Math Requirements

[MustyElbow]

This fall I will be attending the University of South Carolina, and obviously I intend to go to medical school after. Earlier today I was taking the math placement test for USC. I took pre-calc as a sophomore in high school, Calculus as a junior, and AP Stats as well (I earned a 4 on the AP test.) Calculus was a little bit of a struggle for me and I scraped out a B- for the year. The placement test was very difficult for me as it was pre-calc based, which is 3 years in the past for me. I tested into the pre-calculus course. Now I could retake the test and get one more question correct and test into calc, but obviously I feel like my grade will suffer in the course if I do so. As far as I'm aware, a lot of med schools require 1 year of college level math. My question is, what exactly constitutes college level math? Does stats count? USC gives credit for STAT 110 with my AP score. If I took precalc as a freshman, would this STAT 110 credit fulfill this requirement for a lot of medical schools? As far as I'm aware, there are some schools that require calc and/OR stats. Should I take calculus as a sophomore or try to test into it this year? Or can I just take stats in college? I hope this all makes sense.

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[RedPhys]

It can be very school dependent. Some schools require one semester, some require two. Most recommend a stats course.
Check individually in the schools you are interested in.

 

[Axes]

Taking a semester of Calc and one of stats will fill most or all schools' requirements I think. Definitely check schools you're interested in. This info can be found on their website

 

[chemist16]

Your stats credit would satisfy the requirement for one semester of college math. You still have to take another semester for many schools. Not sure if your pre-calc math would satisfy the other semester. Many many med schools recommend calculus (Google it - there's a nice document outlining the math requirement for most medical schools) and personally, I think that calculus is something that every educated person should know. It's quite intuitive - at least Calc I and II - since it's still single or two-dimensional and people can easily visualize that.