<p>Hello, I am an incoming freshman at UNC and I will be attending CTOPS next week. I am quite confused about scheduling mostly becuase I do not understand how I can fit all of the required "approaches" and "foundations" classes along with other courses geared towards my future major. I know that I would like to be on a pre-med track, so that means that I should probably start chem in my freshman year. I am not so sure about a major-- possibly environmental health science or physics-- it will most likely be a science though.</p>
<p>My question is, do freshman ever take chem and bio at the same time? I do not think that I will need calculus, as I received AP credit for both calc 231 and 232, and I am not sure if I should be taking physics (I received AP credit for physics 104).</p>
<p>I have some of the foundations and connections requirements fulfilled from other AP's, and am not sure how I will do on the spanish placement exam. </p>
<p>Any guidance about scheduling would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>You need to be aware that many med schools require taking a math class in college and that many others do NOT accept AP credit for sciences (Vanderbilt for example). </p>
<p>I would not take two sciences the first semester if it could be avoided to help you adjust to college life. Go to the web page for several med schools you have interest in (yes I know it is very early) but better safe than sorry.</p>
<p>Most med schools also require one year of physics as well so you will need another semester at some time.</p>
<p>If I am going to take only one science in my first semester, should that be chem 101? Also, as far as calculus, if I don't think that I'm ready to take calc233, can I go back to 231 or 232 even though I earned credit from my AP scores?</p>
<p>Yes, you are free to take any course in which you have already earned AP credit for. Also, please note, that your AP credit only places you out of the physics lectures, and you still need to take the labs.</p>
<p>eadad, that's also very interesting that many med schools don't take AP credits for their required prerequisite classes. Do you know what some of the other ones are, other than Vanderbilt? Do you also know any of the ones which require a math in college even if you placed out of Calc? If you ask me, this is not a very good policy decision on their part...since they're barring themselves from potentially good medical students.</p>
<p>Just looked on Vanderbilt's website. It seems that they don't strictly find AP credits unacceptable. "Advanced placement credits, CLEP credits and pass/fail credits are not acceptable in lieu of ANY required courses."...BUT: "Advanced courses in the same discipline may be substituted for the requirements when the applicant has placed out of the entry level course." Thus you can get AP credit for Gen Chem, since you have to take Organic Chem anyways. The same with Biology courses...since people can get AP credit for BIOL 101 as long as they take an upper level course. Though it does seem that for Physics & English, it may be possible that one would have to retake an AP-ed course or take an advanced course, that one would otherwise not be required to take. Which reminds me...I now remember someone I met a long time ago who was a Senior at the time who was taking English just for med school.</p>
<p>If you want to do Pre-Med, I would recommend taking Chem 101 with the Lab first semester. You can take the Bio 101 second semester.</p>
<p>If you do Pre-med then expect to be taking more than 1 science course each semester, but you don't have to do that first semester. Taking Chem 101 as your only science first semester is fine. You can match it with a math class, foriegn language class, or some random fun classes if you want.</p>
<p>I like to see the first semester of college as an adapting time. You don't want to make it tough because the UNC environment is usually very different for many students. After your first semester and once you've gotten used to how UNC works, then you will be able to take 2 and 3 chem classes a semester (if you so choose)</p>
<p>There's a AMCAS Guide to Med School Admissions that is updated each year that also has the up to date requirements from each school along with relevant data regarding admissions criteria. I am aware that Vanderbilt offers limited credit but as you were able to pick up Physics poses a problem for anyone not intending to take anything beyond the required one year.</p>
<p>One risk you take if you are not majoring in sciences is having enough contact with science professors to have the requisite letters of reference. Some med schools ask for two to three science references while others are not as specific. Since no one knows freshman year how they will score on the MCAT it is hard to determine what schools might or might not be attainable.</p>
<p>What I mean by that is that scoring more than 8-10 points above the average MCAT at a given school virtually guarantees that you will NOT even get an inteview. Since many Med schools fill their classes on a first come (acceptance of admission) basis they won't waste an interview on someone they perceive as using them as a "safety" school. Unlike undergrad admissions there is no such thing as a safety. Because my son scored higher than he had even hoped for, he has had to totally revise his list of schools and is now finding that he has to scramble to take a math class and a "recommended" class his senior year so he is now rescheduling to add statistics and biochem to his senior schedule.</p>
<p>Duke, UT Southwestern are two that come to mind that require a Math class taken in college; statistics is acceptable.</p>
<p>tylers- I think that's fine. I think the main thing is to not take two sciences with labs at the same time. At my CTOPS, someone by me tried to register for BIOL 101, BIOL 101L, CHEM 101, and CHEM 101L. He was not successful, lol.</p>