being accepted to. I was just trying to figure out if I could skip out on a second semester of calculus between now and when I transfer. I understand your point though and it’s valid.</p>