I have some questions regarding med school that I believe many current or even future med students might know answers to. So I am currently a high school senior that is thinking of going into medicine. I took AP exams this year and I am planing to take them next year too. However, many people say that medical schools, when applying, try to ignore those who used AP credit for such pre-med classes as chemistry, biology… If this is true, then what AP credit can I transfer (safely) to college without creating any future problems? Will AP credit for classes such as US History, US government, economics, and english be considered okay by med schools?
AP credits are fine to have, however they cannot substitute for pre-health requirements (except for math). Even if you get credit for AP Chem/Bio/Physics, almost medical schools require you to retake the class or take a higher level class to prove your competency. You will also still be required to take two semesters of writing intensive english classes, regardless of english AP credits. However, just having the AP credits can be useful for other reasons (like getting earlier registration times) depending on your school.
But, for instance, if I currently have AP US History and governent exam scores that allow me to have AP credit, can I safely transfer them? Oh, and s I understood from your response, I cannot transfer AP english credit, correct?
Policies about the acceptability of AP credits varies widely among specific schools. Most med schools will accept AP credit for science classes (bio, chem, physics) if 2 conditions are met:
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Your college awards credit equivalent to a specific course at your school. (IOW AP Bio = 3 credits BIOL102)
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You take an upper level course in the same field to supplement the AP credit. (IOW, if you take AP credit for 3 credits in physics, you’ll need to take an additional semester of college level physics.)
Oddly, many schools will NOT accept AP credit for English.
Med schools don’t care about US History, Government, or economics–so whether you accept credit for those courses is between you and your college.
My son used his AP English credits and med schools seemed fine with that BECAUSE his undergrad required 6 credits of upper division Writing Intensive classes (and were designated as such).
There was a place on the AMCAS app where that the applicant could address that.
My son also used his AP Bio, AP Chem and AP Calc credits to move to the next higher levels.
So since I’m planning to major in science I would still need to take higher levels of science anyway. And as I understand, with my AP chem score, for instance, I can skip the introductory course but then I have to take a higher level chem class right? And the same for all other science classes?
It will depend on your undergrad. A lot of schools dont want you to skip intro chemistry courses since they cover much more then AP course. And if you skip intro chem you’re moving right into ORGO which is not optimal.
In terms of AP English med schools accept any humanities courses that are writing intensive, even history classes. Even Harvard changed their policy on AP credits this year to make it much more broad and not as restrictive. Son is in the process of applying now and has called several schools about AP English and they all said they will accept it. So he’s using it and also using all his history classes to fill his writing requirements for those schools
If your university/college will give you credit for a class taught at their institution for an AP exam where you received a 5, then take it. It would be silly not to. If you got a 5 on the exam, then advance to the next level (if required). If you got a 5 in AP Chem, then take Orgo. I took Orgo freshman year without any problems.
Best of luck.
Use the PDF link below as a guide to how the different medical schools see AP classes
http://oaa.rice.edu/files/2014/07/AP-Credit-Allopathic-Medicine-Summer-2014-FINAL.pdf
It’s not at all silly to repeat a class that you got a 5 on. Many students with 5s on their bio and chem AP exams retake those classes because it represents their best shot at getting As in two classes that are required by med schools. This is especially true freshman year when students already have a lot of adjustments to make and they don’t want to be stressed out over academics. Of course, if you are attending a school that weeds out a lot of prospective pre-meds in Chem 1 or Bio 1 (not uncommon at State Us, for example), then by all means skip the pain - but it’s not obvious that that is the best strategy for every student at every school.
AP credit for classes that aren’t pre-reqs for med school are a different matter: history, gov, econ, etc…Take the credit and run.
Thank you very much everyone; really helped!!!
@N’s Mom,
[-X It is a terrible waste of time to do what you suggest.
From the Yale Medical School website: [ http://medicine.yale.edu/education/admissions/apply/premed.aspx ]
I have to agree with N’s mom that from a “med school admissions strategy” retaking AP courses is better - but it’s an example of the anti-intellectualism of pre-med that I don’t like and why personally I prefer Plu’s philosophy for APs (and why I liked Brown, and why none of my friends - even the ones who went to med school - referred to themselves as “pre-meds.” I only ever heard my friends refer to themselves by their majors. I think it’s a subtle, but important distinction in mentality.)
WRT Yale though, if a student doesn’t take the AP credit then Yale will never know if the student had an AP level background in the sciences so you only stand to hurt yourself if you are at a school that lets you put AP credit on your transcript and also retake the intro courses.
It’s anti-intellectualism if you aren’t doing other equally challenging things in other courses and other parts of your life. Otherwise, it’s just common sense. There is no rule that says you have to be working at the edge of your ability in every single class to be sufficiently ‘intellectual.’ Especially in freshman year, when there is a great deal to adjust to, a lot of growth happening outside the classroom, having a class where you aren’t pushed to your max every minute can be the difference between making it and not making it as a pre-med.
Retaking a class for the purpose of getting a good grade is anti-intellectual. If the school is saying your performance on the AP exam is good enough to skip their intro courses then it’s anti-intellectual to retake that course. Everything else you describe can be accomplished by finding the right class to complement your schedule without sitting through the same material again specifically to get a good grade because you’ve already done the class.
We can agree to disagree about what constitutes anti-intellectualism. My only point to OP is that too many pre-meds crash and burn in their first year because they over-reached themselves. Don’t be one of them.