<p>Hey guys, I am going to Vandy in the fall and I am super stoked but I just had a quick question about AP credit. On their website where they listed AP credit awarded, I calculated that for the AP Credit I have recieved I will receive 38 hours of credit (I am assuming I get a 5 in Macro, Bio, Psych, And lit this year - very achievable). How is this possible? Do I actually get all 38 hours or does it cap off? (I'm in the School of Engineering). Will all 38 hours actually count towards graduation? I have not taken a crazy amount of APs (World History, Euro, Spanish, Chem, Lang, BC, Lit, Bio, Psych, Macro and will be getting credit for except Chem which I got a 4 in) so I am a bit surprised that I am getting this much credit from Vandy.</p>
<p>There is no cap in the school of engineering, you get all 38 hours and they count towards graduation. If any of those classes are required for your major (BC calc, Bio), you can skip them. As for all those other credits, they will probably satisfy most/all of your liberal arts core. This will free up your schedule to either take it easy with fewer classes, take totally random classes, or pick up a minor or something. I came in with over 40 credit hours and had enough free space in my schedule to fit in two minors. Probably could have even done am A&S major.</p>
<p>Hi, I’m also looking for AP credit advice and LAC recommendations. Coming into Vandy as a Biomed Engineering major (that may change, but looking to keep options open for med school) with AP Bio 5, AP Chem 5, AP Eng Lang 5, AP Eng Lit 5, AP Calc AB hopefully 5. Took a year of regular high school Chem and AP Chem so pretty strong in chemistry and considering starting with Chem 218 for AP freshmen, and not too far into Calc so starting with Math 155A. Is that advisable? Also, any advice for LAC electives? Interested in math as possible minor and music performance? Thanks.</p>
<p>For premed, pretty sure you’re advised to take chem in college. Ap credit isn’t recommended, some schools don’t accept it.</p>
<p>155A is a good starting place for calc. Really I think you’d be better off starting with 155B (why suffer through an extra semester of basic calc?) but if you want to get the whole shabang, go with 155A. </p>
<p>As for LAC electives, you should just take whatever looks interesting and appears to be an easy A (check ratemyprofessors). Find out what classes are the most interesting, and which professors are known for being incredible, and take 'em (you’ll gain this knowledge over time, and using RMP).</p>
<p>A math minor won’t be tough hour-wise considering a few courses of overlap with BME, but us engineers really like to save our electives for classes we know will be A’s for the sake of GPA. Music performance is a little tough too with the time commitment in Blair (and I believe it costs extra). You’ll get a feel for what you want to fill those extra slots with as you go. You won’t have many exciting choices as a first-year because the upperclassmen swoop up most of the great classes/professors.</p>
<p>What are some of the classes that you recommend that would be easy A’s to pad your GPA but still wouldn’t look like complete slack-off classes? (Since I’m premed with engineering, im obviously worried about my GPA haha)</p>
<p>They are courses at Vanderbilt. No matter what you take, it’s really not going to look like a “slack-off” class, and I don’t particularly think medical schools are going to care at all, as long as you get good grades-- even if it’s a class like Human Sexuality (HW assignment: one page essay about your sexual fantasies) or History of Country Music. I mean it may be a good idea to avoid a class about Pornography or something but otherwise everything will look legitimate. Remember that med schools take students from a wide variety of majors, from English to Art History, as long as they hit the premed requirements.</p>
<p>But to provide a more direct answer… A lot of people take Managerial courses to pad their resume though-- Google Vanderbilt Managerial Studies. All business related, and tend to be really easy (look at the “corporate strategy” minor, easiest courses, most popular, feels like half the school picks up this minor). For engineers, Engineering Management is good too- some useful skills and lots of fairly easy As. There are also intro courses for other engineering disciplines you could take that tend to be easy, particularly in MechE and Materials Science.</p>
<p>Again really it’s a matter of digging through RMP for the best/easiest professors and doing an advanced search in YES for what courses they teach, as well as just finding out from students at school once you’re here.</p>
<p>For the record, I think it’s unnecessarily difficult to do engineering along with premed unless you’re certain you want to combine the two in your career. If you’re just picking engineering to pad a medical school resume, well, you’d be better off just shooting for a 4.0 in some A&S major. But that’s just my opinion, I’m not premed and I’m not on the admissions board of a medical school.</p>
<p>Is it compulsory for us to send our AP Scores even if we don’t want credit?</p>
<p>Last poster: Why would you not want credit? As someone who didn’t take any AP Tests because I didn’t want college to be “too hard” and then lived to regret it, and here you actually did take the tests, it boggles my mind why someone would not want credit. Vanderbilt is so generous with AP credit too. I don’t know how many courses you potentially have credit for, but you could do a double major or graduate early, or maybe even earn a Master’s and Bachelor’s in 4 years possibly. Take the credit!!!</p>
<p>Would it work for chemistry for Engineering pre-meds to take the AP Chem credits, Chem 218 freshmen year, then an upper level chemistry later? Is that just too hard of a course load along with BME? Pre-med is an option, but so is grad school in Engineering.</p>
<p>consider a double major or a minor.</p>
<p>ndowndw, I know where you’re coming from , although I don’t know the answer to your question. My D had AP credit in some entry level courses, so she had to jump into the intermediate level, and it was a disaster. I’m sure it would be fine for English, History, and maybe math, but some of the others not so much.</p>
<p>No, you aren’t required to send AP scores if you don’t want credit, I don’t believe Vanderbilt asks for them at any point and they are meaningless. </p>
<p>@idklol, yes, Chem 218 is designed specifically for freshman, you should take it if you have credit for gen chem. You don’t need to take another upper level chem course later though? Unless you want to for some random reason. </p>
<p>Orgo is pretty tough, and most students aren’t prepared for that kinda class coming out of highschool, so just be ready. Plus chem218 has a lot of smart kids in it so the curve may not be too helpful. I believe chem218 has an extended drop period, like you can drop even after you’ve taken the first exam and go down to gen chem or just take it the next year without any evidence left on your transcript, which is a pretty cool deal.</p>
<p>Pancaked, wouldn’t the upper level chemistry satisfy the two years of college chemistry needed for pre-med without retaking basic chemistry when you have AP Chem credit?</p>
<p>Oh. Right, missed you saying you were premed.</p>
<p>Okay here’s the deal with AP credit. For Chemistry, some schools do not accept AP credit. Those who do, yes, they’d like to see more advanced courses. Check here: <a href=“Undergraduate Resources | Rice University”>Undergraduate Resources | Rice University;
<p>Keep in mind most/all the upper level chem classes are one semester each, so I think you’d actually need two semesters of upper level classes, meaning two separate upper level classes that will be new to you and might be difficult. Plus a lab. Upper level chemistry classes aren’t exactly known for being easy.</p>
<p>I just think it makes more sense to do gen chem and then organic. Gen chem should be a breeze after a 5 on AP Chem. Plus organic has a more forgiving curve when you take the regular class. You should contact Vandy’s premed adviser. Up to you though, your method should be acceptable for most medical schools.</p>