<p>Let me start off by saying I don't really care which med school I go to as long as its in New York/New Jersey. I really hate mathematics courses and do not want to take calculus.<br>
Most schools I have been looking at have been saying you need one semester (Pre-calculus, or calculus, or statistics).<br>
If I get a crap ton of experience will they overlook me not taking calculus. I mean I seriously hate Math!!!</p>
<p>I would take pre-calculus instead if I can fore go it.<br>
I feel that calculus is going to put a very bad blemish in my good-looking GPA.</p>
<p>Then maybe a math/science-heavy career is not for you…?</p>
<p>Na I got an A in Bio 1 and Bio 2… So maybe it is thanks though. And yeah I worked at a hospital for the past two years, and it definitely is not math heavy, SOOO maybe this thread isn’t for you buddy.</p>
<p>Is medicine really a math heavy career? How much calculus do you think an average physician is using? I’d wager none.
If a med school requires calculus, there is no amount of experience that will make them overlook this. If the schools you want to apply to say they require math, then they do. It’s not a suggestion.</p>
<p>Medical schools require one year of “college level mathematics”. Pre calculus isn’t considered a “college level” math class. </p>
<p>And, no, if you don’t have the required pre-reqs, no amount of experience will cause an adcomm to “overlook” the missing course.</p>
<p>LOL nice try at being condescending. :)</p>
<p>@bodangles I Don’t believe calculus in itself is used on a regular basis in medicine. At least not by doctors. Perhaps biomedical-engineers use calculus quite a bit more.</p>
<p>Sapere31, only 19 medical schools have a math requirement, most of them being 1 semester of calculus and 1 semester of statistics. It would be wise to take calculus for a semester or two.</p>
<p>^It is more than 19 med schools, I think you said this on another post and I linked where you can find out how many it actually is (it’s closer to 50).</p>
<p>At Harvard, for example, “students are required to have familiarity with calculus.” <a href=“Admissions | Medical Education - Harvard Medical School”>Admissions | Medical Education - Harvard Medical School;
<p>You may not be aiming for Harvard, but…still.</p>
<p>I thought you were an engineering student and were going to be a commodities lawyer? How do you not have more than enough math to meet the pre-med requirements-and more specifically, how did you finish two years as an engineering major and not take math?</p>
<p>I switched from pre-med to engineering this year and now I a going back because I suck at math. I am retaking calculus 1 over this summer. This was my first year as an engineering student and I will still graduate on time so idc if I wasted a year.</p>
<p>Well, the quick answer is that each medical school has different requirements for math-for example, Georgetown Med clearly states that calculus is NOT required-a year of college level math is, and “statistics is accepted to fulfill the mathematics requirement.”<a href=“Box”>https://georgetown.app.box.com/s/qn0seqrn2iskx03wfia7</a>
Now regarding the MCAT-not sure what changes 2015 will bring.</p>
<p>So the best answer is take it just to be safe. I will suffer through it I guess. I hope I can get an A in it. Gonna need to get prescribed adderall for it probably lmao.</p>
<p>Yes, prescription drug abuse is very funny…I know you’re joking, but just to spread the word, adderall has been all but proven not to have any effect on those without ADD/ADHD.</p>
<p>If a school requires it as a prerequisite for an admission and you don’t take it, they will likely throw out your application before they even look further. So no, extra experience won’t make up for a required class.</p>
<p>Most medical specialties aren’t math heavy. Although a strong math background would greatly enhance your academic ability to become a great doctor.</p>
<p>Example: just last night a colleague called me concerned that he may have overdosed a patient. After being unable to find an article to guide us, I went to the pharmacokinetic data that the company provided to the FDA. Using calculus and extrapolating from the graph, I determined that the patient could not be harmed by the accidental dose. This saved a lot of problems that would have occurred if an overdose was suspected. Also, I’ve worked with attendings who used their superior statistics knowledge to easily determine the validity of published articles.</p>
<p>So, don’t skimp on the math!</p>
<p>You do not need calc at Med. School. However, what else you will count for math requirement? You have to check with adcoms of Medical Schools if they let you have 2 semesters of Stats instead. D. had AP credit for cals and one semester of Stats and it has worked. Stats are much more useful for medicine and it is an easy A at college.
Discussion here is based on everybody’s experience. You really need to check with the Med. Schools adcoms. D. did to make sure.</p>
<p>Did not see the comments " I seriously hate Math" before.
In this case, I am not sure if medicine is for you at all. How you are going to study Gen. Chem, Physics wihout math (both are required and USED in Medical school)? Impossible…</p>
<p>I don’t like calculus, I find it pointless and overly complicated. Algebra and Trigonometry are do-able for me. I can pass Calculus but I do not want to get anything lower than an A for any pre-reqs.</p>