FSH for a pre-med kid

<p>During the final couple months of senior year in high school, I was fortunately accepted into the Freshmen Science Honors Program at USC, which allows me to take advanced versions of the typical General Biology (BISC 120) and Chemistry (CHEM 105) courses during my freshmen year. In addition, I will have the opportunity to be able to interact with the professors at an apparently much more profound level, while also taking various field trips to scientifically fascinating areas. Of course, there are more perks to being a FSH student, but I have been told (perhaps erroneously so) that medical school admission committees don't really care whether or not I take an advanced level course. It's mostly about the GPA and the MCAT (which in my mind means, no more of that "a B+ in AP will be just like an A in regular").</p>

<p>Assuming that these rumors I've heard are true, I have a couple questions.</p>

<p>1) I scored a 5 on both AP Biology and AP Chemistry, which will allow me to skip the biology and chemistry courses of the fall semester, thereby freeing up my schedule and allowing me to pursue other minors and majors. Considering the fact that I may wish to pursue an engineering major (in place of my major now) and / or a business minor while still completing all the medical school requirements, is it better that I drop out of FSH? (for clarification, FSH does not allow participating students to skip the bio and chem courses of the fall semester)</p>

<p>2) Do medical schools require that I take a fall semester's worth of bio and chem? </p>

<p>Thank you in advance for your help. I know I'm asking for a lot of answers, but hopefully I will find someone willing to help a fellow Trojan out :P</p>

<p>Fight on!</p>

<p>“Considering the fact that I may wish to pursue an engineering major”
You should NOT drop out of FSH if you are even considering Engineering, which requires chemistry and Physics classes . C and P Honors classes are also taught by the best profs from those depts. Regular Chem and Physics classes are very crowded and you would probably be bored as well in the Chemistry class. Do not give up the opportunity to take these classes. </p>

<p>Med schools dont care which classes you take, only that you are prepared for med school- The MCAT, and you GPA are the filters that weeds out unprepared med school applicants.</p>

<p>I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that most medical schools hesitate to accept AP credit (even if you scored 5’s on the AP tests) and want you to take your university’s general biology/chemistry courses.</p>

<p>Check out this thread from 4 years ago: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/214382-coursework.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/pre-med-topics/214382-coursework.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>@menloparkmom
I have absolutely no doubt that the classes themselves will be outstanding, but is it possible for me to be an engineering major while still completing all my medical school course requirements, especially considering the fact that I really wish to pursue a business minor?</p>

<p>^^sure, but fyi, you may not be able to do both in 4 years…
The engineering program is very rigorous, has a LOT of very smart students[ hence the grading curve can be brutal] and you need to plan your schedule very carefully to do more than just an engineering major, unless you plan on taking more than 4 years to graduate. Lots of prerequisites are offered in sequential order- miss 1 semester of a required class and you may have to wait a year for it to be repeated, ESPECIALLY the Freshman honors math and science classes.
Saitsuzen,
Students receive AP credit in Biology or Chemisty only for 1 Scientific GE class requirement-. It doesn’t get students out the more advanced sciences classes required[ or recommended] for pre-meds- like Organic Chem for instance…</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/ARR/articulation/apexams.html[/url]”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/ARR/articulation/apexams.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Right, but what I’m bringing up is whether or not AP credit gets students out of the general science classes required/recommended for pre-meds by medical schools.</p>

<p>^^ An AP class MAY get you out of 1 FRESHMAN level prerequisite level science or math classes- that’s all! And it MAY not be a good idea to skip that class, if it makes science subsequent classes that much harder !</p>

<p>[USC</a> ARR : Articulation : AP Waiver of Course Prerequisites](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/dept/ARR/articulation/apprerequisites.html#medicalschool]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/dept/ARR/articulation/apprerequisites.html#medicalschool)</p>

<p>An Important Note to Students Interested in Medical School</p>

<p>“Even though AP scores may place students into a higher level biology or chemistry course, many medical schools do not accept AP credit in lieu of college-level course credit to fulfill admissions requirements. Students interested in medical school should consider carefully whether it is in their best interest to enroll in foundational science courses notwithstanding AP credit in these areas. If you are a potential pre-med, please discuss this issue with an advisor in the Pre-Health Professions Program.”</p>

<p>If USC counsels against pre-meds skipping prerequisites, then I would not ignore their advise.</p>

<p>This idea, that taking foundational science courses at your university is beneficial for medical school, was what I was referring to. Thanks for finding that note from USC, menloparkmom.</p>