<p>Hello! I may be attending UC Berkeley as a Regents scholar this fall, and before making a final decision wanted to sketch out my planned course schedule for freshman year. Major is bioengineering, pursuing premed tract, but also have a penchant for creative writing and foreign languages/international relations, maybe linguistics. I really want to explore all that Cal has to offer, but also have time for extracurriculars.</p>
<p>I've taken these APs: Chem, Bio, Physics B, US History, Gov, Lit, Writing+Composition, Calc AB and BC, Stats, Psychology.</p>
<p>Given all of this, what courses would be best for freshman year?
For math I've determined 1B and 53 (Semesters 1 and 2, respectively), but i'm not quite sure about the rest :/ Even though I could pass out of 1B, i want to take it again just to solidify my "Calc BC" foundations. If you have any remarks or counsel to offer regarding this decision please let me know.</p>
<p>Not sure if you aware of this but, if you plan to be pre-med, many med schools do not accept AP credits, so you should still take the lower divisions requirements for bioE if you do want to pursue medical school.</p>
<p>You should try the old final exams to check your knowledge. If you ace the 1B final exams easily, then there is no point in taking 1B. If you struggle with 1B (or even 1A) exams, then it may be a good idea to retake. Because you have to take Math 53 and 54 anyway, these are likely sufficient for medical schools that require calculus among their pre-med requirements but do not accept AP credit.</p>
<p>Other suggested courses for a bioengineering major (you will probably not take all of them in one semester!):</p>
<ul>
<li>Bioengineering 10 (fall only)</li>
<li>Bioengineering 24 (1 unit seminar to give you an overview of the field)</li>
<li>Physics 7A (or H7A if you want)</li>
<li>Chemistry: 1A/1AL or 4A if you are not confident skipping with AP credit; 3A/3AL if you are. Try the old final exams for 1A and 4A at <a href=“Exams - Tau Beta Pi, California Alpha Chapter”>https://tbp.berkeley.edu/students/exams/</a> . However, for pre-med purposes, if you skip 1A/1AL or 4A, you will probably have to add a more advanced chemistry course later to fulfill pre-med course requirements, since many medical schools do not allow AP credit to fulfill pre-med course requirements.</li>
<li>Engineering 7 or CS 61A.</li>
<li>Reading and composition course (R&C B course if you have a 4+ on AP English; R&C A course otherwise). However, if you skip R&C A with AP credit, check carefully about what advanced writing courses would be eligible to use for medical schools that require a year of English writing courses.</li>
<li>Other humanities and social studies courses; see <a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/requirements/hum-ss-requirement/HSS%20NEW_10-24-13.pdf”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/current-undergraduates/requirements/hum-ss-requirement/HSS%20NEW_10-24-13.pdf</a> .</li>
</ul>
<p>Thank you so much; this was unbelievably helpful! @ucbalumnus
One question~if med schools, or some, do not accept AP credits, does this mean I can’t pass out of any courses?@Jweinst1</p>
<p>^No, it just means you’ll have to take higher level courses to fulfill the requirement. So for example, if you pass out of Bio1A/1B, you’ll have to do some other bio classes. </p>
<p>The problem is that the courses you want to pass out of are the courses that are pre-reqs for med school, and most med schools do not accept AP Credits. So if you passed out of these classes, how else would you take them if you need them for medical school? If you pass out of a class you essentially cannot take it again at Berkeley.</p>
<p>For example, at UCLA, this is stated on the David Geffen School of Medicine Admissions page.</p>
<p>ENGLISH One year of college English to include the study of English composition
PHYSICS One year of college Physics (with equivalent lab)
CHEMISTRY Two years of college chemistry to include the study of inorganic chemistry, quantitative analysis and organic chemistry ( lab)
BIOLOGY One year of general biology (with equivalent lab)
MATHEMATICS One year of college mathematics to include the study of introductory calculus and statistics
SPANISH Highly recommended
HUMANITIES Highly recommended</p>
<p>Completion of Requirements: Students must complete all premedical requirements before beginning the first year of medical study, although these requirements need not be completed at the time application for admission is filed. AP credit will not be accepted for completion of required courses.</p>
<p>For math, you will take Math 53 for your major anyway. But for biology, chemistry, and English composition, you may want to consider whether you want to substitute higher level courses for courses you can skip with AP credit (and find out what higher level courses are acceptable substitutions for courses you can skip with AP credit).</p>
<p>If you take a reading and composition course other than English (or possibly College Writing), then you may want to save your syllabus and course materials in case some medical school has trouble believing that a course like German R5A or R5B, Classics R44, or History R1 is an English writing course.</p>
