<p>also, if ur doing pre-med then u can't use AP credits. med schools don't take that</p>
<p>You can still use some AP credits. For example, in exchange for taking the honors gen chem sequence instead of the normal gen chem sequence I received 4 extra AP credits. You can also use your BioAP credits to place out of intro bio and take upper level bio instead. You can't omit gen chem or bio entirely but you can certainly use AP credits to place out of lower levels.</p>
<p>ya that's true.....but that doesn't help decrease the course load (sadly)</p>
<p>Actually it does. The more AP credits you have, the fewer the credits you have to take at Cornell. For example, you need 120 credits to graduate. If you have 24 AP credits, then you can take 12 credits a semester (which is the bare minimum) and still graduate in 4 years. Obviously, I don't recommend taking only 12 credits every semester but having AP credits allows you to have some light semesters w/o compromising your graduation.</p>
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Actually it does. The more AP credits you have, the fewer the credits you have to take at Cornell.
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<p>This is only true to a limited extent. My daughter will be entering Arts and Sciences in the fall with 30 AP credits. But Arts and Sciences requires its students to take 100 of their 120 credits in that college, so she can only count 20 of her AP credits toward graduation. Since there are several courses in other colleges that she plans to take as electives (none of which count toward the 100), she will actually use even fewer of her AP credits to count toward graduation. </p>
<p>Rules may differ in the other colleges.</p>
<p>My school, even though it funds the AP program sufficiently, recommends that we take those courses over again in college because of the difference between an AP class and an actual college course.</p>
<p>Good point Marian. The cap in CAS is 20 credits.</p>
<p>But if you're applying to medical school I think you are also not allowed to use AP credits to fulfill the pre-medical requirements (Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Cal...etc.)? </p>
<p>Again, you are not using AP credits to fulfill med school requirements. You are still taking bio. You are still taking gen chem. The only difference is that you can earn AP credits by taking upper level bio or gen chem instead of the lower level classes.</p>
<p>Another CCer gave this answer (same idea just different wording) </p>
<p>"It means that when a medical school tells you to take a year of physics, you can't say "But I took the AP!" You must either redo the class or take more advanced physics."</p>
<p>I have a question about Lab courses (for premeds) though. Are labs integral parts of every (or most) 100 level science courses? If they are, then does Chem and Physics courses at 200 level have lab components in them that can satisfy lab requirements for med school? Thanks guys</p>
<p>Chem 207-208 (gen chem) has lab and is acceptable for the gen chem requirement at med school.</p>
<p>Chem 215-216 (gen chem honors) also has lab and is acceptable for the gen chem requirement. If you have a 5 on the Chem AP test and take Chem 215-216, you earn 4 AP credits.</p>
<p>Physics 207-208 (general physics) has lab and is acceptable for the physics requirements of med schools.</p>
<p>Thanks norcalguy! But just do you know any more advanced physics courses that could satisfy the lab requirement? I checked physics 213 214 and 217, they didn't mention any labs in their description.. Does those courses really have no labs? I really want to use AP credits so I can take more advanced physics courses (going to major in AEP if not physics).</p>
<p>lol AEP stuff is way too advanced for me. You'd be better off asking other AEP majors. Physics 207-208 is probably too elementary if you're going to be a AEP major.</p>
<p>NorCalGuy (sp?) mentioned fast track pre-med. Does this mean only that you have your requirements and MCAT done early, or does it mean you actually have to graduate early? In any case, how many students do fast track? Thx</p>
<p>I'd say that most premeds probably do the fast track. That means intro bio and gen chem freshman year. Physics and orgo sophomore year. This means you can spend the summer after your sophomore year studying for the MCAT. Most students probably don't take the MCAT that early but they do finish the 4 science courses I mentioned above in 2 years. If you plan to graduate early, you definitely should do the fast track. If you're graduating in the normal 4 years (like me), you can relax the final two years w/o having to worry about med school prereqs or the MCAT.</p>
<p>Some of your advisors may tell you not to double up on sciences your freshman year or not to take physics and orgo together. I just call them wusses.</p>
<p>Oh yea, sometime before you graduate you have to take orgo lab as well. Most people take it while they're taking orgo lecture (which would be sophomore year). So you may have to triple up on sciences. But whatever.</p>
<p>Thanks, norcalguy. My D might be among the wusses :), or I might advise her to be, based on what I thought was +/- physics preparation in her HS. I am surprised orgo lab is separate from the lecture class. I had to take both together (in the stone age; note my screen name) as an undergrad, but orgo lab was fun, and a breath of fresh air, as compared with the lecture class, apparently designed to be the classic pre-med hazing experience.</p>
<p>The reason I can't stand advisors who advise their premeds to take only 1 science at a time is that in med school it's like you're taking 5 science courses at a time. If you can't handle more than 1 science, how do you plan to pass med school? This doesn't mean you take 5 sciences a semester at Cornell, but it does mean that it's not utterly ridiculous to take 2 or maybe even 3 a semester.</p>
<p>I thought orgo lab was fun too until I spilled some of my solution during one of the practicals and ended up with 10% lower yield than the rest of the class :(</p>
<p>for the engineering physics and honors physics classes, there is a lab component. However it's a pretty laid back lab and there aren't any lab reports or anything- you just go and do the experiment. For physics, it's more about being able to do the problems, and the labs just serve as a practical extension of that to help reinforce ideas.</p>
<p>WHAT? Why is intro to french difficult? I took french 2 years
in middle school (although that doesn't count as high school, so I'm taking intro). I might take Calc but probably 2nd semester or next year</p>