math requirements for medical schools?

Started by mimosa
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mimosa

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Hey everyone!

I was wondering which math courses I should take as a pre-med at UPenn. I noticed that some medical schools require a year of calculus whereas some other ones also require statistics. I know that I can visit other medical school sites to see their requirements, but it seems like most of them are different. I don't have my heart set on any specific medical school, yet I want to have fulfill the requirements for many of the medical schools for flexibility later on.
How far should I go with math? I plan to get credits (AP Calculus AB) so that I can only study math 114 and get the credit for math 104. Any thoughts/opinions/advices?? Thanks in advance 🙂
 
mimosa said:
Hey everyone!

I was wondering which math courses I should take as a pre-med at UPenn. I noticed that some medical schools require a year of calculus whereas some other ones also require statistics. I know that I can visit other medical school sites to see their requirements, but it seems like most of them are different. I don't have my heart set on any specific medical school, yet I want to have fulfill the requirements for many of the medical schools for flexibility later on.
How far should I go with math? I plan to get credits (AP Calculus AB) so that I can only study math 114 and get the credit for math 104. Any thoughts/opinions/advices?? Thanks in advance 🙂

i think taking calc 1 and 2 is useful. i am not sure how many schools require statistics but perhaps your major does? anyway if a good number of the schools you think you might look at require stats then go for it. it could be an easy a.
 
mimosa said:
Hey everyone!

I was wondering which math courses I should take as a pre-med at UPenn. I noticed that some medical schools require a year of calculus whereas some other ones also require statistics. I know that I can visit other medical school sites to see their requirements, but it seems like most of them are different. I don't have my heart set on any specific medical school, yet I want to have fulfill the requirements for many of the medical schools for flexibility later on.
How far should I go with math? I plan to get credits (AP Calculus AB) so that I can only study math 114 and get the credit for math 104. Any thoughts/opinions/advices?? Thanks in advance 🙂

i think taking calc 1 and 2 is useful. i am not sure how many schools require statistics but perhaps your major does? anyway if a good number of the schools you think you might look at require stats then go for it. it could be an easy a.
 
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mimosa said:
Hey everyone!

I was wondering which math courses I should take as a pre-med at UPenn. I noticed that some medical schools require a year of calculus whereas some other ones also require statistics. I know that I can visit other medical school sites to see their requirements, but it seems like most of them are different. I don't have my heart set on any specific medical school, yet I want to have fulfill the requirements for many of the medical schools for flexibility later on.
How far should I go with math? I plan to get credits (AP Calculus AB) so that I can only study math 114 and get the credit for math 104. Any thoughts/opinions/advices?? Thanks in advance 🙂

i think taking calc 1 and 2 is useful. i am not sure how many schools require statistics but perhaps your major does? anyway if a good number of the schools you think you might look at require stats then go for it. it could be an easy a.
 
mimosa said:
Hey everyone!

I was wondering which math courses I should take as a pre-med at UPenn. I noticed that some medical schools require a year of calculus whereas some other ones also require statistics. I know that I can visit other medical school sites to see their requirements, but it seems like most of them are different. I don't have my heart set on any specific medical school, yet I want to have fulfill the requirements for many of the medical schools for flexibility later on.
How far should I go with math? I plan to get credits (AP Calculus AB) so that I can only study math 114 and get the credit for math 104. Any thoughts/opinions/advices?? Thanks in advance 🙂

i think taking calc 1 and 2 is useful. i am not sure how many schools require statistics but perhaps your major does? anyway if a good number of the schools you think you might look at require stats then go for it. it could be an easy a.
 
From what I know calc I & II are required at most schools... as far as statistics goes, I think I've only seen one school that wanted statistics (might've been Brown) but I just listed Biostat as my course hehe.
 
shinenjk said:
From what I know calc I & II are required at most schools... as far as statistics goes, I think I've only seen one school that wanted statistics (might've been Brown) but I just listed Biostat as my course hehe.

