<p>Hello,
I am a “sophomore status” first year student at Penn State. I am in their schreyer honors college as well. I am currently majoring in Food Science with planned minors in Horticulture and Biology. I had a few questions regarding some med school reqs.</p>
<p>First off, I am getting through with a techniques of calculus class which basically is not the “full blown” calc that the physics and chem majors take but one that had more applications to business and well just life in general. Anyway, if I take a second sesmter of this (6 credits in this tech calc total) would that suffice for med school prep? I also will be taking a semester of biostats for my Foodsci major too (3 credit hours). </p>
<p>Also, being in the honors college, would taking a few honors biochem classes later on help me overall in the admissions process to med schools? </p>
<p>Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>I’m not sure what your first question is.</p>
<p>None of your college courses are really “med school preparatory” in the sense that they’ll help you do any better while in medical school. You’ll need a semester of college math which is generally calc, as a requirement for matriculation into medical school. There are a few schools out there which require two semesters of calc, but it’s only a handful. If you are concerned that your current math class is questionable and you’re not averse to taking a second semester, do so to prevent any confusion. Stats is an extremely helpful course for any future science (whether social or physical/life) based professional since nearly every journal article uses those methods for analysis of their data. Absolutely you should take the stats.</p>
<p>The honors tag absolutely will NOT help in and of itself for admissions. However, it’s not infrequent that classes labeled “honors” are easier than their non-honors counterparts - better professors, smaller classes, more generous curves, etc. Honors classes may also represent a chance to get to know a particular professor better which could lead to research opportunities or letters of recommendation in the future. If you can be selective with which classes you take for honors, look for these types of benefits…but there’s not benefit to be gained just by taking an honors course instead of a regular section.</p>