biochem Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 So I am begging to apply for college, and one fo the weak schools I would say, offered me a lot of credits for my HL courses once I receive my Diploma. For those Florida students and those who know, its USF Very weak. I was offered a starting point of Biology and Chemistry II, for medicine, skipping the freshman year. Then, since they are both HL courses, I was offered additional credit and with persistent marks I would be skipped to Bio and Chem III (scores needed to be 6 or 7). Not interested at all in the school, I would call it a waste of time :/ However, it did spark more interest. In other schools I was looking into, the credits gave me simply skipping freshman Bio and Chem. Now Would it even be wise to do so? I mean, staying in the course at freshman level would be a breeze, and only add to my GPA. Would a secondary school, or I should say Majoring program, even care if I skipped around or not?In general, talking about Pre-Med, and Medical School Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashika Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 Haha, my dear, I have skipped so many courses I could finish my degree in 3 years.I think its a waste if you don't use the perks you get from IB.I'm doing a neuroscience degree and the med school, and it isn't putting me at a disadvantage... if anything, I have more of an advantage.However, what you choose to do and why you choose to do it is purely up to you Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
__inthemaking Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I'm in pre-med right now and since my HL subjects were econ, chem and English, I could've taken 6 credits each for them (equivalent to 2 uni courses). I decided not to skip chem because it's obviously very important in pre-med and we do learn some new things that wasn't covered in chem HL. I only took the credits for English and econ because I'm not planning on taking those courses again, so now I have technically 4 courses less needed to graduate from pre-med. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneyfaery Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 I'm in pre-med right now and since my HL subjects were econ, chem and English, I could've taken 6 credits each for them (equivalent to 2 uni courses). I decided not to skip chem because it's obviously very important in pre-med and we do learn some new things that wasn't covered in chem HL. I only took the credits for English and econ because I'm not planning on taking those courses again, so now I have technically 4 courses less needed to graduate from pre-med.This has been confusing me for a while actually, but what is the difference between a 'course' and a 'credit'? Pre-univ, 1 course = 1 credit and you seem to allude to this by saying '4 courses less'. However, you also say 3 credits = 1 course. So which is it? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
__inthemaking Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 This has been confusing me for a while actually, but what is the difference between a 'course' and a 'credit'? Pre-univ, 1 course = 1 credit and you seem to allude to this by saying '4 courses less'. However, you also say 3 credits = 1 course. So which is it? Sorry for the confusion haha. Each uni has a different course = credit system. At McMaster, each course is worth 3 credits (full year courses are 6 credits, 3 credits from each sem). So I take 5 courses each semester, with a total of 15 credits (5 courses x 3 credits/course = 15). My econ HL corresponds to microecon and macroecon courses at McMaster, therefore I get 6 credits for the 2 courses. And my English HL corresponds to shorter genres and longer genres courses, so that's another 6 credits. Sorry, I made a mistake in my earlier post, I meant that I received 12 credits in total for the 4 courses. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneyfaery Posted February 10, 2009 Report Share Posted February 10, 2009 Sorry for the confusion haha. Each uni has a different course = credit system. At McMaster, each course is worth 3 credits (full year courses are 6 credits, 3 credits from each sem). So I take 5 courses each semester, with a total of 15 credits (5 courses x 3 credits/course = 15). My econ HL corresponds to microecon and macroecon courses at McMaster, therefore I get 6 credits for the 2 courses. And my English HL corresponds to shorter genres and longer genres courses, so that's another 6 credits. Sorry, I made a mistake in my earlier post, I meant that I received 12 credits in total for the 4 courses.Oh, I see. That makes a lot more sense now. It was confusing because some univs like Mac have it set at 1 course = 3 credits but Waterloo had it at like, 1 class = 0.5 credits... and I was thinking "wtf would I take 0.5 credits over 3 credits???" But yay, it's all cleared up now. Thank you. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biochem Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Yeah thank you! because I would go to these college fairs, and they would tell me "skip this that blah blah, credits" and I had no idea. Just looked for the highest numbers, in hopes of that corresponded to the biggest amount of benefit. hehe Another thing I learned. Didnt know pre-med was heavy on economics. Skipping that for sure, did AP Macro and Micro. It is true that there is less emphasis on the biochemical science in HL chem, but the concepts are relevant. I completely agree with you. I could od the problems out of my mom's books, but to some limit. she had to teach me more about some things, to get to that next level of problem-solving. