Hello all!
Not sure if this is in the right section of the forum, so please move if necessary. I’m starting college next year, and like many students I’m using scores from my IB tests to fulfill university requirements for Reading & Composition, among other courses. While I’m not positive I will apply to Med School in the future, I’d like to still keep my options open, so I want to meet all Med School requirements during my time in college. If I use IB scores to fulfill R&C requirements (and thus never take an R&C class in college), will that prevent me from attending Med Schools where two semesters of college English is a requirement? Or will they likely accept IB credit in the same way that the college did? Thanks in advance for your help!
Best wishes,
Danny
Most medical schools will not accept AP/IB credits to fulfill English /writing requirements for admission.
If you choose to use your IB credits to place out of freshman writing, you’ll need to take additional English or other writing intensive courses to supplement your credits and fulfill admission requirements.
There are a number of schools that do not accept any AP/IB credits to fulfill pre-reqs, including UCLA, Loma Linda, UCR, St. Louis U, Cornell, U Kentucky, U Nevada.
You should check the MSAR or the admission websites of specific schools for details of their admission policies.
@WayOutWestMom Thanks for your response! My impression of Med School admissions is that they are more flexible than undergraduate admissions; if one of my majors were Economics (a writing-heavy course), could that make up for a semester or two of college-level English? I’d like to avoid English courses if at all possible, as they would take up valuable space and I’m not as passionate about the subject matter. Thank you again!
Danny
The answer is–it depends.
Med schools are actually pretty inflexible about admission pre-reqs.
If the admission requirements say 2 semesters of English, then you need to have 2 semesters of English (or writing) courses. If the requirements say 2 semesters of English or other writing intensive courses, then you have some flexibility. However, the important point is that it’s your college that determines whether a course is considered writing intensive, not you. If your college allows alternative courses to fulfill the freshman or upper level writing requirement, there will be a list of acceptable alternative classes. Check with your academic advisor or consult your college handbook.
Each medical school will review your official transcript after you are accepted and determine if you have fulfilled admission requirements. If the admissions office decides you have not, you will be required to complete the missing coursework (and have official transcripts proving this sent) before you can matriculate or your admission will be revoked.
WWMom is right. Short answer. If you want to go to medical school take the required pre med classes and do well in them. Anything which is a potential negative is not good. The medical school application system is overwhelmed by good candidates so the initial process is to find reasons not to admit you. This approach is necessary as it produces a more manageable number of candidates for admission.
@WayOutWestMom That makes sense. I’ll check individual medical schools to see their specific requirements, and also check with my university to see what they label a “writing-intensive” course.
@mjscal I see where you’re coming from. Thank you for your help!
Make sure any composition/writing intensive course you take focuses on expository and/or academic writing.
Courses in creative writing, travel writing, argumentative writing (like for law or debate), play writing, journalism, writing for new media/the digital arts, etc will not fulfill med school admission requirements
UCB offers discipline-based composition classes (e.g. writing for the biological sciences). Consider taking one or more of those.