<p>My daughter, a 2nd year student at a large Canadian university (dual US/Canadian citizen), is planning on applying to med schools in the U.S. The Canadian university she attends prohibits students from taking any classes for which they have AP credit; thus, she is not/cannot take the general biology class with a lab that she needs to meet med school requirements. Additionally, med schools wont accept AP credit in lieu of this requirement She is having difficulty finding and fitting another bio class with a lab into her schedule to meet this requirement (e.g., all are upper level classes that require prerequisites that she otherwise would have no reason to take). </p>
<p>Any suggestions on how best to solve this problem? Advising at her current school is not helpful in this regard. She is scheduled to graduate in 2016 and is considering taking a gap year before med school. Could she take a general biology class with a lab locally during a gap year?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, her university views the AP Biology credit as equivalent to the full year course and will not allow her to register for it or for the lab.</p>
<p>AP Bio often covers 2 semesters (one year) of bio.</p>
<p>My son did use his AP Bio credits. For the “next level” courses, he took Bio Chem, Cell Bio, Genetics and probably something else that I’m not remembering.</p>
<p>What about Anatomy? or microbio? or physiology. </p>
<p>The courses don’t have to be upper division.</p>
<p>a lot of colleges provide a full year of credit for a 5 in AP Bio. I believe that UT-Austin does the same.</p>
<p>OP:</p>
<p>she either appeals her situation to the college – they all have ways around the bureaucracy – or she takes a couple of bio classes with lab. In addition to standard bio, Micro-cellulur, Genetics and Physio might work.</p>
<p>Yes, she could take the bio during her gap year, but she’ll need bio prior to taking the MCAT.</p>
<p>AT some schools, they strongly advise NOT to skip the very first Bio, despite of 5 on AP exam. It depends on school. that is the only person who should be ansering this question is a pre-med advisor who is familiar with the school program. D. said that wihtout her taking this very first class (“A” in AP Bio, 5 on exam), she would not be able to be successfull in her next classes. She took lots of upper Bio. Cell Bio, Bio Chme, Genetics, Microbio (was par of her first Bio), physiology, Anatomy, lots of Neuro / Psych related classes (Neuro minor)
In D’s UG, the very first Bio went thru AP Bio material in the first 2 weeks, then they moved on. Now you understand why they were advised not to skip it. Again, it depends on school.</p>
<p>While perhaps true, that is irrelevant since the OP’s kid attends a school that has a policy for the opposite. (UCSC has a similar policy, and will not allow one to reject the AP credit. Doesn’t make sense to me, but that is their policy.)</p>
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<p>Which is also irrelevant since your D did not take Gen Bio. (Not sure why you continue to raise a nonsensical point.)</p>
<p>I often wonder what schools that require using AP credits would do if kids just delayed having their AP credits sent to their college until AFTER they’ve taken the desired courses.</p>
<p>I don’t think that Bio II is really needed for premeds, so I can see a student taking Bio I at their univ, and then having their AP Bio credits sent to get the Bio II credit…and then moving on.</p>
<p>the problem is that CB does not allow score choice for AP reports. And most kids want to earn some credit, whether it be from AP Eng or AP lang, etc. In particular, if one does not present a satisfactory on the SAT-CR, Subject Test or AP score (3), UC will require an entering Frosh to take Entry Level Writing (formerly known as Subject A and derisively known as ‘Bonehead English’).</p>
<p>So the AP credits can come in handy for Orientation.</p>
<p>Of course, that may only work for AP courses taken senior year. I would assume that most applicants list their actual AP scores on their UC app (to boost their chances). Thus it may be hard to then take it back. :)</p>
<p>I can’t find them online but someone sent me a document from UT premed advising on what they need to take and what else they can take when they have AP credits to fulfill premed requirements. Since we have no idea what premed advising does at OP’s child’s school, we have no way of knowing what their policies are. I would be surprised OP is the first kid encountering this issue at a large Canadian school.</p>
<p>I checked McGill (as one source) and found that they require AP scores be sent prior to matriculation. If you take a course for which you have AP credit, McGill will not provide credit for that course (not good for pre-professionals). I checked a random major, and it says that someone with prior credit (which I assume means AP/IB/etc.) must take a relevant elective instead.</p>
<p>Also, found that perhaps Canadian schools handle premed differentially (post 4):</p>
<p>“The pre-med track isn’t institutionalized at McGill as it is at American schools; there isn’t an official advisory committee that checks your credentials or gives you letters of recommendations.”</p>
<p>Even Stanford does not provide letters and their premed association provides different combinations of classes one can take to fulfill the requirements.</p>
<p>AMCAS does not actually care what classes someone takes to fulfill requirements inside of Biology. So you start at the next level of classes in Biology if you don’t want to use the credit for med school application.</p>
<p>For McGill, this document provides some additional biology classes on page 14. However, without knowing OP’s D’s school, we can’t expect someone Canadian or a google sleuth to provide more help.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for their input. It is a very confusing situation trying to make sense of all of this! And for the record, my D is a student at McGill. We did become aware of the AP issue during her senior year of high school, so she did not take any AP exams for her senior year AP classes that were premed requirements. AP Biology was the only problem since she took that AP exam her junior year before we realized it might be an issue, she included it on her application to McGill and hence had to report it.</p>
<p>For any future readers of this thread, I want to make it clear that there is no “AP issue” at US Medical schools. I entered college with 50+ semester AP credits. These credits included all of the pre-med required courses with the exception of Orgo I/II, and I did not retake any of these classes in college. This is what medical schools today want you to do. Retaking a class (or declining to take the exam) that you have already mastered (a 5 on the associated AP exam) is a terrible idea. Some schools want you to take higher level courses in some or all of the pre-req areas while some don’t. The point is, you move forward with your education, not backward, and you should not waste your time and $ retaking high school level classes when there is so much more out there to learn. :)</p>
<p>You ignored one important subtle distinction.</p>
<p>Many med schools don’t accept APs on their own. In other words, if your college gives you credit for the course you are skipping, there is no issue, but if the college doesn’t recognize the AP then there is a difference among schools in terms of how it’s handled.</p>
<p>Source, please? (Particularly since some highly selecitve undergrad colleges strongly recommend that students do retake courses for which they have received AP credit.)</p>
<p>I have recently had the pleasure to talk to admins around the country and this issue does come up (given my transcript). The unanimous opinion as expressed in the words of an Ivy Med School admin: “You did everything right”</p>