<p>If I have taken AP Bio, Chem, Physics Classes, should I retake them in college?</p>
<p>If you're premed, yes.</p>
<p>Why? what's the point? What if You got 5's on the exams? You're just going to be able to get ahead and take more challenging bio, chem and physics classes sooner. Or am I missing something???</p>
<p>Because most high school AP classes are a joke. And med schools know this. This is why most med schools prefer (and some require) that you retake intro bio, chem, physics (all the premed courses) in college. I went to a pretty decent high school (top 5 in Northern California), had a really good bio teacher from Stanford, got a 5 on the Bio AP test, and you know what? I still didn't learn 1/2 as much as I did in my Bio 101/103 class at Cornell University. I'm very glad I did not use my AP credit for Bio.</p>
<p>Well, the failure to accept high school courses has a lot more to do with regulations that say things like "a course in biology in college" ignoring the fact that many people will do this in high school. Some high school AP courses are quite rigorous, which is why many top colleges accept them. The colleges can accept or reject any AP credits they want, no regulatory issues. MIT will give you credit for physics with a 5, so I assume they consider this adequate background.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there is a classic premed reason to take the courses again: you are highly likely to get an A when you take the same course again. This strategy is so popular that some colleges will not permit you to take the course if you got too good a score on the AP. If you want to think like a true premed, you may opt not to send the college your official scores on the exams, to avoid being forced to take more advanced courses.</p>
<p>No offense, but I personally do not perceive a 5 on the AP test to be a guarantee of a proper background. My plan was to attend the first week of an intro bio course and then drop it if I felt the material to be too redundant. Attending that first week made me realize just how shallow my HS course had been. Of course, it was good enough to get me a 5 on the AP test.</p>
<p>OK, so next year I'm going to be a junior in high school. I'm taking AP Chemistry and AP Physics B next year. Since med schools want you to take the class again, what's is the point of doing the test? I mean I'm taking the AP Biology test in May, so if I can't use the test credit, is it just cause I should take the test or because I can use it to place out of med school requirements?</p>
<p>I'm really confused...</p>
<p>You should retake it in college plain and simple. If you take the AP and get credit for the lower level of a class take a higher level in College and do really well and that will look even better for med school admissions. But taking the AP and not taking the class at all in college is pointless and stupid.</p>
<p>You should take the AP tests because they will help with your college applications. For the elite colleges, they are becoming so common as to be essentially a higher level version of the SAT II. For any college, a good grade on the AP tests improves you chances of admission.</p>
<p>Whether you use the AP credits, or retake the courses in college will depend on the scores you get, the courses you take (not all colleges accept all the tests), the rules of the college (some only grant AP credit if you pass another higher level course in college) and whether you want to pursue these subjects. </p>
<p>If you get AP credit medical schools will accept a higher level course in the same field as meeting their requirements, so you will not be required to retake the intro course if it would be a waste of time. Lots of people do this, particularly at those colleges that sends huge numbers of people to medical school. As noted above, many premeds will retake the intro course to get a reliable A. </p>
<p>At the elite colleges the Physics B exam usually will not get you much credit, you have to take Physics C for credit. Often they only accept a 5, but this varies by school.</p>
<p>Remember that all this premed posturing assumes you hold to your current conviction that you want to be a doctor. Many people change their minds. If you get AP credit then this will free up choices for course selection in college. This also varies widely by college.</p>
<p>So.. Nothing to lose by taking the exams. If you do well, send them to colleges along with your application, they will help you get in. If you do poorly, you never need mention that you took them. If you do well enough to get credit, and taking the credit seems to make sense, then send the official report to the college at which you will enroll. Then, depending on their policies and your goals, you can decide whether to retake the course, take a higher level course, or neither. </p>
<p>You only get these choices if you take the test.</p>
<p>Unless you are an eng, you probably won't have to take any adv physics (at U of I) so if you use any, you can probably use those. Don't ever use Chem unless you are not a science major and are testing out of a gen ed and same with bio.</p>
<p>if my school doesn't offer AP bio or AP physics, should i be worried? i mean, i know its better to re-take them in college even if you recieve credit for them, but does it look better to med schools to have taken both the AP classes AND college classes as well?</p>
<p>Probably not, because if you get the credit for the AP and don't move on to a higher level, it shows them you don't care or don't want to try something more challenging.</p>
<p>is it better to have BOTH though? because i know that they basically only look at college, but do AP scores show up and make a difference?</p>
<p>For premed, is it required that we take lower division chem, bio and physics?</p>
<p>For example, I'm a Bioengineering + Pharmacological Chem Major with AP Bio, Chem and Phys C credits, so that alone gets me out of 7 quarters of work (which REALLY helps graduate in 4 years). But the thing is, I'm going to be taking upper division bio and chem, so could I just pass the upper division courses as the "Year of biology/chemistry"?</p>
<p>Yes you can use the upper level courses as your pre-med req. for most med. schools. Heres the problem though, will you be able to get a really high grade in that upper level class, is the trade off worth it? Can you get a B+ or A in a higher level as easily as in a lower level?</p>
<p>Most colleges offer internal advanced standing exams, and say that credits obtained from these exams will appear as normal credits (like courses normally taken) on the transcript. Can taking these exams work for pre-meds?</p>
<p>I am an international student at Penn, major in Bioengineering. I have known that Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science doesn't allow AP Chemistry credits to fill up the engineering chemistry requirements. And I understand why: AP Chemistry barely covers quantum chemistry, solid state chemistry, fundamental organic chemistry, and many other topics. However during my high school years in my country, I have taken freshman chemistry courses (including labs) in my country, courses that cover all the topics American chemistry textbooks cover. Many labs in these courses were from the Journal of Chemical Education. I doubt if taking advanced standing exams or using course waivers at Penn will violate the med school prerequisite.</p>
<p>Also, for biology, I have participated in many biology olympiad activities during high school years (so many times that I have dissected more than 10 frogs, 5 annelids and 8 birds). All the courses were taught by university professors who were specialized in their areas. Should I retake the freshman biology in college or do some placement exams and proceed to harder ones like physiology, zoology, etc? Can taking physiology, zoology, taxonomy or some more challenging courses fill the 'general biology __ year' requirements many med schools say in 'Medical School Admissions Requirements' Book?</p>
<p>The answers to all three questions
What is the best strategy for medical school admissions in your circumstances
What are Penn's rules on accepting your high school work for credit
What are medical school rules on accepting high school coursework</p>
<p>are best found by checking with people at Penn. Your advisor in biomed engineering will be able to tell you whether Penn will give you credit, and whether Penn might use your high school work to place you in appropriate courses even if they do not give you credit.</p>
<p>The premed advisors will be able to tell you whether your high school courses would be accepted by medical schools- generally not, but you don't need a general answer, so ask the advisors.</p>
<p>Either advisor should be able to help you with strategy. Repeating some work, esp early in your college career, ensures that you do not discover that there were things omitted from your high school courses that would have been covered at Penn. This happens to people who then find themselves in over their heads. The advisors, or the professors who teach the courses, will know the actual content of the courses at Penn.</p>
<p>Again a general answer: If you are majoring in biomedical engineering you will almost certainly take more than the premed requirements in every area of science. So you PROBABLY do not have to worry about covering your requirements.</p>
<p>Well, that really helps. Thanks afan.</p>