<p>Ok so i went yesterday to select my courses for fall semester of my freshman year at my state school. </p>
<p>I had credits for almost all of the prereqs: physics, bio, calc, and stats. So the advisors told me to skip all the gen classes and go straight to the upper level classes. I told them i wanted to retake the general classes to refresh myself/GPA boost/review for MCAT's. They told me that the general classses don't really teach you any different from what was on the AP exam and that it would be in my best interest for the MCAT's to take the upper level classes since those are the classes that will provide me with the advanced knowledge that the MCAT tests on (in terms of reasoning ability of course). I then asked them if med schools accept AP credit for the general classes and if that would hurt me when med school process comes around. They said "some med schools do accept. Others dont"...talk about ambiguity....</p>
<p>So my first sem schedule is like this: general chem for the whole year with lab, impact of chem, bio/society/biomedical issues, and expository writing along with a couple of pass/fail seminars.</p>
<p>Had i not skipped out of the general classes my schedule would look like this: calc 1, bio for the whole year with lab, chem for the whole year with lab, and expository writing. </p>
<p>I do not think your advisors have given you very good advices – unless you are 100 percents sure you will be a science major and will definitely get good grades in all/most advanced science/math classes you will take.</p>
<p>AP is useless for medical school admission (unless you are from Texas.)</p>
<p>I see two problems with advice you’re getting.</p>
<p>1) Most med school do NOT accept AP credits. Calc is the most commonly accepted AP, but even for that policies vary widely. You will need to check the specific policies for the medical schools you most likely will be applying to in 4 years, esp your state med schools.</p>
<p>Med schools are most likely to accept AP credit if it is recorded on your transcript as credit for specific course name/number. (But still not always a guarantee.) If it is recorded as a general or non-specific credit, then it won’t be accepted for sure and you must retake the class. If your AP only gives you advanced standing and no actual specific course credit, then you’ll need to take either a higher level class or retake the original class. (This happens at some colleges with calc APs.) Strongly consider retaking stats.</p>
<p>2) AP credits do not include LAB credits. You need bio WITH lab. If you are a bio major and will be taking higher level courses which have required labs. (2 semesters of bio with lab), you can probably skip the intro class. Retake physics since you need the lab credit and you do want to be taking higher level physics classes with labs unless you’re really into circuitry…</p>
<p>OP, wowmom articulates the matter much better than me. Listen to what she has to say. The deficiency in lab credits could be time-consuming to make up. In one semester, DS spent the majority of his time on lab and required (not optional) research for his BS degree. If there is anything that some premed students (esp. non-science major ones) have complaints about at his college, it is the lab: so much work yet no little credit hours.</p>
<p>
DS did take two upper-division labs to fulfill the bio lab requirement. Taking of the intro lab indeed has some downside, if you are not lucky. The overworked TAs/instructors for an introductory lab could be anything but helpful. However, the preparation for lab for most high schoolers is not good if they skip the intro lab. But many students at some colleges have had extensive lab experience before college because of the involvement in science related ECs/Intel Science competitions.</p>
<p>Are these courses approved for bio majors at your college? If not, you would be wasting your time in them. (If you are at Rutgers, note that Impact of Chem is not even approved by the Chem dept for their students. Med schools will recognize this as a non-rigorous course.)</p>
<p>If I were you, I’d go to option 2: calc/chem/bio/english. In second semester, consider swapping Calc II for Stats. There is plenty of time to take upper division science classes, and according to those knowledgeable, only three will add much value to the mcat: biochem, genetics, and/or physio (not in any order).</p>
<p>Ok thank you so much…I just contacted them via email about the change. </p>
<p>I have a question: if i place out of expository writing from AP lang credits, would med schools accept this credit?
