<p>I'm a Chemical Engineering major but may decide to be pre-med. I have the necessary math, physics and lab, and orgo courses. A few things:</p>
<p>I don't have the Gen Chem requirement done because I used AP credits for my major. As a ChemE major I thought maybe my major's courses would count. I dont need any Chem department courses for my major, everything is under ChemE (thermodynamics 1 and 2, polymer engineering, fluid mechanics, heat and mass transfer, material and energy balance, reaction engineering and chemical kinetics, 4 semesters of ChemE lab). Some of them sound like they should cover that requirement, no?</p>
<p>Also, the orgo lab requirement for pre-meds at my school is only a one semester course (its 2 credits). Chemistry and Chemical engineering majors have an Orgo lab class (that is 2 credits) with a second part that is 3 credits and a lot more intense. I was wondering if I can use that first orgo lab that I have as my Orgo lab requirement, and then the next course, which is like a normal course in my school (3 credits), to be counted towards a Chemistry pre-med requirement?</p>
<p>And finally.. the Biology requirement. I took one of the two pre-med bio courses at my school (called Organ and Cell Physiology). The other one is called Molecular and Cellular Biology but there is a ChemE course I have to take called Cellular Biology for Chemical Engineers. Would this be acceptable in place? (I know I would have to do the lab courses for Bio)</p>
<p><a href=“thermodynamics%201%20and%202,%20polymer%20engineering,%20fluid%20mechanics,%20heat%20and%20mass%20transfer,%20material%20and%20energy%20balance,%20reaction%20engineering%20and%20chemical%20kinetics,%204%20semesters%20of%20ChemE%20lab”>quote</a>. Some of them sound like they should cover that requirement, no?
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<p>Sorry, no. You will need 2 semesters of coursework WITH lab that is actually designated as CHEM on your transcript. (My d took some of those classes–none of them replaced her chemistry requirement for med school.)</p>
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<p>Probably not, but the very best place to ask that question is the health professions advisor at your school.</p>
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<p>Unless the course has BIO prefix on your transcript, probably not. Please consult the health advisors at your college.</p>
<p>AMCAS is pretty strict about its course classification. Here’s the official AMCAS Course Classification Guide:</p>
<p>Kdog – at some schools, chem lab is only 1 semester long but is a double length lab. It would be a single 2 credit course instead of the usual 2 semesters at one credit each. In those circumstances, the lab would fulfill the 2 semester requirement for med schools.</p>
<p>I thought credits were irrelevant and that is why they say “two semesters”. My son’s labs are only .5 credit. Since many schools award credits differently I would think that you couldn’t rely on credits. For example, my daughter’s school awards 3-4 credits per class while my son’s is .5-1.5 per class. His required credits for graduation is 36 while her required credits is 120. </p>
<p>How does this 2 credit class work? Do the students meet twice a week for 1 hour discussions and twice a week for 4 hour labs?</p>
Kdog, The class is considered by the college as a “doube-sized” lab class, and it is OK if med schools agree with college’s interpretation. This is the beauty of going to a well known college, for which the class sequences are well known to many (if not all) med schools.</p>
<p>norcalguy (a long-time CC contributor) once said SOME lab classes at his college are like this.</p>
<p>Just think of this: For a school like your S’s, the percentage of credits for lab classes as a part of the BCPM GPA is actually higher than the typical state college where the lecture credit is 3 while the lab credit is 1. Since the lab requires more busy work in general, your S’s school actually rewards those who excel at “busy working” rather than those “creative” types who are good at task of other kind of excellency (Pls do not take this statement as “bashing yous S’s school” as you know I will never do that :)). In fact, the premeds are in general more likely to be rewarded for their busy work than, for example, a major who majors in theoretical physics, whose preparation before college is even more critical than a premed in other major. Heck. medicine career itself is a career which rewards busy work, IMHO.</p>
<p>The specifics vary from college to college, but so long as the college certifies to the AAMC that their lab (however many semesters it lasts and however many credits the college assigns to it) is equivalent to “2 semesters or 3 quarters” then AMCAS will accept it.</p>
I’m not following your logic here. The standard BCMP classes at my son’s school are 1 credit. The labs are .5 credit so it is actually a smaller percentage.</p>
<p>^the lab grade has a multiplier of .5 for Kson’s school, at another college where the lecture is 3 credits and the lab is 1 credit, the multiplier for the lab is .33, and so is given less relative weight in the gpa calculation.</p>
<p>Kdog, What entomom posted above was what I meant to say but I did not get my idea across. She just articulated this point better than I did. Thanks, entomom.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, guys. Kind of sucks that I could be taking at my university a course in the ChemE department that might just as easily be in a Chem, and even Bio, department at another school.</p>
<p>About the Orgo lab, the one semester for 2 credits is apparently equal to two semesters because people have been able to get to med school haha. Physics and Gen Chem labs, for example, are 1 semester for 1 credit and you need two of those, so I guess it makes sense.</p>