<p>I'll be a college senior in the fall and I'm making the choice to switch from engineering to pre-med. The problem is that I have taken credit for many AP classes (Physics and Chem) and don't yet have English credits as my school doesn't specifically require them. I believe I could be a good applicant (GPA of 3.97 in engineering from a highly competitive school), but I might have trouble finishing the requirements and graduating on time. I have credit for orgo + lab.</p>
<p>Essentially I could take Bio + lab, chem + lab, physics + lab, English, and two classes I need to graduate each semester, but that sounds like a nightmare even though chem and physics would be easy for me. To what extent I can use AP credits to lighten up my course load without disqualifying me for most med schools? I've taken courses in the Materials Science department and other engineering disciplines that rely heavily on chem and physics (PChem of materials 1 and 2, electrochemistry, etc...), but I fear they won't count because they are not offered by the chemistry department even though they are chem courses.</p>
<p>Are there easier ways to fulfill these requirements with upper level courses? Does anyone have experience with switching to pre-med very late and have pointers?</p>
<p>If money is not an issue, you are an ideal candidate for career change post-bacc at places like Bryn Mawr and Hopkins. JHU even coaches their post-baccs for MCAT. The JHU program is a 1 year program. Both of these programs have lots of tie-ins with top med schools and 100% acceptance.</p>
<p>Money is kind of an issue. I don’t think I’d consider doing a post-bacc simply because I won’t be able to support myself for a year with the funds I currently have. Especially if I’m paying for a post-bacc. I would be able to take summer courses perhaps (in physics for instance), and I have ~$5000 saved I could probably use towards that as long as I could get a job that would allow this.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, engineering courses are not going to be acceptable substitutes to medical schools. Your coursework needs to have the right departmental designations.</p>
<p>Not all medical school will accept AP credit, or if they accept AP credit will require that you also have a higher level class in the same dept.</p>
<p>See this document to see what various specific medical school require w/r/t to AP credits:</p>
<p>The other issue you’re facing is that unless you have the “right” ECs for med school, your application isn’t going to get any consideration by adcomms, not matter what your GPA and MCAT score looks like.</p>
<p>In general, med schools expect all applicants to have: research (clinical or lab); physician shadowing; clinical volunteering; community service; demonstrated leadership activities.</p>
<p>Your might be able to get your pre-reqs done in the next year, but with a heavy academic schedule, it’s going to be tough to get your hours in for your ECs.</p>
<p>D1 switched to pre med midway thru her senior year. PM if you want her details. She’s currently a MS3.</p>
<p>^while true about the ECs, OP could graduate with the coursework done and then delay applying while building up the ECs and working. By holding a job he’d be earning money rather than spending it on a post-bacc so that might be the best option.</p>
<p>You can do a do-it-yourself part-time post-bacc at any 4 year college. </p>
<p>D1 did exactly that. She worked multiple part-time jobs (to give herself better flexibility to take required classes) to support herself while completing her pre-reqs, getting in her shadowing and volunteer & clinical hours, and studying for the MCAT.</p>
<p>FYI, unless you are able to complete all your pre-reqs and take your MCAT next year, you will be taking the 2015 MCAT. The 2015 MCAT covers different material than does the current MCAT. It will have a new human behavior section that includes questions in soiology and psychology. The Biological Science subtest will include biochemistry. All 4 sub-tests will include statistics.</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>And I realize the OP can do his activities during his glide year, but when he completes his AMCAS next May, he’s not going to have much, if anything, to show–which will likely hurt his app. Adcomms are not big on “anticipated experiences”.</p>
<p>Wow, that AP credit link was illuminating. I really thought most schools didn’t take AP credit at all. Here’s a question though. If I took a year of an upper level chemistry course (say Pchem or advanced inorganic) without the lab component (which is supposedly brutal), and used AP credit for physics, would that fare well with adcomms? That would free up about $5,000 and time to devote to clinical volunteering or another activity. </p>
<p>I’m wondering because if I fulfill the requirements they can clearly see that I can handle college level physics classes due to the rigor of my engineering coursework. If the requirements are fulfilled, does it matter if I took solid state physics in materials science instead in physics?</p>
<p>I should add that I plan to do a gap year for the sake of beefing up clinical and biological experiences.</p>
<p>I guess the issue will be lab. Did your college award you credit for the lab portion of chemistry for your AP? Some schools do; some don’t. Med schools require 4 semesters of lab credit in chemistry on your transcript.</p>
<p>As for the physics credits. That will be a school-by-school decision. I strongly suggest you email the admissions directors at the med schools you’re most likely to apply to (esp, all your state public med schools) to see if they would find a materials sciences class as an acceptable substitute. (If the course has designation other than PHYS, I suspect the answer will be no.)</p>
<p>congratulations on your successful engineering major. I was in the same situation when I switched over to Pre-med during my last semester of engineering. I completed my engineering degree and immediately enrolled in several CC to complete the Pre-med courses I needed. I was accepted to all of the med schools I applied to. They didn’t care where I did my Pre-med. Plus, the CC classes were very convenient, taught better than any of my engineering classes, and CHEAP!!! So, you have a lot of options. Just remember that you are only restricted by time; you can’t make this happen any faster than a year.</p>