<p>I am a freshman in college and I have a lot of credits from AP classes. Plus if I take a few more classes this and next year I'll have the same credits as a senior in my junior year. So can I apply to medical school in my junior year? (assuming that I take the MCAT and all the pre-requisite classes)</p>
<p>you apply to med school in the summer between your junior and senior year if you want to go there right after college. Sorry, but your APs dont count for anything neither do the number of credits you have accumulated. With my 12 IB credits I have (i think) 117 credits and i am just starting my second semester of junior year...it doesnt make any difference. Besides you do have to take all the premed courses in college or take something more sophisticated or advanced if you are exempt from the courses due to AP credit.</p>
<p>Some colleges do allow you to apply without a 4-year degree, but it is not recommended. They usually require 90 credit hours along with all of the other stuff. I think it's pretty rare for anyone to get in this way (correct me if I'm wrong, I don't have any stats). Unless your application is going to be really stellar, I wouldn't waste the time and money applying that early. Like Shraf said, you'll want to apply about a year prior to matriculation (the summer after your junior year). As far as AP credits go, they don't count into your credit hours for medical school. You can list them on your AMCAS application, but the grade/credits are not factored in. You still have to meet the 90 credit hours regardless of how much AP credit you have.</p>
<p>90% of premed applicants apply to med school as juniors....</p>
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I wouldn't waste the time and money applying that early.
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<p>Actually, even if you're not a stellar candidate (as long as you are not a terrible one) I would recommend applying early. After all, why not? What do you have to lose? A few hundred dollars of app fees? In the grand scheme of your lifetime earnings as a doctor, that is but a pittance. It's also not really a "waste of time" because even if you apply early and don't get in, much of that time you spend in creating your early app will be useful again when you apply the following year. For example, your essay answers will probably be largely the same. You will probably submit many of the same prof rec's. </p>
<p>In fact, I would see the early app as, if nothing else, a good 'practice run' for the real dance. By applying early, you will get first-hand experience in the med-school application process - i.e. when deadlines come around, how much time does it really take to put an app together, what sort of things you need to do to write a good essay, etc. etc. And you might even get in. The worst thing that can happen is that they reject you. So what? </p>
<p>So, the best case scenario is that you actually get admitted early. The worst case scenario is that you pay some money to get first-hand experience in the med-school app process. I think it's a fair trade.</p>