For those of you already in a guaranteed program...

Harshateja · April 2008

The SAT II subject tests, for the most part (possibly with the exception of English) are much easier than their counterpart AP exams. To study for it, I suggest just buying Barron's prep for SATII Chem (Not princeton review - its nice but having not taken the class, its too concise when what you need is thoroughness).

angad19 · April 2008

FutureDr08 mentioned that you have to take AP Physics along with AP bio and AP chem.

I really don't believe this is true, because I took AP/IB Bio, IB Chem, and regular Physics, and I still got into the programs I wanted to get into.

Physics has absolutely NOTHING to do with med, so basically, they want to see that you can take hard classes (physics being a hard class), so if you can substitute that out with another challenging course, you should be fine. Of couse, some programs require you to take a physics (HPME in my case) at which point you can cop out like I did and just take regular Physics =P.

Same thing with Calculus. It has Nothing to do with med, but they want to see that you can take and handle hard classes (calc being hard, advanced math). There, it is hard to cop out, because math is math. You can't sub. it out.

madamebovary · April 2008

i think #1 priority is to do ap/ib bio and ap/ib chem
true i dont think you necessarily need ap physics but it's just much more beneficial if you have all these sciences down before you enter college

az1698 · April 2008

What about Calculus? How many classes do you need if your in a BA/BS/MD Program? If I took ap Calc ab, would I have to take any calc classes in college?

angad19 · April 2008

you would HAVE to take calc in college, because it is a premed class. I took a full summer of calc at a community college just to satisfy the entrance requirements for NW HPME and i'll still have to take it again in college, because I need it for premed.

MiamiDAP · April 2008

^It depends what medical school you are planning to apply. Only very top require more Calc than AP Calc in HS. If you had AP Calc in high school, than you can just take Statistics in college and that would be enough unless you are planning to apply to Harvard and such for Med. school. That is according to pre-med advisor in college. Calc has nothing to do with medicine, it is only to test your reasonning ability. However, if you are planning to go to engineering as undergrad, the more Calc you have in HS, the better.

az1698 · April 2008

Which calc is recommended?

angad19 · April 2008

take a FULL YEAR of any calc (not buisness calc tho). AB, BC, community college calc... it doesnt matter... as long as its legit. calc.

MiamiDAP · April 2008

^Agree. One year of any AP calc in HS is enough for pre-med in general, unless you have some special reguirements for specific program.

az1698 · April 2008

So AP CALC Ab would do i guess

ivybound1010 · April 2008

ap calc ab is good enough, depending on the program

and you guys should take things like AP govt, AP english, etc whatever interests you
come on now - its HIGH SCHOOL

of course take AP Bio or AP Chem if you want (both are good for premed) but let your other AP's be whatever you damn please. It doesnt' really matter.

Id' really advise taking AP English - I'm not a fabolous writer - but thats reallllly important in the future. You should want to be a well rounded, well read doctor. Not a boring lame drone.

MiamiDAP · April 2008

AP English is very good to take in HS. Then if your program requires more English, it will be a breeze. AP American History is really helpful, because you will not need to take any more of History, which will free your time to take whatever in your area of interest.

AP Bio and AP Chem are benefitial for having more background in Bio, Chem, not so much for credits. In some pre-med programs, they strongly advise to take Bio, Chem starting over from beginning. The very first Bio in college is much harder than AP even for people with "5" and straight A's.

az1698 · April 2008

These are the ap classes i am taking or have taken:
AP Euro History(10)
AP US History(11)
AP English Language(11)
AP Spanish Language(11)
AP Psychology(11)
AP Comp. Gov't(12)
AP Calc AB(12)
AP English Literature(12)
AP Physics(12)

Is that a good overall selection?

Also, I have the choice of taking forensic science from Syracuse University or AP Computer science. Which would you guys refer?

angad19 · April 2008

az1698: I didnt see AP Chem or AP Bio anywhere on your list of APs.... you should definetly take both of those.

also, i'd recommend taking forensics at Syracuse University because it will show the colleges that you able to take univ. level courses even while you're in hs

az1698 · April 2008

My school doesn't offer those two classes

az1698 · May 2008

bump is my class selection good?

jerzgrlmom · May 2008

az16098, my son had taken all 3 AP Science classes (AP Bio 10th, AP Chem 11th, AP Physics C, 12th). Luckily, he automatically took the SATIIs at the same time as his AP exams. We didn't realize that many of these pgms/colleges wanted 3 SATIIs, often including Chemistry and Math. So, if you're not taking AP CHem, look into whether you will need the SATII Chem (I think Northwestern requires it, but I'm not sure since my son didn't apply there). Have your GC include in the GC Rec letter that AP Chem and AP Physics weren't offered at your school. Schools will not penalize you if the classes aren't offered.

az1698 · May 2008

^That makes me feel better. Yes, I do plan on taking sat II in chem and physics. And the Ap sciences, my school isn't having them until year after I graduate (2010). What do you think if my course selections though, are they good choices for someone thinking to go to one of these programs?

For those of you already in a guaranteed program...

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