Do I need high school chemistry for pre med?

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
41

Basically, you need AT LEAST chemistry honors to take General Chemistry. Most students in General Chemistry will have taken Honors Chemistry followed by AP Chem. It’s not just a matter of “working hard” - if you took General chemistry without the proper background, you’d be two years behind in a class where only about 20% will be able to continue with Med School worthy grades. MOST students who took Chemistry honors AND AP Chem will get “weeded out”. (Weed out, at a large university, is a system by which exams are designed to fail a large number of students and where the vast majority of hard working students have grades too low for med school, by design.)
You could take non-science major chemistry first semester freshman year, then general chem1+ lab in the Spring, General chem 2+lab in the summer. You’d likely get a semester’s worth of credit for IB Biology HL so you could start with General Biology 2 first semester freshman year.
The normal sequence for students aiming for top 50 universities&LACs would be bio, chem, physics + one AP science. In case of IB, the basic expectation would be Bio&chem + one as IB. Many competitive applicants go beyond that. Obviously if there can be SOME leeway if you’re not applying for anything involving science, but even for non science majors bio/chem/physics is expected (generally + APES).

OK, so
English = O’Level Lang&Lit; American Lit; IB English Literature
Math = O’Level B (~Algebra2H);
Social Science/History = American history; IB History SL; IB PSychology HL
Foreign language(s) = O’Level French; Greek 4&5
Science = O’Level Physics; Biology; IB Biology HL
HS requirements = Health
Electives, personal picks = Home Economics O’Level; IB Theater HL

That schedule is a HUGE problem because it’s full of holes. : (
In particular, you MUST take precalculus or statistics next year. You CANNOT get into college with only O’level maths. Most colleges require two courses beside this and even the moderately selective ones (think regional university ranked 10-25, national LACs ranked 75-125, directional state universities…) will expect 3 units of Math. Social Science is a bit strange but would likely “pass” for universities and LACs ranked 50-125. Foreign Language is good. Science: as you know, you’re missing chemistry. Could you take it via an online school such as FLVS?
That schedule would serve you well if you applied to universities and LACs for Humanities (History, English, Art History, Foreign Language…) It’s going to be a very very tough admit for anything STEM (where they expect all three sciences and calculus).
Where do students from your school attend college, typically?
Can you get a “Princeton Review’s best colleges” guidebook?

42
43

Thank you for the insight. I’m just so new to all of this and at this moment I feel like I’m in a hole that I can’t dig myself out of. I just don’t know if with the classes I have and will take, will i be able to take the pre med track and eventually go to medical school. It’s pretty confusing because I have friends that have graduated from NYU and know about my situation fully and think I can really make it. Even my counselor says that I deserve it, so i dont know what to do or think, especially in terms of what to do now, I feel like I’m too late.
I thought I did list all of my classes, what did I miss?

44

“Deserve” has nothing to do with college admission.

If you are missing some pre-reqs there is always the option of a gap year to fill in those classes. You want to give yourself the best foundation possible for college and frankly you don’t have those classes yet. A one year delay is common. You can still reach your goals.

45

But there is also: Introduction to Modern Chemistry and Laboratory that does not need prerequisite in hs chemistry

46

yeah, current students at NYU aren’t adcoms. They have no clue.
And your GC is not doing you any favor by telling you you “deserve it”. You don’t have the proper schedule, the SAT score, or the GPA… Admissions aren’t based on “deserving”. You have to meet a basic baseline in terms of grades, rigor, and scores. Then, they want to see if you meet an institutional need.

You CAN go to college in a US big city or a cool college town but you have to recalibrate.
Right now, focus on
1° improving your senior year schedule.
2° getting a Princeton Review’s Best Colleges. Find good colleges for B/B+ students.
3° go to the thread “colleges for the C/B students” and “B/B+ students” (while this isn’t your current GPA, your cumulative schedule will make it more likely that these will be likelies and matches.)
4° don’t think about medical school. It’s at least 6 years away. Before you can get to med school, you have to get into college. Don’t take that for granted. Develop a list from the ground up: 2 colleges you like, are 100% sure you can get into, and can afford. These would be colleges where you’re among the top 25% students for GPA and test scores.
Then, add about 5 colleges where your GPA and test scores are between the 50% and the 75% mark.
Once you have these, you can add any college you want and can afford.
5° Talk to your parents: would they be okay with your doing a PG year at a US boarding school?

To start with, read the websites for and run the NPC on…
Fordham
Goucher
Simmons
Pace
SUNY New Paltz
West Chester U
Chatham
Juniata
Capital OH
Hamline
St Thomas (St Paul)
University of Iowa
Montclair State
St Michael’s College
UVermont
Penn State
UMass Amherst
University of Alabama
Christopher Newport College
College of Charleston

After reading about each of the above, list your 10 favorite colleges. What do you like about them?

