Hi all, I was wondering if I could get by without taking Calculus. My major only requires pre calc and stats. How do the med schools feel about this?? Thanks
Calculus or Stats???
- Thread starter ag99
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I hate math, too. And my major only requires stats and 1 semester of calculus. I could probably get by with this at many schools, but it would take me out of the running for some other schools, so I'm taking the second semester of calculus this summer.
From the research I've done, it seems that different schools require different levels of math. For instance, Harvard requires two semesters of calculus, whereas UCSF doesn't require calculus at all. My advise is to look at the schools you want to go to, then take the upper limit of the requirements. Most likely, you'll end up taking at least one semester of calculus. Don't worry - if I can do it, anyone can do it.
Nanon
From the research I've done, it seems that different schools require different levels of math. For instance, Harvard requires two semesters of calculus, whereas UCSF doesn't require calculus at all. My advise is to look at the schools you want to go to, then take the upper limit of the requirements. Most likely, you'll end up taking at least one semester of calculus. Don't worry - if I can do it, anyone can do it.
Nanon
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I am in the same boat as you...I hate math but it looks like I will only have to take college algebra and statistics (I am a business major). I attend the university of Montana; but I am a state resident in North Carolina. Take Nanon's advice and look at the med schools you might want to go to. I checked the North Carolina requirements and their minimum requirements are a year of organic, chem., bio, and English. If you aren't good in math (like me), take the minimal # of courses in it. I would think that med schools would rather see you with a high GPA than see a low grade or a W in a math class. Good luck!!
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My choice would be to take neither one of them. To get around Calc. 1 and 2 I took Computer Programming(Computer Science) and Stats. I would have to say that Stats would be the most useful.
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ag99,
I didn't take any math in undergrad - NONE! I detest math of all kinds. I passed out of quantitative skills as a freshman and then called it quits.
I'm a first year at Penn Med and doing quite well. The physics-chem part of the MCAT ended up being my highest score anyway -14.
I don't recommend not taking math, I'm just saying that it can be done. Just check up on the requirements of the schools you would like to attend.
Philly
[This message has been edited by Lt. Ub (edited 05-27-2000).]
I didn't take any math in undergrad - NONE! I detest math of all kinds. I passed out of quantitative skills as a freshman and then called it quits.
I'm a first year at Penn Med and doing quite well. The physics-chem part of the MCAT ended up being my highest score anyway -14.
I don't recommend not taking math, I'm just saying that it can be done. Just check up on the requirements of the schools you would like to attend.
Philly
[This message has been edited by Lt. Ub (edited 05-27-2000).]
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I have to tell you that I sucked in Math in high school and then was forced to take Statistics and Calculus I for my premed requirements. And honestly, I didn't think it was so bad and I got through both of them just fine. Statistics is no big deal, it's just basic math and some concepts which you probably already know from high school, like probability, mean, median, and mode, and some stats analysis. Really a good class and not too tough to do well in usually. Calculus on the other hand can get hard if you are REALLY bad in math, but I say take it anyway before you take Chem 2, and Physics, it will be tremendously helpful for those courses. And don't worry, if you find a good professor to take it with, you should do just fine, an A is not out of the question. Hey I got one, and I learned a lot. I am tremendously happy that I took it before Chem 2, it helped me understand the concepts tremendously. It really is not so bad, and can be learned. For me, Chemistry and Physics was a lot harder. You will need to hone up your math skills for those two subjects anyway and especially for the MCATs. Do not put off Calculus until senior year because you THINK that you are bad in math. It is just in your mind, just as it was in mine. With a good teacher you can learn it easily, believe me it isn't all that hard, some of the stuff is easier than high school math!! Those friends of mine who put it off until senior year, regretted it because they had forgotten all the math from high school and struggled through the course. Plus it will help you for Chem and Physics. You need some to remember some trigonometry or precalculus if you had taken it before starting Calc I. Review it before. Especially functions and trigonometry.
Alex from New York City.
Alex from New York City.
