Do I need to take both Physics Mechanics and Physics Electricity and Magnetism?

[ucbalumnus]

@Dreadpirit

If you are a HS student, note that almost all classes you take for AP credit in HS need to be retaken in college if you are applying to med school (I believe the only exception is Calculus).

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/214382-coursework-p1.html does say that medical schools will accept higher level courses in the same subject area in substitution for pre-med courses skipped by AP credit.

@bluedevilmike

AP Courses: The sad fact is that many medical schools do not accept AP credit, at least for some of the important requirements. They will always accept higher-level courses (i.e. biochem instead of genchem), but you should plan on taking classes as if medical schools do not accept AP requirements.

However, in the specific case of physics, the physics sequence for biology majors and pre-meds does not lead to higher level physics courses, so pre-meds with AP physics B/1/2 credit will find that to be useless. Pre-meds majoring in physics may find AP physics C credit to be of use if their school accepts it in substitution for introductory physics for physics majors, since they will be taking lots of higher level physics courses anyway. Pre-meds not majoring in physics with AP physics C credit that is accepted by their school need to either retake introductory physics or take more advanced physics courses to fulfill pre-med requirements at many medical schools.