47

It also does not need med school prereqs

Listen to MYOS. She is willing to help you, and knows what she is talking about. The same is true for all the adults who have answered you on this thread.

48

“I don’t care if I may start off at a disadvantage I try to work as hard as I can . So in reality as long as I’m learning I dont really care what college I go to.”

You are missing that “starting off at a disadvantage” likely means no NYU and possibly limited other choices. As said, you need to focus on what colleges you can get into, first. And then, it won’t mattr how hard you like to learn As said, many colleges fiercely weed out kids without the strengths in bio and chem to succeed in those courses in first year. It’s not adding a few hours of study. It’s brutal and aimed at only taking the best of their best through the 4 year premed track, then recomending them to med schools.

I agree with others that you’re doing this backwards. In part, you’re trying to figure out what you can make up for, at NYU, not realizing your decisions drop your shot at an admit.

They aren;t going to look at O levels in freshman and soph year and excuse theholes in your record. You aren;t going to present as kid who can “hit the ground running.” Why would you even ask if you can skin chem 2. Everyone here is telling yu that you need to be prepared. Not set a college target, med chool dreams, and then wonder how you can squeeze into a top college, with a low GPA and scores, missing classes, et al.

And seems to be you now say you have such strength fro Malta schools, didn’t you previously indicte those results were a mess?

49

Again, I suggest you do a post grad year at a prep school in the United States. It will give you time to take the needed chemistry and math courses you need to take. It gives you time to prep well for the SAT and maybe take the ACT as well. It might raise your gpa as well.

I just don’t think you are set for success with admissions for NYU, or with high school courses where you can take the necessary pre med courses.

Also, for now… don’t think about medical school. Think about your path to get admitted to undergrad school…and please cast a net wider than NYU.

50

BTW you can totally become a doctor and be an English or Foreign Language major.
You have to be very good at your major+volunteer in medical settings + take the pre-med pre-requisites.
These are General Biology, General chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, English/composition/communication (2 semesters each) + biochemistry, neuroscience/cognitive science, psychology, sociology, biostatistics, bioethics/philosophy, Calculus, and a diversity focused course (1 semester each) + if possible a foreign language spoken in the us. These also meet graduation requirements for a college degree actually.

51

Neither your undergrad major, nor your undergrad college is of particular importance for med school admissions. The first cut for med school applicants is all about your numbers–your GPA, your science GPA (bio, chem, math & physics only) and MCAT score.

You need a high GPA (3.8 was the median last year), a high science GPA (3.7+) , a MCAT score >85th percentile, plus appropriate ECs (community service w. the disadvantaged, clinical volunteering or employment, physician shadowing, leadership positions in your activities, lab bench or clinical research) that demonstrate you meet the [15 core competencies](What Medical Schools are Looking for: Understanding the 15 Core Competencies | Students & Residents) for medical school.

Myos has rather overstated the necessary med school pre-reqs. You need bio w/labs, gen, chem w/labs, ochem w/labs, biochem, physics w/labs, 2 semesters of “college level” mathematics (one of which should be math dept. statistics or biostatistics), 2 semesters of English composition/writing skills, psychology, and sociology. Those are the absolute minimums. There are some medical schools that expect additional coursework in genetics, bio-ethics, human anatomy & physiology. Some even require calc 2 and 3. Once you get through the basic sciences, you can start looking at specific medical schools and see what their requirements are.

Spanish language fluency is highly desirable, but it won’t make up for shortcomings in other areas.

And you will be handicapped should you try to apply to med school during college or immediately upon graduation because you don’t have a US state residency. Most successful med school applicants attend a public medical school in their home state. Because you and your parent(s) live overseas, you won’t be able to establish a state residency unless you live & work (and pay taxes, register to vote, and establish an independent domicile) in one state for 1- 5 years post graduation. (Residency requirements vary by state.) You cannot establish an independent state residency while attending college.

52

http://cas.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/cas/academic-programs/bulletin/departments-and-programs/department-of-chemistry/course-offerings.html

That course CHEM-UA 120 is not for science majors or prehealth students. (But you may want to ask if you can take it before taking CHEM-UA 125 to start the sequence needed by prehealth students.

53

You would be doing yourself a tremendous disservice to not take chemistry in high school if your long term plan is medical school. Everyone else in your college chemistry class will have taken at least general high school chemistry, and many will have taken AP chemistry. Pre-med is way too competitive to start without at least an exposure to the required courses, and chemistry is required for medical school.
I’d suggest you forget about medical school for now, and simply focus on college applications. It appears that you have several fundamental misunderstandings about the US college application process, and how competitive that process is, let alone how expensive college in the US is. Please take some time to research the process of applying to college, and let the medical school portion of your current plans go for now.

