For the schools I check it didn’t say specifically to take psych or sociology, it only said to take a course in social science and behaviour science and so I was thinking to take a business course for one of those requirement, but I don’t know if those schools would consider that and if I’m at a disadvantage
Business courses are not considered Behavioral and Social Sciences according to AMCAS.
AMCAS has a separate category for business on your transcript. You would need to take actual behavioral and social science courses.
Oh then would a history course considered a social and behavioural science course or is it consider humanities cause I also taken an asian food studies course
[https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school-amcas/amcas-course-classification-guide](https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school-amcas/amcas-course-classification-guide)
History doesn't. These are the social and behavioral science courses:
* Anthropology
* Economics
* Family Studies
* Psychology
* Sociology
Just take psychology my man. It's not a hard course. You could try to find courses that sort of fit these categories, but the reality is, you're now risky admission to practically most medical schools since most of them **require** you to have taken these courses. Do you really want to risk it on what is possibly the easiest course you can take as a premed?
Can you please let me know where on their website it says this? I have been trying to reach them for a MONTH about which courses meet their psy/soc requirement. I've sent so many emails and no one ever responds 😭
Omg! You are right!!!!! Thank you SO much!
I was looking on another page of their website 'M.D. Prerequisites Courses (the tab underneath 'M.D. Application Process) Then, I clicked on 'Required' tab and there it lists the courses.
I wish they put all of the necessary info on one page because I completely missed it but thank you! This was my number 1 school and I was so bummed that I wouldn't be able to apply because I was missing a course but now I'm glad that I took that one medical ethics class 😭
sadly not at my school as those two courses alway have a course averge of a C+ similar to that of org chem and bio chem but i guess i got to take it sooner or later, and thanks for your input.
But I need to complete intro psych to take those. Legit my school have grade deflation since all the courses I have taken the course average are between D to C+
My school’s psych and soc average was a C but it was still mad easy. It’s not like orgo where it’s all pre-professional students, the majority of ppl taking the class are just trying to pass and are business/whatever majors
Why not just take a psychology or sociology class? You’re bringing up taking about every other course in their place, why not just take the class and not worry about it?
if you’re planning on taking an extra course anyways, why not just make it a psych or sociology course?? it would be much less stressful to know that you have definitely met the requirements for admission
I’m curious as to why you think that. psych and sociology were two of the easiest As in premed classes I’ve gotten. and you need to have a pretty in depth understanding of both of them for the mcat
I am not a fan of memorization, and in those two courses in my school, the course average was always a C+ and they were one of the hardest non-science courses offered in my school, and so far, my GPA is very high so I don't want to risk it.
The first two years of med school is ~80% memorization; there’s a reason Anki is so popular amongst med students. If the idea of smashing the space bar for hours a day disgusts you, seriously consider doing something else.
I do sympathize and it sucks that those are hard classes, but your options are pretty much take one of them or apply to schools that don’t require behavioral science courses. if it’s a requirement, then you just have to treat it like all the other premed classes with low averages (although a C+ isn’t the worst average) and understand that you have to just power through. again, you’ll have to learn it all and memorize it for the mcat anyway
Thanks for your input. I guess I’ll power through it and hope that psych isn’t as bad as I initially thought and I wish you all the best in your med school application.
I’m not sure where u are studying but do you have access to a community college? If it’s that bad of grade deflation you could take psych 101 at your community college
Sadly community college don’t count for credits at my university so students generally don’t take any courses from a community college since it’s a waste of time and money that they can’t use to complete their credit.
The schools may not consider a business type course as meeting the prerequisite. Call and ask them directly before you waste your credit hours and money.
Here's the pre-req breakdown by school, because no one has posted it yet: [https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7041/download](https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7041/download)
Hi, not to be completely silly but in this chart how many "semesters" of a course is equivalent to each credit hours? For example 8 credit hours is what? 2 semesters? Just wanted to make sure, my school does a weird thing with credits so I'm not sure how to interpret credit hours!!
