Hello,
I am wondering if it is necessary to take two semesters of calculus when it comes to prerequisites for American medical schools. I'm in the middle of picking my courses for biomed@ the university of western ontario and I definitely want to keep my options open, which means fulfilling the prerequisites for American med schools. I've done a lot of research on whether or not 2 semesters of calculus is necessary, but I still cannot seem to come to a definitive answer. Numerous posters on premed101, which is the Canadian version of SDN, in past threads have said YES! you definitely need a full year of calc (btw does full year mean two 0.5 credits?
) in order to apply for American schools, so up until now I was always under the impression that I would need to take 0.5 credit calc I as well as another 0.5 credit calc II for a full year of calc. However, I decided to do some additional research into this last night and it does not seem like ANY American med schools (besides case western, and of course harvard and hopkins ) need a full year (2 semesters?) of calc.
Source: http://www.swarthmore.edu/Documents/...cal_School.pdf
The above link, which compiled information from AAMC 2011-2012, lists all the schools in the states that have ANY math requirements whatsoever. There's just under 50 schools in that list.
Another question regarding that list of schools is that many list math requirements as "2 semesters of college mathematics". I'm not completely sure what that means, but my best guess is that as long as I take two semesters of math from a Canadian university I should be fine? Correct me if I'm wrong please.
Here's a quote from Tulane University's website regarding math requirements for US med schools.
"Only about one-third of U.S. medical schools require mathematics in any form. Of these, about one-half require no calculus, usually stating as the requirement one semester or one year of math."
Source: http://tulane.edu/advising/prehealth...quirements.cfm
So where is this notion that a full year of calc (two 0.5 credits?) is a definite requirement for American med schools coming from? Why are so many people saying this? I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding something but all my research shows that one semester of calculus (0.5 credits) should be enough. Is a "semester of college math" in the USA different from a "semester" here?
Last question, will not taking Calc II put me at a huge disadvantage for upper year courses in bio and chem? If not, I plan on taking one semester of Calc I and another semester of an easier math that doesn't count as calculus. This would technically qualify as "2 semesters of college mathematics" right?
Can anyone, especially Canadians who have been through the application cycle for American schools, clarify my questions?
Thanks for all your help!!!
(YES!! I've used the search function before)
I am wondering if it is necessary to take two semesters of calculus when it comes to prerequisites for American medical schools. I'm in the middle of picking my courses for biomed@ the university of western ontario and I definitely want to keep my options open, which means fulfilling the prerequisites for American med schools. I've done a lot of research on whether or not 2 semesters of calculus is necessary, but I still cannot seem to come to a definitive answer. Numerous posters on premed101, which is the Canadian version of SDN, in past threads have said YES! you definitely need a full year of calc (btw does full year mean two 0.5 credits?
) in order to apply for American schools, so up until now I was always under the impression that I would need to take 0.5 credit calc I as well as another 0.5 credit calc II for a full year of calc. However, I decided to do some additional research into this last night and it does not seem like ANY American med schools (besides case western, and of course harvard and hopkins ) need a full year (2 semesters?) of calc. Source: http://www.swarthmore.edu/Documents/...cal_School.pdf
The above link, which compiled information from AAMC 2011-2012, lists all the schools in the states that have ANY math requirements whatsoever. There's just under 50 schools in that list.
Another question regarding that list of schools is that many list math requirements as "2 semesters of college mathematics". I'm not completely sure what that means, but my best guess is that as long as I take two semesters of math from a Canadian university I should be fine? Correct me if I'm wrong please.
Here's a quote from Tulane University's website regarding math requirements for US med schools.
"Only about one-third of U.S. medical schools require mathematics in any form. Of these, about one-half require no calculus, usually stating as the requirement one semester or one year of math."
Source: http://tulane.edu/advising/prehealth...quirements.cfm
So where is this notion that a full year of calc (two 0.5 credits?) is a definite requirement for American med schools coming from? Why are so many people saying this? I'm not sure if I'm misunderstanding something but all my research shows that one semester of calculus (0.5 credits) should be enough. Is a "semester of college math" in the USA different from a "semester" here?
Last question, will not taking Calc II put me at a huge disadvantage for upper year courses in bio and chem? If not, I plan on taking one semester of Calc I and another semester of an easier math that doesn't count as calculus. This would technically qualify as "2 semesters of college mathematics" right?
Can anyone, especially Canadians who have been through the application cycle for American schools, clarify my questions?
Thanks for all your help!!!
(YES!! I've used the search function before
)