Can i just take a higher level writing course then? </p>
<p>I know for a fact that expos 101 at rutgers is a weedout so i would like to skip it if anything…is this okay?</p>
<p>ANd if i don’t want to take a writing course, then do you recommend i take a philosophy course in logic and reasoning? I like this kind of stuff and i htink it will help me with the MCAT’s.</p>
<p>DD did skip Bio 1 using AP credit to test out, she was advised against this, but she felt it was right for her. Instead, as a bio major, she took all bio classes her senior year, two profs she had both terms and because they were smaller classes, that is how she formed relationships which garnered LORs and also a referral to a university lab for a gap year job in research.</p>
<p>However, she did not jump to a more advanced chem/calc/physics, despite having taken AP. That was also the correct choice, those classes build upon very specific linear info and she wanted to be fully prepared for the MCAT & any 2nd level course, like ochem</p>
<p>I agree with bluebayou. Don’t take the advice. First of all, impact of chem and bio societal issues are non-science major classes. They’re classes intended for kids who are majoring in other studies to get some science in their curriculum while at the college. It would be better to take upper level than those. My school doesn’t even count them either. I would take the intro classes and move up just as if you did not have the AP credit. Then, you will have better grades, you won’t have to worry about not getting the required course work for med school, and you won’t overwhelm yourself. Also, you won’t waste your time with non-science major classes. That just doesn’t make any sense. I would req. taking calc II your freshman year however. You don’t want to take it while taking organic chem at all. Stats is easier, so I would take that the next year and get the math reqs out the way. Actually, I would skip calc I and go to calc II the first semester (thats what I did, even though I had both AP credits). Calc II is kinda easy if you got calc I good and I don’t see any reason to retake it (calc I that is). Calc II and stats=1 year of math.</p>
<p>Med schools want to see you take two English courses with a writing component. A philosophy course is not likely to meet the “English course” requirement, despite the fact that it probably requires writing. Your safest bet is to take two courses in the English department. A higher level writing course will count, as will literature classes.</p>
<p>Med schools will not accept AP credits in place of expository writing. You can take a higher level expository writing class instead of an intro expository class. (Perhaps technical writing for scientists and engineers.)</p>
<p>Or you can take 1 or 2 (some med schools require 2) “writing intensive” courses instead. The course must be designated as “writing intensive” on your transcripts in addition to the course number/name.</p>
<p>You must have 1 or 2 clearly identified expository writing credits on your transcript. Simply taking a upper level humanities won’t cut it.</p>
<p>Writing intensive courses can be in any department. D2’s second writing intensive class will actually be thru the math department, as odd as that sounds.</p>
<p>FWIW, most philosophy logic classes are quite difficult and some are interdisciplinary with the math dept. Talk to your fellow students before enrolling.</p>
WowMom, I have never been able to get a straight answer to the question: what English/writing courses will meet the medical school admission requirement?</p>
<p>Some said the course should be offered by the English department. But some said the writing classes from any department will do the trick. I really do not know the answer for sure. Some said one semester course should be a writing one and the other semester course can be either an English literature course or an English writing course.</p>
<p>I think DS dutifully took two classes offered by the English department, and one of them has the word “writing” in the course name, I think. If we are talking about writing-intensive courses, I guess he might have taken more than two classes. (Actually, one of the biology class offered by the biology department and one of the chemistry classes offered by the chemistry department are classified as a writing class by his college (in the sense that it can be used to fulfill the writing requirement of the “core education.” AP can not be used for this purpose at his school. )</p>
<p>One of the purposes of these “science” classes (for a science major) is to train the student to write research papers. Because most science professors likely think most of their “promising” students are potentially future graduate students (rather than professional school students), they think it is their job to train them to write research papers/proposals.</p>
<p>It is so confusing! Now they start to talk about the requirement of some social science courses (psychology/behavior or ethics?) I am glad these have been behind us.</p>
<p>OK, I do know that ONE class has to be actual expository writing class. (Some are offered by the English dept, some are offered in the Communications dept, some are offered by the Writing dept. Go figure!) </p>
<p>D1 placed out of freshman comp (by a placement exam at her college) so she took Technical writing for Scientists and Engineers–a upper division Writing Dept class instead. (Tech writing was required for her degree in physics anyway). </p>
<p>The second has be either another writing class by whichever dept offers it at the college OR a course designated as “writing intensive” on the transcript. </p>
<p>For her second writing class, she took a philosophy class that was designated as “writing intensive” by the university’s course catalog and had the words “writing intensive” included on her transcript.</p>
<p>D2’s school does not allow exemptions for freshman composition. EVERYONE takes it. So she has one Writing Dept class there. Her school does not offer any upper level writing courses and her college requires her second has to be a “writing intensive”-designated course in her major dept. (Since she has 2 majors, she is required by her college to take TWO writing intensive courses–one for each major. She will fulfill her writing requirement in biology by writing an honors thesis of 20-50 pages. She will fulfill her math dept writing requirement by taking fractal geometry with an optional 1 credit “writing” addition where she had to produce at 2 10-12 page papers on a math topic related to her course and those papers are graded jointly by both the Writing dept and the Math dept. Her TA from the writing portion of the class is from the Writing/English dept. Ain’t it all confusing?)</p>
<p>I don’t think there is clear way to know what second class will be accepted. I think the issue is the “writing intensive” designation on the transcript. Or being able to point to the university’s catalog and show the course has “substantial” (non-creative) writing content since different profs can require different things for the same course.</p>
<p>Neither D1 nor D2 have ever taken an upper level English course.</p>
<p>writing courses definitely do not need to be in the English department. Classics major here with no courses in the English department. My Classics classes definitely counted.</p>