<p>I took AP Chem and got a 3 and I was wondering is it possible to take organic chemistry freshman year?</p>
<p>Is there a particular order of classes when you get to college for Pre med?</p>
<p>Yes, there is often a particular order in which you must take courses in college. Except for introductory level classes, courses will have pre-reqs or co-reqs–meaning that you must take another course first before enrolling (pre-req) or be concurrently enrolled in a certain class (co-req).</p>
<p>With only a 3 in AP chem (equivalent to a C in college), I would strongly suggest you consider re-taking general chemistry in college to firm up your foundational chemistry knowledge & understanding before advancing to Ochem. (Gen chem is a pre-req for ochem.)</p>
<p>"took AP Chem and got a 3 "</p>
<p>You’re not that strong in Chem. You need to retake Chem. You’ll have an edge, so getting A’s should be easier for you (but don’t take that for granted).</p>
<p>You should be in NO HURRY to take Ochem. </p>
<p>"86/100 weighted : soon to go higher due to calculations
Rank 24/242 : soon to go higher " "
SAT Math+Cr = 1100
total Sat= 1730 superscore ( tied for 3rd best in my senior class)
APs- Chemistry (3) English(3)
Senior Year Course Load - 5 AP’s
Physics b, Comparative Gov, Calc AB, English Lit, Statistics
Hispanic and income less than 40k
"</p>
<p>Ok…SLOW DOWN.</p>
<p>You’re seriously lacking in foundation. You need to get that foundation otherwise you’re going to crash and burn and likely do poorly on the MCAT as well. </p>
<p>since it looks like you go to an inadequate high school, you need to rebuild. If I were you, I’d plan on doing a glide year so that you can carefully take your classes.</p>
<p>I’m concerned that taking bio and chem freshman year may destroy your GPA.</p>
<p>With a 3 in AP chem you should 100000000% not go straight to orgo. Take intro to chem or general chemistry or whatever they call it at your school. Do not skip anything.</p>
<p>what do you mean by inadequate highschool @mom2collegekids
assuming a little bit too much based on my average stats… </p>
<p>and yeah I was pretty much thinking it was a no. </p>
<p>A 1730 superstore is simply not a good enough score to be worthy of being the 3rd best score in a class. For example, I went to a private school where half of my class got over 1500/1600 (not superscoring). That’s a pretty strong indicator that there is a big difference between the academic level of students at a school like the one I went to and one like the one you go to.</p>
<p>For APs, no one ever got a 3 on an AP exam (at least if they did - I certainly never heard about it because it was considered to be a really bad score. At my school it was expected that you got 5s in anything you were interested in, and 4 was ok if it wasn’t your area of interest). </p>
<p>You’re going to be in classes with people like that and everywhere in between. At most colleges you’ll have to compete with people like that for As. You definitely don’t want to make the transition to college any harder than it already will be.</p>
<p>I came to that conclusion based on the fact that your SAT was a high score for your school. At good schools, your score would be lowish. The fact that your score was high for your school means that the problem isn’t that you’re a “bad test taker,” it means that the education system that you’ve been exposed to is weak.</p>
<p>I also came to that conclusion based on your AP scores. At my kids’ school, students were expected to get 4’s and 5’s. If you got a 3, you weren’t allowed to take anymore AP exams. My kids got all 5’s on their AP exams, except for one 4 where my son self-studied for an exam (AP English comp)…and all he did was take a couple of practice exams first…then took the test.</p>
<p>If you truly want to become a doctor, then you have to proceed VERY carefully otherwise you’re going to get weeded out. Your premed classmates will be stronger than you are in most cases. Their GPAs and test scores will be in the mid-to-high 90th percentiles.</p>
<p>I don’t know where you’re planning to go to college, but stick to good schools where you can get the foundation that you lack and proceed from there.</p>
<p>Anyone planning on medicine skipping any science class based on a 3 in bio/physics/chem does not have what it takes to do well on MCAT or next level classes.</p>
