Pre reqs. Calculus?

[xnfs93hy]

How many Calc classes do you need to take for medical school. This is taken from Harvard Med School:

4. Mathematics: one year of calculus. Advanced placement credits may satisfy this requirement (Calculus AB - 1 semester, Calculus BC - 2 semesters). A course in statistics does not meet this requirement.

Ok, so basically you take one year of Calc. So I would take Calc I freshman year of college and then be done with it? Should I be taking more? Will it help me in admissions if I decide to go to a CC. Would I then want to take more Calc classes?

Is it necessary for the MCAT to take Calc II? III? IV? V?

Is one year all I need?

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[TheMagicCookie]

Jeff, I think you answered you own question already. You have to look at each school and see what they require in terms of classes...not every school is the same, just as some schools require genetics while others do not. Review each school's website like you have and find your answer...it might also help for you to purchase the MSAR if you haven't already. It tells you each class needed for each school.

 

[RySerr21]

How many Calc classes do you need to take for medical school. This is taken from Harvard Med School:

4. Mathematics: one year of calculus. Advanced placement credits may satisfy this requirement (Calculus AB - 1 semester, Calculus BC - 2 semesters). A course in statistics does not meet this requirement.

Ok, so basically you take one year of Calc. So I would take Calc I freshman year of college and then be done with it? Should I be taking more? Will it help me in admissions if I decide to go to a CC. Would I then want to take more Calc classes?

Is it necessary for the MCAT to take Calc II? III? IV? V?

Is one year all I need?

I think you just found one of the only schools that requires an entire year of calculus. If a school does require it, its usually only a semester. If they require a year of math, they usually say you can do 1 semester of calc and one semester of stats or something like that.

If you are loooking to take a year of calc (at a college on semesters), you would take Calc I (one semester) and then Calc II (one semester). That is a year of calculus. No other calc courses are necessary (III, IV, V), and to be honest no one cares if you take them. There arent going to be helpful in your career in medicine, thus only take them if you have a passion for learning math/calculus.

Calculus is not necessary for the MCAT since it will not be tested. Not even Calc I. There simply is no calculus on the MCAT.

You should be fine with only a semester of Calculus (in terms of pre reqs). Like the previous poster said, you need to check teh schools b/c they all have different requirements. Requiring an entire year of calculus is definitely NOT the norm.

 

[Maygyver]

Depends how the calc is split up. Schools site's are usually pretty explicit in what they require. OSU has Math 150, 151, 152. You would probably do them all. =1 year. as the site says.

 

[gabeybaby]

Jeff, I think you answered you own question already. You have to look at each school and see what they require in terms of classes...not every school is the same, just as some schools require genetics while others do not. Review each school's website like you have and find your answer...it might also help for you to purchase the MSAR if you haven't already. It tells you each class needed for each school.

can you clarify this for me:

are u saying that for each med school that we applied to, we have to look at their website and see if our prereqs. are met?

or

depending on the school that you go to to do your prereqs, the course load is different

(based on your wording, i'm thinking the first ... but still not sure)

 

[RySerr21]

can you clarify this for me:

are u saying that for each med school that we applied to, we have to look at their website and see if our prereqs. are met?

or

depending on the school that you go to to do your prereqs, the course load is different

(based on your wording, i'm thinking the first ... but still not sure)

Its the first. Each school will have slightly different requirements outside of the CORE requiremnts that you will find everywhere (a year of gen chem/ochem/bio/physics). Now, on top of this schools can get specific...some want you to take all GENERAL biology....some dont care what kind of biology it is...some want you to have at least one upper level biology course, somemight require you take molecular biology or genetics (on top of the 1 year of general bio), some (quite a few actually) require you take biochemistry.....some might require calculus (1 year or half a year), some statistics, and others no math at all. You get the picture..... if you take the general pre med courses youll be fine for most of the schools. But if you have any idea of where you might apply, it wouldnt hurt to look at see you have any of the oddball schools that require some weird class tha tyou wouldnt have thought of taking.

 

[gabeybaby]

Its the first. Each school will have slightly different requirements outside of the CORE requiremnts that you will find everywhere (a year of gen chem/ochem/bio/physics). Now, on top of this schools can get specific...some want you to take all GENERAL biology....some dont care what kind of biology it is...some want you to have at least one upper level biology course, somemight require you take molecular biology or genetics (on top of the 1 year of general bio), some (quite a few actually) require you take biochemistry.....some might require calculus (1 year or half a year), some statistics, and others no math at all. You get the picture..... if you take the general pre med courses youll be fine for most of the schools. But if you have any idea of where you might apply, it wouldnt hurt to look at see you have any of the oddball schools that require some weird class tha tyou wouldnt have thought of taking.

thanks for clearing things up!

 

[EyEnStein 07]

you should only take 1 year UNLESS your major requires you to take more.
its all you need, why would you want to take more? unless its possibly helping you fill some school requirements.

 

[Depakote]

Calc I and Calc II would fulfill just about every schools requirement I can think of. Only a few actually require Calc II as the second course.

Some schools will take a second math class such as Statistics (which is much more valuable than calculus in medicine) to fulfill the requirement.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Calc I and Calc II would fulfill just about every schools requirement I can think of. Only a few actually require Calc II as the second course.

Some schools will take a second math class such as Statistics (which is much more valuable than calculus in medicine) to fulfill the requirement.

Ive seen what Depakote just said to be true in many schools requirements that i checked. However its probably in your best interest to take Statistics and a full year of calculus. Better safe than sorry.

 

[RySerr21]

Calc I and Calc II would fulfill just about every schools requirement I can think of. Only a few actually require Calc II as the second course.