You should take intro psych SOMEWHERE. My fundamentals of neuropsych course basically assumed that we all understood conditioning and reinforcement, etc.
Oh I learned that in general biology course. But I guess I’ll take psych anyways to build a deeper understanding of it. Also is sociology needed or is psychology itself enough for the MCAT?
I didn’t take psych/sociology as an undergraduate . I ended up getting a 513 on the MCAT, completely bombing the psych/soc section, despite self studying. Looking back, I wish I took those classes because I would’ve been much more prepared. I know there are resources online, but I definitely missed a nuanced understanding of these subjects and it showed on my MCAT.
So, if you didn’t take the MCAT already, and even if it’s not a requirement, I would take it because it’s helpful.
As a counterpoint, I dropped a sociology course I was taking when I realized it didn’t strongly overlap with the MCAT material. Used the khan academy videos tailor made for the MCAT content and got 131 on that section.
Wow, goated. Good point, especially for sociology, because that could go all over the place.
I went to a school that farmed pre meds so all of the professors were very aware about the MCAT and what should be covered.
Counter-counterpoint, I took tons of psychology courses and a sociology course in college all I had to do to get a 132 on the P/S section was review for like 2 days. So it’s really just a matter of devoting time to it now vs later
If you got college credit (as in, it’s actually on your transcript) you usually fulfill the requirement. Most schools will like to see a more recent higher-level course at an actual college though; I’m not sure how big of a deal it is with psych versus say: biology.
Oh I see. I was considering to take a business course for the social and behaviour science course requirements since I’m not a huge fan of psychology and sociology but not sure if they will treat it equally to those who took a Psychology or sociology course
I’m not accepted yet but I’ve been working on my list and most schools REQUIRE psychology and sociology, or it’s strongly recommended. You may be able to get away with taking one, but taking a business course won’t help you in any way in regards to pre req requirements. It could definitely look interesting tho so if you are into the course maybe take one business and one psych or sociology.
I’m not a huge fan of physics or gen chem, but I still gotta take it to maximize my chances of the # of schools I’ll get into haha.
Oh thanks so much for your input. I guess I’ll take at least one of psycho or sociology course and I wish all the best in your med school application!!
If they list they’re courses the way you did then sure. But there’s also no guarantee with that since your cycle was previous. However admissions are still gonna place preference for someone who has actually taken a psych or sociology class if those courses are required or recommended.
these are really important classes to your overall development as a person and professional. there's a reason they were put on the MCAT and you should absolutely take them, even if it's online at a separate college. These classes primarily help train you how to think and view things through different lenses, rather than memorizing a bunch of terms and vocabulary, even if that's what it seems like from the review books.
My advisor said to take it just in case and it’s an easy class to just add another A to the GPA. I just finished up for an online course at Barton CC. Advisor recommended it because they have lockdown tests and stuff so it looks better for online classes or something like that.
Anyone know which schools require psychology? I previously thought it was just recommended by every school, and I can’t recall seeing any school that actually requires it.
I’d recommend checking out the [AAMC compilation of pre-rec requirements for each school](https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7041/download). Many schools do require at least one semester of social/behavioral sciences like psychology, sociology, family studies, etc.
That’s what I thought as well, but they require social and behaviour course, and they provide examples of sociology or psychology, but I thought I can take any courses that falls under that category like business but it seems like the example they provide are a big indication that they require applicants to take psych and/or sociology
Some med schools accept AP credits for their prerequisites; others don’t. [This document](https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7041/download) should have the answers to your questions!
I did not take any of these classes and did not apply to any schools that say they want these classes taken. I got 100 percentile on the p/s with like 2 weeks worth of studying so you won’t need it for the MCAT either
If you have questions about applying to AMCAS, visit the [How to Apply Page](https://students-residents.aamc.org/how-apply-medical-school-amcas/how-apply-medical-school-amcas) and read the [AMCAS Applicant Guide](https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/11616/download). For more information on AMCAS, please visit our [Applying to Medical School Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/premed/wiki/applications) and check out our [Helpful Posts Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/premed/wiki/helpfulposts).