<p>Passing a class in college is not as important as getting close to A- or A in science classes for someone aiming for medicine. For that, the foundation should be at least a 4 if not 5 to skip a beginner class.</p>
<p>Your 1730 superscore is with all three sections, right? Do you realize there are people who score 2400s? That is 670 points higher than you. I got a 2350 superscore, 2330 regular. I don’t now how yours is so highly ranked at your school, but it is REALLY LOW anywhere else!</p>
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<p>The OP has been advised previously about the level of competition and the importance of keeping a high gpa for med school admissions:</p>
<p><a href=“Chance me + Advice - Hispanic Students - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/hispanic-students/1577271-chance-me-advice-p1.html</a></p>
<p>Good advice. Thanks for clearing that up for me. Good example @I<em>wanna</em>be_brown
And thanks everyone else. I knew 3 was low, I just didn’t know if it could get me to freshman Orgo. I definitely know I need to take Gen chem again to brush up on ALOT, because a 3 is low… Thanks @mom2collegekids !! </p>
<p>@I<em>wanna</em>be_brown , 2 years ago a kid from my school went to Brown, and my schools avg SAT score based on college board, is like + or - 1200. I kind of want my school to reach for those high schools even if they have a little chance, and that’s basically what I’m trying to do. </p>
<p>When you took AP classes, did you buy prep books on the side to study or was your class/teacher sufficient for you to get 5’s? Basically, I’m self-studying in my AP physics b class because my class isn’t truthfully working like an AP class should, and it isn’t going so well. Any tips or advice? (May is the exam) </p>
<p>The last AP exam I took was in 2005 so I’m probably not the best resource but I generally did no self studying outside of taking one practice exam a week the month leading up to test since our exams weren’t the same timing/format as an AP. I never took AP Physics (at my school, it was literally impossible to take more than 2 AP sciences so I went with bio and chem). For bio and chem, my baseline score (i.e. the first practice test I took) was a 5. They used to sell the free response questions for teachers to purchase and my AP chem teacher purchased them every single year so my entire class would get a packet of literally decades worth of questions. No one got less than a 5 in that class, even the kids who weren’t getting As in the class.</p>
<p>When I was in high school, our physics teacher was a former college professor whose post doc work was part of a nobel prize winning team (he’s not one of the people named as a winner but his work contributed to his boss winning it). I doubt those kids needed a lot of outside work to learn the material for the exam.</p>
<p>For my other standardized tests (SAT, MCAT, USMLE Step 1), I have found test prep materials to be very useful.</p>
<p>Again for reference, 2 years ago 1 kid from your school went to Brown. I think now my school sends about 1/3 of the class to the ivy league, and that’s declined from where it was ~10 years ago right before the college application numbers exploded (Brown currently gets twice as many applications as when I applied).</p>
<p>Thanks @I<em>wanna</em>be_brown . I guess practice exams and just diving in the material will be the best idea. </p>
<p>"Choosing chemical engineering as major just for the rigor "</p>
<p>oh yikes. </p>
<p>You have a 3.3 UW GPA…your Math I SAT subject test was too low to send. I do not think you should be a ChemE major if you want to go to med school. I can almost predict that if you go that route your GPA will be lowish in college and not be med-school worthy. </p>
<p>Seriously, if you REALLY want to be a doctor then you need to make careful and wise choices. I’m concerned about your reasoning skills. Even the subject of this thread is so wild-haired that it shouldn’t have even been a question. </p>
<p>maybe you don’t realize how much math ChemE majors have to take. and, maybe you don’t realize that med schools don’t care about “rigor” of major. </p>
<p>I wanted to do chemical engineering because I was interested in it after a summer program I attended.
