<p>Does it make sense to take community college classes while in high school, say in Organic Chemistry or Biology, for getting a running start for the pre-med requirements? The intent is not to test out of the same courses in college but to have a better background coming in to the courses so as to get a better grade. I have also read in this forum that MCAS will get to know your community college grades even if you do not send them. Or is it my misreading? Thanks in advance for any input.</p>
<p>Med schools get your CC grades. It should be fine to audit CC classes to get the background and not get grades and make sure that they don't show up on your transcript.</p>
<p>You are REQUIRED to send them AMCAS. Failure to do so is unethical and a larger problem then getting a poor grade or whatever as a HS student.</p>
<p>As a general rule, you should avoid taking ANY pre-med requirement at a CC. Certainly if you are actually attending a CC as a full time student for legitimate reasons taking some is inevitable, but even then, it's strongly advised to limit the number taken. If you have the option of avoiding CC classes, it behooves you to do so. Issues of quality and general perceptions of CC classes (justified or unjustified as they may be) make them undesirable for someone thinking of going to medical school. </p>
<p>Auditing of a CC class is okay, but who really has the time? Would a HS even allow you to do this?</p>
<p>I took 3 classes at a local CC while in high school I was miserable. In the end when it came to college admissions, I found out I had about the same advantage as those who just took AP classes. My advice- Take AP Chem. and AP Bio. You will have a head start because the AP course material is a lot more intense, and having the AP credit under your belt will allow you to skip out on a few lower division courses at the college level (at most colleges at least, UCSD is one of them).</p>
<p>mrsadzy signing out!</p>
<p>what are requires classes for med school?</p>
<p>In general I think AP Chem is a bad decision, how bad depends on how your eventual undergrad awards you credit and if they'll allow you to retake the lower division class or forces you to take upper level courses (since med schools will not accept AP credit). AP bio on the other hand is a good deal in my book because it gets you out of the intro bio courses and into things that are more interesting/applicable to medicine.</p>
<p>gaia - the standard requirements are a year each, with accompanying lab, of biology, general chem, organic chem, and physics. Most schools require 1 semester of calc, and a semester of stats is highly recommended. Beyond that, most schools require a smattering of humanities/social science courses, in particular English (should usually do a year with at least one semester of a writing intensive course). These non-science requirements are usually covered by your undergrad's graduation requirements and aren't any sort of problem. Additionally, classes such as biochem, physiology, and genetics can be very helpful.</p>
<p>In my opinion, using AP credit for your premed courses isn't that great of an idea.Firstly, college courses are much more difficult then high school courses, even if they are "Advanced" Placement. Medical schools realize this and a strong grade in a college general chemistry course is looked upon more favorably then a strong grade in AP Chem. Secondly, taking Chem or Bio in college will prepare you much more effectively for upper-level courses and the MCAT. Thirdly, although chem and bio college classes are definitely harder than high school AP classes, they are easier than upper-level classes and some of the harder prereqs like Ochem and Physics. Thus, taking these classes, can help your GPA substantially and provide some leeway if you start doing badly in harder courses.</p>
<p>CCRUNNER- Lets agree to disagree. Taking lower level bio. and chem. at the college level could definitely help your GPA in the long run (and leave you some leeway if you screw up somewhere along the line). However, AP courses are designed to be college preparatory courses therefore, the education that you would be getting in an AP course would not be substandard to what you would get in a lower division college course (your 101s and 102s). If you are going to take the AP courses in high school, why pass up the benefit to skip out on lower division courses?? Maybe its just me, but after spending a year busting your ass learning taxonomy, metabolic reactions, Krebs cycle and whatever else goes on in an AP course, do you really want to go back to coloring and labeling parts of a cell for 6 months?? Can we get a "Pro and Con" list started here??</p>
<p>Well, from my experience, most schools' AP courses do not teach at a college level. Of course, if you can get a 4 or 5 on the AP, I guess you have mastered the material well enough to skip out on it. </p>
<p>Regardless, I still maintain that taking all of the intro courses is important for 3 main reasons 1) MCAT prep 2) Better preparation for upper-level sciences and 3) GPA. Not to mention the fact, that if you're coming in as a freshman taking a bunch of upper-level science courses, you are going to have difficulty getting used to the workload of college. Taking these intro classes can help ease you into the college environment and give you a sense of the style of teaching, the tests, etc, without being bombarded with upper-level material that is being taught by professors who are under the impression that the students are familiar with the basic concepts already.</p>
<p>
[quote]
do you really want to go back to coloring and labeling parts of a cell for 6 months?
[/quote]
?! What kind of college did you go to?!</p>
<p>i think it depends on how hard the college is your going to. If its hard, take the AP and the intro classes. if the intro classes are easy take JE or AP to get it out of the way.</p>
<p>If you AP test out of first year bio and are a bio major and the school (known for certain weeder courses) lets you skip that bio class, is there any reason to take the first year bio? Some advisors say, "skip it and avoid the weeder situation" others say med schools will want to see it.</p>
<p>D is not certain about med school yet, still deciding. I say why waste a year in bio 1 when you are not required and it is a major weed out course, just move on to upper div bio and learn new things, if she applies to med school, any of hte upper div bio should suffice as a year of bio. Pros/cons? Does that first year or bio realy prep you for uppder div? D got an AP 5 from an outstanding teacher in HS</p>
<p>I was not pre-med in college, so I graduated with NO bio and NO organic chem. Also, none of my freshman year physics or chem classes had labs associated with them, but later classes in my major dud and summer internships were in labs. I was able to apply to med school while taking bio 2 and org chem 1 & 2 over the summer at UMass-Boston. I did bio 1 through UMass extension at night the spring term before that summer. Studied for the MCAT independently and took it before the summer classes. They did not seem to care that my classes did not fit neatly into the traditional categories & schedule.</p>
<p>The problem is not a non-traditional path -- the problem is specifically with differences in the perceived quality of education between CC's and 4-year universities.</p>