Hi there! I am a freshman pre med student at UC Davis, and have a question regarding the English requirement at medical schools. I have a 4 on AP Lit and a 5 on AP Lang, which has given me “Pass” credit for ENL 003 and UWP 001, both writing intensive courses. I would like to focus on attaining a minor in Human Rights along with many major, so I am worried that taking a whole year of English will really put me off track. Is it necessary to take English when I have ap credit that transferred to my university? I was thinking of taking an upper division English class for one quarter to complete 3 total English classes, as well as continuing with human rights “writing element” classes? It seems that (according to https://oaa.rice.edu/sites/g/files/bxs1651/f/pdf/AP%20Credit%20-%20Allopathic%20Medical%20Schools%20%28Updated%20Summer%202019%29.pdf) taking English isn’t necessary in my case? Any advice is greatly appreciated, and I’m sorry for the long question!
There is no simple answer to this question. Different medical schools have different requirements.
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Some medical schools do not accept AP credits for English.
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Many medical schools require 2 semesters of" writing intensive" classes. ( Writing intensive are not necessarily English classes, but classes designated by your home college as writing intensive and fulfill your college’s writing requirement.)
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Some medical schools specifically require 2 semesters of ENGLISH classes
You should look up the specific requirements for any medical school you plan to apply to. You should especially check the requirements for ALL your state med schools.
As a Cali resident you will need to apply widely to many OOS schools to have the best chance for an acceptance. California is the largest producer of med school applicants in the country. And 2/3rd of successful CA applicants matriculate at OOS schools.
This means you need to meet the admission requirements for as many schools as possible. (Since you have no idea what your level of competitiveness for med school will be 3-4 years from now.) I strongly suggest that you not only check MD programs, but also the admission requirements for osteopathic schools too.
The other thing you need to know is that med school do not review transcripts for completion of pre-requisites until AFTER an applicant has been accepted and AFTER they have committed to enroll at the school and AFTER a final transcript has been received by the med school.
It is possible to be accepted, CTE to a particular school (which requires withdrawing from all other acceptances and waitlists you may have) and then find out you don’t meet a school’s admissions requirements.
BTW, you don 't get decide which courses are considered writing intensive---your college does. A writing intensive class is one that fulfills your college's freshman or upper classman writing requirement for graduation. You should be able to find a list of approved writing intensive classes in your student handbook or by asking at your college's writing center.https://writing.ucdavis.edu/about/university-writing-requirements-college has a list of writing-specific courses at UCD.
UWP 102B, 104A, 104E, 104F, 104T, and any relating to your major or minor may be of particular interest to a pre-med.
Thank you so much for the information. I was able to use the ideas you presented while meeting with Health Advising and now have a much better idea of what im looking at. Thanks for the helpful advice!