<p>
In general, at the BA/BS level. The less academic, the most immediately marketable. The less academic, the most directly transferable to the workplace. The less academic, the less likely to be admitted to med school. Oops. That last one kinda changes the game for Pre-Meds. </p>
<p>Takeaway point. Major in what you love. Take courses that excite you outside your major field. Throw the Pre-med grid on top of that.</p>
<p>@Brian1 Do you think I could go to Calc 3 with a 5, and just stop there? I kind of feel like it would be a waste of my parent’s money, if I just retook the same class(?). Learning that most medical schools don’t accept AP credit has really opened my eyes. Thanks for your information.</p>
<p>It depends on your school and what track you’re taking, but if you’re taking a class beyond Calc 2, you’re probably on the quant track. At my school we had two track math classes for Calc1 and 2. One was for liberal arts majors and the other for quant and a lot of pre meds took the quant Calc 2 version. Calc 2 for quant majors was a weeder class and harder than the BC test. I think a lot of people who scored 5s on the BC test retook Calc 2 to prepare for Calc 3. Also, Calc 3 difficulty depends on the curriculum, i.e. how much series, which is probably the hardest part of calc, is in the course. So I’d take a look at your curriculum and see what’s covered to decide whether to retake Calc2. I would not retake Calc 1 though.</p>
<p>OP–that thread is 6 years old and policies have changed in the meantime.</p>
<p>Please see this comprehensive list of AP credit acceptance policies. They are listed by subject and medical school.</p>
<p><a href=“Undergraduate Resources | Rice University”>Undergraduate Resources | Rice University;
<p>CA medical schools generally will not permit the use of AP credit; however, if you live elsewhere or plan on applying only to states other than CA, your AP calc should be fine.</p>
<p>@WayOutWestMom Oh, wow thanks for that link! Now, I don’t feel like I wasted too much of my time taking AP courses. Why do you think CA med schools don’t accept AP credit? Is it not sufficient enough for them?</p>
<p>I have no idea–except maybe they feel that the UC bio and chem course are more rigorous than what’s taught in most AP classes.</p>
<p>I know some undergrad programs have policies like that in place. D2’s private uni won’t accept AP Bio credits–for Bio, chem or premeds majors. Everyone else can use them for non science major credit. They wanted to train young scientists their own way.</p>
<p>Why not major in nursing, or perhaps clinical laboratory science/medical technology? In the case of the former make sure you take the medical school prerequisites like Organic Chemistry, Physics etc. If you don’t get into medical school (esp. the first round) you can have a decent paying job and fix up whatever parts of your application that needs improvement and try again. You’re clinical experience will help and can provide you with the ability to get into NP/PA school, both which require substantial clinical experience.</p>
<p>I majored in biology with the intention initially of doing some environmental science related graduate school. I took a year off to check the job market and found it dismal. A graduate degree doesn’t help all that much in this field, and many many many PhD holders end up as permanent post-docs (or at least until they leave the field totally and do something different i.e. medical writing, business, patent law). </p>
<p>Instead I did a medical technology postbac and am just finishing up now. Jobs are fairly easy to come by. I live around NYC and starting salaries are ~50-60k a year not including any overtime or differentials (labs are staffed 24/7. You work a weekend, you get extra $. You work nights you get extra $$ etc.) I’ve heard other states like California pay substantially more as well. Managers/administrative directors in big labs make anywhere from 70-150k depending on the lab and the part of the country you live in. Nursing pays even more. In both cases, you only need a bachelors degree (but the 145 credit MT/CLS joint degree at my school did take all but one person 5 years). In both cases your degree contains an extended unpaid internship which means after you’re done and pass your boards you’re actually trained for a job and have an in-demand skill.</p>
<p>Anyway I’m mentioning this because I’ve gotten a chance to bring up my grades a tad and may apply to medical school. If not I’d probably do an MBA part-time or think about beefing up on some extra calc classes and go for an Msc in biomedical engineering. My point is if you want the ability to make money right out of undergrad don’t major in bio/biochem/chem find something directly employable. If you’re interested in medical school consider majoring in allied health and then take the prerequisites and apply. That way if you fail you can still find good paying work in a variety of other health fields, many of which are quite intellectually stimulating and rewarding.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Regarding going to more advanced courses with AP credit, where allowed…</p>
<p>Take a look at the college’s final exams for the course(s) you might skip. Try the problems on them to determine how well you know the material as the college expects. Then make your decision. Of course, if the college has its own formalized placement testing, you can do that.</p>
<p>Of course, be aware of any medical school limitations on skipping courses with AP credit (such as having to take as many more advanced courses as the skipped courses, lab requirements, etc.).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Some of the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html</a> indicate much better job prospects for math and statistics majors than for biology majors.</p>
Brian1: “Engineering is far more time consuming than biology and more difficult. If you’re dead set on going to med school, don’t major in engineering. I wouldn’t major in biology either, as it’s unemployable.”
bluebayou " With the exception of econ, most all liberal arts majors, including bio, are unemployable"
I know many biology majors with fantastic jobs. These people^ are not fit to give advice to highschool students.
I am a geophysicist and I make roughly 92,000$ a year looking for oil reservoirs. It pays well and is kind of fun but you know what? I am an oil monkey and my decisions are very stressful. Do you know what these “useless bio majors” are doing? I have a friend who is a junior aquatic ecologist on the west side who scuba dives every week and monitors the geochemistry of the water as well as all the fish and the ecosystem. He makes 65,000$ a year and LOVES his job. I have a friend who is a wildlife biologist 1 who got a job working up north monitoring polar bears (polar bear biologist 1). Keep in mind both have B.Sc (not M.Sc). He makes 87,000$ a year and is in his third year working. He gets paid a similar salary to me and gets to experience the north while watching polar bears! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I have a friend who is an ecology major and she works with tagging birds and monitoring the environment (forest) and she makes around 60,000$. Another friend who is a medical microbiologist (doing his M.Sc working on signal pathways of cancer cells) and he told me he has a job lined up after working the government at 38$/hr to start. Oh and my girlfriends friends boyfriend is a fisheries biologist and he just bought a new house and pickup truck.
You guys haven’t a clue of what you are talking about. Instead of listening to these randoms online, google biology and biochemistry jobs in your AREA. Or even your province (if you plan on moving). Don’t listen to these randoms online. To give advice to become an accountant or an engineer? Sure the pay can be good but what exactly do you do? My best friends an accountant and makes 70k a year running numbers and slapping a calculator behind a desk all day. He doesn’t like his job but he likes the paycheck. My friends dad is an electrical engineer and he has said many times that it is extremely stressful going through all protocols and regulations. I took many classes with engineering students and I know many of them are unemployed or looking into other fields because they have ZERO experience.
The job market is tough at the moment and YOU need to build your resume to be employable. A degree is only ONE part of the resume. Oh and btw, a biology major is VERY MUCH a B.Sc. Until you sit in advanced genetics, biochem or ecology classes…you won’t have a CLUE what you are talking about. I have seen some of the material myself and I will definitely stick with my physics and geology. Thanks.