<p>This is related to the thread, "MIT: The AP Under Fire". Our D has taken/is taking AP and dual enrollment courses. On Friday, we attended a day-long visit to her first-choice college where she wants to major in Physiology with hopes to go on to medical school. They told us that while the medical school associated with this particular university will accept AP/DE courses (physics, calculus, English composition, etc) and dual enrollment courses, other medical schools do not. Obviously, she will be applying to any number of med schools when the time comes so she will have to take these courses at the university.</p>
<p>We did not realize this, so she plans to take all the courses needed to graduate/get into med school that she has already taken through either AP or dual enrollment. We have paid hundreds of dollars for dual enrollment credits--what is the point except for college admission and possibly getting a preview/leg-up on the courses?? </p>
<p>Have you heard of other graduate programs (law, engineering, etc?) that do not recognize AP as legitimately completing a course necessary for admission?</p>
What was her point in taking them in the first place? Genuine interest in the subject matter? Boredom with the standard classes? Desire to skip a year of college?</p>
<p>This shouldn't be a problem. I have no idea if any of my children will develop an interest in applying to medical school, but at least my oldest is interested in science subjects that are classic pre-med requirements. He is taking AP courses now and will soon be taking dual-enrollment classes. Once we know where he enrolls for his undergraduate degree, he will be able to see what courses are available there. I wouldn't be bent out of shape if there was a partial overlap in what he studies for college (there will ALWAYS be new material in any second course) with what he studies in high school. </p>
<p>After edit: there is a big difference between graduate school programs and professional school programs, the chief difference being that smart graduate students are PAID to study, while professional school programs cost money out of pocket, because they lead to licenses to practice presumably lucrative professions.</p>
<p>Your daughter may not necessarily need to take all of those courses over at her university.</p>
<p>In some instances, it is possible to satisfy the pre-med requirements by taking a different or more advanced course in the same subject if the student has AP credit for the basic course. For example, a student who has placed out of introductory biology might be able to take advanced biology courses instead. A student who has credit for a year of calculus might take a semester of multivariable calculus and a semester of statistics to fulfill the one-year-of-math requirement.</p>
<p>Whether it is a good idea to do this is another issue. Pre-meds need to have extraordinarily high college GPAs, especially in sciences. Also, the content of the pre-med science courses is covered on the MCAT; students need a thorough understanding of the material, preferably from relatively recent courses. Many pre-meds think that both their GPAs and their MCAT scores can be maximized by taking the basic science courses offered by their universities, even if they have AP credit. Yes, this means that some material will be covered twice. But it may be worth it.</p>
<p>A reason I've heard is that medical students need to keep their knowledge of science fresh. Many students take APs early in high school, By the time they get to med school, the knowledge may be gone after 6-7 years.</p>
<p>At my D's HS, a major reason to take AP classes was to be able to take classes that are geared higher than the non-AP equivalents and to be with a group of students with a more academic focus than the average student. This is helpful at a HS that has a large percentage of ESL students such as the one they attended. I knew enough to not expect that the AP classes would equate 1:1 with classes no longer required in college. This is especially true since both Ds went into engineering. </p>
<p>They did get out of some classes or were able to take some higher versions of some classes (ex: higher calculus courses rather than the lower ones). They also received higher standing earlier - my D who sjust started at UCLA this fall was designated a 'sophomore' before she ever started there. Since she's in engineering, she'll still be there for 4 years or so due to the rigorous requirements but we're hoping it might help at least give some priority in enrolling in classes. The extensive AP credits would have eliminated more classes in other majors though.</p>