science class??

Pre-Med & Medical School High School Student Topics
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<p>I am a junior in high school and i am looking into going pre-med in college. Coming up in the next week or so, I will be picking classes for next year. Which science class will help me out in the long run: ap chemistry or ap physics? I have already taken physical science honors freshman year, honors biology sophomore year, and i am currently taking chemistry honors which is a prerequisite for ap chem. I thought I had decided on AP physics but my teacher told me that Ap physics is centered around engineering. In that case would honors physics be more beneficial than AP chemistry?</p>

<p>I am very confused and any help is much appreciated. Thanks :)</p>

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<p>AP chemistry is definitely much more beneficial for medicine than physics (tying a lot into biology and helping you out in the long run). If your preference is physics, however, that's a strong science as well.</p>

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<p>Take AP physics. Unless you are going to pass on taking the AP Chem...</p>

<p>What you're getting into is that if you really do want to be pre-med, and you get a qualifying AP Chem score, you'll end up having to take much, much harder courses to fulfill your pre-med chem requirements - courses like Physical Chem and Analytical chem which are both notoriously hard...p-chem is probably one of the hardest courses at any university. This assumes that you get credit for both semesters of general chem and could hop right into organic. It also assumes that whatever university you attend won't let you "re-take" a course that you got AP credit for. It's possible that a school may allow you the option of "using" your AP credit, on a course by course basis</p>

<p>And actually physics has much more direct application to medicine than chemistry. The cardiovascular system is just like electric circuits, it's important to understand basic fluid dynamics, pressure, and electricity for a lot of the body. Think about common medical tests - Blood Pressure and EKG's for example...
Chem, there are certain expectations/assumptions in medical school, that you understand the concepts underlying the chemistry, but it's not like orbital hybridization is a frequent topic of discussion.</p>

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<p>Smiley, I can't send you a PM for some reason, so here is my response to the questions you posed in your message to me.</p>

<p>If you have the chance, I'd actually recommend AP Bio. A good physics background would be helpful though. The physics on the MCAT isn't very hard - only algebra, and there are some people who will tell you that with a very strong AP physics course (obviously, these courses depend on the teachers to some extent) you could take the MCAT early, without actually having taken physics in college. Certainly you'd need to a lot of self study. I'm not one of those people who would recommend this approach. I believe that you should always take the MCAT at the time when you can the absolute best score possible, and find it hard to say that not having taken all the subjects at the college level fits that goal. </p>

<p>Chemistry is certainly important in medicine, simply due to how much is required and the effects that chemistry (acid base, molecular polarity, etc) have on the body, so the description that AP chem is beneficial for medical fields is technically correct, but as I mentioned in my post, it opens up a can of worms as far as actually being a pre-med because most (95%+) do not accept AP credit as having fulfilled their entrance requirements. Which in turn means students still have to take a year of chem with lab, which turns out to be A-chem and p-chem...</p>

<p>Anyways, if you can take the AP bio, do. If that's not an option (just like AP physics was not available at my HS), take the physics. I can't advise you on which level (honors vs AP) because I don't know what colleges you'll be applying to and I really don't know the implications of AP courses on college admissions (it was a really long time ago for me, and I didn't apply to any "competitive" schools).</p>

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<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=306680%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=306680&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>What science courses would I have to take in college for pre-med to fulfill med school entrance requirements if I get credit for AP Bio, Chem, and Physics? My undergrad major is most likely biochemistry. If you don't have an exact answer, that's fine.</p>

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<p>Problem is that medical schools often don't accept AP credit, so you still have to take a year of bio, a year of physics, and two years of chem. If you live in TX, you should take two years of bio. Also don't forget the year of English and often the year of Math. Your AP credit might allow you to place into higher classes.</p>

<p>That's a bad idea in physics, might be an okay idea in chem, and is usually a good idea in bio. It's also helpful to inquire around your school, since sometimes intro classes are very easy (at Duke, Bio I) or sometimes tedious and annoying (Bio II, Chem I/II).</p>

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<p>I don't live in Texas. Why would that matter though? If I just do the next highest level of the AP course (except chem where I would do 2), then there shouldn't be a problem?</p>

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<p>1.) Texas public medical schools require two years, not one year, of biology. If you're not a Texas resident, you're unlikely to get into them anyway so no sense trying to please them.</p>

<p>2.)
[quote]
If I just do the next highest level of the AP course (except chem where I would do 2), then there shouldn't be a problem?

[/quote]

Exactly right, except you probably don't want to do that. It won't save you any time, so it's not as if it'll help you take more classes that you're interested in or graduate more easily.</p>

<p>So your options if you take AP Credit in:
Physics: You skip I/II to take III + IV instead of I and II, which at Duke involve heavy doses of quantum mechanics (useless, difficult, tedious) and complex optics (maybe useful, difficult, tedious).
Bad idea.</p>

<p>Chem: Instead of GenChem/Organic, you take OChem/Biochem. Biochem IS useful and difficult. Honestly, I recommend taking Biochem anyway. So this is one situation where the AP actually does save you time, except that Organic can be brutal and you probably want to take GC at the college level before diving into it like that.
Probably a bad idea.</p>

<p>Bio: Instead of Principles/Diversity, you take two other courses of your choosing, provided you have labs in them. So you could take Genetics/Physiology, for example. Unless one of the first two is really easy, later classes are more relevant and more interesting. Goodness knows Diversity is a nightmare -- difficult, tedious, tough curve, annoying, useless.
Probably good.</p>

<p>Math: Instead of Calc I/Calc II, you take Calc III/Statistics. I love Calc III* and Stats, and the material is easier and the classes are usually graded easier than Calc I/II.
Almost definitely good.</p>

<p>English: ... Instead of "whatever you want", you take "whatever you want". So if your school allows you to use the AP to pass out of annoying intro classes, great. But if your school forces you to use the AP to pass out of easy intro classes, not so good.
Probably doesn't matter. At all.</p>

<p>*See <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=214382%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=214382&lt;/a> about why I love Calc III. Post #77.</p>

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<p>One thing to keep in mind...Biochem is gradually (very slowly however) becoming a more common requirement. It's a requirement at my med school, and thus might lead to having to take Analytic Chem or Physical Chem, both notoriously hard classes with zero application. Thus taking AP Chem would be most certainly a bad idea (although my college did let you take classes you had AP credit so you could just retake gen chem...not all places are like this).</p>

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<p>I saw a couple of schools that required two years or more and required organic and biochem. I didn't run into any schools -- although, obviously, I applied to far fewer than 126 -- that required three years.</p>

<p>In other words, I haven't seen any schools that require exactly what BRM describes, but I saw a bunch that came close. And there might well be a ton of schools out that for which he's exactly on the money.</p>