Which courses should I re-take?

[chigrl]

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I graduated in '02, so it's been awhile since I took pre-med courses. The courses, semesters I either took them or received credit, and grades are as follows:

BIO I - fall '98 - AP credit
ENG I - fall '98 - AP credit
BIO II - fall '98 - A
CALC I - fall '98 - B+
CALC II - spring '99 - C-
CHEM I (honors) - fall '99 - B+
CHEM II (honors) - spring '00 - C
ORG I - summer '00 - A
ORG II - summer '00 - A
ENG (upper-level writing) - fall '01 - A

I know I need PHYS I and II. Since it's been so long though (and a couple of grades are far from stellar), should I re-take all the basic pre-reqs? Also, since I was exempted from an intro biology and an intro English, do I still take the intro courses or can I take more advanced courses instead?

 

[Isoprop]

i would personally retake the C-. unfortunately, it's in calc 2. so even then, i'd be on the fence.

and i don't think you really need to brush up on your prereq classes for physics.

and i believe doing amore advanced course for courses you AP'd out of will count.

 

[Deanis]

I'd definitely want to retake anything I got lower than a B (CALC II and CHEMM II).

Not sure on the intro courses. Seems to me that med schools can be pretty particular about stuff like that.

 

[DOwannaB]

chigrl,

Are you going for MD or DO? I personally applied to both this year and I've found that allopathic schools tend to be way more selective when it comes to both individual grades and gpa. I have 2 C's on my transcript and they seemed to look down on it a lot more than osteopathic schools even though I have three degrees, a good mcat score, and awesome EC's. What is your over-all gpa, if you don't mind? I would consider retaking the Calculus, but you don't have to retake every course you had a C in. Also, you can take other courses and that will raise your gpa too.

 

[chigrl]

I would like to apply to MD programs. I have not yet taken the MCAT and my cumulative GPA is 3.6. I don't know my science GPA off-hand. I'd have to calculate it. The C- in Calc II and C in Chem II are my two worst college grades. I didn't plan on being a doctor back then, so I didn't take the courses seriously enough. I definitely plan on re-taking these courses and on taking Phys I and II since I didn't take them before. I guess my real question is, should I take intro bio and English classes, or since I received AP credit, will Medical Schools accept more advanced courses instead?

 

[gman33]

Contact the individual schools you are applying to in regards to AP credit. Some schools don't like to see this for prereqs; others are fine as long as you take some additional upper level science courses.