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneyfaery Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Med in Canada requires a non-math, non-science course, I believe. Go econ! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashika Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Or english, french, history... thanks to handy dandy IB Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
moneyfaery Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Or english, french, history... thanks to handy dandy IB What I meant was I'm planning to take econ in univ because 1) I've already taken it, 2) it'll lessen my workload, 3) I'm lazy. I should def take the transfer credit for Eng though. Not going to go through all that pain and let it go to waste! Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
biochem Posted February 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 From what I understand, Pre-Med makes you study only Pre-Med. You cant do anything else. See, I think I am getting confused but my mom used to get in trouble all the time with trying to take Spanish as an elective during Med, and she ended up having to drop it as requested by the university. Med school doesn't even look at History as a component of GPA calculations, even for pre-med, from what I have been told by my coveted university. and about English credit. I think IB does more for english than any other course. truly o_o Some of my college friends are so poorly equipt with the tools of analysis, that by the end of English I,II they are still unable to truly analyze and appreciate literature Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
__inthemaking Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Depends entirely on what pre-med program you go to. My program allows for a lot of flexibility. I'm in first year and I have 3 elective courses this year..I opted for psych, calc and physics but lots of my friends are taking French, Italian, anthropology, peace studies, etc. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashika Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 What I meant was I'm planning to take econ in univ because 1) I've already taken it, 2) it'll lessen my workload, 3) I'm lazy. I should def take the transfer credit for Eng though. Not going to go through all that pain and let it go to waste!Haha, yes, I know that. I just meant that it was good to take arts credits if you didn't plan on doing those courses. I'll never take another english course, so I took the credits. The chances of me doing history again is slim at best and french I may take if I have space in my schedule.I just think it's pointless not taking credits for courses that aren't crucial to your major haha. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Lc~ Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 I agree with everyone else, if they give you credits then take them! it'll save you money registering for those classes, and they'll be so boring some people who've done HL sciences might just undermine them and do bad... Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
avrila Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 Depends entirely on what pre-med program you go to. My program allows for a lot of flexibility. I'm in first year and I have 3 elective courses this year..I opted for psych, calc and physics but lots of my friends are taking French, Italian, anthropology, peace studies, etc.After all, what is the different between pre-med and medicine course. If medicine end up by being a doctor, what will pre-med student be?Are the course the same? And how many years is needed for pre-med course? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
__inthemaking Posted February 11, 2009 Report Share Posted February 11, 2009 After all, what is the different between pre-med and medicine course. If medicine end up by being a doctor, what will pre-med student be?Are the course the same? And how many years is needed for pre-med course?Basically in North America, med school is a graduate school so you need to take an undergraduate course first. You can have a degree in anything before applying to med school but pre-med programs are geared towards helping you ace the MCAT and prep you for med school. For example, some of my courses involve doing simulated patient interviews where I learn how to communicate with patients, read body language, make people comfortable and feel safe in my presence, etc. all of which are important for any profession in the medical field but also applicable to other areas. Some students in my pre-med program don't actually want to be doctors. My pre-med program is 4 years, just like any other undergrad course. It's pretty much the same as other science courses except we get to specialize much earlier..we do cell biology/pharmacology in first year whereas regular science students are still doing general biology in first year. In second year we jump right into anatomy and working with cadavers (!), epidemiology, etc. Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexter Posted February 18, 2009 Report Share Posted February 18, 2009 You can have a degree in anything before applying to med school but pre-med programs are geared towards helping you ace the MCAT and prep you for med school.I want to study medicine so you think i should take pre med rather than biology ?? What are your thoughts on that? Also if i do take pre med should i take the credits HL bio adn chem will offer me? Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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