Junior in need of college class clarifications!!!

Applying to College
1

Hey guys, I am a currently a junior, and will graduate high school June of 2020.

Future aspirations: I plan on majoring in human biology with pretty set plans on going to med school. I will also be applying to a few BS/MD programs. I would like to start college in my sophomore or even junior year.

I don’t know what college classes I should take in addition to my APs. My school allows students to take classes at a nearby community college and receive credits towards college.

Courses offered by community college: Anthropology 101, Math 227 (stats), Math 261 (calc ab), Math 262 (calc bc), math 265 (idk what this is, it says intro to calc 1?), Physics 06, Physics 07, Poli Sci 01, Econ 01, Physiology 01, Sociology 01, English 102

Classes taken (Sophomore year): AP Bio, AP World History (and h english, algebra 2, aca deca, pe)

Current Classes (Junior year): AP Environmental Science, AP Comp Sci Principles, AP Lang, AP US history, Psychology 01. (and pre calc)

I plan on taking Anthropology 101 and Math 227 over winter (2018-2019)

Physiology 01, Physics 06 spring semester (2019)

Summer of 2019: math 265, physics 07.

Senior year: AP Chem, AP Calc AB, AP Lit, AP Gov, AP Spanish, Academic Decathlon, with Poli Sci 01, Econ 01.

Winter of 2019: Health, and a Art (counselor told me to chill lmao). But I would try to squeeze in Sociology and English 102.

Spring of 2020: Math 262.

Any things I should change or add? Please critique me! I won’t take critiques into offense!

I know this may seem ambitious, but I am a really hard worker. My UW GPA rn is 4.0, with a 4.33 W, and I am projected to hit close to or over a 5.0, haven’t done the math yet.

I also did research at UCLA, won a couple medals from speech and debate, high scorer on math/science for aca deca, and will hopefully research cancer this summer! And not to mention those cliche NHS, CSF, clubs, but all of my extracurriculars are for another post.

I am aspiring to get into an top 10 school, but chances are low for incoming freshmen, yet alone sophomore. I would much rather go to a UC and be an incoming sophomore/junior. Or better yet, be inducted for BS/MD.

2

It sounds like you are trying to take all of the dual enrollment classes so that you have advanced standing when you start college. Be advised that many top schools will not give you credit for these classes. Each school is different and some will not give credit if you earned HS credit for the class. Some may give limited credit depending upon the class and where you took the class. AP credits are a more straightforward because you can normally look up the college’s AP policy online. Lastly, be warned that if you take college classes while in HS, the grades that you get in the class will have to be sent as part of any Med School app regardless if your undergraduate college gives you credit or not.

It looks like you have duplicate math classes. Also, be very careful about summer and winter term college classes. The are a compressed schedule. They are likely at about 4x your current HS class pace. Some classes are hard (e.g. calc, physics) no matter where you take them. Compressing the time make it that much harder.

3

Remember, all college courses and grades, including those taken while in high school, will be included in your pre-med GPA when applying to medical school, even if your undergraduate college does not accept them for credit or include them in your GPA for its purposes.

Note also that you should avoid any optional repeats that will look like grade-grubbing to medical school application readers. For example, if you earn a 5 on AP calculus AB, taking calculus 1 at a college will be seen as a repeat. Medical schools also prefer that you take some of your science courses at a four year school, so if you complete the basic pre-med sciences at a community college, it is advised to take more advanced sciences when you get to a four year school.

There is no way a high school student can be “pretty set” with plans to go to medical school. Being a pre-med student (which can be done with any major) means going through an aggressive weed-out process. Most entering undergraduate pre-meds do not end up applying to medical school due to realizing that their GPAs are too low (need >3.7 to have a realistic chance), earning a not-high-enough MCAT score, or loss of interest. Of those who do apply, most get shut out.

Even BA/BS->MD programs are not as guaranteed as they are marketed to be. They typically are conditional on maintaining a high college GPA and earning a high MCAT score. Earning a >3.7 college GPA is typically much more difficult than earning a >3.7 high school GPA.

4

Thank you for the reply! Where do I have the duplicate math classes? Also, I will get in touch with UCLA and other UCs and ask if the classes I chose/AP scores I got/will recieve will get me the standing I am aiming for. And yah, compressing classes do make them really hard. With that in mind, in addition with the current work load I have with highschool, I will need to rethink my winter classes. Any suggestions or past experience?

5

Yeah, I am totally aware of the fact that these grades will go onto Med school. But just out of curiosity, would med schools lesson the severity of the class if it was taken at a community college versus university? Meaning grad colleges will see that there was probably less competition at the class I recieved my math credits from, thus picking someone else over me who took the same math class at a more prestigous place.

6

Yes, they do. If you take the foundational class at a CC, you need to take a more advanced class in the subject at a 4-year.

Be aware that UCs are notorious for drastic weedout and even after that don’t have the results you’d expect for the surviving pre-meds (UCSD being the worst from that combination to the point they launched an be inquiry). UCR is currently the “pre-med”/Med school UC.

In addition, you need to plan for the full 4years (perhaps all in advanced classes for a double major or something, if you’ve completed most UC core requirements) in order to develop medical activities and leadership.

Your strategy will be different depending on whether you attend a UC or a private university.

7

It would help if you had named the community college. But it looks like Math 265 (“idk what this is, it says intro to calc 1?”) may be a partial duplication of high school calculus AB.

UCLA AP credit: http://www.admission.ucla.edu/Prospect/APCreditLS.htm
Transfer credit from community colleges to UCs and CSUs: http://www.assist.org/web-assist/welcome.html

8

Math 265 is introduction to calculas with descrete math and geometry. And math 262 is calc ab. Would it make sense to take math 265 before math 262 as its an introductory class to calculas?

And thank you for the links!

9

Would me taking classes at CC give me an advantage over an incoming freshmen at say an Ivy if I would like to come in as a freshmen too? Wouldn’t this allow for me to take classes more relevant to my major or other activities/leadership as a freshmen over another freshmen that didnt take classes at CC?

10

Yes, taking CC classes and doing well in them helps but it doesn’t really give you an advantage over a random incoming freshman at an Ivy because almost all have taken advanced classes (some, VERY advanced classes). To distinguish yourself, you may go higher than typical, such as reaching college level 4 or 5 in a foreign language or even two, reaching classes above multivariable calculus, philosophy or economics classes that have pre-requisites, etc.
But all in all the expectation is that you’ll challenge yourself as much as possible.

  • the spelling is "calculus" (not sure if it's a typo but in case it's not)
11

It may better prepare you, but not give you an advantage over other students. At many schools that regularly get students into elite universities, the upper level classes are more rigorous than the local CC. That is why many top HS don’t offer DE classes.

12

Ah I see, that makes sense. Thank you so much!

13

I see. I am already taking a rigorous course at school. And if all goes well, I should be enrolled in 10/12 AP courses offered at my school. The two courses I wont be able to take due to schedule complications are physics and art. To make up for physics, I will be taking 06 and 07 at CC. I personally dont have much interest in art.