LimitlessRx

Hey so I am going to be a freshman in college and was going to take chemistry my first year. I have never taken chemistry before in high school (never had the schedule work out) but I did A LOT of self-taught chemistry. However, the college I might go to offers an Honors Chem but requires that you take an evaluation test, nothing that I could pass without the course. So I was wondering, should I take Chem over summer at a community college to get into this Honors Chem class? Is it worth it?

WayOutWestMom

If you are planning on professional school (medicine, pharm, dental), do not take a course at a CC over the summer and then repeat it again at your 4 year college.

Why? Because you must report all college coursework and send transcripts from ALL colleges attended. (This includes co-enrollment coursework taken in high school.) So then it becomes apparent that you're taken gen chem twice. Both grades get included in your GPA calculations and you must explain why you have taken the same course twice.

Repeated coursework doesn't look good to health profession school adcomms. It looks like you're trying to game the system. And it may devalue any grade you receive in the chem class at your 4 year. (Of course, he got an A, it's the second time he's taken the class. Or conversely of you don't ace it--wow, what's wrong that he can't master the material even on his second try.)

You would be better served by enrolling in regular chem at your regular college.

If you want more prep, consider doing an AP Chem online class. AP Chem is a high school class and won't need to reported.

LimitlessRx

Thank you so much WayoutWestMom! You are very informative! Do you think taking AP Chem online is worth it to get into the Honors Chem Class?

WayOutWestMom

Unless the Honors chem class offers special perks (guaranteed lab slots, a much small class size, a substantially better instructor, opportunities to start research sooner)....no.

i_wanna_be_Brown

The general rule of thumb for course selection regarding pre-med is don't take anything that's harder than you have to unless you genuinely want to. Med Schools probably won't care you took honors chem, but if you will care, then go for it. Is there anything that happens if you fail the placement test other than you can't take the course? I assume the answer is no, but don't blow your last chance (for the next 4 years at least) at a summer that is allowed to be completely responsibility free.

LimitlessRx

Haha I guess that is true.. but I do want to get a job at starbucks to do something with all my free time :P Thank you for the help!

rainbowbrite

Don't ever take honors classes. Med schools don't care.

mcat2

^ For most med schools, I think it is true.

Sometimes I feel that, as far as GPA is concerned, med schools just want somebody who is among the top N percents of any science classes, no matter how "hard" the science class is, as long as the class is classified as a class meant for a science major (that is, not an "appreciation" class for non-majors.)

One famed physics professor at a top university once complained that this is a "national campaign of wasting the brightest brainpower" in this country. If a student happens to take a class from a professor with such a caliber at a top college, he or she should not be surprised by the fact that this professor may teach at a completely different difficulty level as the professor does not give a rat's ass on premed prereq! Some high schoolers insist on going to a college with the highest graduate school research rank will get what they want: The professor will try hard to mold you into a top researcher who will be destined to follow his step, anyone who is not aspired into this should not be in such a class to begin with.