Classes to Take to Benifit me?

[Anthony558]

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Hi everyone,
I am a sophomore in high school and was wondering what classes i should take that would look good for college and help me out for the MCAT, help me understand college courses more and help me out in medical school.
I have already taken these courses that relate to health (i am thinking of becoming an emergency room doctor but who knows this early)

Freshman year
Honors Biology
Geometry

Sophomore year
Honors Algebra 2
Honors Chemistry

I was wondering if you could rate these classes in order that i should take for the next two years of high school

Latin
AP economics
AP Computer sciences
AP calculus
AP Statistics
AP biology
AP chemistry
AP physics
human anatomy and physiology
genetics and microbiology
Psychology

I was just wondering what classes out of these would be best to take if you could just rank a few or all it would be much appreciated
thanks!
Also i am thinking of becoming an emergency room doctor do you know any summer jobs that would look good or volunteering?

 

[avatarftw]

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[Long Way to Go]

I was wondering if you could rate these classes in order that i should take for the next two years of high school

Latin
AP economics
AP Computer sciences
AP calculus
AP Statistics
AP biology
AP chemistry
AP physics
human anatomy and physiology
genetics and microbiology
Psychology

Because the major issue has already been addressed by the other poster, this is what you should take:

The classes that will be the most help to you in college are not the ones that will give you the most credit, but rather the ones that teach you how to think. Accordingly, unless you are going into engineering, there is no need to be super hardcore with doubling up with sciences. Take calculus, English, history, etc. with the best teachers you can. That will serve you far better than taking anatomy or micro.

So let me tier them for you:

English, Calculus
History
Biology, Chemistry, Physics
The rest

You're going to spend years learning sciences. History? Probably not so much. It's important. Learn to appreciate it now, and it will be forever useful.

 

[Maison]

Probably English would help.

 

[Lil Mick]

Take them all 🙂 I took a human anatomy course in high school and loved it (came in handy in med school, too, to have a background in the subject)... I think any class that challenges you will be beneficial in the long run, as well as fun for now 🙂

 

[Curl]

As others have said, you really don't need to worry about the MCAT just yet. That being said I would go with the classes that help you "think" in new ways. Such as physics and somewhat chemistry. The algebra manipulation I used throughout my AP physics class helped me in the begining of chemistry/calculus/physics classes in college. As far as the other classes go, you will mostly forget and have to re-learn it all when you take classes in college. So I would take them only if you really enjoy the subjects, rank them according to your interest.

 

[Seahawk]

English, lol

 

[DrYoda]

As others have said rank them according to your personal interests.

The only particular I'm going to comment on is Latin. There seems to be an idea among the general population that Latin is really helpful to doctors, it's not. You learn some Latin based terminology in med school, but it's just a little vocab, not anything worth taking an actual Latin class over. If you have a real interest in Latin, then take it. If you're hoping for something useful later Spanish is a much better bet, since it's the language you are most likely to encounter in most regions of the US.

 

[Anthony558]

As others have said rank them according to your personal interests.

The only particular I'm going to comment on is Latin. There seems to be an idea among the general population that Latin is really helpful to doctors, it's not. You learn some Latin based terminology in med school, but it's just a little vocab, not anything worth taking an actual Latin class over. If you have a real interest in Latin, then take it. If you're hoping for something useful later Spanish is a much better bet, since it's the language you are most likely to encounter in most regions of the US.

Thanks Yoda,
Would it help me more on the SATs in like vocab?

 

[Anthony558]

Thanks Everyone,
Ill try to stop worrying about Medical School and worry about getting into college more. Are you guys saying that most of the classes will not be beneficial 5 years later?

 

[the duck]

I'd mak sure to take econ. You won't necessarily be taking it in college, and its something very important to know about for life in general, and will help with managing your money later on.

 

[DrYoda]

Thanks Yoda,
Would it help me more on the SATs in like vocab?

I never took the SAT, but I'm going to guess that an English/literature class would help your vocab more than Latin.

 

[Anthony558]

I never took the SAT, but I'm going to guess that an English/literature class would help your vocab more than Latin.

I know its a requirement to take English every year at my school.

 

[NickNaylor]

Nothing in high school is going to help you for the MCAT. Or for college.

