Chemistry bind and transferring

[Nannerpuss]

Well hey everyone, this is my first post ever...

Anyway, I'm a second sem. freshman at GMU, and I'm currently applying for a transfer to another university in Philadelphia for sophomore year. The only problem is the General Chemistry pre-req. I took chemistry my first semester, screwed up, and got a C-. So I retook it this semester (currently have an A *phew*).

Now the school I'm applying to might not accept credit for the course because the lab that goes with the lecture isn't worth any credits and they require each science course to have 1 credit worth of lab with it.

So this means if I transfer, I may have to take chemistry 1 a THIRD time, even if I get an A this semester . How bad would this look when I actually go to apply in a few years? Can I explain it away?

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[Van Chowder]

Well for one, some institutions actually allow you to complete the lab with out concurrently taking the lecture course, so depending on the agreement with UoP if it is simply to have it done BEFORE starting there, you may want to look at summer lab to save your self a ton of headache, if your school doesnt offer summer lab, check out your local JC. ( My school offers and intensive Lecture+Lab course that is 6 weeks long. Lecture 8am-1220pm
and Lab 1pm-330pm Monday-Thursday, so check if you can only take the lab portion.

Another thing, should you get an A in chemistry this time, there is nothing to explain really. other than having a schedule that conflicted with doing lab the same semester

and finally if you arent getting credit for lab this semester, you may want to double check the chemistry you are in ( if its even the right one) I have never heard of a chem lab not offering credit ( should it be the correct course.

Hope this helped! Good luck!

 

[student1799]

Now the school I'm applying to might not accept credit for the course because the lab that goes with the lecture isn't worth any credits and they require each science course to have 1 credit worth of lab with it.

Nannerpuss, I don't think you should have to take either chem lecture or chem lab again. It sounds like your school is including the lab grade in the grade you get for the lecture course (this is a common practice at many schools). You should go to your chem department to double-check this, but if it's true, then you should be able to get them to write a letter to the other school and explain. That should get you out of having to retake anything at the second school.

and finally if you arent getting credit for lab this semester, you may want to double check the chemistry you are in ( if its even the right one) I have never heard of a chem lab not offering credit ( should it be the correct course.

Schools seem to have several different ways of treating labs that go with lecture courses. Some include the lab grade and credit in the lecture course; in this case, the lecture will have more credits than usual (4 semester hours instead of 3, 1 being attributable to the lab), but there will be no separate listing on the transcript for the lab course. Other schools have a concurrent required lab which is worth one credit, and has a separate grade. (This is how the physics department did things at my school.) The third approach is to have a freestanding lab that can be taken at any time, again with its own credit and grade. This lab is designed to be taken in a single semester, so it is worth twice as many hours as the concurrent lab. (This is how my chem and bio departments did it. Don't ask me why they had to be different from the physics department.)

 

[WeAreNotRobots]

and finally if you arent getting credit for lab this semester, you may want to double check the chemistry you are in ( if its even the right one) I have never heard of a chem lab not offering credit ( should it be the correct course.

it can happen. i have close friends whose school awards no formal credit on the transcript for lab sections-- yes they are legitimate science courses and the lab section is required and graded. the lab section apparently just never shows up on the transcript, but its grade gets combined with the lecture portion to get the final grade for the class.

OP, as long as you retook the lab section along with the normal lecture portion (ie, you did "the whole package" a second time) you should be fine.

 

[chief illiniwek]

As someone who transferred between my freshman and sophomore years, I know what you're going through. I didn't have this problem exactly, but there were definitely issues (some that were never resolved to my satisfaction). I had to retake Differential Equations, even though I got an A the first time. I also took a couple proficiency exams and had to petition (I think that's what it was called) the Math dept to give me credit for another class.

If you haven't done this yet, you need to get a syllabus from your current chem professor and send it along to your future school so they can see that the material is in fact the same. The next thing I would recommend would be to set up a proficiency exam with the Chem professor at the new school - then you would basically just have to take another final, proving to him that you know everything he wants you to know.

If none of this works, bitch and moan to your new adviser until he works something out for you. Good luck!