studying abroad if you are pre med is definitely do-able. its a lot easier if you have some AP credits to offer some flexibility in your schedule but you don't need it. also, grades definitely can count if you go through an american university. i took eight classes abroad so i could have room to party my senior year. i went through a program out of the University of Reno, Nevada, and all my classes counted on the amcas primary application and actually helped raise my GPA-- a lot. i had to take physics in the summer because it was a year long course, and i would have missed part of it. other than that, no problems. it is a good idea to sit down with a list of the courses you need for your major and a list of your college's core courses and try and plan out your four years. most core courses can be taken abroad. of course, all of it depends on your school, the school you go through, and the school you study abroad at! (in my case, all three were different. its a lot of paperwork, just to warn you) my best advice is to pop into your study abroad office sometime freshman year and figure out their requirements. take it from me-- my pre med advisor said that running off to foreign countries to pursue side hobbies (spanish, in my case) just shows im not serious about medicine and he refused to approve me. so i went behind his back and got approval from the dean and i went anyway. and i loved every minute of it. i went to costa rica, and it was the most amazing five months of my life and the topic of my application essay. good luck! pick somewhere cool (i.e. don't go to great britain or austrailia-- they speak english for gods sake, whats the fun in that??) oh- a summer or a winter session isn't long enough to really experience living and studying in a foriegn culture. if you're gonna do it, i say go all out. but if you just can't fit it (which i won't believe) try and do a shorter one if you can. all experience is good experience. you just need to find the program thats right for you. i did a lot of my research online, just doing basic searches on google for 'study abroad'. USAC is who i went through and they have a million programs all over the world and like i said, all my grades counted. oh yeah-- sorry for the long post
