Boston University Secondary Question!!

[zenaforever]

Hey everyone,

I had a couple of questions about the Boston secondary Application. On the prerequisite grid, there are 3 columns - the number of classroom/lecture semesters, the number of lab semesters, and the number of semesters at a preferred institution. I am in a 4 year undergraduate program, so that is a preferred institution, and I realize that in that
column, I cannot include lab hours, so what is the difference between the number of classroom/lecture semesters and the number of semesters at a preferred university?

And also, if in my Biology class, my lab was integrated into the class itself, do I count the labs in the Number of lab semesters column or do I leave that column at 0?

I would really appreciate anybody's input on this.

Thanks a lot!

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[neurofreak]

i actually asked their admissions staff about this and they said the only time you would have different numbers in columns 1 and 3 is if you took some of the prereq courses at a JC or are using AP credits. so if you took all of your required courses at your undergrad institution, then columns 1 and 3 should match up.

as for the second column, i just put the number of labs you had in those prereq courses. the labs at my school were also integrated in the lecture courses, but i still put "2" for most of the categories since i had a lab associated with each lecture course.

hope that helps!

 

[zenaforever]

That helps a lot! Thank you so much

 

[zenaforever]

oh one more question!

does finalizing your application mean submitting it? how do we know where to check if BU has recieved it?

thanks!!

 

[Surf Rx]

You can check the status of all your application elements on the page after you log in. Under main, click on application checklist.

 

[QTCL13]

What exactly counts as molecular biology? I took a bio class (Molecular, Cellular, Developmental Bio) but I'm not sure if I can count it in this categorey seeing as it was only 1/3 of the entire lecture. Would I be safer just putting it under general bio?

 

[ShanghaiDidact]

I have an MCDB class too; I just counted it as Molecular Biology.

But don't stress about it too much! They have this note above the pre-req grid:

"The listing of recommended courses plays no role in our selection process and we do not track it by individual applicant. We are collecting this information only to improve our understanding of the overall level of preparation for advanced study of the biomedical sciences in our applicant pool as a whole."

So it really doesn't matter at all to your application.

Added 5 minutes later:

Whoops! Just noticed that the quote above is for "optional" classes, not required ones (as biology is). However, molecular biology in particular is "recommended", not "required". So if you do have enough non-genetics and non-molecular bio courses to fulfill the requirements of general bio, then you should use your MCDB course as a molecular bio course. If not, then use it for general bio.