54

@ucbalumnus
I’m going to complete my one semester of chemistry but I dont think that’s enough for me to go straight into CHEM-UA 125…

55

@thumper1 I know that NYU is not my only option. I probably have a better chance at st John’s and fordham. St John’s only requires 1 year of high school science and even has a specific program for pre med. I just don’t want to feel like If i dont get into my top college (NYU) that i am a loser you know?
P.s speaking of st John’s does anyone know if it’s a good school?

56

@MarMarBunny02

What other colleges are you looking at beside NYU? You need to look way more broadly than just that one school.

I still don’t understand why NYU is the only school you are so set on. Hoping I’ve just missed that you are also looking at other, perhaps less competitive, colleges.

57

First, lots of people are rejected by NYU, and none of them are losers.
Second, if you don’t do the coursework in high school-specifically chemistry-you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage as a premed in college. It’s really that competitive.
Please, re-think your college search and planned field of study until you’re fully prepared for college level course work in the required courses(eg chemistry) because based on what you’ve written, you aren’t and won’t be prepared by the time you enroll in college. There are plenty of great colleges with solid pre-med programs; it appears that you’ve fixed your sights almost exclusively on one very selective school and are hoping to somehow glide past certain pre-med requirements.
Based on your previous posts, it may be in your interest to take a gap year, so you can complete the coursework necessary for pre-med, and take the time to find a set of colleges which you are interested in and can afford.
There are no shortcuts as a pre-med; everything counts from the beginning of freshmen year. And you shouldn’t shortcut yourself in your college search, which is what it appears you are doing. NYU is an awesome school
https://www.nyu.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admissions/nyu-facts.html
but those incoming first year stats are pretty remarkable; you definitely need backup schools. So take your time and find schools that are right for you.

58

@MarMarBunny02

One year of HS science for ADMISSION, not necessarily as sufficient preparation for Che 1210–which is the gen chem class for bio & chem majors (and all pre-meds regardless of their major).

The [pre-health program](https://www.stjohns.edu/academics/schools/st-johns-college-liberal-arts-and-sciences/programs/pre-health-advisement) at St John’s is merely advising and plus a timeline of suggested activities & classes posted to their website. This is not anything unique or special. Nearly every US college has a health professions advisor and holds regular meetings to inform pre-med, pre-dent, pre-vet, pre-PA, pre-PT, pre-OT, pre-any health profession student of the basics. The health advising office doesn’t find you volunteer slots or physicians to shadow. They don’t give you a list of programs to apply to, or walk you through the application process. They don’t provide MCAT prep. They just dispense advice (which can sometimes be terrible! since not all, perhaps even not most HP advisors have any particular training in health professions admissions policies & procedures.)

“Good” has a pretty hazy definition. How do you define good?

St John’s, like most any other college or university is the US, is a good enough school for a pre-med.

Just about any college/university in the US or Canada will offer the coursework you need to satisfy med school pre-reqs. Except for biochem, they’re all low level/intro level classes. You could even find most of them at a community or junior college. Med school admission officers really don’t have a huge preference about what undergrad an applicant comes from so long as they graduate from an accredited 4 year US or Canadian college or university.

This is a problem entirely inside your own head. You’re going into the college admissions process with entirely the wrong attitude. It’s terribly counter-productive to have a “dream” school. It’s Ok to have a dream (becoming a doctor), but you need to be open the many alternate pathways that will get you to your dream.

59

For your background, St John could be the better choice than NYU.

NYU is not considered a good pre-med school due to large science classes with harsh grading and cut-throat competition, plus high cost. St John is much friendlier in those aspects.

Why not getting into NYU would make you a loser? It is not an Ivy and its financial aid is terrible. On the other hand, St John offers scholarship to HS students with B+/A- (85%+ GPA) plus tuition-free to Ivy-caliber students. St John has a very strong Pharmacy program so its science depts are not bad.

60

Hi, I’m not sure how pre-reqs work at NYU, but I’m almost certain that you will, in fact, need to have at least one year of high school chemistry completed to enroll in college-level chemistry. Pre-med is not a major, it’s a concentration. Your major will most likely be a stem related major such as biology, chemistry, physics, biochemistry, or something in that field. At my college, if we did not take at least one year of chem in high school, we would have to take lower-level chemistry courses that will not fill the med school pre-reqs. I would definitely suggest you take chemistry in high school. Definitely aim for something higher than a 65, because all of your high school grades will be marked on your transcript. Use khan academy and youtube while you’re on summer break to get a grasp on the concepts present in the courses. Hope this helps.