AP Credits
How Medical Schools View AP Credits
Some medical schools do accept Advanced Placement credit to satisfy pre-med admissions requirements, many do not. Nor are the individual schools entirely clear or consistent on this matter. Even if a certain medical or health professional school does accept AP credit, you will be a much stronger candidate for admission if you take your science courses in college.
A good rule of thumb is: If you can present an official transcript from a four-year U.S. college with a grade for these subjects, you are safe; if not, you may have difficulties. Each subject has its own peculiarities and we will consider each separately.
AP Biology
The vast majority, if not all medical schools require one year of biology with labs taken in college.
College, SFS, and MSB students with a 4 or 5 on the AP exam can receive credits toward their degree but are still advised to take BIOL 103 and 104 (if you are a biology major) or BIOL 103 and another biology lab course if you are a non-science major. You should speak with a pre-med advisor about choosing the second course.
Nursing and Health Studies students should enroll in HSCI 101 and 102. If those classes are not required for their major, they can choose to enroll in those courses or they can enroll in BIOL 103 and another BIOL lab class. You should speak with a pre-med advisor about choosing the second course.
AP Chemistry
Students with a 5 on the AP test can get credit for General Chemistry lecture but must still enroll in the lab. They have the option of forfeiting the AP credit and enrolling in the lecture and lab. Keeping the AP credit is less of an issue for Chemistry or Biochemistry majors since you will be taking advanced chemistry classes. For non-science majors, we strongly recommend you forfeit the credit and take the lecture and lab.
AP Physics
The only way to satisfy the two-semester physics requirement with AP credit is to score a 5 on the Physics B exam, or to score a 4 or 5 on both of the Physics C exams.
Even if you can meet this high standard, you will be a much stronger candidate for medical school if you take physics at GU. Most medical schools prefer that you take physics in college, and some have been known not to accept AP credit. Physics majors do not need to worry about using AP credit since they will take advanced courses in their degree. The safest thing for non-physics majors to do is to forfeit their AP credit and take General Physics I and II (PHYS 041 & 042). Alternatively, you could opt to enroll in higher level courses. Using your AP credit to skip over General Physics and go into a more advanced course is not advisable for non-science majors.
AP Mathematics
It is the case that 60 percent of the medical schools in the country have no formal mathematics requirement. Roughly 20 percent of the schools require one semester of mathematics in college, and the remaining 20 percent require two semesters of mathematics in college. A few medical schools require statistics, in addition to calculus. Our advice is to take at least one semester of math at GU, and having two terms of math on your transcript may make you a more competitive candidate.
If you have Advanced Placement credit for Calculus AB, you will receive 3 credits for Calculus I (MATH 035). You may forfeit the AP credit and take Calculus I or skip ahead into Calculus II (MATH 036), depending on how strong your mathematics background is and how confident you feel. Alternatively you can take Probability and Statistics (MATH 040).
Students with credit for Calculus BC face a similar decision: Take Calculus II and forfeit AP credits or place themselves ahead into Calculus III (MATH 137). Again, self-assessment of your math skills is important. Again, many students opt to take Probability and Statistics as their alternate math class.
