Junior Year Scheduling?

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
1

Hello Everyone!

I really need some help on what to take Junior Year and eventually Senior Year. Here are the courses I took in the previous years.

9th Grade-

Biology HN - A
Geometry HN - A-
World History 1 HN - A
English 9 HN - A
Spanish 2 - A
Computer Science

9th Grade Summer -

Algebra 2

10th Grade-

Chemistry HN
Precalculus and Trigonometry
World History 2 HN
English 10 HN
Spanish 3
Accounting

Here are the courses I’m planning on taking in 11th Grade –

AP Chemistry
AP AB Calculus
AP U.S History
AP Language
Spanish 4
Dental Career 1

Here are the courses I’m planning on taking in 12th Grade –

AP Physics 1
AP Statistics
AP Government
AP Literature
Human Anatomy and Physiology
Dental Career 2

I know the first two years’s electives were pretty out-of-the-blue becuase I was trying things out, I hope that doesn’t make colleges look the other way! Also I am taking Dental Careers 1 and 2 becuase they are the only Medical related classes in our school, everything else is pretty much a joke.

I want to go into the medical field (neuroscience), and I eventually become a neurosurgeon. I am a girl, if that’s any useful information? So my questions are as follows;

  • Is taking Physics in Senior year a bad idea?
  • Would colleges like to see AP Biology over AP Chemistry?
  • What do you think of the class rigor?
  • Is the class load too much for any particular year? In your experience, should junior year or senior year be taken as an advantage to take hard courses?
  • Is AP Statistics any useful regarding pre-med and such?

Thank you so much in advance!

2

Hey, so I’m also a current sophomore right now but have a bit of experience with these classes. I would say choose AP Chem over Bio, considering that Chem is somewhat more difficult (even after the 2015 Bio exam revamp) and is critical to any sort of medical studies. (Keep in mind that this is based upon my personal perspectives/experiences.) Also, regarding AP Physics, I would definitely advise you to take it. I’m taking AP Physics C this year and I absolutely love it (despite having no interest whatsoever in actually studying physics/engineering/etc at the college level). Your course load definitely seems rigorous enough and although some people will scoff at Stats, Gov, etc, as being “easy” APs, I really think it’s all a matter of what you put into the course. I personally thought Stats was an extremely valuable course, especially considering that the AP Bio exam has now begun to incorporate statistical concepts.

Overall, I would just say that you don’t need to have experience in the medical fields to get into a good “pre-med” program. In fact, you don’t even need to attend a “pre-med” program (or to major in biology, chemistry, etc) in order to be accepted into a good med school. Medical schools do like to see strong foundations in the liberal arts/humanities, and excelling in these areas might even help you stand out from the crowd. Just keep in mind that the journey to med school is quite long and difficult, and at any point, you may change your mind about being a doctor so it’s best to leave your options open.

3

Thank you so much! What are you thinking of majoring in?