Calculus?

[southerngrl]

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Well I met with the premed advisor today and she recommended I take calculus despite the fact that the med schools I will be applying to either do not require it or will accept math statistics (which I took and got an A in). Her rationale was that I will need calculus to help with the MCAT which has a lot of calculus. Is this true? Will it hurt me not to take it?

 

[DrMidlife]

Your premed adviser is as good as most: not very.

There is no calculus on the MCAT. None whatsoever. I have a math degree; I would know. Acceleration is a constant (guffaw) in med school.

 

[bydotte]

some schools require a semester or two but I don't know why. none on the MCAT or med school.

 

[Krisss17]

Your premed adviser is as good as most: not very.

There is no calculus on the MCAT. None whatsoever. I have a math degree; I would know. Acceleration is a constant (guffaw) in med school.

👍 I would really love to know what kind of background some of these advisors truly have. Personally, unless they have gone through the whole process, inlcluding taking the MCAT and applying to medical school, how can they truly advise a prospective student.

 

[southerngrl]

👍 I would really love to know what kind of background some of these advisors truly have. Personally, unless they have gone through the whole process, inlcluding taking the MCAT and applying to medical school, how can they truly advise a prospective student.

OMG! and to think I would have followed her guidance...how can they call themselves premed advisors without a thorough knowledge of the requirements? I can't imagine just how many poor saps this lady has pointed in the wrong direction! Thank goodness for places like SDN for a little help now and then....😱

 

[quiz]

never took a calculus class and i'm entering c/o 2013. they tell you to take it because it's the standard thing to do. everybody takes calculus right? i think they just have a checklist to go off.

If the schools you plan on applying to don't require it, you really don't need it. for schools that did require a calculus component (a small percentage i think), they accepted my applied math class which was equivalent to calculus 101. mcat is just algebra- remember there are no calculators allowed.

 

[Krisss17]

OMG! and to think I would have followed her guidance...how can they call themselves premed advisors without a thorough knowledge of the requirements? I can't imagine just how many poor saps this lady has pointed in the wrong direction! Thank goodness for places like SDN for a little help now and then....😱

For myself, I found that if I would look directly at whatever school I was interested in, checking their requirements, was the direction I would go. If there is a medical school that I wanted to attend that required calculus, then I would take it. Now maybe there are a few premed advisors that their stuff, but to be honest, I would really want to know what their credentials are, especially on this most expensive of ventures..

The fact that this advisor had stated there was calculus on the mcat displays the fact that she really has no idea of what is on the mcat and is somehow getting very poor information.

 

[DocLucy]

I have to take Calculus, not because the osom requires it, but the undergrad has it as a prereq for Physics. 🙁

 

[ArkansasRanger]

Well I met with the premed advisor today and she recommended I take calculus despite the fact that the med schools I will be applying to either do not require it or will accept math statistics (which I took and got an A in). Her rationale was that I will need calculus to help with the MCAT which has a lot of calculus. Is this true? Will it hurt me not to take it?

Sounds like another premed advisor who got a Ph.D. in randomness and read a pamphlet on med school entry. Ignore it.

 

[Krisss17]

I have to take Calculus, not because the osom requires it, but the undergrad has it as a prereq for Physics. 🙁

Are you trying to get into a calculus-based physics class? Unless you are trying for the very few med schools that require calc-based physics, I would just go for the algebra/trig-based physics. Of course, if your school only has the one, then I feel for you and understand.

 

[southerngrl]

Are you trying to get into a calculus-based physics class? Unless you are trying for the very few med schools that require calc-based physics, I would just go for the algebra/trig-based physics. Of course, if your school only has the one, then I feel for you and understand.

No the schools I will be applying to require physics with no specific calculus based requirement. I realize now based on the premed advisor's advice and the comments here on SDN that some premed advisors may not be very helpful so her only use to me is to help me with getting a LOR from the premed advisory committee and that is about it.

 

[echidna]

Are you trying to get into a calculus-based physics class? Unless you are trying for the very few med schools that require calc-based physics, I would just go for the algebra/trig-based physics. Of course, if your school only has the one, then I feel for you and understand.

Which med schools required calc-based physics? I didn't even there were any...

 

[BennieBlanco]

a pre-med advisor is like any other job in America.

Most are untrained and unenthusiastic and somewhere between 30-10% are highly competent and passionate about their jobs while learning off hours to get better.

If you've been in a real career (outside of school) you know this. Unfortunately you don't really learn this until after college (or at least I didn't).

 

[BennieBlanco]

Which med schools required calc-based physics? I didn't even there were any...

I don't know if any do, I would guess less than 20% easy.