<p>Hi I know that med school requires one year of physics with lab. But can I take one year of physics with one semester of lab or one year of lab. Because I have AP credit for lab 1 and my advisor told me to use it.
Also he told me the MCAT was going to change in 2014.</p>
<p>MCAT is changing, but the new changes won’t appear until Jan 2015. New material will be included. (Genetics, biochem, cell & molecular bio, stats, research methodology plus a new social sciences/humanities section which may include psych, soc, anthro and medical ethics.)</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of getting AP credit for lab, but if the AP credit shows up on your official college transcript with the same course number that the college lab has, you should be good. </p>
<p>Still to be sure, you can check the AP acceptance policies for the med schools you’re most interested in. (Email the dean of admissions, ask and SAVE the email responses.)</p>
<p>WOW, I know I’m stealing the OP’s thread, but since you mentioned it…</p>
<p>Will the 2015 MCAT be more difficult than the current MCAT? I know it covers more topics than the current one. So does that mean it won’t be as ‘in-depth’ in the individual topics as the current MCAT? I’m a freshman and will be taking the MCAT in 2013-2014, but in the event I don’t get into medical school the first time, I might have to retake the exam in 2015. DX</p>
<p>OP, In general, it is better to consult with your premed advisor, not the advisor your department assigns to you. Many premeds might be ill-advised by the departmental advisor (who usually is a professor or somebody who knows very well about how to follow his step and get into the academic track like him, but not necessarily knows how many hurdles that medical school admission system intentionally puts there (maybe to help simplify their job because after all medical school admission office tends to be understaffed as compared to the UG admission office.)</p>
<p>^ KAPLAN once published a “research” result that shows that, whenever the test format/content is changed, the test takers as a whole tend to get a lower score. I am not sure whether these companies try to use the “scare technique” to scare the applicants into taking their courses or not though. Also, most standardized test is “coachable” to an extent – meaning that if you are very familiar with the test format, you will more likely gain some points.</p>
<p>Baylor–at this point no one knows for sure. Just a whole lots of speculation… But what IS known is that the new MCAT will be 7 hours long (up from the current 5.5 hours) and will have 4 sections. BS, PS, Verbal and Social sciences. The writing section will disappear.</p>
<p>The current speculation is that the BS section will longer and /or more intense while the PS section will de-emphasize physics in favor of stats, methodology and chem/biochem.</p>
<p>^Kind of mixture of good and bad news. BS section is already the hardest, well Verbal is hardest for some, but they cannot do anything about that. “De-emphasize physics in favor of stats, methodology and chem/biochem” is good news, as physics is harder PS, while others being the easiest classes in UG (stats, Gen. Chem, Biochem). 7 hrs is incredible, since even 5 needed huge brain stamina. Make sure to have snacks even if it is 5 hours. It was my D’s biggest mistake as her hunger was killing her in second part of MCAT test.</p>
<p>The 2011 pre-med freshmen are really unfortunate to face this uncertainty. It is a good idea to get MCAT and other EC’s done in 2014. There will be a lot of students with gap years to compete with you.</p>
<p>What additional courses should I take to prepare for the 2015 MCAT?</p>
<p>So back to physics…is one lab enough? And thanks for all the MCAT info.</p>
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<p>This is one of those ‘depends on the school’ answers. I looked up one UC (mid-tier public) med school and it clearly states that AP credits will not be accepted for the premed requirements.</p>
<p>I just looked up a private med school (USC) and it too, will not accept AP Credit.</p>
<p>^^ From the USC website:
“Credit from Advanced Placement (AP) tests will not be accepted to fulfill course requirements. When applicants have used AP credit to bypass introductory science courses at their college or university, upper-division courses may fulfill the course requirements.”</p>
<p>This policy is actually very common. Often the substitution is not one-to-one. For example: one semester of advanced physics would cover a two semester intro physics requirement.</p>
<p>Correct, but the OP did not indicate that s/he would take an upper division physics lab course instead…and on another post, the OP indicates that s/he is a Bio major, so upper division physics is probably not required. </p>
<p>(My posts tend to stick to the ‘facts’ presented.)</p>
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<p>That’s good to know. I usually assume that people asking questions would like to know ALL their options, not just a small subset.</p>
<p>Oh, and then there are lurkers that use this site, who would probably appreciate more information. </p>
<p>(My posts tend to stick to the mission of this site.)</p>
<p>@toothsweet,</p>
<p>are you certain about only having 1 AP physics lab credit? I’ve never heard of such a thing. How would this happen? There is no exam for AP physics lab.</p>
<p>Baylor–genetics, cell & molecular bio, biochem, and stats for sure. </p>
<p>Since no one is quite sure in what form or how the social sciences will be tested, that’s a tougher call.</p>
<p>
If we eliminate “& molecular” from these quoted phrases, “genetics, cell bio and biochem” happen to be the REQUIRED courses that must be taken by every bio major at DS’s UG college. Most students in that department complete these 3 mandatory classes before the end of the fall semester in junior year.</p>
<p>I guess this would be the norm at most other colleges as well. So most students on this typical bio premed track would likely take these classes without any extra efforts.</p>
<p>I really has no idea about the difference between cell bio and molecular bio. At DS’s school, molecular bio is just an intro bio for freshmen who have taken AP bio in high school – which likely include almost all (bio or biochem related) science major premeds.</p>
<p>I got credit for physics B which gives me credit for phsyics 1 and lab.
I was planning to take higher level physics 1 and 2 but only take lab 2.</p>
<p>@mcat2</p>
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<p>I’d say it’s school dependent. D2’s school offer 4 or 5 different bio major concentrations and not all of them require (even for BS students) biochem, genetics, cellular or molecular bio. </p>
<p>Her school also offer three different genetics courses–all with different content and emphasis. And mid-level courses in both cellular bio and molecular bio–again both with different content and emphasis. (Cellular bio covers “organelle structure and functions, membrane biogenesis, cytoskeleton, cell signaling, cell cycle growth and death”; while molecular bio covers “molecular mechanisms of gene replication, gene expression, and the control of gene expression in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. Topics include: enzymatic mechanisms of DNA replication, recombination and repair; transposable elements; DNA transcription; RNA splicing; RNA translation; repressors, activators and attenuators; recombinant DNA and genetic engineering”. Content definitely NOT covered by an intro bio class.)</p>
<p>D2 is on the ‘typical pre med track’–i.e. a bio major, but her sub-field doesn’t require any molecular or cellular bio, nor biochem. (But D2 took biochem anyway because our state med school requires it for admission.)</p>
<p>@toothsweet,
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<p>You never mentioned your major. AP Physics B is a survey class intended for non-science majors. It will usually get you credit for the lowest level physics class in college. IF you now plan to take a calculus based physics sequence for science majors (the AP Physics C equivalent) then I don’t see how a lab credit for AP Physics B will help you. Just retake the whole class. After all, it’s only 1 credit hr. :)</p>
<p>When I was in high school, my program advisers insisted that I take AP Physics B(because I had never before taken a physics class) even though they knew I intended to major in a physical science. I had to appeal to the superintendent to overrule them. I’m glad I did since I received credit for 8 hrs. of Physics for Science and Eng. majors and only have to take one more semester to complete the 3 semester sequence. This one semester of physics at my university is also ok with all the MSs to which I plan to apply.</p>
<p>I’m a bio major. thanks</p>