For that matter, some things in college may or may not help you for the MCAT/med school. It's a vicious cycle of wasting your time on crap that is ultimately meaningless.

 

[Lil Mick]

I disagree somewhat. A few courses I took in "middle school/high school" (histology, anatomy, genetics and epigenetics, biochemistry, calculus, statistics, marine science/geophysics, classical literature, economics--even obscure stuff like meteorology or volcanology) helped me learn how to critique research and to glean information from subjects with which I was less familiar (granted, most of these were taken/audited at community college or research institutes rather than in my district schools). There a plenty of opportunities to grow in the sciences and mathematics during high school/college in a way in which you will benefit later in your training. That being said, if it isn't your passion, use your time in high school and college to work on something that is your passion; you will have ample opportunities to learn it when you are required to know it.

 

[hmockingbird]

I agree with what you like, and also classes that stress critical thinking.

Background in the sciences might make your intro classes easier, since they will seem more like review (especially in physics, since that way of thinking can be difficult to get used to). But one important thing to point out is many colleges will not take AP Bio/Chem/Physics credits because they want you to take their own intro classes (they are more geared towards what they want you to know for the major). So, while I think it's a good idea to cover each of the 3 areas, whether it's in regular classes or AP, you don't need to take AP in all of them if it's not something you're interested in.

 

[BAMF]

Although I never considered it at the time, my high school AP courses were the courses that I despised the most, but I loved it when I went to college because I saved myself a whole year of learning history, politics, etc. and focused on things that were relevant and interesting to my major (and were more important, in the long run). If you know what college you want to go to, take a look at which credits they'll accept and try basing your decision off of that.

 

[Iapyx]

If I could do it over again this is what I would have taken and why...

AP Calc and AP Stats (Take AP Tests for Credit)
You don't realize until you get to college how much different and more difficult math is. Get it out of the way in high school. 95% of med schools will not care you took in high school, and it will potentially save your GPA from some malignant math professor (of which there are many)

AP Physics, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry (Do not take AP Tests)

Taking these classes, but not taking AP credit will put you at a huge advantage in college. The material will not be new, this will help immensely. It will also be helpful for the mcat. Honestly, I think that if one goes to a good high school they could probably take them MCAT after taking these classes and get in somewhere. True, you wouldn't know any organic, which would be tough, but for the others you would be fine. I have no doubt that people will try and disagree with me on this, but I go to a top 100 university and have yet to learn anything in my year of gen chem, bio, and physics that I did not already know from my high school.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions.

 

[Anthony558]

If I could do it over again this is what I would have taken and why...

AP Calc and AP Stats (Take AP Tests for Credit)
You don't realize until you get to college how much different and more difficult math is. Get it out of the way in high school. 95% of med schools will not care you took in high school, and it will potentially save your GPA from some malignant math professor (of which there are many)

AP Physics, AP Biology, and AP Chemistry (Do not take AP Tests)

Taking these classes, but not taking AP credit will put you at a huge advantage in college. The material will not be new, this will help immensely. It will also be helpful for the mcat. Honestly, I think that if one goes to a good high school they could probably take them MCAT after taking these classes and get in somewhere. True, you wouldn't know any organic, which would be tough, but for the others you would be fine. I have no doubt that people will try and disagree with me on this, but I go to a top 100 university and have yet to learn anything in my year of gen chem, bio, and physics that I did not already know from my high school.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions.

Thank you that helped a lot. I will be sure to take those classes. Which class would you suggest i take AP Calculus or AP Stats

 

[Iapyx]

Thank you that helped a lot. I will be sure to take those classes. Which class would you suggest i take AP Calculus or AP Stats

If I could only take 1, it would be AP Calculus. Hopefully you will be able to score well enough to get credit and not have to take it in college, but even if not, at least you will have seen it when you have to take it again. All science majors require calculus (that I have ever heard of). In terms of stats, I have not found college stats to be particularly difficult, just more of a nuisance that I wish I would have avoided. If you have any more questions let me know.

 

[Lil Mick]

I'd suggest calculus if you enjoy math. If you take it and can get credit, you can move to other math courses in college (Calc III, Stats with Calc, Linear Algebra). Stats would be helpful if you don't enjoy math, as most of the biomedical studies use the basic statistics that you'll learn.