Is CALCULUS-based physics necessary for med school ?

[Pipacus]

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sorry to bug all of you excellencies already in med school with another one of my low-life premed questions, but your expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

can i get away with taking non-calculus based physics ( since the easier class would pad my GPA ), or will the adcoms be able to tell its a GPA-booster course just by looking at my transcript?

 

[DrThom]

sorry to bug all of you excellencies already in med school with another one of my low-life premed questions, but your expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

can i get away with taking non-calculus based physics ( since the easier class would pad my GPA ), or will the adcoms be able to tell its a GPA-booster course just by looking at my transcript?

yes

 

[medschool9]

sorry to bug all of you excellencies already in med school with another one of my low-life premed questions, but your expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

can i get away with taking non-calculus based physics ( since the easier class would pad my GPA ), or will the adcoms be able to tell its a GPA-booster course just by looking at my transcript?

I wouldnt call non-calc based physics a gpa booster, but def. easier than calc. based. I got in with regular physics...

 

[Obedeli]

sorry to bug all of you excellencies already in med school with another one of my low-life premed questions, but your expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

can i get away with taking non-calculus based physics ( since the easier class would pad my GPA ), or will the adcoms be able to tell its a GPA-booster course just by looking at my transcript?

You don't need calc based physics. I didn't and I am starting my PGY-2 (2nd residency year).

 

[medicomel]

unless it's a requirement for your major, go with noncalc-based physics. i got in with just plain old physics. it wasn't a fluff course, don't worry.

 

[Miami_med]

Physics with calc is definitely NOT necessary. I took calc my senior year after I took Physics 😉

 

[saradoor]

sorry to bug all of you excellencies already in med school with another one of my low-life premed questions, but your expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

can i get away with taking non-calculus based physics ( since the easier class would pad my GPA ), or will the adcoms be able to tell its a GPA-booster course just by looking at my transcript?

If you can ace it, take the calc based physics. It will give you a slight edge during the interview because most folks will not have it. 😎

 

[Labslave]

If you can ace it, take the calc based physics. It will give you a slight edge during the interview because most folks will not have it. 😎

I dunno' about this one...when a member of the admissions committee looks at an application, they often times don't even look at very many individual course grades. What makes you think that an interviewer would? Specifically, what makes you think that an interviewer (a practicing physician with many years of experience) would care about whether or not you took calculus based physics (a class that has very little to do with your potential as a future physician)?

OP: Go with the algebra-based course. It'll be less of a headache, and in some ways it's more relevant to what's on the MCAT anyway...

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I dunno' about this one...when a member of the admissions committee looks at an application, they often times don't even look at very many individual course grades. What makes you think that an interviewer would? Specifically, what makes you think that an interviewer (a practicing physician with many years of experience) would care about whether or not you took calculus based physics (a class that has very little to do with your potential as a future physician)?

OP: Go with the algebra-based course. It'll be less of a headache, and in some ways it's more relevant to what's on the MCAT anyway...

Exactly. My algebra-based physics class taught me everything I needed to know for the MCAT. A calculus based class might actually put you at a disadvantage because the class will be more about math and less about the basic concepts that will pop up on the MCAT.

 

[Pipacus]

thank you all sooooo much !

 

[OSUdoc08]

sorry to bug all of you excellencies already in med school with another one of my low-life premed questions, but your expert advice would be greatly appreciated.

can i get away with taking non-calculus based physics ( since the easier class would pad my GPA ), or will the adcoms be able to tell its a GPA-booster course just by looking at my transcript?

No, calculus-based physics is not neccessary for medical school.

There is no reason to take it whatsoever.

 

[saradoor]

I dunno' about this one...when a member of the admissions committee looks at an application, they often times don't even look at very many individual course grades. What makes you think that an interviewer would? Specifically, what makes you think that an interviewer (a practicing physician with many years of experience) would care about whether or not you took calculus based physics (a class that has very little to do with your potential as a future physician)?

OP: Go with the algebra-based course. It'll be less of a headache, and in some ways it's more relevant to what's on the MCAT anyway...

Agree with you on everything. However, many schools use students to interview candidates and questions such as "why did you take the calc based physics instead of the algebra based physics since you are not a physics major?" have come up before. Since calc based physics is mostly taken by physics majors, it is generally more difficult than the algebra based physics (I think everyone here pretty much agreed that otherwise we all would have recommended it). Again take it only if you can ace it and maybe you have a chance to show off 🙂

 

[vtucci]

Other than the MCAT (and the fact that it is required for admission), there is almost no reason to take Physics, calc-based or otherwise for medical school. It is irrelevant.

It is like taking Logic for Law school.

 

[ucsb101]

I wouldnt call non-calc based physics a gpa booster, but def. easier than calc. based. I got in with regular physics...

agreed. I had a friend who took the calc-physics and i took the "easier" non-calc-physics. He said that the hard part of the class was the physics NOT the calculus stuff. The calculus was easy compared to him. Also our tests (non calc phys) were scantron whereas his were written. The thing is that non cal phys is usually for non-physics/engineer/math science majors like chem and bio but the calcphys is for phys/engineers/and math dudes so therefore the tests might be wayy harder. Go with non calc phys....but dont expect it to be a breeze by any means....it just wont be cut-throat!!

 

[burlypie]

How do they even know if the physics was calc-based or not? are they going to keep track of Phy 101 vs 105 or 230 vs 232 at every school that sends an applicant? I hardly think so.

That being said, calc-based physics is NOT required -- there are literally less than 10 school that even require calculus (which I know 'cause I never even took that...)

 

[The Engineer]

I haven't used any math beyond simple algebra or any physics at all. I haven't even used any real science either. For some reason, I couldn't convice any of my physiology classmates I spoke with that you can't put pure potassium metal into someone and expect it to work. They looked at me with bewilderment when I told them that pure K + H2O = bad.

People also looked at me funny when I mentioned that there is a quantifiable electromagnetic repulsion effect in the composite kidney filter that prevents protein loss.

go figure.

 

[maharishi3383]

Calc physics isn't neccessary, but if you've taken calc before and were good at it, you might want to take calc physics. Personally I found it very frustrating to take algebra physics when I knew the calc. Its like being forced to walk after you can already run. What I thought would be an easy A turned into a B becuase I kept using calc to solve problem and my prof woudln't grade them. But couldn't remember how to do the algebra anymore!!! That could be just me though. I wish I had taken calc based.

 

[vincikai]

i have asked the same question before "to take cal-phy or not to take cal-phy?"
i took both non cal based AP (5) and cal based physics in college
i have to tell you the is not alot calculus invoved,
some what i was a little disappointed, anyway cal-physics was a lot of fun I had A+ in the class.