<p>Even though I passed many AP exams already--including chem, bio, etc.--I still want to retake the basic chem, bio, calc classes. I just feel like I breezed past high school, got all As, and merely memorized eqs without retaining any information. Would this make me "fall behind"? In case it means anything, I'm undeclared on a pre-med track.</p>
<p>Most Medical Schools DO NOT accept AP credits for science pre-requisite courses. Now, even though you can take upper level chemistry and biology courses etc. in place of the med school requirements, this is a horrible idea if you don’t feel confident in your ability in these courses.</p>
<p>Jirofan, your best bet maybe to ask the premed adviser at Berkeley. We met a predental student at our state school and she did not test out of the basic science and math classes and is a junior and had enough room to fulfill all of her prereqs. Just like you, she thought it was better to retake the beginning classes to feel more confident before taking the higher level classes. She actually recommended we do the same for our son if he is planning on the premed track</p>
<p>Try the old final exams of courses that you may skip in order to check your knowledge of the Berkeley course material. Old final exams can be found here: <a href=“Exam and Syllabus Database - Tau Beta Pi, California Alpha Chapter”>https://tbp.berkeley.edu/courses/</a></p>
<p>Note that each L&S major has different policies regarding use of AP credit to substitute for lower division course requirements. What major(s) are you considering?</p>
<p>For pre-med purposes, you would generally need to substitute more advanced courses in place of any skipped with AP credit. For example, a pre-med math major would not have to worry about skipping Math 1A or 1B, since s/he would have to take Math 53 and 104 for his/her major. But if the pre-med math major skipped Chemistry 1A/1AL, then s/he would have to substitute an advanced chemistry course and lab.</p>
<p>Retaking the beginning courses won’t put you behind. However, if you know the material well, and want to take advanced courses to substitute for any beginning courses in pre-med requirements, then skipping the beginning courses when allowed gives you extra schedule space for free electives and more flexibility to choose when to take each course. Additionally, some students retaking the beginning courses fall into the trap of finding them apparently easy and not putting enough effort in them, resulting in bad grades (pre-meds consider any grade lower than A- to be a “bad grade”).</p>