<p>I don’t understand how you would take a higher level chemistry course in place of chem 1A. The chem series any premed must complete would be 1A-3A-3B-MCB102 or C100A. You could take Chem 1B if you pass out of Chem 1A, but it’s considered a little harder by some. There is also one of the advanced organic chemistry classes (113 and 114) But I am not sure if a med school would accept these in place of general chemistry.</p>
<p>Overall i don’t see the advantage of passing out of the lower div science reqs if your pre med.</p>
<p>Med schools accept any higher level inorganic chemistry class for the gen chem requirement, if you pass out of chem1A you can take an upper div inorganic chem class instead. This goes for all of the medical school pre-reqs.</p>
<p>Some say this isn’t worth it because it’d obviously be more difficult for you, but if you think chem1A is just too easy for you, then it’s absolutely fine to test out. Make sure you check past tests online before you make this decision.</p>
<p>^^ This is an alternative. But be aware there are NO upper div inorganic lab courses at Berkeley in the college of chemistry, so you would kind of have to take Chem 1AL anyway you choose to do this, since you need it with a lab.</p>
<p>What are some good R1B courses? I take it that R1A is what you can pass out of given a 5 on the AP English Language and Composition test. I actually cherish writing and wouldn’t mind taking R1A, but I do want to conserve my units/space. Again, as in the Original post, I’m a bioengineering major and premed Any good writing seminars?</p>
<p>Seems like the alternative non-organic/bio chemistry courses with labs if the OP skips 1A/1AL or 4A would be:</p>
<p>15
105 (requires 4B or 1B+15)
108 (requires 4B, 15, or 103)
125 (requires 120A+120B or C130+120B)
146 (requires 4B or 15)
C182</p>
<p>But it would be wise to verify medical school acceptability of these courses.</p>
<p>However, would a medical school question if the OP starting in 3A now (after trying the 1A final exams and finding it safe to skip), but later went back to take 1A/1AL, 1B, or 4A after deciding for sure to do pre-med? Of course, this all becomes irrelevant if the OP finds the 1A final exams too hard.</p>
<p>To the OP: you do not have to make pre-med relevant decisions on skipping or retaking your AP credit immediately for most pre-med-relevant subjects.</p>
<p>Calculus: You will take Math 53 anyway for your major.
Physics: You will take Physics 7A and 7B anyway for your major.
Biology: Biology 1A is not listed in the recommended course plan until your third semester, so you can defer the decision until then. Biology 1B is not listed, although an upper division biology elective is listed in your sixth semester, or can be a technical elective listed in your fifth, sixth, and seventh semesters.
Statistics: Statistics 134 is an allowed technical elective in your fifth, sixth, and seventh semesters.
Psychology: You can choose Psychology 1 or upper division courses as H/SS courses.</p>
<p>The ones that you may need to be concerned about the pre-med implications if you start in a more advanced course are:</p>
<p>Chemistry: as discussed in this thread.
English: if you skip R&C A, find out what more advanced H/SS courses are accepted by medical schools for this after you take R&C B.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus Thank you so, so much I really appreciate your kindness in helping me. I’m actually not 100% set on UCB (debating between this and a full ride at USC) but I am continuously drawn to the passion and dedication of UCB students as a whole ^.^ Is it strange that I’m having fun choosing my courses? xD
And I’m not skipping any of the science courses with AP credits. </p>
<p>How much will Berkeley cost you? If you actually have a full ride to USC, that is attractive from a pre-med context, since medical school is expensive, so saving money now can reduce the amount of debt you end up with at the end of medical school.</p>
<p>Thanks so much the $ is definitely a factor, although thankfully my parents have assured me that it’s not an issue when it comes to my present quandary. However, I’m not entirely convinced of the strength of the academics and premed department of USC compared to that of UCB (Regents). I feel that the latter also comes with many networking and mentoring, and even research, opportunities, contributing to the high medical school matriculation rate (70-80 percent at UCB, 50 percent at USC)</p>
<p>You may want to consider how much $ it is, and whether they will be willing to put the amount saved if you go to USC toward medical school costs.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>One of the things commonly mentioned in the pre-med section is that medical school admission or matriculation rates are not necessarily comparable between schools, because the strength of applicants differs (sometimes because pre-med advisers are some schools discourage marginal applicants from applying).</p>
@ucbalumnus
I fully intend on taking Chem1A, Bio1A, etc. </p>