I’m trying to CLEP out of calculus but if it’s a prerequisite then I can’t. I hear mixed things online about whether calc is a prereq for med school or not. Does it narrow down my med school options if I CLEP out of calc?
@WayOutWestMom can clarify for you.
I don’t know a doctor (my kid’s age or so) who hasn’t taken calculus…not necessarily in high school, but did take it in college.
Check the college websites about the Math requirements, but schools ask for it and some get AP credit . There are schools which don’t require CALC,
https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7041/download
My reflex answer would have been all of them. But a quick Google search revealed, none of them (except two). Who would have thought.
Basically, you need to take Calculus or study the Hs course THEN take Calc1 with thzt knowledge to help you get an A; and you need Calc and Biostats or stats for the MCAT, whether med schools require it or not.
So you can take the CLEP exam just to test yourself and see how high you score - and not report the score.
Note that it also may not look good to medical schools if you get AP or CLEP or whatever credit for calculus 1 and then repeat calculus 1 – looks like grade grubbing.
Of course, you can avoid a repeat by taking the next course that follows whatever your AP or CLEP or whatever credit gives (e.g. if you have calculus 1 credit from AP or CLEP or whatever, you can take calculus 2 in college to show a college calculus course without a repeat).
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Actually, there are some that DO require calculus on the link you provided, and a number that recommend it. Conventional wisdom for medical school applicants, if you see “recommended” consider that to be “required”.
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It was just a quick scan. After seeing the first ten not requiring, I didn’t bother to scroll further to see Hopkins and USUHS.
But you are right, I’m sure 99% of med school applicants have taken calculus.
Some points to consider:
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Most medical schools will not accept CLEP credits for required coursework, including calculus.
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For med school admission, recommended = required, if you want to be considered a competitive applicant.
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For the most accurate list of required pre-reqs, please consult the MSAR or the individual admission webpages of an individual school. **
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If you want to be considered a strong admission candidate, AP/IB credit should be supplemented with additional upper level coursework in the same department as the AP/IB credits
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There are medical schools that do require calculus for admission. In fact there are several that require two or more semesters of calculus, including : Harvard, WashU, UCSD, Carle Illinois, TexasTech’s Engineers to Medicine program.
**Admission requirements can and do change over time. Just because something is not required currently does not mean it won’t be required by the time you are applying to med school. Ohio State famously changed its admission pre-reqs DURING the application cycle one year which sent applicants scrambling to find a human anatomy and physiology class at the last minute.
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Thanks for all the help : ) I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to use English ap credit(score 3) as there’s two more semesters of higher level English I’m going to take in college after that and not take the calc CLEP exam, I’ll take calc in college.
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You can take AP calculus exam instead of CLEP if your school accept it, since most majority of med schools will allow AP credits. I would recommend cal BC since that would give 8 credits. Some schools do not award AP scores less than 4 for credits , so check with your school.
My S used IB credits and didn’t take any calculus or math courses in UG and didn’t see any of the schools he applied requiring college calculus. For reference he applied to top 25 USNWR research schools only and had very successful cycle, 3 years back.