<p>hey man, did you have to take the chemistry placement exam at orientation since you were pre-med?</p>
<p>question: do you guys think Halpin would let me come on for EVERY office-hour session? i really like to listen to other students questions.</p>
<p>Hey…i saw all ur posts for the pre-med at nyu, and i had a couple questions since u sound like u know what ur talking about lol i dont see many ppl around here that no about nyu…</p>
<p>first off, i live in california…i applied early decision to nyu and i want to major in neural science (as nyu calls it) or neuroscience. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Is pre-med the wrong major for me if im not like a top student? i got a 4.1 weighted 3.73 unweighted (which i think is higher than some ppl who actually got accepted…) but my sat scores kind of suck. i got an 1800 total and did bad on subject tests. i know they said i could submit ap tests too but i only got 3’s on calc and english language…so i submitted both but i probbly shouldnt have done subject tests. oh well.</p></li>
<li><p>do u know anyone who got in with around my sat scores and gpa?</p></li>
<li><p>what do you think are the pros and cons of nyu?
for instance, if i got in i would review ur pros…and if i didnt…ur cons. lol</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Great thread even if its a year old. What should I expect on the placement exams? Also we take Chemistry and Biology in the same year? I thought it would be separate years.</p>
<p>^ The placement exams were fairly easy if you’ve taken AP Bio or AP Chem</p>
<p>Yes, you can take gen chem and bio in the same year - look, there’s no such thing as a “Pre Med major” or program really. Pre-Med just means you have to take some intro science classes if you want to apply for med school. Basically you have 4 years to take: Gen chem, biology, physics, organic chem, calc, english - you can take them whenever you feel like. If you’re a Science major, then obviously it would make sense to do principles of bio and gen chem right away freshmen year. If you’re a non-science major, I guess you can pick any order you like.</p>
<p>So how does it go, half a semester bio half a semester chem. Or both are full semesters and you end up taking two science courses. Two at a time seems extremely challenging/hectic.</p>
<p>^ Not hectic at all. Students generally take 4 classes/semester. If you’re a science major, naturally most of your classes will be science courses. I’m a chem major; I generally do 3-4 science classes each semester. Once again, in college, you pick the classes. If you want to take 4 science classes as soon as you get there, you can do that. If you’re a non-science premed, you can spread out the requirements over 4 years if you like. </p>
<p>Gen Chem and Principles of Bio are year-long courses, divided into parts 1 and 2. Same with Gen Physics and Organic Chem. All the courses have mandatory labs. I think you have to get a C in part I to continue to the next.</p>
<p>So what’s recommended? Do most science majors take Intro to Bio and Intro to Chem their freshman year?</p>
<p>You don’t all have to do the exact same thing in terms of scheduling. I was a chem major, and this is how I took my pre-med/major coursework.</p>
<p>Freshman:
Honors Gen Chem I/II
Calculus II/III</p>
<p>Sophomore (I studied abroad in London the first semester):
Orgo I/Honors Orgo II
Physics I/II
Intro to 19th Century British Lit
Writing the Essay</p>
<p>Junior:
Gen Bio I/II
P-chem I/II
MCAT</p>
<p>Senior:
chemistry electives</p>
<p>The advantage of taking Orgo and Physics as a sophomore was that I could study abroad in London as a sophomore. In retrospect, it also turned out to my advantage to delay bio until my junior year. Physics was hard for me, so I was glad to have gone through all of the relevant material before starting studying for the MCAT - if I’d waited until I was a junior, I would’ve had to learn some topics like optics on my own. In contrast, bio was easy-peasy, and by the time my April MCAT date rolled around, we had finished all the topics that could be tested on the MCAT even through Gen Bio II wasn’t yet over.</p>
<p>omg you took honors principle of chem… what did you think of it? i’m going to be a bio major and i’m thinking of taking it. should i?</p>
<p>
I reccommend you take Gen Chem right away freshmen year; this makes most sense if you’re going to major in Chem, Biochem, Neuro, or Bio since gen chem is a prereq for just about everything. I also reccommend you take Calculus I freshmen year if you haven’t done it in HS. </p>
<p>Since you’re a Biology major, it makes sense for you to do Principles of Bio I and II freshmen year. Shades_children and I are chem majors and bio is not a requirement for us, but for you it’s a prereq for every class in your major.</p>
<p>Honors Chem is harder than regular, but the grading is a lot more lenient.</p>
<p>So Calculus I Gen Chem, and Gen Bio for the first year? I am taking Calculus I in high school but NYU doesn’t accredit it, they place you in Calc I again. </p>
<p>How much math do you need for med school requirements? </p>
<p>On top of the two sciences and a math, I would have to take that english course and a foreign language course. Isn’t that a lot?</p>
<p>
Hah yeah, you wouldn’t be allowed to take those 5 classes at once; 18 creds is the limit and gen chem is 6 credits. So I reccommend that if you choose to do gen chem I and bio I 1st semester freshmen year, you do 2 map classes with it, or 1 map and 1 elective. This is a good schedule for a freshmen because it’ll allow you to adjust to a college workload. You have 4 years to finish foreign language, you don’t have to take it right away. </p>
<p>Also, math requirements vary from med school to med school. Most require 1 semester of calculus as a minimum. Some require 2 semesters of math; one must be calc and the other can be your choice (statistics, discrete math, whatever). I know Harvard requires calc I and II but i can’t think of any others.</p>
