Crazy Message from UCSD!

[Indryd]

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Hi, anyone told by UCSD that they are missing 1 quarter of Organic Chemistry?

I have 1 year of Ochem + 1 year of Biochem! All "A"s! How can they miss that?

They said I need to notify them if I plan to complete OChem!

WTF???

Anyone else have this problem? Any advice? I emailed back...but...?

 

[SeventhSon]

Hi, anyone told by UCSD that they are missing 1 quarter of Organic Chemistry?

I have 1 year of Ochem + 1 year of Biochem! All "A"s! How can they miss that?

They said I need to notify them if I plan to complete OChem!

WTF???

Anyone else have this problem? Any advice? I emailed back...but...?

maybe you said you had taken 2 quarters of ochem instead of 2 semesters? have you taken ochem lab?

 

[Indryd]

maybe you said you had taken 2 quarters of ochem instead of 2 semesters? have you taken ochem lab?

This is straight off my AMCAS, they have not offered me a secondary yet.

Yes, 1 year = 2 quarters Ochem Lecture + 1 quarter Ochem Lab.

 

[fiddler]

This is straight off my AMCAS, they have not offered me a secondary yet.

Yes, 1 year = 2 quarters Ochem Lecture + 1 quarter Ochem Lab.

generally 2 quarters = 1 semester. so you can see the confusion.

If i were you i would also send them a physical letter and not just an email to confirm.

fiddler

 

[sweetrts]

if i remember correctly from their secondary, they count lab and lecture separately for some reason. so by their guidelines you need one more quarter of ochem lecture because ochem lab doesn't count for that. but i would call to make sure

 

[pseudoknot]

I had the same problem. The standard o-chem series at my undergrad (UCSC) was two quarters of a 5-credit lecture and a 2-credit lab. UCSD told me they wanted 8 semester units of lecture, so I would have to take another quarter. They didn't care that the course covered the same material as a normal series.

I contacted the UCSC premed advisor, who contacted the UCSD admissions committee, and supposedly they agreed to consider my app anyway. However, that was on 8/5, and I've still heard nothing, but I've gotten secondaries from all the other UCs. It's OK...UCSD was not my first choice anyway.

 

[Overeducated]

Out of curiosity, at what point does UCSD start telling people they need/are missing certain things? Is it AFTER you've submitted your secondary but before they consider your application complete?

 

[pseudoknot]

In my case, it was before getting a secondary. They appear to verify coursework requirements at the same time they screen to see if you get a secondary.

Edit: I'm not sure if the above is relevant, since I don't know what you mean by "certain things."

 

[DrYo12]

As far as I know, they want you to have a whole year of organic chemistry with lab. Whether you do a whole year as 2 semesters, one semester with lab OR 3 quarters, incuding one quarter with lab, I don't think they care either way. You can't just take A and B of a series and take the lab with one of them and satisfy the requirement. You have to take A, B, and C and a lab with at least one of those, but most schools require one year organic, including lab (for the whole year).

 

[Indryd]

As far as I know, they want you to have a whole year of organic chemistry with lab. Whether you do a whole year as 2 semesters, one semester with lab OR 3 quarters, incuding one quarter with lab, I don't think they care either way. You can't just take A and B of a series and take the lab with one of them and satisfy the requirement. You have to take A, B, and C and a lab with at least one of those, but most schools require one year organic, including lab (for the whole year).

Yes, that is exactly what I have. 1 full year of ochem. 3 full quarters, one of them a lab class.

 

[maddscientist]

Out of curiosity, at what point does UCSD start telling people they need/are missing certain things? Is it AFTER you've submitted your secondary but before they consider your application complete?

They informed me pre-secondary of a course requirement that was missing. After I sent an email explaining how I would fulfill it, they sent me a secondary 2 hours later.

 

[dshnay]

Yes, that is exactly what I have. 1 full year of ochem. 3 full quarters, one of them a lab class.

Lab does not count as an ochem class, you only took 2 quarters of ochem you're missing one.

 

[DrYo12]

Yes, that is exactly what I have. 1 full year of ochem. 3 full quarters, one of them a lab class.

Three full quarters of organic means three quarters of lecture and three quarters of lab.

 

[morgan]

generally 2 quarters = 1 semester. so you can see the confusion.

Actually, generally 3 quarters = 2 semesters (the fourth quarter is summer)

 

[Newquagmire]

The standard o-chem series at my undergrad (UCSC) was two quarters of a 5-credit lecture and a 2-credit lab. UCSD told me they wanted 8 semester units of lecture, so I would have to take another quarter.

