Hi, I’m a high school student planning on majoring in pre-med. I am most likely going to graduate high school with my associate’s degree, because I dual-enrolled at a state college for my junior and senior year. I wanted to know what my undergrad schedule would be like if I attempted to finish undergrad in two years, keeping in mind that I already have 60 college credits (Ex. When would I take the MCAT etc.) Would it be a smart or dumb decision?
Thanks
What pre-reqs have you completed? Your schedule is going depend on what and how many courses you still need to fulfill admission requirements.
Be aware that med schools are transitioning to competency based admissions where specific courses are no longer required, but applicants are expected to demonstrate thru coursework or activities a high level of competency. Part of the reason for the transition is to encourage applicants (particularly those with DE and AP credits) to challenge themselves with higher level coursework.
You should not plan on sitting for the MCAT until after you’ve completed your basic coursework in biology, physics, biostatistics, English, psych, sociology and a full 5 semester sequence in chemistry though biochem. Biochem and biostats are tested heavily on the MCAT. After you’ve finished the MCAT pre-reqs you’ll need of period of intense, dedicate MCAT prep–anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months depending on how much time you can devote to prep–and you should not take the exam until you are consistently hitting your target score range on full length practice exams.
(MCAT scores are forever, There is no score choice for the MCAT. Every score from every exam gets reported to every med school you apply to. The “best practice” recommended by the AAMC and used by most med schools averages all scores–even those taken as long as 10 years in the past. Adcomms strongly prefer a single strong MCAT score from applicants.)
Since adcomms will want to see 2 full years of grades from your 4 year college when you apply, if you graduate in 2 years, you’ll need to wait until after graduation to apply. Applying immediately after graduation will require you to take at least 1 gap year before starting med school.
Med school admission is difficult for younger than typical applicants for 2 reasons:
maturity. The default assumption is that a 20 year old is not mature enough to handle the delicate interpersonal interactions between doctor and patient. The onus will be on you to demonstrate your maturity.
lack of ECs. Stats are only part of the admission equation. There’s saying: Your stats get you to the med school door, but it’s your ECs that get you invited inside for interviews.
With only 2 years of college, you will be lacking when compared against your peers who have had 4 years to develop their EC vita. BTW, starting college resets your ECs. Things done during high school don’t get included on a med school app.
Adcomms will want to see all of the following ECs: physician shadowing, particularly in primary care fields; long term clinical volunteering; long term community service with the disadvantaged; leadership positions within your ECs; hands-on bench or clinical research experience.
The med school application process takes a full year. You will apply in June to start med school in August of the following year. You will not be able to update your application once it’s been submitted so you need to have your ECs completed BEFORE you apply. If you graduate from college in 2 years, you will probably need to take a year or two after college graduation before applying to build a strong EC resumé
So the decision is up to you, but I don’t see how graduating in 2 years is going to significantly speed up your timeline for getting a med school acceptance.
^^^ Then there is Doogie Howser MD, OP maybe in his camp.
Seriously, why you have to apply med school in two years even you may have the credit from your dual enrollment? As stated by WOWM, you need at least 2 years in a 4 years college, you are not going to save much time, perhaps only a year. One year does not make that much time consider your ensuing learning years from med school to a fully board certified practitioner is around 8 years average(4 years med school and 1-4 years residency and more years for fellowship).
Let’s see, some of the top pre-med mistakes… finish college early, double/triple major, hard science/engineering majors, super-hard schools(MIT, CalTech, Princeton…), many EC’s,… your choice…pick any…LOL
DD transferred 65 credits when started as Freshman. She is going for (4+4) BSMD. What is hurry to graduate in 2 years ?
No one majors in pre-med.
^^Except at Penn State
Thanks for giving such a detailed answer.
I haven’t done any pre-reqs, because I was told to avoid doing any high-level classes at my local state college that I’m dual-enrolling at. I imagine that because of this, the process will become infinitely harder since I would essentially have to do all the major classes during freshman year. However, the only classes that I have to do complete my degree are the pre-reqs. Do you think it’s feasible to finish in three years, then?
Feasible? Yes.
Good idea? No.
Overloading on science & math classes is the surest way to tank your GPA.
Even my hyper achiever admitted in retrospect that taking 4 science & math classes plus the required labs while also doing research and engaging in other ECs was a bad decision on her part. She earned her lowest GPA of her college career that semester.
What’s your major?
Surely you need to take more classes than just your med school pre-reqs to complete your bachelor’s. A major typically requires about 36-45 credits of mostly upper level coursework. So unless you have a non-science major where you’ve already finished 36+ credits, I don’t see how your statement can be true.
Notre Dame also has a premed-type major, called PreProfessional Studies (why I have no idea):
https://science.nd.edu/undergraduate/sample-curricula/preprofessional-studies-sample-curriculum/
I plan on majoring in biomedical sciences or any other science degree. I’m on track to graduate high school with 60 college credits that will transfer to whatever university I go to as my general education courses. Because of this, I’ll only have 60 credits left in my degree, and since I’m majoring in biomedical sciences those remaining 60 credits are also med school pre-reqs.
