<p>I am a senior this year and I applied to BU as undecided but recently have decided that I would like to go into Pre-Med.</p>
<p>I was wondering if pre-med was a program that I can just sign up for in the beginning of the year? Or did I have to apply to a specific school in BU? I put in my application that I was undecided but interested in journalism and health care. But recently I realized I’m more interested in pre-med. Will this be a problem?</p>
<p>Nope, just mention it at orientation. Pre-med isn’t really a program, it’s just courses you’re required to take that you simply need to sign up for.</p>
<p>You can be in any school and major in whatever you like and still do pre-med. Most kids that do pre-med are either in Sargent (with majors like Human Physiology that are completely geared towards medical school) and CAS (with general science majors like Chemistry and Biology.) I’m majoring in Psychology but am also on the “pre-med track.” </p>
<p>Instead of being a program it’s definitely just a track. This is what you need to take at BU and any other college in order to be prepared for medical school.</p>
<p>1 Year Chemistry – AP credits can only put you in higher level courses, cannot be exempt
1 Year Biology – AP credits can exempt you from 1 semester of Bio, but med schools do like to see that you take one year of cell bio or biochemistry as well
1 Year English – BU requires you take two semesters worth of writing, which also covers the med school requirements. AP English Lit and Comp can give you credits for humanities, but no AP english course will give you credits for BU English requirements.
1 Year Physics – Not sure how AP credits work with this, but the general rule is that med schools want to see you took these courses in college, not high school. AP Physics can give you a great background, however.
1 Year Calculus – BU <em>highly</em> recommends that you take two semesters of calculus (instead of just one) since about 5-10% of med schools require two, not one (Harvard being one of those schools, google it to find the others), so you shouldn’t use AP credits to exempt yourself from these requirements.</p>
<p>—With all pre-med courses, you can take anything from basic to advanced level courses and still satisfy these requirements.</p>
<p>You can do journalism, health care, and pre-med – all of it! If you have some AP credits that can get you out of social science, humanities, and language requirements, that would make it even easier. You would major in journalism in COM, minor in public health in Sargent, and take the courses listed above and be on the “pre-med track.” Don’t worry too much about not knowing how to fit it all in. You’re advising session at orientation should be super helpful–ask them as many questions as you can when you get there but until then, don’t worry too much.</p>