If applying to med school, are "clep test" discouraged while obtaining a B.S. ?

Question

I have become very intrested in the medical field and due to my schedule it is difficult to attend college classes all the time. However, I find the idea of cleptest more suitable for my schedule. If having completed a B.S. degree with a few "clep test". and later applying for med school, will it affect my chances of getting accepted?

Answer 1

First it depends what CLEP classes you took. If you took things like Spanish etc, then you're fine. However, some med schools discourage CLEP or AP credit in General Chem, Organic Chem, General Bio, Physics, or English. Most schools are willing to accept a few CLEP or AP credits, but like I said some will not, while others will let you replace one of those requirements for a higher level science (for example, you could take Inorganic Chemistry to replace one of your General Chemistry CLEP classes). I'd recommend retaking the classes, because retaking them will allow you to, for one, solidify your grasp on topics that you'll be seeing on the MCAT, but, for two, will let you pad your grade point with easy A's.