Whether or not, Rigor of a major is not going to stop me from taking it and I don’t want to do it just because med schools would look at its “rigor”. I happen to actually like challenging things Whether I get a 3.0 or a 3.9, I will do chemical engineering, because I can see myself being happy in that career, if Medical school doesn’t work out. Happy is the key word 
It was a well thought out decision. After a few weeks, I decided I will major in Chemistry. (95% of schools I applied to, my intended major is Chemistry) </p>
<p>Just since its on my chest:
Regardless of my high school stats, if I want to do engineering, I will do Engineering, I don’t care how hard it will push me to work or how much I will struggle, If I stay committed to something, I will finish it. I don’t care how low my SAT math score is, or whatever. Education is 50% motivation. I KNOW MANY people who had lower SAT scores than me and didn’t even take the AP classes I do, And they have a Bachelors Degree in Chemical Engineering. </p>
<p>Another Note: I am truly happy that I can receive advice from you, something 1000% needed in my case. BUT when your telling me my GPA will be low in college, it is an opinion and I wont take it offensive, rather as positive criticism.</p>
<p>Quick anecdote: When I was in 9th grade, I had so many teachers who belittled me and I wasn’t taking Century Honors courses… Many of them also said I wont be able to handle AP classes. Now that I am in the 12th grade, I developed better than many students I see in top schools in Manhattan and I have received better SAT scores. (I know many people). Moral of the story: Regardless of what my high school stats look like or how I look like compared to others, I WILL graduate with over a 3.7 and pass all my pre med courses with a B and higher, and as for Medical School, In Gods willing, I will make it there regardless of my major :D</p>
<p>Sorry if I ranted like an emotional kid, but some assumptions aren’t even opinions to be weighted. </p>
<p>It’s good that you have such good motivation, but it’s important to be very aware of your background and potential challenges that you may have. It’s easy to say now that you’ll graduate with an engineering degree and a 3.7+ GPA, but it’s easier said than done. I’m not saying don’t do it or it’s not possible, because of course, it is. But I’ve seen a lot of students who were top of their class in high school, who found college tremendously more difficult in terms of the amount of work, the type of reasoning expected, and/or the emphasis on tests and the independent learning that was expected. And your comments really strike a chord with me because I’ve heard them all before from friends and from students I’ve tutored or taught, and not very many succeed–at least, not to the level that you are (or they were) aiming for. I’ve just seen this situation play out a lot of times before, and in the majority of cases, it’s the students who take on more than they can handle who really struggle. One or two bad semesters could potentially tank the likelihood of you getting a 3.7+, and getting only B’s or better in your pre-med courses certainly isn’t going to help that. And, of course, be aware that you’re going to be competing with students who aced their pre-med courses, and because they didn’t have to spend as much time on their schoolwork, were able to have more enriching activities outside of the classroom to strengthen their application.</p>
<p>I’m sure you’ve heard this before, but I just want to caution you about rushing head first into things. Take it slow and make sure you have the academic foundation that you need to succeed before you press forward. That may mean taking advantage of all of the your school’s tutoring/office hours/help room availability. That might mean re-taking courses you have AP credit for, or even taking a lower level course (your school may offer a class below typical beginning level courses for college students–such as a course before general chemistry or calculus) to make sure you have a really solid foundation. That might mean taking a lighter course load, or spending more time on course work or in study groups or with a tutor. You know that your high school preparation may not have been as excellent as others, so be aware of that and proceed with caution. Don’t make things harder than they have to be.</p>
<p>You say that education is 50% motivation, but I’d argue that that other 50% is preparation. With a relatively weak high school background, you may find that you have more groundwork to cover in college. I’m not saying it’s impossible, and I’m not trying to discourage you. Just be cautious and realistic. Wanting to start organic chemistry your freshman year with a 3 on the AP Chem test suggests to me that you may not be as aware of potential challenges as you should be.</p>
<p>An eye opener. Thanks honestly for your comment, it is 100% true. Even though I might not have a great high school background, I have goals and I will do my best to meet them even if I will struggle or need tutoring. </p>
<p>WannaBe… good for you. Seriously. I’m glad you have that ‘can do’ spirit. Since you’re asking those who have already gone through this, or parents of kids who have, we try to pass on realistic advice. You won’t get extra credit for starting too quickly. Might as well build your foundation and go slowly at first. </p>