<p>Hey guys, I'm a biology major applying to ucla, ucsd, and Cal. One of the prereqs for my major are (1 year of General Chemistry with lab) and 1 semester of organic chemistry with lab. I was unable to get chem at any of the community colleges in the area so I ended up taking Chem at UCLA extension through the 14 series.</p>
<p>My issue is that the 14 series is a condensed Chem and Ochem series for life science majors. It condenses all of General Chemistry into 2 quarters + 1 quarter of Lab and all of Organic Chemistry into 2 quarters + 1 quarter of lab. </p>
<p>By Spring I will have completed both quarters of General Chem (14A, 14B) and 1 of the 2 quarters of Ochem (14C). I will not have any of the labs done because they are only offered to Exstension students during the Summer. </p>
<p>So I'm wondering will my 2 quarters of Chemistry equal out to the 2 semesters of Chem in terms of major prereq? (Meaning will I be penalized?)</p>
<p>and same with my 1 quarter of organic chem as 1 semester.</p>
<p>My last question is if I go to UCSD will my 2 quarter + lab (I'll take it over Summer) of general chemistry transfer over as their 3 quarter + lab sequence? (Meaning I'll be done with chemistry right?)</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Did you check with “Assist” to see if the Chem 14 series at the UCLA Extension is even accepted by the UCs you are applying to as equivalent to the courses they require. If they do not articulate you may get no credit for chemistry. Even if they do articulate I do not think you will be close to meeting the stated chemistry requirements. You need two semesters of General Chemistry with lab for each and you have two quarters of lecture without lab. You would still need another quarter of lecture to have the equivalent of two semesters of lecture. You need one semester but will have only one quarter of Organic Chemistry lecture. You really need two quarters of organic chemistry to claim you have a semester of organic chemistry lecture.</p>
<p>As for your lab situation, to meet the requirements you would have to take three quarters of General Chemistry lab and two quarters of Organic Chemistry lab this Summer. That does not seem humanly possible to me.</p>
<p>In some majors that get few applicants they might be somewhat lax on prerequisites and accept a quarter as equal to a semester and waive the lab requirement. However, I believe Biology is impacted at all the UCs, except maybe UC Merced, and they are likely to be very strict about complying with the specified prerequisites.</p>
<p>As for UCSD it appears you will be short 1 quarter of lecture and two quarters of lab in General Chemistry and I am almost certain that Biology is impacted at UCSD.</p>
<p>Assist.org doesn’t show me if UC classes articulate.</p>
<p>I would only be short 1 quarter of chem lab and 1 quarter of ochem lab, but I would of covered everything that UCSD’s 3 quarter chemistry sequence covers. Like I said it is a 2 quarter lecture for chem (Actually, both UCLA’s chem series chem 20 and chem 14 are 2 quarters of lecture for chem, the 20 series just has an extra quarter of ochem and 1 extra lab i believe)</p>
<p>The UCLA Extension web sites contains the following wording about Chemistry XL14B in its course description:</p>
<p>“Fulfills in part the UCLA General Education requirement for Physical Sciences.” </p>
<p>It does not say anything about it being it fulfilling the prerequisite for Biology majors. Since it is not listed in Assist.org and claims only to fulfill a General Education requirement for Physical Sciences, you may want to check with the Biology Departments of the UCs you are applying to and make sure this course will be an acceptable Chemistry prerequisite for Biology majors.</p>
<p>Oh crap!</p>
<p>but it also says that this series is the series that is accepted for graduate schools. So if medical schools/pharm schools accept it why wouldnt another UC?</p>
<p>Medical school, Dental school and Pharmacy school are often referred to as “Graduate School” but in reality are more properly referred to as “Professional School” where you go to learn a trade that requires a high level of skill and knowledge. I received my MD from one of the largest medical schools in the U.S. and am currently a practicing physician. Only the first two years of medical school are spent studying “science” in the classroom, the second two years are spent caring for patients in the teaching hospitals. Even during the first two years the study of subjects such as biochemistry is very superficial compared to what a graduate student studying for a PhD in that subject would be learning. Medical students spend a lot of time on cadaver dissection and looking at pathology slides under microscopes but do no research and do not have to write a thesis for their doctoral degrees. As a result, professional schools do not require the depth of knowledge in science courses that research universities like the UCs would demand of someone majoring in a science like Biology who might go on to seek a PhD and become a research scientist.</p>
<p>I understand but its only the first Chem class of undergraduate studies, Everyone is learning the same chem unless you go to like CalTech and are an engineer or something. Were also using the same book as all the UC’s, and premed students usually are the ones to get the highest gpas in these introductory sciences. Plus wouldn’t you say that that medical scool students generally have a higher grasp on their basic sciences then their masters graduate school counterparts as getting into medical school is much more rigorous then grad schools? And the fact that we have to take our MCATS and study the hell out of the material as well.</p>