<p>Hi, I am a high school senior entering UT Dallas as Biology Major with intention to pursue the Pre-Med tract. I just have some general questions, how many hours do you suggest taking as a freshman and what classes should I take? In addition I am taking the Calc BC AP exam this year. I know there are medical schools that require you to take a year of math when you are actually IN college. With this the choices I have now concerning math either involve not taking the credit and taking both Cal 1 and Cal 2 together (this is the BS degree requirement even though I am currently enrolled as intending to graduate BA I want to start with a few BS requirements just in case I want to switch). Or taking the credit and doing Cal 3+Statistics with life sciences. Is it possible to take only the Cal 1 credit and take Cal 2+Statistics? In addition is Cal 3 hard? For me Cal 1 and 2 have been pretty easy but some topics we have skipped that are not in the AP curriculum but in the college curriculum so right now I am leaning towards just taking Cal 1+ Cal 2 as GPA boosters and in addition taking Statistics with Life Sciences as an elective as statistics is applicable in med school. Of course I still want input on whether I should pursue Cal 3+Statistics as well as gain input on how confusing and rigorous Cal 3 is.</p>
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This is what I would do or at least Cal 1 and Stats. There is no need to take an advanced Calc class just for medical school.</p>
<p>stats and calc 1 would be my recommendation as well. Stats is honestly my hardest class in med school so far lol. Regret not taking it in college</p>
<p>I did a little research today and it seems a lot of med schools don’t have a math requirement at all while some require one semester of stats OR calc or just one year of math with a preference on stats OR calc and an upper level math course. Would med school see my forgoing the ap credit as a bad thing? I mean i’m really good at cal 1 even tho cal 2 doesnt come to me as naturally and i do not want them to think i am not challenging myself. right now i am considering taking stats w/ life sciences, probability, and an upper level calculus course (my math teacher suggested me to avoid cal 3 altogether and do another class like proofs or DiffEq) I will discuss more with the pre-med advisor wen i go to orientation but for the time being do you guys feel that me not taking college calculus will hinder me compared to other applicants? this is a really tough decision for me</p>
<p>but as of now my two options that i am considering are forgoing my ap credits and doing Cal 1+2+Stats w/ life sciences or doing Stats w/Life Sciences+Probability or another statistics related course+Diffeq if i feel up to the challenge. i would just hate having to forgo my credits but if taking calc in college will up my application vs. other applicants i will be happy to do so.</p>
<p>If you are not sure, and your major does not require any more math than BC or calculus 2, you do not have to commit on a math decision in freshman year, since you have plenty of time to decide whether you want to take calculus 1, 2, or 3. In that case, you can take statistics first semester and defer the calculus decision.</p>
<p>Deferring the calculus decision can keep open some options like:
- If you drop pre-med, you need not take any more math at all, unless required for your major.
- If you change to a major requiring more math, you can start in as advanced a math course that you can handle, and not “waste” your AP credit.</p>
<p>One way to check which math course would be right for you is to review the calculus 1 and 2 final exams at your college to see if you know everything in them.</p>
<p>Remember that many students repeat their AP credit, so the grading curve in calculus 1 may not be an “easy A” as some students may assume.</p>
<p>You should take your AP credits, then just take stats. Stats will be useful in variety of situations–including in research labs. (BTW, you will be taking stats again in med school.)</p>
<p>Your math requirement for med school will be covered and you can use the space in your schedule to take whatever other courses you’d like.</p>
<p>One datapoint: D2 loved probability. Thought it was both interesting and fun.</p>
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You don’t list HS courses on your MS application so how would they even know you opted out of using your AP credit. I disagree with WOWM regarding using the AP credit. Some schools don’t even accept AP credit and most HS classes are diluted or cover much less material than the equivalent college course. Worst case, the class ends up being review for you and earn an A in it which obviously helps your BCMP GPA. Unless you are a double major you should have plenty of room to take interesting classes.</p>
<p>As of now I have no intent to double major but I have accumulated a lot of credits to cover some basic requirements. Thanks for the advice guys 
at this point i think im going to forgo by ap credit and take cal 1 again but ofc i would still like to receive more input to make the optimal decision for me. I do want to pick up a minor however…and if it gets to the point where i want to double major i can always take a few summer classes</p>
<p>While you don’t list HS classes on your AMCAS application, if you do send your AP scores to your college, they will be recorded on your transcript. (And most schools record them as course equivalents.)</p>
<p>By not sending your AP scores, you forever close off the possibility of claiming your credit at a later date.</p>
<p>~~~ </p>
<p>Consider adding math as a minor–improves your employability should med school not happen for you. If you take AP credit for Calc BC, you’ll only need 3-4 more classes to complete a math minor.</p>
<p>Is there anyway to send specific scores to my college? For example I wish to claim credit for APUSH and other classes but may not want to send my BC score in so it is not recorded on my transcript.</p>
<p>Score reports are cumulative. If you send one AP score, you send them all. </p>
<p>You may be able to cancel or supress a specific test result. Please consult with the college board site to see what options are available.</p>
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That is only true if you choose to obtain credit for those courses. My daughter took multiple AP classes but the only one she used in college for credit was Psych and that is the only one that appears on her transcript. What are you basing this information on?</p>
<p>not true wowm. You send score report. School has the report on file. You choose which ones you want to get credit for. The ones you dont claim, no one will ever see</p>
<p>D2’s school recorded ALL her AP scores on her transcript–even those which her school does not allow students to use for credit or advanced standing. (i.e. Biology)</p>
<p>It must be a school-specific thing as to whether unused scores are recorded or not.</p>