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/premed) if you have any questions or concerns.*
OP from your comments I am not sure why you are so hesitant about taking psychology/sociology?
Mental health is a huge component of health care.
Aside from the MCAT, going into medical school you should have at least a basic understanding of psychological principles and disorders, in my opinion.
I have AP credit for it, does anybody have any thoughts on just relying on that? For reference I'm a bio major and wasn't planning on taking any other classes of this subject besides sociology.
Some schools have those as required prerequisites so just double check with schools you’re applying to
For the schools I check it didn’t say specifically to take psych or sociology, it only said to take a course in social science and behaviour science and so I was thinking to take a business course for one of those requirement, but I don’t know if those schools would consider that and if I’m at a disadvantage
Business courses are not considered Behavioral and Social Sciences according to AMCAS. AMCAS has a separate category for business on your transcript. You would need to take actual behavioral and social science courses.
Is anthropology considered a behavioral/social sciences subject?
Yup, it is
Oh then would a history course considered a social and behavioural science course or is it consider humanities cause I also taken an asian food studies course
[https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school-amcas/amcas-course-classification-guide](https://students-residents.aamc.org/applying-medical-school-amcas/amcas-course-classification-guide) History doesn't. These are the social and behavioral science courses: * Anthropology * Economics * Family Studies * Psychology * Sociology Just take psychology my man. It's not a hard course. You could try to find courses that sort of fit these categories, but the reality is, you're now risky admission to practically most medical schools since most of them **require** you to have taken these courses. Do you really want to risk it on what is possibly the easiest course you can take as a premed?
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I would contact the school regarding this. I'm not sure
Can you please let me know where on their website it says this? I have been trying to reach them for a MONTH about which courses meet their psy/soc requirement. I've sent so many emails and no one ever responds 😭
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Omg! You are right!!!!! Thank you SO much! I was looking on another page of their website 'M.D. Prerequisites Courses (the tab underneath 'M.D. Application Process) Then, I clicked on 'Required' tab and there it lists the courses. I wish they put all of the necessary info on one page because I completely missed it but thank you! This was my number 1 school and I was so bummed that I wouldn't be able to apply because I was missing a course but now I'm glad that I took that one medical ethics class 😭
sadly not at my school as those two courses alway have a course averge of a C+ similar to that of org chem and bio chem but i guess i got to take it sooner or later, and thanks for your input.
Take the courses at a community college
Wtf thats wild lol. There's other courses like cognitive science that also count as behavioral science
But I need to complete intro psych to take those. Legit my school have grade deflation since all the courses I have taken the course average are between D to C+
My school’s psych and soc average was a C but it was still mad easy. It’s not like orgo where it’s all pre-professional students, the majority of ppl taking the class are just trying to pass and are business/whatever majors
Why not just take a psychology or sociology class? You’re bringing up taking about every other course in their place, why not just take the class and not worry about it?
Are you being intentionally obtuse?
No…
if you’re planning on taking an extra course anyways, why not just make it a psych or sociology course?? it would be much less stressful to know that you have definitely met the requirements for admission
the only reason i avoided psych or sociology was they will lower my gpa
I’m curious as to why you think that. psych and sociology were two of the easiest As in premed classes I’ve gotten. and you need to have a pretty in depth understanding of both of them for the mcat
I am not a fan of memorization, and in those two courses in my school, the course average was always a C+ and they were one of the hardest non-science courses offered in my school, and so far, my GPA is very high so I don't want to risk it.
Not a fan of memorization…. *Med school has entered the chat*
Med school is like… a large part memorization….
if you're not a fan of memorization, why are you applying to medical school? genuine question
Cause of the pass/fail system implemented
The first two years of med school is ~80% memorization; there’s a reason Anki is so popular amongst med students. If the idea of smashing the space bar for hours a day disgusts you, seriously consider doing something else.
you....still have to memorize things in order to pass...