OP, go ahead with what you think is okay and shoot yourself in the foot while you’re at it. @WayOutWestMom has two kids who are now Dr.s, and is as knowledgeable as there is. Your plan is not a smart one, but let us know how it works out for you.
Science majors-- like engineering majors–have some pretty strict course sequencing. There are pre-reqs and co-reqs you need to complete before you can enroll in upper level courses. Additionally, depending upon the size of your college, not all electives are offered every semester. Or even every year.
I recommend that you get a copy of the the course catalog for your college and use the school’s registrar’s site to see if you can fit in all your major courses & med school pre-reqs into 3 years.
If you decide you want to finish, and are able to finish in 3 years–then it’s your call.
BTW, what’s your Plan B?
A Plan B is an alternate career that you would be happy to pursue just in case med school doesn’t happen for you. This is not a dig at you. Every pre-med needs a Plan B because only 40% of those who apply to med school get accepted. (And 75% of freshman pre-meds never even get to the place where they are applying to med school.)
Maybe you could use some of the space freed up by your DE credits to add a second major to bolster your post-college employability. Just in case. Biological sciences majors have very poor employment prospects. And not just at the BA/BS level. Even at the PhD level bio majors face pretty bleak employment prospects.
FWIW, both my Ds had a Plan B career in mind during undergrad (medical physics for one; biostatistics and healthcare policy for the other) . And both had a second major in mathematics that offered a huge boost in their post-college employability and dovetailed nicely with the Plan B careers.
I presume you’ve checked with the specific colleges you’re applying to about this because as a general statement about all colleges it’s not true. There are a fair number that do not allow courses taken in high school to count. My three boys went to three different colleges. Two allowed their high school college courses to count. One did not (the highest level one). FWIW, their high school college courses weren’t on par with those their peers at the 4 year schools took (their opinions), so be wary if expecting to have as solid of a foundation as your peers in your college classes. That will depend upon the material in the courses and how they compare - not the syllabi, because those can be similar, but what was actually covered.
From what I’ve seen regarding high school students and whether they should expect credit is worthy or not, check with the professors in the dept at your destination school. They’ve often seen enough transferring of credits to have a good idea.
DS18 entered with over 60 hours of credit between AP, DE and CLEP. He was only one class short of having all gen ed requirements covered. Despite this there is no way he can complete requirements for a BS in Biology in two years because of the sequence of courses and required prerequisites. Graduating in three years would be possible but require him to take 30+ hours of biology classes in the third year. Not to mention trying to cram the rest of what makes a competitive application to med school (prep for MCAT, shadowing, research, ECs, etc.) into a condensed time frame. No thanks, no three year plan for him. He’ll use the time to make the most of his educational experience and in the process make himself a more competitive applicant.
Guess it has been done though. Here is a real life example.
This is unique situation though. Last two years of HS spent in unique STEM HS where you are able to take all your med school prerequisites.
There are students in Texas who University of North Texas and take the same classes as the college students in a program called TAMS for 11th and 12th graders. These count as real college credits for medical school admissions. However, if someone did an associates degree in high school, it might be good enough to get a job outside but the level of material covered in science classes would not be sufficient for medical school preparation or MCATs. AP and IBs barely cover it.
Once upon a time,Associates it might have been good enough to cover liberal arts credit requirements in college. I would say they dont cover the depth required for MCAT test after MCAT has been expanded to count for 50% liberal arts. It would mean that one needs real college level prep to be able to do well in these areas.
So getting an associates degree is not the right way to go about preparing or eliminating college courses if one is aiming to do medicine. I would recommend attending a school which ignores most of those credits forcing you to take classes in college required for MCAT prep and medical school.
If you are very clear about medicine career and have no other innate desire to experience/extend college for 4 years for any reasons, sure you can develop a plan for 3 years to achieve your goal.
FYI. My D chose the path of 3 years, though it is a 4+4 program she joined. Had 83 credits in AP/CLEP/DE etc. But still did 108 credit hours in UG college. Not all of them to meet any req per se. But more due to her interest in some subjects or if she liked a Prof.
Re: college courses taken while in high school
But then wouldn’t the student have to mark the courses as “repeat” on the medical school application, making it look like grade grubbing?
When a college accepts the classes you are bringing from high school, they list them on their transcript with or without a grade. Colleges who dont want to give easy credit usually assign a specific equivalent class on their curriculum and if the student takes that class, that credit goes away (base level physics equals physics B AP and if taken again you lose the credit for AP). AAMC and TMDSAS dont accept AP or IB credits unless also accepted by the college and listed on their transcripts.
Associates works differently since it is considered direct college credit and all college transcripts do need to be submitted to AAMC/TMDSAS. However, if the college one attends does not accept those credits, I assume those organizations and med schools don’t hold it against you since it is the college’s policy.