<p>Hey everyone,</p>
<p>So Im going to college this fall with the hopes of continuing on to med school right after undergrad. Right now, Im in full IB and Im testing in 4 subject areas this year. 3 of these subjects have the potential to be counted as college credit (Biology, History, English). I am confused as to whether or not there is even a point in working my butt off and trying to test well in these subjects. Do medical schools count the credit? If I get the credit, will I be placed in higher classes...or will I just take completely different ones? Does it matter??</p>
<p>By the way, I dont plan on being a science or math major. Probably humanitites.</p>
<p>Thanks!!</p>
<p>Medical schools will not count any of these courses taken during high school, as a way of fulfilling premed reqs. Depending on which undergrad college you attend, IB (or AP, for that matter) credit is limited to a few subjects (in my school, an ivy, i was only able to get credit for one!). It will appear on my transcript and medical schools will see it, but that’s about it.</p>
<p>In general, the credit only helps you to be able to sign up for higher level courses. That’s it.</p>
<p>So, basically, even if I get SOME credit, Im just going to be coming into undergrad with the same academic standing as an average student? Im not eager to take higher-level courses (got enough of that in high school and i read that its not that helpful for med) so these IB credits arent really giving me any other advantages?</p>
<p>…great.</p>
<p>The IB program probably helped you gain admission into the college you will be attending. Now, you start all over again to get into medical school, and once in medical school you will start all over again to get into the residency program of your choice… :)</p>
<p>
I dunno. Maybe you learned something in the classes?</p>
<p>Sorry, I think I was being unclear. I definitely do not regret taking IB classes. I just feel ripped off. They make students pay a lot of money for those tests and go through a lot of review to prepare for them, and now I dont see the point. However, I do feel that the actual classroom experience and learning was valuable…but I could have gotten all of that without testing.</p>
<p>Hi everybody,</p>
<p>I’ve just finished my sophomore year (UW-Madison) and I just recently decided I wanted to apply to medical school (a little late, I know). I’ve also got a question regarding IB credits. Right now I have IB credits that lets me skip out of first semester Bio, first semester Calc, and first year of gen chem. I went to my advisor today and she tells me to NOT retake these classes but instead take higher level classes. I don’t know, but from what I’ve heard it’s better to retake these classes since they are requirements. What should I do?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>The requirements are 1 year of inorganic, 1 year of organic, 1 year of bio, and 1 year of physics, and maybe some english requirements for independent schools. You will notice that none of these requirements specify intro bio or gen chem. Two semesters of upper level bio would work just as well. The only thing to consider is the MCAT. Do you remember the info from IB classes well enough to succeed on your MCAT? If not you might want to consider retaking classes to re familiarize yourself with the info.</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick reply!
That clears things up a little. What classes do you recommend that can fulfill the reqs for a year of inorganic chemistry?</p>