<p>So I took clac 1 and 2 this summer at a local private school. I got an A in calc one but a B in clac 2. How will this play out in the medical school admissions process? Will it look bad that I got an A in clac 1 but a B in clac 2 ? Do med schools even require calc 2? This applies to D.O schools as well. Does it look impressive to take two levels of calculus over the summer? Also I know med schools want all of your transcripts, so do they add them all up into one GPA? I transferred schools so that means that I have 3 transcripts. One from my previous school, one from my current school and one from the school I took the classes at.</p>
<p>No one’s going to care how you did in 2 relative to 1, beyond the fact that it lowered your sGPA/cGPA. I can’t remember which are the required courses. It probably won’t look impressive, because as everyone on here has said, adcoms look down on summer courses, due to their often-easier content. Yup, they add them all up into one GPA; it might not be a direct one-to-one adding across the schools, but I can’t say for sure.</p>
<p>Don’t worry, one B won’t kill you. :)</p>
<p>Quote: adcoms look down on summer courses, due to their often-easier content.</p>
<p>Really?! I know a lot of people take summer classes to save money. And I keep hearing that summer classes are harder because its at a much more accelerated pace. Did I just screw myself over by taking those two classes over the summer? I mean I took them because transfer students at my school need to take clac 1 and 2 in order to become bio majors.</p>
<p>Really. </p>
<p>The general advice is to NEVER take a pre-req class during the summer*. As Tito said summer classes are often considered less competitive (because less competitive students are the ones who tend to enroll in summer classes) and often cover less content due to the shortened time period.</p>
<p>No, you didn’t screw yourself. It’s two classes out of the 45 or so that will be on your final transcript.</p>
<p>*Exception–if you take one so that you can take a higher level course in the same department in the fall.</p>
<p>Why did you take them simultaneously? Typically, calculus 1 is a prerequisite to calculus 2.</p>
<p>Many med schools do require calculus. Only a handful require more than 1 semester of calculus. Each med school has it required/ preferred mathematics requirements on its admissions website. You should look them up. (Or look them up in MSAR.) Many schools also require a semester of statistics.</p>
<p>When you go to compute your cGPA and sGPA as part of your med school application, every course at every college you’ve attended plus any co-enrollment credits from high school will get included. This is true for both allopathic and osteopathic medical schools.</p>
<p>And, no, completing 2 semesters of calculus over the summer isn’t going to impress anyone.</p>
<p>quote: Why did you take them simultaneously? Typically, calculus 1 is a prerequisite to calculus 2.</p>
<p>To get them out of the way. I’ll enter as a bio major now</p>
<p>oh I see. I didn’t. Clac 1 was in session 1, May 28th - July 2nd, and calc 2 was in session 2 july 9th - today</p>
<p>Calculus II is considered by nearly all Calculus students to be considerably more difficult than Calculus I and it is common to get a lower grade in Calculus II than in Calculus I. As an Astronomy major as an undergraduate I knew quite a bit of Calculus when I went to medical school I never had a chance to use it. Doctors do dozens of calculations each day but none of them will require any math beyond a good grasp of high school Algebra.</p>
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<p>Apparently, it is a research topic when something beyond that is needed:
<a href=“http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/17/2/152.abstract[/url]”>http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/17/2/152.abstract</a></p>
<p>I was told though by my pre med adviser that I could take math classes at other schools. Only the science classes should be taken at the home school but Calculus is very commonly taken over the summer. That’s what she told me and I know a lot of pre med students who did the same.</p>
<p>Oh and another thing, is algebra based physics alright for med school? I’m taking it instead of the calculus based.</p>
<p>Algebra based physics is what most students take. I think only Harvard HST and maybe one or two other programs require calc-based physics.</p>
<p>Not all colleges offer a non-calculus-based physics course that would be allowed for pre-med course requirements.</p>
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<p>Columbia09, just curious but do you go to Columbia? Things could have changed but DD was a pre-med at Columbia a few years back and that is not what she was advised. They wanted a very good reason for taking any pre-med reqs away from Columbia during the summer…and not just to create some breathing room by getting some classes out of the way or to save some $$. At the time I had the impression that one is supposed to show that they can handle the heavy course load by slugging through the pre-med stuff from Sept - May.</p>
<p>No i go to Penn State. But this was the adviser at my old school. She said math isn’t that important with med schools. At least not as important as the science classes.</p>
<p>My feeling would be that for medical school admissions commitees, the most important single piece of information in your application is your MCAT Verbal score. Particularly during your first two years, but in the others as well, the ability to read, comprehend and remember huge amounts of written materials is the most critical skill you can have. I think a 10 or better is what they are looking for and if an applicant had scores of PS-15, BS-15, V-7 they would have a hard time getting even one acceptance.</p>