not taking physics in high-school and it's effects on medical school admissions

Applying to College
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<p>I have just finished my junior year in high school as an Ib ( International Baccalaureate ) student in IB1 after coming from a background that is about 360 degrees different from IB and leaving my country. For people who go through such transitions , they would get enrolled into normal high school without any second thoughts, but my parents though it would be better if i challenge myself to the extreme by directly taking IB, even though it is quite difficult. My subject were: </p>

<ul>
<li>Biology HL ( for medicine)</li>
<li>Chemistry HL (for medicine )</li>
<li>Arabic HL ( since i can from an arabic curriculum and had an advantage in it )</li>
<li>English SL</li>
<li>Economics SL ( since history was the only substitute and it needs strong english that i don't have to some extent) </li>
<li>Math studies ( since my coordinator said that medicine "supposedly" doesn't require SL and HL , though after research i found out that university's actually require more and to cover the gaps i might need to take some extra math remedial classes in college ,that is , it i was accepted in the first place) .</li>
</ul>

<p>I had averages for each term of 80%+ throughout the year. My highest one was in the second term ( 87%); because we didn't have exams , only quizzes in that term . My final average was low ( 82%) as my final exam marks were not very high , mostly 70's and 60's in my HL subjects. I left IB yesterday because of the fact that i'm pursuing a medical career and i need higher marks, and to top that off i'm more likely to apply to universities that do not recognise IB that much. I feel scared that if i continue IB and get low marks then i won't be accepted into most med schools , noting that i DO have the potential and i can get higher marks since i'm used to it now. Regardless, i moved to high school and so i have some concerns for Medical school admissions..</p>

<p>My school has a policy that i cannot take 3 sciences at the same time , as i have to choose between Biology and Physics. I am obliged to choose biology since i want to be a med student, but will the fact that i haven't took physics since 10th grade affect my admission in someway ? or is it okay if that occurs and i just take a physics course in the first semester of college?</p>

<p>My second question is : Considering i had low marks in 11th grade because of IB, while other high school students took 95's easily without studying and working half the work IB students do , and assuming i had a much higher GPA in my senior year since i switched to normal american-curriculum high school (honours) , will colleges actually take it into consideration that my marks were low since i was an IB student ? and that if i was high school instead i would have took much higher marks ?
I am really confused and need help. </p>

<p>PS: I will redue my SAT and TOEFEL at the begging of next year until i get the highest.
I've been generally a straight A student ever since i was small.</p>

<p>For additional details just ask !</p>

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<p>There are no specific high school course requirements for medical school in the US. Most do not care about IB HL or AP tests either (though a few may accept them for a calculus requirement in their pre-med course list).</p>

<p>However, high school physics is often listed as a prerequisite for university physics; you would be at a disadvantage in a university physics course without having had high school physics.</p>

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<p>Are you planning on applying to a guaranteed application program and/or accelerated med program</p>

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<p>I think the OP took Physics in 10th grade in his home country.</p>

<p>" i haven’t took physics since 10th grade"</p>

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<p>I’m puzzled by this comment. While “logical” I have not seen formal (rather than advisory) high school course prerequisites for college courses at least in the handful of colleges with which I’m familiar. What I have seen are test scores (such as SAT or AP) that if high enough let you skip introductory colleges course, or perhaps an evaluation process, such as a qualifying exam that the college may insist that you take (often in foreign languages or math), as part of a course placement process.</p>

<p>To the extent that college courses are faster paced than high school ones you, if you have never taken physics in high school, you will no doubt have to work harder in an introductory level college physics course than students who have taken a physics course in high school. If you are a strong potential medical school candidate catching up should not be a big deal.</p>

<p>In practice most introductory college physics courses start from square one: they don’t assume significant prior knowledge.</p>