I want to go to med school and so I will be fulfilling my pre med requirements as a Biology major.
I took AP Biology Sophomore year and got a 4 and am taking AP Chemistry. AP Literature and AP Calculus AB this year which I am planning to do well in (hopefully lol)âŠ
Should I definitely AP out of bio?
I am scared about the AP Chem exam but I am sure Iâll do fine on the AP Calc and AP Lit exams (with preparation of course lol)
Or is it better for me to retake all Bio/Chem and Calc Classes??
I donât think you can? I think you are required to take those classes in college. Also why would you want to AP out of them? Youâll have a hard time studying for the MCAT especially because you took bio like what four years earlier then most premeds and will slightly be at a disadvantage amongst your premed peers.
a. If your college allows AP credit to skip an intro course, and you plan to take a more advanced course in the subject, try an old final exam of the course that you are allowed to skip to see how well you know the material from the collegeâs point of view. Note: UPenn does not allow advanced placement in biology for AP biology scores lower than 5, according to http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/apply/freshman-admission/precollegecredit .
b. Medical schools often do not accept AP credit to fulfill pre-med course requirements, although more advanced courses in the subject area can be substituted. As a biology major, you will have lots of advanced biology courses, but may have to take additional more advanced non-organic chemistry, math, and/or physics courses if you use AP credit to skip the introductory courses. Note that if you are not sure on pre-med, you may be able to defer the decision on these courses, in order to avoid âwastingâ schedule space if you decide not to do pre-med.
Yeah LOL that makes sense! I donât think I am gonna study for the AP Chem exam at all lol
But I am definitely gonna use my AP Lit credits and even my AP Calc to get out of first year calc
Note that UPenn does not allow AP English (either) to fulfill the writing requirement, and most other cases where it allows credit or advanced placement are only for scores of 5. See the link in #2.
If youâre attending a top 20 university/LAC, only skip if you took the final for the course and scored 90%+. However, many may not let you skip any class since virtually all admitted students will have AP classes and it may well be seen as the basic pre-req for freshman classes.
At your flagship or other, less selective colleges:
AP Calc will only get you out of 1st semester calc (1 year of AP content covers 1 semester at college, so the pace is much more intense in college). You should review before jumping into Calc2.
[assuming youâre not attending HarveyMudd or MIT]
Definitely donât skip AP Bio since you took it sophomore year and got a 4. Even a 4 senior year indicates some lapses (and you canât afford any as a premed) and since you took the class so long ago, youâll create un-necessary trouble for yourself in a key subject.
AP Lit could get you out of Freshman English. Youâll still need to take 2 semesters of English/Humanities for premed though. You may get more choice if you donât have to take Freshman English and, killing two birds with one stone, fulfill the âHumanitiesâ requirement at your college while taking âMedical Humanitiesâ classes, âHistory of Medicineâ, etc.
You canât use âAP Creditâ to fulfill pre-med requirements but you can use credit awarded for a specific class on the basis of an AP exam for medical school. In other words, if you skip Bio 1 at Penn because of your AP score (which in this case you canât because you needed a 5) it would count if your transcript reflected that you had credit for Bio 1 specifically.
LOL I am actually attending a state school (I chickened out and didnât apply to any Ivy whoops lol)
And Yeah it looks like I am only going to study/practice for AP LIT and then AP CALC (only because I feel prepared with my teacher)⊠i donât think I am going to study for AP Chem at all lol I just needed to take the exam so that I can get credit for the class in HS (dumb rule lol).
