<p>Hi, I am a rising senior in high school. I received a 5 on the AP Bio exam and am wondering how it will affect my premed reqs. I plan to major in economics or business/managerial economics so I have to sneak in all the science classes as electives.</p>
<p>Do you think schools will give me credit for one semester? Do I have to take bio at all? I see most med schools want 1 year of bio.</p>
<p>Even if your college gives your credit, almost all medical colleges WILL NOT accept AP credit for Biology. You will have to take upper level courses in Biology to meet the medical school requirements. Math, English and to a lesser extent Physics and Chemistry are the subjects that many medical schools are willing to accept APs for pre-requisites.</p>
<p>Ah, so I will have to take two semesters of bio then.</p>
<p>I am taking AP Calc, AP Chem, and AP Lit (and others) next year. So if I get a 4-5 on those tests I could get credit? Also, am I correct in that an AP course only gives you credit for 1 semester?</p>
<p>Policies on AP credit are school dependent. You will have to check how your college handles AP.</p>
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<p>Not just your college, but you also have to check all of the medical schools you may apply to as to whether the AP scores can count.</p>
<p>Thanks guy I’ll check on all that next summer when I get my scores again.</p>
<p>Depends on the school.</p>
<p>My son used his AP Bio and Chem credits to skip to the next higher levels of Bio and Chem…he minored in both.</p>
<p>If you skip and take the next higher levels, I don’t think any med schools would mind.</p>
<p>the nice thing about using AP Bio credits is that you can skip Bio II which many find boring…plants and stuff.</p>
<p>It did nothing to my D’s schdule, she was strongly advise to start with the first college Bio and she said, good that she listened. I read different opinions here, so apparently it depends on the specific UG program. At D’s UG the first Bio was the weed out killer that derailed some Honors students. It also was a foundation for all other Bio classes. They went thru AP material in first 2 weeks and then they moved on. So, she did not waste any time while taking this first Bio class, and it was one of the hardest A, very very challenging.
It is very important to figure out the specifics at your UG. Everybody here would have a different experience.</p>
<p>…did not see the AP Chem. D. did not have AP Chem. at her private HS. Instead they taught regular (Honors) Chem at the higher level. She ended up being hand picked for an SI position by Gen. Chem prof. She said that that many with AP Chem were not sufficiently prepared and ended up sitting thru her SI sessions.<br>
Again, it is a very personal decision, based on your HS teacher and your college program.</p>
<p>Does not matter how your college handles it
Med schools require their prerec’s to be done in college</p>
<p>Note, a lot of schools including the IVYs are talking of not accepting APs. They feel they can teach the subject better than a high school</p>
<p>^^While medical schools used to require that pre-reqs be done in college, policies are not as uniform as they once were.</p>
<p>See this 2012 chart of what medical school policies w/r/t to accepting AP credit are:</p>
<p><a href=“Undergraduate Resources | Rice University”>Undergraduate Resources | Rice University;
<p>A good many med schools will accept some AP credits IF the applicant’s college has granted academic credit (which is shown on their transcript) for the equivalent undergrad course(s).</p>
<p>(Of course, this does not suggest that an applicant can fulfill pre-reqs by using ONLY AP credits. Med schools are going to want some demonstration of the applicant’s ability to be competitive in college-level science classes.)</p>
<p>I’m with MiamiDAP. At my guy’s school most kids had either a 4 or 5 on the AP Bio exam (or equivalent - DE or whatever). The intro to Bio class kind of assumed that incoming knowledge and went on from there. Those without it would simply have more they had to learn to do well. It would not have been wise to skip it and do a higher level class without that foundation.</p>
<p>At many other schools the intro Bio merely repeats AP/DE. At those schools it could be good to skip it and move on.</p>
<p>Decide based upon the school you end up going to and what they recommend.</p>
<p><a href=“Of%20course,%20this%20does%20not%20suggest%20that%20an%20applicant%20can%20fulfill%20pre-reqs%20by%20using%20ONLY%20AP%20credits.%20Med%20schools%20are%20going%20to%20want%20some%20demonstration%20of%20the%20applicant’s%20ability%20to%20be%20competitive%20in%20college-level%20science%20classes.”>QUOTE=WayOutWestMom</a>
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<p>Since there is no organic chemistry AP test, it is impossible to fulfill typical pre-med requirements with just AP scores, even if a medical school accepts all of them.</p>
<p>“Med schools require their prerec’s to be done in college”
-Was not true in D’s case. And she confirmed it with Med. School’s adcoms. She was OK. specifically with AP Calc and AP English Lit.</p>
<p>I think statements that med schools don’t accept AP classes can be misleading. </p>
<p>Which ones will not accept that you used AP credits to move on to the harder level bio, chem, physics courses with labs???</p>
<p>my son used his AP bio and chem credits, but did minors in both…so he had Cell Bio, Genetics, BioChem I and II, Ochem I and II, and so forth …at least 21 credits in bio and over 21 credits in chem (plus all of his ChemE courses that weren’t BCMP). I doubt that any med school would have said, “not qualified because you didn’t take bio I and II and chem I and II at a univ.”</p>
<p>Why even try guessing, when you can ask…took D. no time asking and getting answers, she has asked more than one Med. School.</p>