Expert: Ronald Levy, M.D. - 1/24/2008

Question
Thanks for taking time to answer my questions, first of all I'm 18 yrs old and I'm a senior in highschool, I have really been looking into this field of medicine because it really interests me, I will not be taking calculus however in highschool and I was wondering if that will impact me a lot in college since i will have to take it, also I am having a hard time maintaining near a B average for my physics class and was wondering if that is a bad sign also for college, I have never really had to try hard in highschool while still maintaining a 3.3 average and I know I will have to change that for college and definitely medical school I'm just afraid I won't be able to make it without taking calculus in highschool and having a difficult time in physics, thanks for your time

Answer
MAny people don't take Calculus before college and they do fine. It's nice to have an idea about it from hight school but they teach it completely differently in college (in high school they give you the facts and you just put them in practice, in college they teach the theory and proof behind everything first). As for Physics, some people get it and some have a difficult time. I also never completely got Physics and it was my worse course in college but I still got through. The key is that it doesn't bring your GPA too far down!

Good Luck,

Ronald Levy, MD
Associate Professor of Anesthesiology
UTMB-Galveston