Some schools will take a second math class such as Statistics (which is much more valuable than calculus in medicine) to fulfill the requirement.

some actually require you have both calc AND statistics, and wont substitute 2 semeters of calc for the 1 of stats.

 

[tennisball80]

http://www.brynmawr.edu/healthpro/documents/MedSchoolMath_Requirements_2009.pdf

Problem Solved !

Use Google !

 

[RySerr21]

http://www.brynmawr.edu/healthpro/documents/MedSchoolMath_Requirements_2009.pdf

Problem Solved !

Use Google !

haha, of course Harvard has to be the only one that requires an entire year of calculus.

 

[135892]

its all you need, why would you want to take more? unless its possibly helping you fill some school requirements.

Because its interesting! Of course you don't have to take math, and if you're not particularly good at math, I wouldn't recommend you take any more than necessary. But I found classes like differential equations (including some upper level courses on it), and even calc 3, to be pretty interesting, and also quite applicable to different fields in medicine and biomedical research. These classes were much more interesting than calcs 1 and 2, so if you can tough it out through these intro classes, it does get quite interesting.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Because its interesting! Of course you don't have to take math, and if you're not particularly good at math, I wouldn't recommend you take any more than necessary. But I found classes like differential equations (including some upper level courses on it), and even calc 3, to be pretty interesting, and also quite applicable to different fields in medicine and biomedical research. These classes were much more interesting than calcs 1 and 2, so if you can tough it out through these intro classes, it does get quite interesting.

are you a math, physics, chem, or any type of engineering major?

 

[Maygyver]

http://www.brynmawr.edu/healthpro/documents/MedSchoolMath_Requirements_2009.pdf

Problem Solved !

Use Google !

Hah. Google is so hard though!

 

[xnfs93hy]

haha, of course Harvard has to be the only one that requires an entire year of calculus.

Hehe, yeah. I took basically the most difficult school in the country to get into and just looked up the requirements. It is good to hear that I do not have to take anything past Calc II.

If I were to take higher level Calc classes, would that help me in admissions? And, if I went to a CC for two years and took Calculus there, would I need ot take Calc III and IV at a four year to prove to med schools I can handle Calc?

I know these may sounds stupid but I figure I should I ask them anyway.

 

[EyEnStein 07]

Hehe, yeah. I took basically the most difficult school in the country to get into and just looked up the requirements. It is good to hear that I do not have to take anything past Calc II.

If I were to take higher level Calc classes, would that help me in admissions? And, if I went to a CC for two years and took Calculus there, would I need ot take Calc III and IV at a four year to prove to med schools I can handle Calc?

I know these may sounds stupid but I figure I should I ask them anyway.

If you get A's (B+ is not bad either i suppose), in Calc I and II, i dont see what more proof they need. Especially since....calculus is not on the mcat (i believe)

 

[Maygyver]

I'm not sure why adcoms would care if you took higher levels of math since medical school doesn't really involve solving crazy math problems. It involves sciences so they care how you do in science classes.

 

[RySerr21]

Hehe, yeah. I took basically the most difficult school in the country to get into and just looked up the requirements. It is good to hear that I do not have to take anything past Calc II.

If I were to take higher level Calc classes, would that help me in admissions? And, if I went to a CC for two years and took Calculus there, would I need ot take Calc III and IV at a four year to prove to med schools I can handle Calc?

I know these may sounds stupid but I figure I should I ask them anyway.

someone must have implanted in your brain that CCs are vastly inferior to 4 year universities....which simply isnt the case. If you go to a CC and finish your calculus pre req, then thats it. You're done. You dont need to go beyond the pre med requirements at a university to prove that your CC courses were legit...that doesnt make any sense.

 

[135892]

are you a math, physics, chem, or any type of engineering major?

Physics

 

[135892]

I'm not sure why adcoms would care if you took higher levels of math since medical school doesn't really involve solving crazy math problems. It involves sciences so they care how you do in science classes.

But what the hell is science without math... just sayin

 

[Maygyver]

But what the hell is science without math... just sayin

Hah true, but I doubt medical students will be asked to use Math [insert giant number] in order to do their job. Many things may be proven and be derived from such formulas, but now we get them nice and neat.

 

[tennisball80]

Well, when a doctor prescribes drugs, I never seen he is using a calculator.

 

[MilkmanAl]

What does that mean?

Aaaaaanyway, you'll use the principles you learn in calc 1, so it's a good class to take. Anything past that is probably overkill where medicine is concerned. The basics of integrals and derivatives is about as bad as it gets.

 

[xnfs93hy]

What does that mean?

Aaaaaanyway, you'll use the principles you learn in calc 1, so it's a good class to take. Anything past that is probably overkill where medicine is concerned. The basics of integrals and derivatives is about as bad as it gets.

Thank God.

 

[Maygyver]

I always found college math classes extremely easy as long as you go to class and do the homework.

 

[ShaneK]

haha, of course Harvard has to be the only one that requires an entire year of calculus.

Not that its far from Harvard but Johns Hopkins also requires one year of Calculus.

 

[Maygyver]

Not that its far from Harvard but Johns Hopkins also requires one year of Calculus.

I believe quite a few do that I looked at. I have been wrong in the past though.

 

[RySerr21]

Not that its far from Harvard but Johns Hopkins also requires one year of Calculus.

No it doesnt. You can look at the source tennisball posted again (which says that it doesnt) or you can click the link below. Its a year of calculus OR statistics.

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/admissions/apps.html

I believe quite a few do that I looked at. I have been wrong in the past though.

According to tennisballs source (which came from the MSAR), no one does but Harvard.