freshman here. we chose our classes and I’m wondering if these classes are good for a pre-med track for sophomore year. for context, my school has 8 classes per school year, and you can choose 4 alternates. here were my choices for upcoming sophomore year:
main classes:
English II
Math 3
AP Precalculus (double up, counts as an elective)
AP US government
Chemistry Honors
AP computer science principles
AP psychology
health science I
alternates:
AP chemistry (you can double up)
python I honors
anatomy and physiology honors
entrepreneurship honors.
I’m probably going to get 3-4 aps sophomore year. am I on the right track? help!!
There’s no specific path to pre med - which is not a major. You will have a major. Pre med is simply an intention.
I see English
Science.
Math
Social science
Where is your foreign language ?
You needn’t double up anything. Pre calc in 11th is fine. You don’t need health unless you have space.
You need 4 years of core classes if you are aiming for competitive. You don’t need to double up.
Your counselor can help you.
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Your classes are fine.
Re: premed. You have a few years before you even apply to college, and at least 7 years before you apply to medical school.
Please be the best high school student you can be…for yourself. Take premed and medical school out of the equation. You have plenty of time in the future to decide if you actually want to head in that direction.
Get the best high school grades you can get, as this will open up more college doors for you.
Agree…where is your foreign language.
You should be planning to take four years each of English, Math, Social Studies, Science, and at least through level 3 of the same foreign language. You should also plan to take one arts class (music, drama, art) as some colleges require this.
Does your state and high school require physical education and health!
Make sure you meet your state and district requirements.
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To me this sounds like a lot.
There are three things that come to mind.
One is that as a freshman in high school it is very early to be thinking about medical school or being a premed student. The very large majority of students who start university thinking “premed” end up doing something else. There are a lot of forms of “something else” to consider. Some are medical related (such as biomedical research). Some are not.
When you get to university, you will discover that some premed classes are very academically demanding – more difficult than anything that you have witnessed up to now, or even up to the time that you start university. There are some classes that you just are not ready to take yet. That is okay, you will learn to be a stronger student over time. You need to pace yourself. You do not want to jump into the hardest classes right away. Instead you need to gradually take more demanding classes while learning how to be a very strong student.
Also, in some cases medical schools might refuse to accept medical school prerequisites that you took as high school classes. You need to be careful about which classes you need to take in university. Others might be able to give you more information about this point.
Regarding the second point, as one example, organic chemistry is famous for being a very difficult required premed class. Both daughters waited to take organic chemistry as a junior in university. This meant that they were very well prepared to do well in the class. My older daughter called it “the most difficult B- that I ever had in my life”. This was okay. She had enough A’s to offset this and was accepted to several very good DVM programs. She then told me that the average class in her DVM program was just as difficult as organic chemistry. However, by the time that she started her DVM she had gotten used to handle these classes. Either organic chemistry or many of her DVM classes would have been just too much when she was in high school. That is okay, she took these classes when she was ready to take them. Classes in in a good MD program are on average not likely to be any easier than classes in a good DVM program.
Similarly you should be careful about jumping ahead too quickly. You should take classes when you are ready to take them.
The last thing that comes to mind is that there are a very, very large number of universities that are very good overall, and that are very good for premed students. There are hundreds and hundreds of universities and colleges that can prepare you very well to apply to MD and DO programs. You do not need to be hung up about trying to get into famous or highly ranked universities. Again this suggests that you do not need to jump ahead too far in high school.
By the way, I also agree about taking a foreign language. Being able to get by in at least one language other than English is quite helpful for anyone who is in direct patient contact in a medical profession.
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Colleges will look at progression and rigor. It’s not the number of APs!
So
1/English II (H?) → AP English Language → senior seminar, honors, Humanities…
2/Math 3H → AP Precalc → AP Calc (if you wish to double up, you could take AP Stats senior year)
3/ AP US Gov-> APUSH → AP World or AP European history or AP African American Studies
4/Chemistry Honors → Physics Honors or AP Physics 1 → AP Chem (if you wish to double up, you could take Physics Honors and AP Bio junior year; note that AP Chem is a level 2 course, expecting students to have taken chemistry before aka Chemistry level 1.)
5/Foreign language 2-> Foreign language 3 → Foreign language 4
6/ Art/Music/Choir/Pottery/Graphic design…
7/ whatever strikes your fancy; AP Psychology, Sociology Honors, AP Environmental science, AP Human Geography are good electives so you could pick one each year. AP Computer Science Principles and Health Principles are good too.
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I’m a high school chemistry teacher and three to four APs in sophomore year sounds like a lot. Can you focus on one or two APs? Also my DD is a junior who wants to go premed and we visited several colleges this spring (Cornell, BU, CWRU) and all the premed advisors seemed to indicate that while you can do AP courses it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s smart to use the AP credit in college because medical schools might not accept it. Just something to keep in mind based on the feedback we heard.
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