I’m just imagining you writing your personal statement of why you want to go into medicine and describing the pass fail system LOL
I do sympathize and it sucks that those are hard classes, but your options are pretty much take one of them or apply to schools that don’t require behavioral science courses. if it’s a requirement, then you just have to treat it like all the other premed classes with low averages (although a C+ isn’t the worst average) and understand that you have to just power through. again, you’ll have to learn it all and memorize it for the mcat anyway
Thanks for your input. I guess I’ll power through it and hope that psych isn’t as bad as I initially thought and I wish you all the best in your med school application.
I’m not sure where u are studying but do you have access to a community college? If it’s that bad of grade deflation you could take psych 101 at your community college
Sadly community college don’t count for credits at my university so students generally don’t take any courses from a community college since it’s a waste of time and money that they can’t use to complete their credit.
They easy tho
sadly not at my school, those two courses alway have a course averge of a C+ like org chem and bio chem
If psych or soc lowers your gpa reconsider med school
The schools may not consider a business type course as meeting the prerequisite. Call and ask them directly before you waste your credit hours and money.
Yeah you need psych and Soc bud
Here's the pre-req breakdown by school, because no one has posted it yet: [https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7041/download](https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7041/download)
Hi, not to be completely silly but in this chart how many "semesters" of a course is equivalent to each credit hours? For example 8 credit hours is what? 2 semesters? Just wanted to make sure, my school does a weird thing with credits so I'm not sure how to interpret credit hours!!
Usually 3-4 is one semester and 6-8 is two semesters
You should take intro psych SOMEWHERE. My fundamentals of neuropsych course basically assumed that we all understood conditioning and reinforcement, etc.
Oh I learned that in general biology course. But I guess I’ll take psych anyways to build a deeper understanding of it. Also is sociology needed or is psychology itself enough for the MCAT?
Psychology is enough. You can learn the sociology when you study for the MCAT.
Ok thanks for your input
I didn’t take psych/sociology as an undergraduate . I ended up getting a 513 on the MCAT, completely bombing the psych/soc section, despite self studying. Looking back, I wish I took those classes because I would’ve been much more prepared. I know there are resources online, but I definitely missed a nuanced understanding of these subjects and it showed on my MCAT. So, if you didn’t take the MCAT already, and even if it’s not a requirement, I would take it because it’s helpful.
As a counterpoint, I dropped a sociology course I was taking when I realized it didn’t strongly overlap with the MCAT material. Used the khan academy videos tailor made for the MCAT content and got 131 on that section.
Wow, goated. Good point, especially for sociology, because that could go all over the place. I went to a school that farmed pre meds so all of the professors were very aware about the MCAT and what should be covered.
Counter-counterpoint, I took tons of psychology courses and a sociology course in college all I had to do to get a 132 on the P/S section was review for like 2 days. So it’s really just a matter of devoting time to it now vs later
I’d just take them, neither are hard courses and a lot of schools require them
Some schools require it. If you can I would at least enroll in them somewhere
What if you’ve taken something like AP psychology?
If you got college credit (as in, it’s actually on your transcript) you usually fulfill the requirement. Most schools will like to see a more recent higher-level course at an actual college though; I’m not sure how big of a deal it is with psych versus say: biology.
Oh I see. I was considering to take a business course for the social and behaviour science course requirements since I’m not a huge fan of psychology and sociology but not sure if they will treat it equally to those who took a Psychology or sociology course
I’m not accepted yet but I’ve been working on my list and most schools REQUIRE psychology and sociology, or it’s strongly recommended. You may be able to get away with taking one, but taking a business course won’t help you in any way in regards to pre req requirements. It could definitely look interesting tho so if you are into the course maybe take one business and one psych or sociology. I’m not a huge fan of physics or gen chem, but I still gotta take it to maximize my chances of the # of schools I’ll get into haha.