It sucks that the standard series at your undergrad doesnt meet UCSD's requirements (you haven't had the same problem from other schools with 1 year o-chem requirements?). I wouldn't do it either.

 

[pseudoknot]

It sucks that the standard series at your undergrad doesnt meet UCSD's requirements (you haven't had the same problem from other schools with 1 year o-chem requirements?). I wouldn't do it either.

I haven't had this problem anywhere else, and plenty of students from UCSC have gotten into med schools all over. I don't know what UCSD's problem is, but I'm certainly not taking another quarter of o-chem for them.

 

[Indryd]

I haven't had this problem anywhere else, and plenty of students from UCSC have gotten into med schools all over. I don't know what UCSD's problem is, but I'm certainly not taking another quarter of o-chem for them.

Exactly, wtf? If I was so damn deficient in Ochem, would I have gotten A's in Biochem? Would I have smoked the MCAT?

NO!

WTF kind of ******ed ass requirement is that?

What school has a normal premed track that includes 3 quarters lecture AND three quarters lab of Ochem?

This is so annoying. Grrr...

 

[canndilannd]

Exactly, wtf? If I was so damn deficient in Ochem, would I have gotten A's in Biochem? Would I have smoked the MCAT?

NO!

WTF kind of ******ed ass requirement is that?

What school has a normal premed track that includes 3 quarters lecture AND three quarters lab of Ochem?

This is so annoying. Grrr...

Umm, they aren't expecting you to take 3 quarters of lecture AND 3 quarters of lab. If you are on the quarter system, 3 quarters lecture = 2 semesters lecture = 1 year of o-chem lecture requirement. This does not include the additional quarter of o-chem lab you must take. So, you must take 1 year of o-chem lecture in addition to 1 stand alone quarter of o-chem lab. Some schools indeed do not require that 3rd quarter of o-chem lecture (you might check this out, I applied last year and am no longer familiar with the requirements for some schools). So that's why UCSD said that you have yet to fulfill the requirements, you need that 3rd quarter of lecture.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I don't know what planet they are on, but at Dartmouth, two quarters of any subject is considered a "full year." That is because the material of two semesters is covered in two quarters. First you take Organic Chemistry I, then II. There is no Organic Chemistry III. There is only a "Special Topics in Organic Chemistry" course which is not part of the normal track and is just for people especially interested in orgo.

I just don't understand these schools, but as far as I know a quarter counts as a semester. Oftentimes you take fewer courses per quarter, too, than you would at a semester school, because of the faster pace.

 

[SeventhSon]

I don't know what planet they are on, but at Dartmouth, two quarters of any subject is considered a "full year." That is because the material of two semesters is covered in two quarters. First you take Organic Chemistry I, then II. There is no Organic Chemistry III. There is only a "Special Topics in Organic Chemistry" course which is not part of the normal track and is just for people especially interested in orgo.

I just don't understand these schools, but as far as I know a quarter counts as a semester. Oftentimes you take fewer courses per quarter, too, than you would at a semester school, because of the faster pace.

ugh i know the feeling. I have to go back and take a Biology lab just for UCLA and michigan. If I got rejected pre-interview by both of them I would get to drop the class 😀

 

[tigress]

Don't most schools have 2 full semesters of orgo and 2 full semesters of lab as well? I mean I thought that was normal. I don't know how it works in the quarter system. I'm just curious, because people seem to be surprised that you would have to take a full year of lab, but I thought that was normal.

 

[SeventhSon]

Don't most schools have 2 full semesters of orgo and 2 full semesters of lab as well? I mean I thought that was normal. I don't know how it works in the quarter system. I'm just curious, because people seem to be surprised that you would have to take a full year of lab, but I thought that was normal.

I go to UCSD so let me explain the quarter system with respect to o-chem.

There is a 3-quarter Ochem series (it takes one year, the 4th quarter is considered summer school). NO o-chem lectures are integrated with a lab, they are completely separate classes. UCSD offers THREE O-chem lecture classes and FOUR O-chem lab classes (which means more than 1 year worth of lab), but in almost all cases, only ONE quarter of O-chem lab is required.

 

[pagemmapants]

Ok, so at my school chem is all one series; 14A, 14B, 14C, and 14D, with 14BL and 14CL as labs.

Anything with an A or a B is "Gen Chem", anything with a C or a D is "O-chem"

For Orgo I took 14C, 14D, and 14CL which equals 12 quarter units or exactly 8.1 semester units.

I also took Biochem 153A (Metabolism) and Biochem 153L (Biochemical Methods), but I don't know if UCSD "counted" these as Orgo.

Apparently this was plenty for them, though - maybe this helps for all you other quarter-system folks out there.