Bio Prereq Enigma! PLEASE HELP ME :(

[MuscleAndBones4Life]

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Long story short: At my college there are two levels of bio: majors and non majors.

Bio for non majors is required for my major (ex. sci). I have AP credit at this level that I was going to use for PTCAS.

However, this semester I am taking bio 2 for bio majors (you can take 2 before 1). This is because last year when I was registering, I was premed and pre PT. Premed requires you to have bio at the major level. This class is incredibly difficult, and to top it off, I'm taking it at the honors level (bad idea). I will probably end up with a B in the class.

This isn't going to help by sGPA as i already have 2 b's in anatomy and an A/A- in Gen Chem 1/2. I am trying to apply to elite schools, and some of these schools have average sGPAs of 3.6+.

My question is....
Next semester do I
a) Continue with Bio 1 at the bio major level, which is a weedout class where i will most likely not get an A
b) Not take bio at all and use my AP credit on PTCAS (does this look weird?)
c) Retake bio at the non major level and ace both courses easily?

PLEASE HELP!

 

[davidtheusername]

Be careful to check with schools about AP credit. For my school, they don't take AP for biology, but they do for things like English.

 

[davidtheusername]

If the schools all take your non-major bio class then I'd take that for Bio I and get the A. Biology isn't like A and P where it's all relevant, huge parts of that class won't help you as a physical therapist so you might as well take the one that gets you an A.

 

[Watson27]

Having an A in bio will raise your GPA, while an AP credit will not... And as davidtheusername said, some schools do not accept AP credit for pre-reqs.

As long as the non-major course fulfills the requirements of the programs you are applying to, you're probably fine to take the easy way out.

 

[DesertPT]

Bio for non majors is required for my major (ex. sci). I have AP credit at this level that I was going to use for PTCAS.

A large number of PT schools won't take AP credit. Honestly I would probably forget that you even have it to avoid making your life difficult.

However, this semester I am taking bio 2 for bio majors (you can take 2 before 1). This is because last year when I was registering, I was premed and pre PT. Premed requires you to have bio at the major level. This class is incredibly difficult, and to top it off, I'm taking it at the honors level (bad idea). I will probably end up with a B in the class.

This isn't going to help by sGPA as i already have 2 b's in anatomy and an A/A- in Gen Chem 1/2.

If you did well in Chemistry, why is biology such a struggle for you? Gen-bio 2 is generally the easiest major level bio class available. It sounds like you are better at problem solving than you are at classes that require a lot of rote memorization. Do you think this is the case?

I am trying to apply to elite schools, and some of these schools have average sGPAs of 3.6+.

There really isn't such as thing as elite schools in PT, and to the extent that there may be some, going to one will not increase your chances of success upon graduation. As long as a school is properly accreddited and has an NPTE pass rate of at least >90% you are going to learn what you need to know. How good of a PT you become is about what you put in to it. And 3.6 is becoming a pretty average GPA for PT students, the schools with the highest average GPAs have 3.7-3.8. And remember, pre-req GPA matters more than science GPA (calculated separately, although most of the classes overlap). And of course cumulative GPA, as well as GRE scores, are critical as well.

a) Continue with Bio 1 at the bio major level, which is a weedout class where i will most likely not get an A

Gen Bio 1 is not a weed out class, trust me. Thousands of people get an A in it every year. The thousands more that don't get an A just didn't study enough. If you can regurgitate a large enough amount of the material that you are presented with, you get an A.

This is not intended to be offensive, but Gen Bio 1 probably seems like a weedout class because you are in a kinesiology major. If you were in BIO, CHEM, BIOCHEM, etc (typical pre-med majors) O-chem is generally more the weedout class.

c) Retake bio at the non major level and ace both courses easily?

Many schools require Gen Bio 1 and 2, with labs, at the science major level. There are a number of them that don't, but most do.

You're best bet is to just follow the standard path that everyone else does. You won't outsmart the system, so just take your two semesters of biology, study hard and get the best grades you can, and move on with your educational career. Doing it any other way will just greatly limit your options.

I hope you don't feel like I am being obtuse here...just trying to provide some real talk and non-sugar-coated info that will probably help you a lot more than whatever the dough head in your college advising office is telling you.

 

[AP191]

And remember, pre-req GPA matters more than science GPA (calculated separately, although most of the classes overlap). And of course cumulative GPA, as well as GRE scores, are critical as well.

I don't think that's necessarily true. I've applied to 5 schools which put heavy emphasis on science GPA. Two schools didn't even look at my pre-req GPA but looked at my science and cumulative GPAs. Last year I applied and didn't get in, and one reason the director of admissions told me was because of my science GPA of 3.23 was not high like my pre-req GPA, 3.5+. I think schools are turning towards the science GPA more and more as it seems like a better indicator.

And of course like you said, GRE is very important at most schools.

 

[DesertPT]

I just see cGPA and pre-req GPA averages as the common stats that schools list. I figure schools would care more about the pre-req one as it is program specific (they know which pre-reqs they have/care about). But you're right some do say sGPA more often.

Thinking about it, I don't really know exactly what the difference is...some schools include some english/humanities in the the pre-reqs but most don't...stats is the only common non-science pre-req that I can think of...

 

[AP191]

In my case, my pre-req GPA included stats, medical terminology, a bunch of psychology courses, English/humanities and science courses. This increased my pre-req GPA over my science GPA since they were easier.

 

[DesertPT]

Psychology isn't considered a science class?

 

[AP191]

Psychology isn't considered a science class?

Nope. Not according to PTCAS.

"Science GPA includes anatomy and physiology in biology, biology, chemistry and physics courses."

 

[DesertPT]

Well I'll be darned...missed that one lol.