Ap need advice-thanks soooo much

[sharon1515]

hi
so basically i am a junior i am taking two AP classes online since my high school does not offer me any. so these classes are besides for the full course load i have in school. i am taking AP bio and AP English. i quite certain that after college i will pursue a career in medicine and go to medical school. i know that although medical schools do not mind if AP credit from the exam is used towards a student's BA. they do not allow the required prerequisites for medical school to be from AP credit rather all students must have taken a regular college course in order for it the medical school to consider it a completed prerequisite. therefore, since English and biology are both prerequisites for medical school is there any point for me to take the AP exams since anyway i will have to take the classes in college again. also, i know that if i take the AP exam i will have the choice in college to take the next level class, but i don't care about that one benefit because i will still want to relearn the biology that i learnt in a real college class once i will be required to take it again. so basically my question is, is there any benefit to taking th AP exams for bio and English if i know i will not use the credit obtained for either of those towards my major because anyway i will be required to retake them in college in order for them to count as a prerequisite
thanks a million

p.s on a separate point... is it smart for me to CLEP elective classes and general education classes that obviously are not prerequisites for medical school since i want to finish college faster or do medical school look down on cleps even if they are only fulfilling general ed requirements or electives and no med school prerequisites

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[Phlame217]

As long as an upper level divison of the course is taken and passed, the AP credit can count towards medical school pre-req.

Ie:
You're taking AP Chem. Depending on your Grade (3,4,5) this may count for General Chemistry I or Gen Chem I & II. If it only counted for Chem I and then you took Chemistry II in college and passed, it'd all be okay. Same with Chem I and II. Since you have to take organic chem I & II, as long as you passed those the Chem I & II would count.

Same story for the english course. AP English may count for E I or EI & II. however, in my case, I had credit for EI & II but had to take II in order for the credit to count. Weird, I know.

Cleps are fine, but I would advise you to NOT rush through college. Cleping too many courses (which act as buffers for rough semesters) will hurt you. With a heavy course load, you would struggle alot more and possibly hurt yourself by a lower GPA. Plus college is a journey, its nice to stop and smell the roses and not sprint through it only to find out medical school is a whole new level of sprinting.

 

[MilkmanAl]

As long as an upper level divison of the course is taken and passed, the AP credit can count towards medical school pre-req.

I'm not certain that's universally true. In fact, I've never actually heard of that policy before. It seems like every school is different, so this is really just something you have to check when application season comes around. For example, some school say they flat-out don't take AP credit, while UAMS accepted all of mine just fine.

Of course, that's all moot since the smart way to approach the situation is to retake the courses in college and score a few easy A's. You've already seen all the material in high school, so you should be able to cruise through them the second time around. It helps a whole lot to start playing the med school admissions game as soon as college starts.

I'd echo that rushing through college is an absolutely atrocious idea. College should be one of the best times of your life, and throwing it away to get to the drudgery of med school faster is nonsense. Enjoy the partying and friends and craziness college brings to the table while you can.

 

[sharon1515]

Hey thanks so much for the reply
so basically if i plan on taking bio and English in college then there really is no reason for me to take the AP exam....??? also when you say you used your AP credit do you mean you used it fulfill medical school prerequisites or general course requirements and electives also according to this website- found it on the web
http://www.umbc.edu/premed/medical.php#apscience
then basically its mainly the science prerequisites that medical school do not like for students to use their AP credits to fulfill so maybe what i will do is i will just take the english AP exam but not biology??
also about cleps i do not plan on zooming through medical school but if i want to graduate say a year early because before i am going to college i am learning at a program abroad for a year then i was just wondering how medical school look at cleps to fulfill electives and general course requirements....thanks so so so so much

 

[DoctorIn2015]

It really would be program specific. I fulfilled my English requirement via AP exams and had no trouble getting accepted this cycle. I doubt most schools would mind your CLEPing out of classes, but remember that a lot of the classes you would consider testing out of can be great GPA boosters as well. It is also worth noting that it's not just the opinion of people on this board that college is an important time to get experience and live a little. I've known a few good applicants who had to reapply for a second cycle because the admissions committee felt that they had rushed through college and may not be able to handle the transition.

 

[sharon1515]

hey thanks so much
specifically about the AP biology since i am going to take bio in college anyway as i checked and most medical schools require it... is their any OTHER benefit that i get from taking the AP bio exam besides for college credit? since i dont care about hte credit. also, does it look bad if i took the AP class but not the exam....
the simple reason being that i just know that i am going to take bio in college anyway
thanks sooooo much
i really appreciate all the help

 

[DoctorIn2015]

Nah, medical schools won't even look at high school grades and the like, so they'll never know you took AP biology and not the AP test. I'd skip it and just take the course for what it is: a leg up in freshman biology.

 

[Phlame217]

I'm not certain that's universally true. In fact, I've never actually heard of that policy before.

It was the policy with all of the schools I applied to in the midwest region.

 

[hownowmauvecow]

I know for a fact that Vanderbilt will not accept AP credit for some pre-reqs. However, most schools will. Also, you can always use the AP credit and then if you decide to apply to a school that will not take it, retake those classes your senior year/during a summer. If you can get out of some classes it might give you more opportunity to take more interesting classes later on or as maybe even do a study abroad through your college. Just a thought.

 

[NickNaylor]

AP is a complete waste of time. I would recommend against paying for the tests unless your district pays for them. Perhaps the only thing they're useful for is satisfying random elective credits.