<p>Thanks Alix. I guess I’m still worried that taking both Gen Chem and Gen Bio in one year is a lot, but if I don’t have to take many other classes with it I guess that’s good. </p>
<p>Can someone tell me the layout of most schedules for people who do a pre med track at NYU? </p>
<p>And I am goiing to try the hardest I can to study my foreign language before orientation and try to get out of the class or else I know I will die.</p>
<p>There is no layout for people who do a pre-med track, because it depends entirely on your major. If you’re a science major, you need those intro classes like gen chem right away. If you’re a non-science major, you can spread them out. </p>
<p>Non-science major: they usually take gen chem right away, either with bio freshmen year or they do bio soph year with physics or orgo. Then junior year they do the science they haven’t done yet. I notice people often save orgo for junior year, some people think it’s the hardest of the pre-med requirements.</p>
<p>Biology: Take gen chem and bio freshmen year or soph year at the latest, otherwise it will be extremely hard to graduate within 4 years</p>
<p>Neuro: Very important to take gen chem and bio right away, this major has a ton of requirements. For example, you can’t take Intro Neuro or MolecCell Bio without gen chem or principles of bio, you can’t take MolecCellNeuroBio without Physics, chem, bio, intro neuro, behavioral integrative neuro, etc…You need to plan well for this major!</p>
<p>Chem or Biochem: principles of bio isn’t required, but you should obviously take gen chem asap so you can get to organic chem, pchem, biochem, etc…</p>
<p>Just talk to your advisor once you get there, they’ll explain everything.</p>
<p>You’re not allowed to take more than 18 credits a semester?</p>
<p>You CAN take more than 18 credits, but:</p>
<p>you pay out of pocket for every CREDIT over 18
you often need approval from your advisor
it’s often not recommended because it is a LOT of work</p>
<p>How is the neuro major. I am a Neural Science major so I am curious is it worth it, will it hurt my GPA in the long run since I want to apply to med school? What is interesting about it and what are the benefits? </p>
<p>Also is it possible to get tests for different subjects on the same day meaning if i take two sciences would I get tested on both the same day. I just don’t want to bog myself down with taking two sciences, since I’ve never done it. I have taken the APs for these courses though, but don’t remember much, so I will have to review over the summer.</p>
<p>Will any APs help me as a pre med student or a student majoring in the sciences?</p>
<p>Interesting…I somehow re-discovered this thread while searching for pre-med related things on Google. I’m surprised (and glad) that it’s not dead yet.</p>
<p>Anyway, in terms of NYU’s policy regarding AP credits, this list might help a bit:</p>
<p>[New</a> York University > College of Arts and Science > MAP](<a href=“NYU”>NYU)</p>
<p>There’s another link with better explanations but unfortunately, I can’t seem to be able to find it.</p>
<p>Some things to consider:
- You should forfeit any AP Bio/Chem/Physics scores and take the equivalent courses at NYU. These APs are only generally used by non-science majors who wish to place out of the Natural Science requirement. I scored well enough on the placement exam during orientation to place out of Principles of Bio entirely but my adviser told me that due to the poor performance of previous students who went straight into Molec/Cell, they recently amended the rule so that it’s now impossible to place out of Principles. Scoring well enough on the chemistry placement exam will allow you to take honors, but I don’t think skipping Gen Chem is a possibility. I’m not sure how physics works, but most pre-meds end up taking General Physics unless they are physics majors so I don’t see the value of AP Physics, especially for someone who is not majoring in the subject.
- A score of 4 or 5 in most AP language exams (I think there might be exceptions) will allow you to place out of the foreign language requirement. I placed out by scoring well enough on the AP Spanish Language Exam.
- As far as I know, AP English Language & Literature do not place you out of Writing the Essay or the other half of the 1 year pre-med English requirement. I took both in high school and I still ended up taking WTE and a random English class. It’s possible that they are of some use to English majors though.
- Some History APs “might” exempt you from the Social Sciences portion of the MAP requirements. (I got this information from the other link that I can’t find, but the link I posted above doesn’t mention this. Therefore, I’m not sure if this exemption still applies. I took an archaeology course to fulfill this requirement even though I had credit for AP US History since at the time, I was not aware of the possibility of being exempt from this requirement.)
- If you took Calc AB or BC and obtained a 4 or 5, they are equivalent to Calculus I and Calculus II, respectively. Either one will satisfy the Quantitative Reasoning requirement but if you only took AB, you might want to consider taking Calc II in order to have 1 year of math. A decent number of med schools require one year of math, although for a couple of them you can also use AP Statistics to satisfy the second half.</p>
<ul>
<li>Keep in mind that if an AP exam doesn’t exempt you from a requirement, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the score is useless. NYU will accept a lot of APs just for credit. I got 4 credits for AP World History, which I was told in high school has no equivalent course in college. In the end, if you have a lot of AP credits and don’t have too many electives that you want to take, it’s possible to graduate half a year or even a year early depending on what you decide to major in.</li>
</ul>