Do I have to take BIO and CHEM for majors?

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cheesier

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I'm not a bio/chem major, so I'm not able to register for bio or chem for majors. Can I take the chemistry and biology classes for non-majors, as long as they are year long introductory courses with labs?

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Have you talked to your pre health advisor? or visited pre health website in your school if you have one? I don't know about your school but in my school you must take the Chem and bio for majors, besides the MCAT covers bio orgo and gen chem from those courses, except the physics you can take the algebra based one which is not for physics majors.

EN
 
Have you talked to your pre health advisor? or visited pre health website in your school if you have one? I don't know about your school but in my school you must take the Chem and bio for majors, besides the MCAT covers bio orgo and gen chem from those courses, except the physics you can take the algebra based one which is not for physics majors.

EN

I just transferred schools, so I haven't had the opportunity to talk to an adviser yet. My school's pre-med advising website doesn't specify which one to take. Bio and chem for non-majors are yearlong courses and they have labs, so I'd think that they would cover the right material; I just don't know if they're accepted by most medical schools.
 
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You aren't gonna get what you need from the non-science majors classes. I would talk to your pre-health adviser on Monday and tell them your intentions.
 
Find pre med advisor's email in the website and email him/her, it's the quickest way to find out.

EN
 
I agree with the above posts.

It's possible that these classes for non-majors will count, but you should absolutely check with your advisor first. At my university, the classes for non-majors are specifically for pre-nursing students or meant to be used as 'gen-eds'. If it's the same way at your school, these classes will not teach you what you need to know for the MCAT and most likely will not prepare you enough for med school.
 
You generally need to take biology for biology majors and gen chem and ochem for chem majors. Physics for science majors instead of physics/engineering majors is OK.
 
I have never known an Orgo class for non-majors so that settles that!

For Gen-chem, Bio, Physics, at the school I was doing my post-sec at, premeds did not have to take the classes for majors. At my current institution where I am working on a degree, premeds DO have to take the major classes as the others won't prepare you for the MCAT.
 
I have never known an Orgo class for non-majors so that settles that!

For Gen-chem, Bio, Physics, at the school I was doing my post-sec at, premeds did not have to take the classes for majors. At my current institution where I am working on a degree, premeds DO have to take the major classes as the others won't prepare you for the MCAT.

Just because your institution does not require this does not mean that medical schools will look at it favorably.
 
If the sequence courses are called: General Biology I and General Biology II, how would they know if it is for majors or not?
 
I'm confused with this thread, so forgive me if I sound like a complete idiot.

If you don't need to be a Biology or Chem major.. why does it matter? This thread is making it seem that if you are a non-science major, you will not get the right pre-requisite courses to get into medical school. Am I reading this right?
 
If the sequence courses are called: General Biology I and General Biology II, how would they know if it is for majors or not?

If your schools produces a lot of applicants, an adcom may be reasonably familiar with the courses most applicants take. If you go to a small school it's probably less of an issue, but I'd personally err on the side of caution.
 
I'm confused with this thread, so forgive me if I sound like a complete idiot.

If you don't need to be a Biology or Chem major.. why does it matter? This thread is making it seem that if you are a non-science major, you will not get the right pre-requisite courses to get into medical school. Am I reading this right?

You can usually take these courses even if you are not in that major.
 
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I'm confused with this thread, so forgive me if I sound like a complete idiot.

If you don't need to be a Biology or Chem major.. why does it matter? This thread is making it seem that if you are a non-science major, you will not get the right pre-requisite courses to get into medical school. Am I reading this right?

Your major course of study can be anything you'd like. However, the science courses are standard for every applicant and are always the courses offered by their respective departments.
 
Just because your institution does not require this does not mean that medical schools will look at it favorably.

JJ, I'm sorry, I should have made this more clear:

Premeds who were non-majors were made to jump through hoops if they wanted to take the class for majors. To take physics for majors I had to meet with a professor which prescreened me using GPA and AP scores and then meet with the professor for the class.

But you are right, depending on institution, YMMV
 
JJ, I'm sorry, I should have made this more clear:

Premeds who were non-majors were made to jump through hoops if they wanted to take the class for majors. To take physics for majors I had to meet with a professor which prescreened me using GPA and AP scores and then meet with the professor for the class.

But you are right, depending on institution, YMMV

I see.

It's likely you'll have to do something similar, OP. I'd meet with the chair of each department and explain your situation.
 
If the sequence courses are called: General Biology I and General Biology II, how would they know if it is for majors or not?


Because in the course description it will say this is for non-science majors. Those courses are no good.
 
I'm not a bio/chem major, so I'm not able to register for bio or chem for majors. Can I take the chemistry and biology classes for non-majors, as long as they are year long introductory courses with labs?

At my school, Premeds do not take any science classes for non majors because it does not satisfy the requirements for med school. We have biology, physics, and chemistry for science majors and non science majors (not specifically biology or chemistry just science vs nonscience). Whoever is premed must take the prereq biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, and physics for science majors regardless of their major whether it is biology, chemistry, psychology, or English for that matter. So I would think that you can not take the PreReq
classes for non majors but do have to take them for science majors. Of course you dont have to take the upper level bio or chemistry courses that bio or chem majors take but you may have to take same prereq classes that science majors take. But this is the case at my school, you need to ask the Premed Advisor at your school.
 
It is the best idea to take bio, chem, and orgo for majors. It would be hard to find courses in year long sequences otherwise, etc. However, the physics for non-majors (usually algebra based) can usually be taken instead of physics for science and engineering majors.
 
It is the best idea to take bio, chem, and orgo for majors. It would be hard to find courses in year long sequences otherwise, etc. However, the physics for non-majors (usually algebra based) can usually be taken instead of physics for science and engineering majors.

:thumbup: And yes, I forgot to mention. It is possible to take algebra based physics instead of the calc based engineering physics.
But at my school,
everything else should be taken for science
majors if you are premed, regardless
Of your major. See your advisor just to be sure. Everyone on here is speaking from the experience at their school, as others have indicated, the correct prereq classes as well
As their course descriptions may be different at your school.
 
Do most undergraduate institutions actually control who registers for what in this manner? I'm really surprised by this thread. At my school we register for classes online, our schedules don't need signed off on by anyone, and with very few exceptions I could schedule any undergraduate course offered at the university if I wanted to.
 
Do most undergraduate institutions actually control who registers for what in this manner? I'm really surprised by this thread. At my school we register for classes online, our schedules don't need signed off on by anyone, and with very few exceptions I could schedule any undergraduate course offered at the university if I wanted to.


I don't think anyone is being forced to take these classes. I think they are just suggested by pre-health councilors etc., but I highly doubt anyone is forced.
 
Nobody is being forced to take anything they don't want to. But they are being forced to jump through hoops to take classes that they do want to.

I didn't see what you meant until I read the thread again. Yea, that seems weird. I still highly doubt it is the norm though.
 
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