This is a repost from an earlier topic. In addition to what follows, I would also like to stress that what Eamonn said above is correct... it's really not possible to have a solid understanding of physics without the math.
Anyway:
I'm sure this is variable by school, but these are my own thoughts based on my own university. Perhaps some of you will have amazing teachers in the algebra-based courses, but the fact of the matter is your classmates in algebra-based physics are probably neither interested in nor particularly good at solving physics problems, so the teachers must place a limit on the depth of the material which they teach. Material will go up to what the MCAT expects of you, but not beyond.
Many students just don't understand the concepts like they should; they solve problems by writing down all the given variables and hunting through their mental catalogue of equations for one that will fit to find the unknown.
The math is not the difficult part of a calc-based physics course; the difficulty is in being forced to truly understand the concepts. It's not because of the fact that calculus is thrown into the mix! You'll never do anything more complicated than chain rule. It's because the course is filled with people who care about physics, so the questions posed to you require you to pay attention and fully understand concepts. Problems are nearly universally more difficult than equivalent problems in the algebra-based course.
Here's the thing: when you take a course beyond the scope of what you "need to know," the material that you "need to know" becomes infinitely easier to handle when you go back to it. I have friends who complain about their physics tests, but I can get near perfect scores on them when I'm handed a blank copy after they get them back. It certainly isn't because I'm naturally great at physics... quite the contrary, physics is far and away my weakest subject, despite the fact that math is one of my strongest.
The way I see it, if you consider yourself intelligent enough and motivated enough to be a candidate for medical school, you can handle calc-based physics without putting a dent in your GPA... and the difficulty will benefit you when the MCAT comes around.
