Pre-med course track in Cornell

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>Anyone willing to provide an answer are most welcomed. As I start to make a rough blueprint for my course track as a possible "pre-med major," I desperately need some advice on this particular issue.</p>

<p>So, I believe one of Pre-med requirements is One Year of Inorganic Chemistry and One Year of Organic Chemistry. Does this mean that these requirements must be fulfilled by taking actual Cornell classes, not by using AP credit or credits earned by passing the placement exam? Or do you recommend placing out of introductory Chem class in Freshman year, and instead gain credits outside of actual course in Cornell? (I believe the credit students earn by AP exam is exactly same as the credit earned by Placement exam. Please let me know if I'm correct/incorrect).</p>

<p>In my case, I do not have AP credit for Chemistry, but I planned to take the placement exam, if it does not hurt my overall coursework before I apply Med school in my Junior year. If I take the placement exam in this fall and successfully pass the exam, I will not take any Chem class in my first semester, and then take Chem 2080 in my second semester. Even if I will earn Inorganic Chemistry credits for the full-year requirement, I will still lack of one semester "coursework" of Inorganic Chemistry (And I will take full-year Organic Chemistry in my Sophomore year). Do you guys see my plan not preferable or recommended to common pre-med?</p>

2

<p>I don’t think the placement exam will knock out the medical school requirement (see the Tuft’s webpage for an example). However, an advanced chemistry course (i.e. physical chemistry, advanced inorganic chemistry) <em>might</em> knock out the gen chem requirement. The safest route, however, is just to take Gen Chem (either Chem 2070 or maybe Chem 2090 if you’re an engineer). </p>

<p>In short, some schools might be OK if you skip Gen Chem I, but to be safe, I recommend taking it. Sorry! :&lt;/p>