AP placement for premeds- what tests to actually care about?

[dkg44]

<p>hey
so im pretty sure that even if i dont go premed the direction im leaning towards is definitely the biological sciences.
so what do you guys know about the benefits of taking the AP chem or bio tests?
I saw the bulletin with what scores you need to be placed out--thats not my question. what i heard was that they actually prefer that you take the intro courses anyways to make sure you cover things that maybe you never got to in high school. is this true? because then is it even worth putting in all the time to study..
whats the trend? do the majority of bio majors take the AP tests and then place out and start at a higher level their freshman year? or do most take the intro courses anyways even if they did well on their AP tests?</p>

<p>and also what about the calculus test? is there a chance that if i do well on it that i wont need to take any math at all? is that even recommended?</p>

<p>what are all you future bio majors/premeds doing?
thanks</p>

[norcalguy]

<p>Most premeds take Bio 101-104 (intro bio sequence). I'm not sure how many of them took the AP class in HS. </p>

<p>I took Bio AP at a very good public HS, taught by a teacher who just graduated from Stanford, and got a 5 on the AP test. I still feel that my HS class didn't cover nearly as much as Cornell's intro bio class did. And yes, med schools strongly prefer that you take your premed requirements (incl. intro bio) in college. Even at best, you still have to take Bio 102/104 (the lab courses) at Cornell so you might as well take the lecture courses as well.</p>

<p>As for calc, I dunno. I scored a 5 on the Calc AP test so I was exempt from 100 level Calc courses. I ended up taking Math 213 (Calc III) and Math 221 (Linear Algebra) at Cornell just for fun.</p>