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What classes should you take in high school to become an orthopedic surgeon?
I'm a Freshman, I want to save money, I do band, and I play two sports, I'm wanting to know what stem classes I should take to make colleges want to accept me into their school.
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Suzanne’s Answer
Good for you for thinking ahead and planning. Be sure your teachers and guidance counselor know what your current career goal is...you want to be in the classes most appropriate for those heading to college in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields. Try to take biology and, if available, advanced biology, as well as chemistry. Take as much math as your school offers, at least through trigonometry. If your school offers subjects like physics or statistics, take those also. If AP classes are available or dual-enrollment with a local community college is an option, explore that to see if colleges you are considering would give you college credit for those specific classes. This can be a way to start college with some credits and advanced standing and save some tuition money. Of course, colleges also look for people who have skills beyond science and math, so be sure to take English classes, history, a second language, etc. as well (all classes aimed for those planning to go to college).
If at any time you are struggling with your studies (which happens to most of us at some point, for me it was math), the smart thing is to recognize this and speak up early and persistently to get yourself some tutoring help.
Make an appointment with your high school guidance counselor as soon as you can to plan out your classes.
Write back as other questions come up. Good luck...we'll be pulling for you.
If at any time you are struggling with your studies (which happens to most of us at some point, for me it was math), the smart thing is to recognize this and speak up early and persistently to get yourself some tutoring help.
Suzanne recommends the following next steps:
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Amanda’s Answer
When you want to go into a STEM career, especially a surgeon, you will want to focus on math and science courses. I took AP courses whenever I could and I dropped band/choir because of the science class availability. If you don't have to, don't drop out of the arts, but you may need to in order to accommodate filling your schedule with as much science as possible. You will want to take classes like anatomy and physiology, advanced chemistry, calculus, and physics. Also, AP classes are great to take if you have them. EVEN BETTER if your school offers it, take courses at your local community college for college AND high school credit. You can double dip (the courses would count as high school and college credit) and come out of high school with an associate degree if you play your cards right. It will make college cheaper and the school would be paying for your college if the program exists. Take college classes instead of AP classes if you have the option because AP credits aren't guaranteed to count. You can do great in the class and bomb the test and then you get no credit.