<p>Just wondering if one needs to be really great at math to do well in med. I've always had A's in math up to AP calculus, now i've got like a 85. Math doesnt come really easy for me though, i have to study a lot. However, I am pretty good at science (4 on AP chem.) and really good at english and creative thinking. any ideas?</p>
<p>No, you don't have to be a math genius. I got C's in AP Calc my senior year of HS.</p>
<p>There are only a few medical schools that require more than a semester of calc in college. If you're college has an algebra based physics class, you can even take that and not require any more calc. There is no calc on the MCAT.</p>
<p>Math genious-ness isn't necessary. However, you do need to have a VERY firm grasp of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. On the MCAT, you're not allowed to use a calculator, so if you're stumbling over things like 6.1E10 * 8E-3, then you might be in for trouble.</p>
<p>If that's the case, you've got some time to build up your math skills.</p>
<p>After my specificity and sensitivity lecture today, I would like to say that understanding statistics and being able to math in your head (even just the basics) is important.</p>
<p>Calc helps a lot on ion channels and such.</p>
<p>The point is not that you have to be good at numbers, or even that you have to have a strong track record in math.</p>
<p>But I do think that being able to analyze things quantitatively, having a firm idea of what a derivative is intuitively, understanding bell curves and probabilities, etc. is all pretty important for a lot of things in life - whether med school, economics, sociology, political science, etc.</p>
<p>Math matters.</p>
<p>my topic is a litttle old now, but I'm still contemplating medical, prob. not MD but maybe a veternarian or Physican assistant. Our AP calc. is graded on a curve, so our teacher gives harder tests. he even said that he "expected" most people to make 84-86, getting an A in that class is tuff. I'm good at basic #'s though, and i always had high A's in math before this class.</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore math major in college who is already in grad-level classes, but that will not help me in any way, shape, or form in med school. Medicine is more of the basic sciences and not so much about crunching numbers (or the theory of mathematics, if you get to those classes).</p>
<p>so i'm still struggling through AP calc and getting ready for the AP test. I'm not that great at math, but i think i can manage it.</p>
<p>Like I said, I got C's in AP Calc my senior year and didn't even attempt the AP exam...retook Calc 1 in college for an A, and was done with math...</p>