Not taking any physics in high school could place you at a disadvantage at the more selective colleges that explicitly recommend a physics subject as part of your high school science preparation. You have a tough choice to make because Molecular Biology sounds like a beneficial class to take in conjunction with AP Biology. Is there any other way for you to learn physics informally, like through Khan Academy & receive Schoolhouse certification? For example, Caltech has a one-year physics requirement for undergraduate admissions. If the student doesn’t have access to physics, then this is an alternate accepted way to fulfill the requirement. This does not mean, however, that colleges on your list that also require or recommend physics would accept this as a substitute. But, for you, the important thing would be to gain the knowledge & the certification in preparation for college physics to fulfill a pre-med requirement.
UCSD is far from the only fine science school and it’s not going to make cost. A U of Arizona if you want to be out west or SDSU might make a better choice.
To save $$ you also have access to the Academic Common Market to save money. There are some interesting bio related majors here. You can take pre med classes, of course, anywhere.
Just pointing this out as few talk about the ACM but Maryland is a member.
What is it about UF in a campus you like because UCSD is nothing like it.
If I wanted to match UF from a campus POV, I’d add UGA (which is about similar in admission difficulty) and Alabama (which you’d be in with big money - about $25K a year total cost so $100K for 4 years and they have the McCullough Pre Medical listed above.
UCSD is nothing like that - and there’s a zillion schools with great science programs. But UCSD will be quieter, without the sports and extensive Greek life.
The academic common market can be a great option for some students, but it is limited only to degrees that one’s home state public colleges do not offer. For Maryland residents, this is what’s available in biology:
I’m more interested in UCSD for the location (California by the coast) rather than the campus itself, while I like UF for the large public campus feel and strong sports program. Neither is a particularly strong preference for me, so it doesn’t make a huge difference overall.
For the UC schools, you should calculate your UC GPAs here:
ETA: Is band a class on your HS transcript?
Thank you. I hadn’t considered using something like Khan Academy or Schoolhouse to get some physics background before college. I think my local community college offers some courses. I will continue to look into that and see if I can find a way to learn the material and get some sort of certification. I will make a decision based off of what I find.
Thank you for the GPA calculator. Band is on my transcript and it is weighted as an honor course. Thanks.
The community college option would be the better option because you’d be earning credit on an official college transcript that could also potentially count for extra high school science credit if your school or district allows it. Check with your guidance counselor.
Also check if the class covers algebra-based or calculus-based physics. An algebra-based version should be less time-consuming.
And Cancer Bio at UAB. That was the tangential I was looking at on ACM. UAB is a medical powerhouse and this student would have very low cost (even without ACM). Obviously pre med classes can be done with any major.
I didn’t expect it would work but just another option many forget.
When OP validates the budget, they can determine farther what is realistic for them or not.
Definitely will do. Thanks.
Just an FYI…all college courses you take (even ones in HS) will count when you apply to medical school. So…plan to get an A in any course you take with college credit now.
You might want to visit a variety of schools and see where you feel comfortable. We started with schools near home just because they are easier to get to while you get a better idea what you are looking for. Some schools will let you sit in on a class, and/or talk to a professor in a subject that you would consider majoring in. Some have tours led by current students, who might be able to give you at least one student’s view of the school.
Students in highly ranked MD programs, and in other very good biomedical graduate programs, and in a wide range of graduate programs, come from a huge range of colleges and universities. You do not need to attend a highly ranked undergraduate school to get into a very good graduate program. One MD I know said that other students in his MD program came from “all over the place”. A wide range of people I know with graduate degrees have said pretty much the same thing.
As long as medical school is a realistic possibility, make sure that you budget for a full 8 years of university. You would be far better off to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and a significant part of your overall total university budget still intact.
And I agree with others that you should take some physics in high school. If nothing else, this is likely to make you somewhat better prepared to do well when you take physics in university. Some physics is included among the required premed classes. I have heard that some premed students (and some pre-vet students, the required undergraduate classes are the same) think of physics as one of the classes where you get to make up for lower grades in some of the really tough premed classes (which premed classes you consider tough may vary, although it does not hurt to be as prepared as you can be for all of them).
If you make it through medical school, being strong enough in Spanish to treat Spanish-speaking patients will be a plus.
I like this. As one example, this shows the ability to stick with a productive and positive activity over a long period of time. If you make it to the point that they call you “doctor”, determination and commitment will be a big part of what gets you there.
And this is critical. If you are serious about medical school, budget for a full 8 years where the last 4 will be expensive, and there is a huge range of cost available for the first 4 years, and a huge range of schools that are very good for premed students.
…. And more competitive.
Admission to a UC is a bit more difficult when you look at what California high school students take for admission to the state universities.
Every UC has a boat load of students who want to become physicians.
All of those students know that they have to take physics in high school to get a chance to be admitted and to get through the college physics courses.
All of those students know that most of the UCs are on the quarter system. Most of their high schools are also on the quarter system to match the speed of the UCs. They know that each course is 10 weeks.
Each UC is uniquely different, but they share the same intensity and competitiveness for on campus lab jobs and off campus volunteer positions.
If you haven’t visited yet, you need to visit.
A friend of my daughter’s just transfered OUT of UCSD – it will be very difficult to get to off campus internship sites - or at least that is what she found. And they offered her a great out of state scholarship and then basically pulled the rug out from under her second year (she had an excellent GPA - it was just admin issues)
There is no need to double down on molecular biology.
Colleges want to see the three core science classes- chem, physics and bio. You will get all the bio you can handle once you get to college. Most science these days is interdisciplinary- so having a firm grasp of the core will ONLY help you as you get to more advanced classes.
Taking physics “on your own” is a bad idea. You will have a superficial grasp of the contents and a shaky foundation on the calculations. Unless your HS does not offer it– in which case your GC needs to put that note in the counselor’s recommendation.
Physics is one of the usual pre-med courses you will need to take in college. It may be more difficult if your first exposure to physics is in a college course filled with other students competing for A grades who have already had physics in high school.
Remember that all college courses (including those taken while in high school) and their grades must be included in the medical school application.
For UC GPA recalculation purposes, only AP, IB, and college courses are given +1 weighting for schools not listed in the UC Doorways web site. Effectively, this means students at nearly all non-California high schools do not get any weighting for school-designated honors courses. Even in California high schools, not all school-designated honors courses count as honors for UC GPA recalculation purposes.
Thank you for the response. I definitely see your point about not focusing too much on rankings and thinking about the full 8 year cost, especially if med school is the goal. I’ll keep that in mind while I look into different schools and figure out what actually feels like a good fit for me.