Hi I’m currently an undergraduate freshman at UCSD. I’m exempted from one year of general chemistry due to AP credit.
However, I would still like to retake the Chem 6 series for general chemistry. Unfortunately, UCSD will not give me any units or GPA points if I retake the chem class because their policy states that you can’t retake a class for credit if you already have credit for that class. I was researching on the AMCAS GPA, and it says that “Any course with credit hours and a letter grade is calculated into the AMCAS GPA, regardless of whether the credit is counted toward a degree or has been counted toward a school-calculated GPA”. Does this mean that the grade I receive from retaking general chemistry will count towards my AMCAS GPA? I’m still a little confused about the difference between credits, units and credit hours so I’m not sure if retaking general chem for no UC credit will even count towards medical school requirements. Could someone clarify this please?
I strongly suggest you ask the health professions advisor at UCSD. You can’t be the first student who has had this problem.
Your biggest issue will be that many CA public med schools do NOT allow the use of AP credits to replace pre-reqs. However, if you won’t be awarded a grade for the class because it’s considered repeated coursework, then no medical school will accept the Chem 6 classes as fulfilling admission requirements. (Which explicitly state you can’t have a C/NC or P/F grade for pre-reqs.)
Again, ask your health professions advisor.
You may have to take your gen chem classes elsewhere (like at CC or another local college and submit a separate transcript to AMCAS)
OR you may need to take a higher level chem (analytic chem maybe?) to fulfill pre-med requirements.
w/r/t to using AP credits to fulfill pre-reqs, policies are all over the place. I’m going to quote an med school adcomm on his opinion:
Why? What did you get on the APChem exam? If you scored a 5 then take Analytical Chemistry (100A?) or Organic Chemistry and move on with your studies. There is no point to doing the same thing over again.
@ WayOutWestMom. I actually will receive a grade for repeating the Chem 6 series, but it wont affect my UC Gpa. The grade I receive will still be on my transcript, so I thought this would be sufficient. I would ask a health advisor but I will be signing up for classes before I arrive at campus. Thus, I wanted to know what to do before I signed up for the wrong class. With this said, would I meet the general chem requirement?
@plumazul. I got a 5 on AP Chem but I am aware that most med schools dont take AP credit, so I would have to take general chem at UCSD. One year of general chem is required, and not all med schools accept higher level chem classes ie biochem for the general chem requirement. The problem is, even if I retake general chem, I wont get UC credit, hence my dilemma.
This isn’t entirely true. Since many med schools are now requiring biochem as a pre-req, you can’t substitute biochem for gen chem; however, you should be able to substitute analytic chem for gen chem at just about any med school.
@WayOutWestMom. Is there any way to confirm that analytic chem can substitute for gen chem? I found this website that lists the requirements of various med schools and only a few accepted analytic chem instead of gen chem. This is the link: https://www.cc-seas.columbia.edu/sites/dsa/files/handbooks/Medical%20School%20Requirements%20FINAL.pdf. I’m not sure which med school I would like to apply to so I cant really confirm with all of the schools. Also, I would like to take gen chem again in preparation for the MCAT
I would try emailing the admission offices of a few in-state med schools plus 4-5 mid-range OOS privates (schools a Cal resident would be most likely to apply) to get a range of replies. Be sure to explain you have AP credit for gen chem and that your college won’t grant you credit for a re-take.
And to repeat something that has been stated over and over again here in CC, SDN and elsewhere: college courses will not prepare you for the MCAT. That’s not their purpose.
MCAT prep is something you need to do on your own.
See: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/5/16/mcat-test-prep-premed/
This is not true. Most medical schools do accept AP credits. The only basic pre-med requirement that I took in college was organic chem. Everything else was AP credit and nobody at any of my interviews mentioned anything about it.
Here is a link to a fairly recent (summer 14) pdf that gives info for each allopathic medical school.
http://oaa.rice.edu/files/2014/07/AP-Credit-Allopathic-Medicine-Summer-2014-FINAL.pdf
If you scroll down the chemistry column, you will see almost all “Y” or “NR”.
@plumazul Sorry but it says i dont have access to the link. Wait im confused. my schools career center for medicine said that most med schools dont take ap credit and you will have to take college courses to meet their requirements.
maybe they changed their policy since then?
@caligirlxx If you take the Chem 6 series having gotten a 5 on AP Chem, you won’t get the 12 credits for completing the sequence. However, you already 8 AP credits. My understanding is that you’ll get 2 units each for 6B and 6C, all 4 of which will factor into your GPA for both UCSD and AMCAS. (I’m not 100% certain, though, since I took 6AH-CH)
@groverrohan unfortunately if i retake chem 6 i wont get gpa points ( the grade doesnt count towards my ucsd gpa) , and the credit i do get for that class is from Aps. Since med schools dont accept ap credit for the prereqs this is where my problems arise
You received college credit for all these courses, right @plumazul? Your link is broken so I can’t check the chart you reference but I know there’s a difference between “accepting college credit from APs” vs. “accepting APs.” I know most schools accept the former, I don’t think most schools accept the latter.
Sorry you had trouble with the link. It appears they just posted a 2015 version. Try this one:
http://oaa.rice.edu/files/2014/01/AP-Credit-Allopathic-Medicine-Summer-2015-27wt667.pdf
@iwannabe_Brown
Yes. It is entered on my transcript as “transfer credit”, listing the AP class, exam score, and number of semester hours credited for each exam taken.
@caligirlxx
Most medical schools do accept AP credit, if it is awarded by your UG institution. Some require you to take a higher level class in addition to the AP credit. I can’t think of any medical schools that would insist you retake a class where you were already awarded credit.
@plumazul Thanks for the link 
some of the schools that Im interested in dont accept ap credit ie ucla and washu st louis. I dont want to jump into upper division chem during my freshman year cuz I still want to adjust to college. Thus, could I retake gen chem again to meet the prereqs
@caligirlxx Most of the pre-med freshmen I know in your situation take Chem 6 without any issues. If you’re not a fan of the 6H series (which is a good call), you shouldn’t have any problem with regular gen chem. The general opinion, at least around UCSD and according to UCSD counselors, is that you shouldn’t skip both series if you’re a premed (AP credit or not).
@groverrohan I actually called AMCAS to confirm if retaking the class for no UC credit would meet med school prereqs but the woman that helped me said it wouldnt. I tried explaining my situation to her but she said she couldnt make it any clearer when she told me that only classes in which I receive UG credit will count towards my AMCAS GPA. However, the various forums online said it should count so I think that she maybe didnt fully understand me? I dont know. Id rather not take chem 6H because it requires math 20 and im planning on taking just math 10.
Yes UCLA is one of the last in the country that won’t accept AP credits, however, they still don’t require you to retake classes. As for WUStL, they accept all AP credit( I was accepted there). You must have read the chart incorrectly.
I took Organic Chem my freshman year. It was not a problem. If you scored a 5 on the AP Chem exam, you are already a good student, you shouldn’t worry so much.
@plumazul Oh yea sorry I read the chart wrong. Can I ask if you took upper division inorganic chemistry courses to supplement your record since you had ap credit for gen chem already?