I have been doing some research on AP credits in regards to medical school and have found that they may not be accepted and the way around it is to use the credit and to replace the classes with upper level courses. In terms of math, I know some medical schools require calculus 2 and others require statistics. Does anybody have any recommendations on how to use credit from AP Calc AB and AP Calc BC in terms of getting out of college math or replacing classes? Do I need a full year of math even if I get out of Calculus 1 and 2? I really want to focus on my science courses and pursuing minors and really took these tests to hopefully get out of as much math as possible.
You really need to take a stats class since stats is tested on the MCAT and stats is immensely useful in med school. (Most medical schools include a biostats class in their curriculum.) So that’s half of your math requirement right there.
For your second, consider taking a biostats class (even if it’s listed under BIO not MTH in your college’s course catalog) which will be useful if you do any type of biology/biochem research and again will be immensely helpful in med school.
Presto! Math requirement fulfilled.
If you do decide to use your AP score for credit for Calc 1 and Calc 2, please make sure that the credits appear on your transcripts as equivalent to a specific class offered by your college or university.
If the transcripts just say AP Calc AB = 4 credits calculus ( or mathematics) --those credits won’t be accepted by med schools. It must appears as AP calc AB = 4 credits MTH 1101
@WayOutWestMom Thank you! If my school does not have biostatistics, should I just take an upper level statistics class?
You don’t need a upper level stats class. If your school doesn’t offer biostats (or some similar class) then pick any math you find interesting.
Are there medical schools that require calculus, do not accept AP calculus credit, and do not accept calculus-based statistics as “validation” of having completed a calculus course? If so, then wouldn’t the OP have to take calculus 3 (to avoid having to mark “repeat” of AP credit if taking calculus 1 or 2) and a suitable statistics course?
Only few med schools require calculus specifically.
Those are–
UCLA --AP credit w/ score of 4 or 5 accepted
UC-Riverside --AP credit w/ score of 3, 4 or 5 accepted
Harvard–(Calc 1 & 2 ) --AP credit accepted
JHU (Calc 1 &2 required)-- AP credit accepted
WashU (Calc 1 &2 required)–AP credit accepted
Virginia Tech (Calc 1 & 2 or Calc 1 & stats) – AP credit accepted
@ucbalumnus @WayOutWestMom If I take any class that I would have received credit for (ex. I take gen chem to better understand it when I could get credit for it) is it marked as a retake even if I am taking it in college for the first time?
If you have already taken a college course in high school…and you retake the same course in college…that’s a retake.
If you want to better understand…look at Kahn Academy or some other resource where you can self study.
My kid tool duel credit anatomy and physiology in high school She was required by her college to take it again at their school as a required course in her major. Luckily, she got A grades both times. She wasn’t planning on medical school when she was in high school so had no idea this would be an issue.
No way to know how the Med schools she applied to viewed this. But at an interview, she would have easily been able to explain. It was required by her undergrad school. Believe me, she didn’t want to retake the same course…the college insisted.
Yes, any college level class you’re taken in high school is marked as retake if you take it again in college.
This includes AP/IB classes for which you have taken the exam, had the score sent to your college and received credit for.
The obvious way to avoid this is to not send your AP scores to your college if you plan to retake a class.
Some colleges–as @thumper1 alludes to above–will not accept credits from AP/IB exams or dual enrollment classes for certain college majors. Thus you’ll be forced to retake the class.
See https://aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/c1/75/c17583f0-449d-4b36-a9fc-71c82907105e/aamc-2021-amcas-applicant_guide_jw_updated_2.pdf page 33 which describes repeated courses (including repeating AP credit). Note that college courses taken while in high school must be included in the medical school application, and repeating them counts as a repeat on the medical school application.
Note that in some cases, kids do not have a choice about sending AP scores to colleges. Kid’s honors classes required that they take APs. Then scores over 4 are listed on HS transcript that goes to college when kid applied. Kid was advised by pre-med advisor to replace college courses covered by APs with at least one upper level class in each field. This advice seems consistent with what prior posters said. Point is that it is not really up to the kid to hide an AP class in HS.
This appears to be the preferred method, since it avoids relying on the AP credit as the only fulfillment of the subject area, and also avoids having to mark “repeat” if one takes the college course covering the same material.
However, there are two situations where the student with AP credit may not have a good option:
- AP physics 1 and 2. Most colleges consider physics-for-biology-majors to be a terminal sequence, with no upper level follow-on course, so the pre-med either has to take the "repeat", or take the more math-intensive physics-for-physics-and-engineering-majors sequence (not a problem for a physics or engineering or maybe math major, but many biology and other majors do not want to compete with physics majors for A grades in physics courses and math courses through at least calculus 3).
- Where the college does not allow the AP score to give advanced placement in the subject, so that the pre-med has to "repeat" the course before taking more advanced courses.
Is it listed as a repeat if you did not meet there minimum score requirement? Ex. if I got a 4 and they only take a 5 in that subject. Should I just not send my score if that is the case? @ucbalumnus
The wording in the AMCAS 2021 applicant guide is:
If you want to be safe from any varying interpretation, you can just not send the AP score that your college does not accept anyway.
I have a question about this - My son already sent his AP Physics 1 score to the college (he received a 4). He is taking AP Physics 2 right now. If he doesn’t want to have to take the higher level Physics course meant for engineers in college, should he not send his AP Physics 2 score to the college? And, if he doesn’t send that score to the college what Physics courses would he need to take in college? Thank you!
- Search the web site of the college your S plan to join. Each college provides a doc listing what course, grade they accept based on the AP score.
- Search the web site of the college your S plan to join and find the doc which lists graduation requirements for the planned major or minor or pre-req if planning for medical.
Using the above you will get your answer what if any thing he needs to do or not.
Take at look at this document.
You’ll see there are some med school that will not accept any AP credits for physics. There are others that don’t formally require physics.
In general to be considered a strong applicant, students are encouraged to supplement any AP credits with at least an equal number of college credits in the same department.
If your son thinks he may want to apply to any of the med schools that won’t accept AP physics credits or will only partially accept them, then he needs to either retake algebra-based physics in college (and have the classes marked as a repeated class) or take a calculus based version of intro physics. Some colleges offer (or require) bio majors to take a non-engineering calc-based physics class. Check the course catalog at your son’s college for offerings.
Will NOT accept AP credit for physics:
Baylor, Cal Northstate, UC-Riverside, Kentucky, Tufts,
Requires an UL physics class to supplement any AP credits:
Loma Linda, Quinnipiac, Yale, Florida Atlantic, Central Florida, South Florida, Mercer, Loyola, Northwestern, Chicago, Indiana, Oakland-Beaumont, St Louis U, Nebraska, Nevada-Reno, Albany, Columbia, UNC-Chapel Hill, Oklahoma, South Carolina-Greenville, Tennessee,
Case by case consideration only:
Illinois, LSU-New Orleans, Boston, Dartmouth, North Dakota, NE Ohio , Ponce, South Dakota,
AP physics credits only partially fulfill admissions requirements:
Rochester, Harvard,
You need to check the AP placement table at your son’s school to see how they award credit.
Since both AP Physic 1 and AP physics 2 cover the same material – an entire year of college level algebra-based physics–and usually both give credit for an entire year of college physics at most colleges, I don’t think it will make any difference whether he sends the AP Phys 2 score or not. He likely won’t get additional physics credits and he will still need to supplement his physics coursework for a number of medical schools.
@WayOutWestMom Thank you!