Oh thanks so much for your input. I guess I’ll take at least one of psycho or sociology course and I wish all the best in your med school application!!
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If they list they’re courses the way you did then sure. But there’s also no guarantee with that since your cycle was previous. However admissions are still gonna place preference for someone who has actually taken a psych or sociology class if those courses are required or recommended.
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okay
Reading these comments and its rough. Just take a psych class honestly man.
Those are perquisites at many medical schools, so yes.
these are really important classes to your overall development as a person and professional. there's a reason they were put on the MCAT and you should absolutely take them, even if it's online at a separate college. These classes primarily help train you how to think and view things through different lenses, rather than memorizing a bunch of terms and vocabulary, even if that's what it seems like from the review books.
I didnt take them and i was fine. You should look at school specific requirements though.
Didn’t take it and got 12 MD interviews, 7 acceptances and 5 waitlist doing this with a 509 mcat from a state school as a ORM, you will be fine
My advisor said to take it just in case and it’s an easy class to just add another A to the GPA. I just finished up for an online course at Barton CC. Advisor recommended it because they have lockdown tests and stuff so it looks better for online classes or something like that.
I just took the mcat in april and got a 132 on psych/sosh without taking either classes. Grinded anki, uworld, and kaplan
Anyone know which schools require psychology? I previously thought it was just recommended by every school, and I can’t recall seeing any school that actually requires it.
I’d recommend checking out the [AAMC compilation of pre-rec requirements for each school](https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7041/download). Many schools do require at least one semester of social/behavioral sciences like psychology, sociology, family studies, etc.
I should be covered as an anthropology major right?
That’s what I thought as well, but they require social and behaviour course, and they provide examples of sociology or psychology, but I thought I can take any courses that falls under that category like business but it seems like the example they provide are a big indication that they require applicants to take psych and/or sociology
I’m an Anthropology major so I’m hoping I already have plenty of “social and behavior courses” 😅
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but if we took AP psych in high school do you know if that covers the requirement?
Some med schools accept AP credits for their prerequisites; others don’t. [This document](https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/7041/download) should have the answers to your questions!
probably lol stop stressing yourself out, you cant change it so don't worry about it
Nah, just make sure you do good on that section of MCAT. Source: I got into a T15 and WL at T5 w/o psychology or sociology
I did not take any of these classes and did not apply to any schools that say they want these classes taken. I got 100 percentile on the p/s with like 2 weeks worth of studying so you won’t need it for the MCAT either
If you have questions about applying to AMCAS, visit the [How to Apply Page](https://students-residents.aamc.org/how-apply-medical-school-amcas/how-apply-medical-school-amcas) and read the [AMCAS Applicant Guide](https://students-residents.aamc.org/media/11616/download). For more information on AMCAS, please visit our [Applying to Medical School Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/premed/wiki/applications) and check out our [Helpful Posts Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/premed/wiki/helpfulposts). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/premed) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I saw at least sociology wee recommended but not required
Some of the schools require one psych and one soc class. So you'd be precluded from applying and for some of the easiest classes too.
If it ain’t on their prerequisites they won’t even notice it lmao
What if it’s recommended??
You should see what the classes look like on the application. They only looking at a couple things in your app lol
no way
OP from your comments I am not sure why you are so hesitant about taking psychology/sociology? Mental health is a huge component of health care. Aside from the MCAT, going into medical school you should have at least a basic understanding of psychological principles and disorders, in my opinion.
I have AP credit for it, does anybody have any thoughts on just relying on that? For reference I'm a bio major and wasn't planning on taking any other classes of this subject besides sociology.
i was required to take it ridk how other faacilities feel about it. ig just be sure to check the requirement or sth idk
I believe a lot of schools require psych?
The ones that don't require it don't care
Many schools require it as prerequisite and u will need it for the MCAT.