My son is a sophomore and he skipped Algebra 1 (private tutoring) the summer before HS, took Honors Geometry in 9th grade and is taking Honors Algebra 2 in 10th grade right now. He wants to take pre cal during summer so that he can take AP cal BC in 11th grade. He says that he needs to complete AP cal BC before senior year in order to declare a pre-med track in his college applications to selective schools. Is this true? Or can he just take AP pre cal as a junior and AP cal BC as a senior?
In 9th grade he took:
Geometry
Honors English
French 2
Honors World geography
PE
Biology
10th grade:
Honors Algebra 2
English 10
French 3
AP Bio
AP world history
International Relations (active in MUN club)
He intends to take as a junior:
Pre cal or AP cal BC
AP Chem
AP physics
AP English class of some sort
French 4
And one more AP
Is this too much or doable?
Also, any particular class he shld be taking in 11th grade in order to look better on the application?
Pre-med is an intention to eventually apply to med school.
There is no such thing as a pre-med track or a pre-med major.
One can major in any subject and still be eligible to apply for med school so long one completes the basic pre-reqs. (Neither one of my daughters majored in bio or chem–and they both had no issues with getting med school acceptances. They have med school classmates with majors ranging from agriculture to business to electrical engineering to music performance to theology to women’s studies. )
Med school pre-reqs are:
1 year gen chem w/labs
1 year ochem w/labs
1 semester biochem
1 year intro bio w/labs
1 year intro physics w/labs
1 year “writing intensive” classes or English
1 year college-level mathematics (one semester of which needs to stats or biostats)
1 semester intro psych
1 semester intro sociology
Specific med schools may have additional requirements including (but not limited to) human anatomy, genetics, upper level humanities, medical ethics, upper level social science, Calc 3 & linear analysis, Spanish.
You and your son need to be aware that not all med schools will not accept AP credits to fulfill med school admission requirements. This means he will have to either retake AP classes again in college or take a higher level course in the same dept for any AP credit he earns.
Right. My son wants to major in bio-chem and/or human anatomy.
What I meant was which courses would be best if he is thinking of going to medical school later. Isn’t that what pre-med means? Honestly, I am super new to the whole U.S. college admission process since I grew up and went to college overseas and my son is the oldest. So any advice would be helpful.
Of course, my son is doing his own research as well. However, what I really want to know is if he SHOULD take AP Cal BC in his junior year in order to major in bio-chem. The thing is, I thought he could take Pre-cal in 11th grade and then take AP Cal BC in 12th grade, but he wants to take pre-cal during summer and then take AP Cal BC in 11th grade.
Is that necessary? I don’t know if I want to be spending extra money for a summer course if it is not really necessary and he could be doing something else during the summer (like studying for SAT).
Which math courses did your daughters take in high school?
Thanks.
I agree. Taking Calc BC as a high school junior is totally unnecessary for a biochem or anatomy major. And it won’t help a bit with eventually gaining a med school acceptance. Nor will it help in med school classes. (Both my daughters were math majors who went to med school. They both complained repeatedly “there is no math in med school”.)
If he is sincerely interested in going to med school, instead of going to summer school, his time might be better served by getting involved in altruistic volunteer activities with those less fortunately than himself. (Community service)
Medical schools could easily fill their seats ten time over with applicants who have good academics, but what they’re really looking for are applicants who have demonstrated their commitment to be of service to their fellow man.
Yes, if he wants to do it. I took precal during summer after 9th grade. It does not take up much time, you can do other things during the summer. Precal is way too easy to waste a year in regular classes. Getting this out of the way now will allow for greater freedom later to take other advanced classes. Best of luck to your son.
I’m gonna let you know right now (as a senior in college who’s completed all of the pre-med coursework and got A’s in all of their science courses): unless your son wants to major in Biochem for research purposes, I wouldn’t recommend taking extra math courses beyond Calc I. Calc I isn’t tested on the MCAT, so it really won’t help you at all for that (trust me, I know; I’ve taken it already and I’m planning to take it again for my apps this summer). Majoring in Biochemistry can only do so much for medical school admissions. You also need to show that you are a well-rounded person and that you are knowledgeable about public health problems (especially as they relate to social sciences).
I’m currently a Public Health major with a double minor in Chemistry and Biology. I wouldn’t change that for the world because you learn SO MUCH about healthcare that science classes alone just won’t do for you. Yes, you need to have your minimum of 1 year Biology, 1 year Chemistry, 1 year OChem, 1 year Physics, and in the case of some med schools, 1 year Math and 1 year of English. However, in order to succeed on the MCAT (and also just know the realities of 21st-century health and medical practice), you should take Biochemistry, Sociology, Psychology, and if your son’s college or university offers them, Medical Anthropology and Epidemiology.
College is a completely different ballgame, especially when it comes to the sciences (APs really don’t compare at all; my college does not take them because they don’t stand up the true rigor of the science curriculum). So, DO NOT use AP credit for any pre-med coursework. Unless your son knows and can apply the information backwards and forwards, it’s in his best interest to re-enroll in those classes in college. He will likely be able to learn and apply more, and he won’t have to worry about gaps in information when he takes upper-level science coursework. Not to mention that a lot of med schools don’t accept AP credit for pre-med coursework.
That being said, your son should definitely continue to take AP or IB courses just to get exposed to almost college-level work. Just don’t count on using any science AP credit to exempt him from the requirements.
Tell your son to take his time and make sure that pre-med is something that he REALLY wants to do. The best way to do that is to shadow physicians, do some medical volunteering, and talk to pre-med students and admissions counselors. You’d be surprised at the number of students who say they want to do pre-med, but drop it after 1 semester or 1 year. It’s definitely not for everyone. You have to make sure that you know what you’re doing before you embark on this long journey.
I think a lot of students/parents get caught up in believing premed equals actual, specific preparation for med school. Broadly speaking hs (and college) are, in part, the times to help students develop skills no matter pathway they take. These skills could include development of reading, writing, critical thinking, test taking ability, communication skills, etc. Your S appears to be doing just fine in this respect. Except for continuing to develop these foundational types of skills, there is really nothing specific academically that your S can do or take in hs that will help him with” going to medical school later.” And by chance if S was exposed to some material that was actually taught in med school, as med school is at least 6 years away, whatever he learned will probably be long forgotten.
Also keep in mind that all US med schools are good and are very, very capable of teaching medicine. They certainly do not need the assistance of hs teachers. Although there are exceptions, med schools do not typically req any advance help in specific academic areas, only the basic premed reqs (see post #1). Even the usual college science premed reqs are not meant to specifically to give med students some advanced prep for med school, but are used by med schools to help them determine if an applicant can handle a set of moderately difficult science material.
FWIW, when S was in hs, he followed the similar path as your S son as to math. S’s junior precalc teacher told kids there just wasn’t that much precalc material and that she’d be done by feb/mar and then would start Calc. If kids got it, they should start Calc BC as senior, if not start Calc AB. If anything I would say take the next course in math sequence which is probably precalc. And maybe “instead of one more AP”, why not let him volunteer or have more time for a social life. Good luck to you and S.