From my recollection, UCLA recommends or requires some form of statistics.
 
shinenjk said:
From what I know calc I & II are required at most schools... as far as statistics goes, I think I've only seen one school that wanted statistics (might've been Brown) but I just listed Biostat as my course hehe.


Is that a full year of calc or just two quarters. I heard that most school don't require that you take the full year. 2 quarters of calc plus one quarter of stats is good?
 
shinenjk said:
From what I know calc I & II are required at most schools... as far as statistics goes, I think I've only seen one school that wanted statistics (might've been Brown) but I just listed Biostat as my course hehe.
Actually, most schools require only one semester of Calculus:

http://www.ocs.fas.harvard.edu/careerresources/byfield/healthmedicine/coursereqs/mathcoursereqsbystate.pdf#search='math%20requireme%20nts%20for%20medical%20school'

This is in .pdf format.
 
Most schools DO NOT require calc one and two. Actually, most schools (all i applied to except MUO and Wright) didn't even specify a math requirement so I would just go w/ what your major requires. MUO and Wright both required one year of math only.

Again, calc II tends not to be required; one school I think does is Duke, they are few and far between though so just check out the req's for the schools you plan on applying to. Calc II sucks, I def don't recommend it if you can avoid it! My major required it though, so yours may.
 
crys20 said:
Most schools DO NOT require calc one and two. Actually, most schools (all i applied to except MUO and Wright) didn't even specify a math requirement so I would just go w/ what your major requires. MUO and Wright both required one year of math only.

Again, calc II tends not to be required; one school I think does is Duke, they are few and far between though so just check out the req's for the schools you plan on applying to. Calc II sucks, I def don't recommend it if you can avoid it! My major required it though, so yours may.
Oops, you're probably right. I've only worried about Calc II because I already have Calc I...so I really didn't pay attention to the schools who require absolutely no math. It should all be in that .pdf that I posted, though.
 
There are a couple schools I applied to which required a full year of math (Sinai, SUNY, Einstein) but it doesn't have to be Calc. I'm taking Stat and a Computer Science course.
 
mimosa said:
Hey everyone!

I was wondering which math courses I should take as a pre-med at UPenn. I noticed that some medical schools require a year of calculus whereas some other ones also require statistics. I know that I can visit other medical school sites to see their requirements, but it seems like most of them are different. I don't have my heart set on any specific medical school, yet I want to have fulfill the requirements for many of the medical schools for flexibility later on.
How far should I go with math? I plan to get credits (AP Calculus AB) so that I can only study math 114 and get the credit for math 104. Any thoughts/opinions/advices?? Thanks in advance 🙂

A majority of schools require 1 semester of calculus. A significant amount don't even require this much.

Very few require a full year of calculus.
 
I find calc to be for the most part a purly an academic pursuit outside of physics and engineering.

Stats is realy usefull because it helps you understand experimental results. When interpreting a study or data, knowledge of things like standard deviation or how the analysis chosed can skew results is helpfull. I think that will serve you better than knowing how to calculate the area under a curve.

Thats my opinion.
 
Whoa I guess I was totally wrong... I thought calc I & II were pre-med courses but I guess that doesn't necessarily mean they're required at most med schools.

Personally I enjoyed calc II more than calc I... i hate integrals/derivatives and in calc II it was refreshing and fun to learn about matrices.

And I have NO idea how quarter systems work, sorry. I took a full year of calculus, calc I and II a semester each.
 
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I always recommend taking some kind of math. Very little of what you study as an undergrad will stick with you, but the problem solving skills you learn in a math course stick with you for the rest of your life.

I majored in math, and I honestly think the logical thinking I honed during my degree is what separated me from the <40 MCAT takers.

If you don't like (and don't have to take) Calculus, then I definitely recommend something fun like Discrete Math or Number Theory.

Take stats too, even if you don't need to. Without some understanding of statistical methods, you're at a big disadvantage when it comes to judging a paper's methods & conclusions. Medicine without stats is medieval.