AP credit and graduate school

Graduate School
1

<p>I'm a future college freshman (next year) planning on going to graduate school in the sciences and earning a PhD. I have a lot of AP scores (all 5 so far), including all of the science and math exams by the end of this year. I planned to use these to skip out of the lower level requirements so I could take more advanced classes. I know that if one is applying to medical school, they are very picky about AP credit, but my question is for GRADUATE school since I'm not planning on med school. Also, I know that in cases like these it is often not advisable to, say, use AP biology credit so that you fulfill your requirement for biology, and then not take any more biology courses. HOWEVER, this is not what I want to do. I want to skip intro bio, chem, physics, calc, etc. and take many higher-level classes - for instance, organic and physical chemistry, etc. I also know that many people say to take the intro courses anyway, because they are usually harder than AP courses in high school. However, I do not think that I personally would get anything at all out of them for several reasons: I go to a very competitive science/tech "magnet" high school and I averaged As and A+ (if A+ offered) in all my science courses - which is not that common even among the kids who go on to top colleges. When we took practice AP tests I didn't just get 5's, I scored above 95 percent correct. I have got 800s in all the math/science SAT I have taken, and participated in national olympiads for many of the sciences. Finally, I have already extensively studied higher level subject material beyond intro biology, chemistry, physics, math, on my own with my parents (dad has a PhD in physics, mom PhD in biochemistry) as tutors. I don't plan on skipping the higher level stuff but I know that intro courses would be a total waste of time for me (I have MIT's textbooks for all of these intro classes, and know them front and back). However, I don't want to jeopardize my chances of getting into graduate school, either (and I'll be applying to top grad schools like Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, Caltech, etc.) If need be I would take the intro classes (and be bored to death or just not attend class except to take tests) if I would absolutely have to. But otherwise, if at all possible, I would want to place out of them either with my AP credit or with placement tests. I am confused as to what to do as I know for med school I probably couldn't skip, but for PhD grad school I'm not sure.</p>

<p>EDIT: The reason that I don't already have all of the AP science/math exams complete is that I wanted to take all of them through my school for college admission purposes even if I already knew the material, and some classes (both AP Physics C classes and AP Bio) are only for seniors (and last year I didn't get a spot AP CS A so I had to take it this year too). So basically, the only reason I took them in school even though I had already learned the subject matter was to help me get into a good college, and the only reason I would repeat them is if I would have to do that for graduate school admissions, but I desperately want to jump straight into higher level courses if it won't hurt me. And frankly I think it's stupid that wanting to "over achieve" would hurt someone for graduate school, but I don't make the rules so I guess I have to follow them..</p>

2

<p>Nobody will care if you skip intro-level science courses, as long as you perform well in higher-level stuff.</p>

3

<p>^Are you sure? I would have thought so too, but I have been told that medical schools - even if you got straight A’s in the corresponding advanced classes - will not consider you eligible if you skipped the intro class with AP credit. (but I’m not sure if this is true either). I just want to make sure that grad schools don’t have this dumb policy (and if some but not all do - which ones) because I definitely want to go to grad school and I don’t want to screw up my chances.</p>

4

<p>Academic graduate schools are not medical school. They care primarily about your ability to conduct research.</p>

5

<p>I went into college with a bunch of AP credits also and skipped every lower division science/math class I could. I started taking upper div classes during freshman year and consequently was able to graduate early, which seemed to impress people during interviews. I got into almost all of the schools, all top 5, I applied to for pharmacology, so I definitely think it’s a plus rather than a minus to skip lower div courses. Also, at MIT, I was specifically asked which upper div biology courses I had taken.</p>

6

<p>"I went into college with a bunch of AP credits also and skipped every lower division science/math class I could. I started taking upper div classes during freshman year and consequently was able to graduate early, which seemed to impress people during interviews. I got into almost all of the schools, all top 5, I applied to for pharmacology, so I definitely think it’s a plus rather than a minus to skip lower div courses. Also, at MIT, I was specifically asked which upper div biology courses I had taken. "</p>

<p>What was your upper division GPA?</p>

7

<p>Yes, skipping all the lower division classes and gen ed requirements frees up your schedule to take grad-level courses your last two years. Getting a good grade in grad classes will look pretty good for admissions.</p>

8

<p>If you’re considering graduate school for research (PhD level, or research intensive masters programs), I wouldn’t suggest rushing through and graduating early like a previous poster said they did. Use the time to get to know your profs well and be involved in research early on. Most programs will not care if you skipped freshman courses unless those courses are requirements for admission to the grad program (such as med school, but you said you’re not interested in that). Use your free time to do independent study courses/research, a thesis, and other things that will strengthen your application for graduate school. Most grad programs also consider your last two years, the work you did, and the grades you got to be more important than what you did the first two years of college, so they probably wouldn’t even notice if you didn’t take introductory courses as long as they’re not prerequisites.</p>

9

<p>It’s way different for med school because they want everyone to have the same pre-reqs no matter where you go for undergrad. Ie: 2 semesters Bio, 2 semesters Chem, 2 semesters Organic chem, 2 semesters Physics, Calc,etc. So, they don’t want students skipping and using AP credit. They want everyone on level ground and to have COLLEGE grades for those classes and see how they did. Then you can major in anything your heart desires.</p>

<p>For grad school in a science it’s a whole different thing. Advanced studies in science classes will be much more impressive than having intro to Bio on your transcript. Good luck!</p>

10

<p>@ saf:</p>

<p>Let’s say you got exempt from Calc 1 from an AP but took Calc 2 , Calc 3 , intro to ODEs , LA , and an intro to analysis course. Would someone still need to take Calc 1 and at a college and pass it for medical school purposes?</p>

11

<p>I would HIGHLY doubt you’d need intro to Calc if you took all those advanced math classes. You are way beyond what most people would be taking that apply to med school! I would ask an advisor though. It’s different with the sciences because they want those specific 2 course sequences. You can probably go on different med school websites and see what they specifically require in order to apply as well.(just to get an idea)</p>

<p>I copied this from the Kaplan Test Prep website:</p>

<p>Most schools agree on the basic elements for pre-medical education. Minimum course requirements include one year each of biology, general (inorganic) chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, and related lab work for each. In addition, about two-thirds require English and about one quarter require calculus. A small number of schools have no specific course requirements.</p>

<p>I read somewhere that in the near future they might require psychology and sociology for the MCAT too.</p>

12

<p>Thanks guys. I am planning to skip all of the intro classes that I can, as well as get involved with research as soon as possible, hopefully as soon as the second quarter of my freshman year. (I’ll leave the first quarter free to join extracurriculars, focus on grades, meet people, and acclimate to college life in general).</p>