Bio labs needed on quarter system

[witchbreath]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi SDN,

I feel like this question should have been answered a million times, but I can't find a good answer and it's stressing me out. I go to a school on the quarter system. For bio labs, premeds usually take two quarters of lab. Each of them are 5 units, credit or no credit.

1st quarter - Molecular Biology Laboratory
2nd quarter - Plants and Ecology Laboratory

The reason I ask is because for the second of these classes, students just go on a field trip on lab day to a nature preserve and I don't think it's all that relevant to medicine. If I ask a premed adviser at my school, they'll probably just tell me to take it. I don't want to take something I don't need to, though, to save time and money. I have access to the online MSAR, but "with lab" isn't exactly the most precise description.

So, to people who have successfully applied to med school from a quarter system undergrad school, how many quarters is necessary for admission to most medical schools (1, 2, or 3)?

 

[487806]

Hi SDN,

I feel like this question should have been answered a million times, but I can't find a good answer and it's stressing me out. I go to a school on the quarter system. For bio labs, premeds usually take two quarters of lab. Each of them are 5 units, credit or no credit.

1st quarter - Molecular Biology Laboratory
2nd quarter - Plants and Ecology Laboratory

The reason I ask is because for the second of these classes, students just go on a field trip on lab day to a nature preserve and I don't think it's all that relevant to medicine. If I ask a premed adviser at my school, they'll probably just tell me to take it. I don't want to take something I don't need to, though, to save time and money. I have access to the online MSAR but "with lab" doesn't tell me how many quarters.

So, to people who have successfully applied to med school from a quarter system undergrad school, how many quarters is necessary for admission to most medical schools (1, 2, or 3)?

Pretty sure 2 quarters of lab is enough.

 

[witchbreath]

Thanks, is this because one semester of bio lab is enough so you're translating it to 2 quarters?

 

[487806]

Thanks, is this because one semester of bio lab is enough so you're translating it to 2 quarters?

That's what I believe. I'm on a quarter system too, and we only have two quarters of lab (ochem in my case, bio/gen chem/physics have built in labs). There were no problems at all.

 

[Aerus]

Quarter system here. The biology majors at my school are designed to fullfill premed requirements. With that said, we only have a 2 quarter lab requirement for biology labs. One quarter for Organic Chemistry and General Chemistry, and 3 quarters of General Physics.

 

[487806]

Quarter system here. The biology majors at my school are designed to fullfill premed requirements. With that said, we only have a 2 quarter lab requirement for biology labs. One quarter for Organic Chemistry and General Chemistry, and 3 quarters of General Physics.

Interesting. So at least 1 quarter of lab is necessary. That's good news for the OP.

 

[witchbreath]

thanks. yet I read somewhere here that some med school doesn't accept 1 quarter of lab because it doesn't translate to enough "credit hours" of one semester. this whole thing is so sketchy

 

[Aerus]

thanks. yet I read somewhere here that some med school doesn't accept 1 quarter of lab because it doesn't translate to enough "credit hours" of one semester. this whole thing is so sketchy

For my school, they squish a whole year of General Chemistry laboratory into ONE quarter. We go from mole calculations to acid base titrations to electrochem stuff all in a quarter. Our school does not offer 2 more quarters of chem lab unless we take classes like Analytical Chem lab or PChem lab. So we have no choice.

I think quarter systems do make things more complicated for med school applications because the semester is still the "default".

 

[487806]

thanks. yet I read somewhere here that some med school doesn't accept 1 quarter of lab because it doesn't translate to enough "credit hours" of one semester. this whole thing is so sketchy

Well in @Aerus case, that's practically impossible, unless he takes some advanced ochem/pchem lab. One quarter is fine and if you have the opportunity, take two, but don't do extra work when you're not required. Avoid such schools that demand 2 quarters.

For my school, they squish a whole year of General Chemistry laboratory into ONE quarter. We go from mole calculations to acid base titrations to electrochem stuff all in a quarter. Our school does not offer 2 more quarters of chem lab unless we take classes like Analytical Chem lab or PChem lab. So we have no choice.

I think quarter systems do make things more complicated for med school applications because the semester is still the "default".

In cases like these, why not take biochem lab? That's what I did and should work out.

 

[Aerus]

Well in @Aerus case, that's practically impossible, unless he takes some advanced ochem/pchem lab. One quarter is fine and if you have the opportunity, take two, but don't do extra work when you're not required. Avoid such schools that demand 2 quarters.



In cases like these, why not take biochem lab? That's what I did and should work out.

Funny you should mention! We have TWO biochem labs at my school. One "bio" version (which is one of the bio labs many people here take to fulfill the two quarter bio lab requirement) and one "chem" version (which requires additional upper level chem classes). We cannot receive credit for both. So, dilemma....😛

 

[487806]

Funny you should mention! We have TWO biochem labs at my school. One "bio" version (which is one of the bio labs many people here take to fulfill the two quarter bio lab requirement) and one "chem" version (which requires additional upper level chem classes). We cannot receive credit for both. So, dilemma....😛

You could choose the bio version and classify that as chem. The biochem lab at my UG is classified as bio but the course itself is exclusively chem

 

[Aerus]

You could choose the bio version and classify that as chem. The biochem lab at my UG is classified as bio but the course itself is exclusively chem

True. When the time comes, I'll have to decide what I want to do in terms of classifications. I still hold the opinion that, as long as one does research in a laboratory setting, lab requirements should be reduced.

 

[487806]

True. When the time comes, I'll have to decide what I want to do in terms of classifications. I still hold the opinion that, as long as one does research in a laboratory setting, lab requirements should be reduced.

Yeah agreed. Lab courses are a waste of time.

@witchbreath Take any one quarter of the bio lab and add a biochem lab. Or take both quarters. While 1 quarter is ok, it's better to be on the safe side and have 2 quarters.

 

[witchbreath]

@Agent B @Aerus alrighty, thanks a ton. I actually lied a bit and we have a class on anatomy that can replace the plants lab so I'll probably take that. we don't have a biochem lab unfortunately