Best Classes for Pre-Med Degree in College?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

Ok so I’m a sophomore and I’m having trouble deciding what classes I want during 11th and 12th grade. I want to go into the medical field, so I was wondering what sciences I should take before I go on to college. As for my current grades, I have all As , except one B in biology that I took in 8th grade. However, my current GPA is a 3.8, so would this be considered competitive? I don’t want to take any classes that essentially drop my GPA.

Biology it was crazy hard, the teacher was horrible, and everyone basically failed her tests. I ended the semesters with and 88 and an 89 so hopefully colleges would stress too hard on that, considering I’m going into the medical. I’m not sure if I should take it or not, cause the teacher was horrible in 8th grade, so I don’t know if I’d actually enjoy it. Is it more memorization based?

Ok so for next year, I was wondering if I should take AP Biology, AP Chemistry, or Physics II. I heard AP Chem is crazy hard, in fact, one of the hardest science classes you can take. I ended honors chem last year with a low A, so I’m not sure how I’ll do in this class.

I’m currently taking AP Physics I this year, and I literally have a 92 in the class, so I’m not sure if I should move on to Physics II. However, I heard the teacher is good, and prepares you well for the AP exam.

As for medical electives, I have taken Health, Principles of Health Science, and currently taking Medical Terminology. These were/are easy class, as I ended the year with around a 98. For next year, I was wondering if I should take Medical Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology, or Pathophysiology. How do the difficulty and content compare to each other? And what classes should I take before college, and that would really help with future medical classes?

2

Make sure you will have taken Bio, Chem, Physics (preferably at an honors level) and then AP Bio or AP Chem senior year.
Undergraduate really doesn’t care much about medical electives…You will major in whatever you want in college…as long as you take the med school pre reqs it doesn’t matter. Many people pick Bio or chem as it is easier to take all the pre reqs with those majors.

So if you want to take those electives, go ahead, but make sure you are taking Math, Science, English, Social Studies and Foreign language over any electives. I would also say to explore other electives in HS as well. You don’t take any medical classes in college and nothing in HS will really prepare you. But seeing if you can do the memorization needed for A&P will help you see how you like that sort of thing.

If you take AP Bio, then ANat and Phys is a good course to take at the same time as there is overlap.

Also 3.8 is a good HS GPA but all that counts for is entrance for college. It has nothing to do with premed or med school.

Is 8th grade biology considered a HS level class (like 8th grade Algebra) is? If so you should definitely take AP Bio one year and then AP Chem the next. This will prepare you for the premed classes.

I would also suggest volunteering in a hospital or other medical setting to 1) see if you like it 2) Community Service

3

everyone failed her tests, yet you got an 89.

4

@ Mefortuneteller Yeah well we took a lot of open notes quizzes which made up for it, but that isn’t the point.

5

Ideally, you’d have the following
Junior year
AP English Language
Honors US History (or APUSH)
Foreign language 3 or 4 (H)
AP Bio*
Precalculus H or AP Calculus AB*
one elective (A&P?)

Senior year
Honors English
Honors Economics with Financial Literacy
AP Psychology *
AP Chemistry*
Calculus AB or BC*
Foreign Language 4 or an elective

*= these classes will make taking the subject in college easier - do NOT skip even if they offer credit as you’ll need the class for your premed pre-reqs

Premed pre-reqs include:
2 semesters each of biology, inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, English (composition/communication)
1 semester each of calculus, stats or biostats, psychology, sociology, biochemistry, a diversity-focused course, and classes such as neuroscience or neurobiology or cognitive science, bioethics, philosophy, a language spoken by an immigrant group (learned either formally in class or informally while volunteering at a clinic) have become appreciated.
In addition, you must volunteer and shadow doctors. Research is always good and is required for a MD/PHD.

6

I was planning on taking majority of these classes. However, we are required to take 8 classes a year at my school. So for electives, I was planning on taking Microbiology, A&P, Health Science Theory, and Clinical Rotations through my junior and senior years. Would these be beneficial on the long run?

7

as long as you have your 5 core classes covered as explained above those would be good indeed.