<p>Here's my question:
How do APs and the MCAT work?</p>
<p>I will have taken bio, chem, physics, and likely organic chemistry as either AP or community college courses during HS. If I skip those college courses and decide to go to med school and take the MCAT... do you just not skip those courses? The medical career spends a long time in school, I'd hate to retake classes if I don't have to.</p>
<p>Or do you take the MCAT your first year of college? Or even in HS?? or... I keep hearing that you have to take the MCAT if you want to go into medicine -- do you even have to? Are there alternate routes?</p>
<p>The grades you got for AP tests and community college classes in general do not carry much weight in the eyes of med school adcoms. You in general do not have to retake these classes.but you are expected to take the same number of advanced BCPM classes to demonstrate your academic capability while taking a full load of classes. (Btw, in order to be fair to other students, many reputable colleges will not allow you to take fewer classes per semester no matter how many college level credits you have had before college.)</p>
<p>Most applicants take MCAT in the summer after junior year the earliest.</p>
<p>OP-- some med schools will accept some AP and co-enrollment credits. Some won’t. (CA medical schools don’t accept any AP credits, for example.) You will need to check each school’s requirements. There is book called MSAR (Medical School Admission Requirements) which is published every year that lists what each school requires.</p>
<p>If you want use AP credit to skip intro bio in college, you can (if your college allows you to–and not all colleges will).</p>
<p>The MCAT is required of all applicants. No exceptions. You can take the exam any time you wish, but your score is only valid for 2 or 3 years. (Varies by med school.) So it would be foolish to take it before you’re ready to apply.</p>
<p>Also, if you will be starting medical school in 2017 or later, you will be required to take the new 2015 MCAT (which will only become available in Feb. 2015). Med schools will not accepted the current version of the test for applicants in 2016-17 cycle.</p>
<p>You sound as if you want to shorten the length of time it takes to become a doctor. There are no shortcuts. Medical schools require you to have completed your baccalaurate before being admitted. And graduating early may be a bigger deteriment to your med school application than graduating in the typical 4 years. Younger than typical applicants generally have a more difficult time proving to the adcomms they are mature enough to handle medical school and fare less well in their applications than do typical-aged or older applicants.</p>
<p>The AAMC announced in August that its member medical schools will accept either the old MCAT or the new 2015 MCAT for applicants applying for fall 2016 admissions. (Students will be applying in the 2015-2016 cyle.)</p>
<p>For admission in 2017 and later the new MCAT will be required.</p>
<p>But note that many such programs do require that the student maintain a high college GPA and get a high enough score on the MCAT to maintain his/her MD program admission (though the interviews and other more subjective factors of normal MD program admission are skipped).</p>