AP & CLEP Equivalencies
Advanced Placement (AP) credit granted by Messiah may be used to satisfy the mathematics requirement but not the science requirements, because medical schools want students to experience college level laboratories. If the student received AP credit in the sciences, they should contact Martha Stigelman about appropriate course selections.
Advanced Placement (AP) Credits: An Overview
Some medical schools accept Advanced Placement credit to satisfy pre-med admissions requirements, but many do not. Of those schools that do accept AP credits, many are not 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. For most medical schools, AP credit cannot be used to fulfill the pre-medical requirements. If you have AP credit in the science courses required for medical school (biology, chemistry, and physics), at the very least you need to take additional courses in those areas to complete the admission requirement which requires that each science classes includes a lab. 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 classes and their lab component, you are safe; if not, you may have difficulties.
To find out about requirements for all of the medical schools in the United States, check the Association of American Medical Colleges' Medical School Admission Requirements.
Most U.S. medical schools are flexible about AP credit for mathematics and English. Nonetheless, if you have AP credit in the sciences, you ideally should take an additional course for each semester of AP credit you have earned in that area. The goal is to help you move beyond the introductory course and to make sure that you do formal coursework in each science as an undergraduate.
If you have AP credit, at Messiah your choice of course depends both on your AP score and your choice of major. It is important to speak with your academic advisor prior to enrolling in a science class that you may or may not be exempt from taking.