Question 8: Should I take AP credit?

For those who are sure that they are going to pursue the pre-med track, I am a profound supporter of not accepting any AP credit. This is not to say that I don't think AP and Advanced classes in high school are valuable. Quite the contrary, I think that the classes themselves are enormously beneficial. The bottom line is, though, that a ton of AP credits will never make an adcom whistle and be impressed (my opinion). It might not directly hurt you on the admissions road, but it will not make you more competitive either. I understand the benefit of being able to jump into sophomore year classes, especially if you intend to double major, but here are my biggest reasons for not accepting AP credit.

1) You miss out on a GPA inflater.

This is my biggest plug for taking AP classes but not the credit. AP classes are very closely related to most of their namesakes in college. By taking AP Chemistry, you are setting yourself up to be very well prepared for General/Inorganic Chemistry your Freshman year. GPA is enormously important part of your application, and this is a great way to improve yours. This is especially true for your Science GPA, even if you are a science major. If you took AP Physics, Chem, and Bio, you have 6 science classes that are going to be a lot easier to get an A in. That's a huge boost to your GPA, and a great GPA buffer if you ever have troubles down the road with grades and get a couple C's. I personally would advocate dropping all AP credit that you get, but I definitely suggest that you at least drop the med school pre-requisites. Getting A's in every one of them (because you had already learned it in high school), will go a long way in showing that you are capable of tackling the basic sciences in medical school.

2) Some schools don't accept AP credit for pre-reqs, or only accept it conditionally

There are a number of schools that jut plain don't accept AP credit as legitimate fulfillment of the pre-reqs under any circumstances. Meaning, if you don't take the classes in college, you will not be allowed to matriculate at these schools, even if they accept you. I know a friend who had to withdraw his application from a couple schools because of this (he still was accepted elsewhere thankfully). I can't offer a full explanation as to why this is, but I assume it has something to do with them really want to check your basic science skills, especially for non-science majors. Most of the schools that don't accept AP credit are willing to strike a deal with you. Basically, you can still fulfill the pre-req requirements that you have AP credit for by taking a higher level science course in that area. So if you took AP credit for General Bio 1, you can take Cell Biology or Genetics (assuming it isn't a pre-req) to fill it. This is fine and dandy if you happen to be taking those classes anyways, but for non-science majors this is a pretty big burden. Even for science majors, it can be a hassle if you don't have any classes to fill, say, your Physics requirement. Why risk hurting your GPA on higher level classes that you don't want to take, or don't need to take? If you aren't interested in the class, forcing yourself to take it is dangerous to your GPA. Plus, you have to smash the classes into an already packed course load.

I would just like to note that I am only talking about pre-requisite courses here. AP philosophy isn't going to hurt you, as long as you get a Bachelor's degree.

3) Pre-requisite courses are a great preliminary review for the MCAT

The MCAT is more or less a review of the science pre-requisites, with some verbal thrown in. By not taking the pre-reqs in college, thats another year or more before you review some of that material (especially physics, it seems most people take it their sophomore year of college). Relearning the material one more time is just another layer of understanding that you tack on. It isn't enough MCAT prep in itself, granted, but every little bit is cumulative in your mind, and I personally felt that I was a lot more prepared going into the beginning of my MCAT studying than a lot of my AP heavy friends.

4) Graduating early isn't necessarily a good thing.

Granted, one semester early would be a nice extra long vacation, but I do not recommend graduating a year early, unless you are planning on waiting a year before medical school. Quite simply, graduating in three years means that, at the time of your application, you would have only had two years of college life to fill up your resume, rather than three (assuming you are applying at the end of your junior year like most students who aren't taking any time off). That's a lot of time lost to get involved in activities that look good on your resume, help direct your life interests, and potentially good make you a more well rounded or experience person. Admissions Committees are looking for maturity, so the younger you are the more you have to prove it to them (I know several 19 year old applicants with Top 10 level scores and grades, but have been waitlisted or rejected everywhere). They are also looking for people with life experiences, passions, goals, and a firm knowledge of why they want to go into medicine. I know that I, personally, had some of the most meaningful and important experiences of my undergraduate years in my junior year. I know that I would be an entirely different person without them, and quite likely I would not have been as competitive an applicant if I hadn't been able to draw from those experiences for my interviews or applications. For those of you who feel like they want to become a physician ASAP, so they can start practicing and making money, you aren't losing anything. Most physicians retire before they are absolutely incapable of practicing medicine, so unless you are planning to work until the day you die, its not like you can't make up that income by retiring at 66 instead of 65.