Do Med Schools consider a lab as a course?

[Lunasly]

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Hey guys,

Right now I am in my freshman year and as of now I am thinking of a major in Chemistry and a minor in Kinesiology. I am trying to stick to two sciences per semester for now until I know I can take on a bigger load. For my second semester of my first year, I am thinking of taking BIO II, Chem I, and Bio-Dynamics of Phys Activity (AKA a lower end Kinesiology).

Now each of these classes has a lab, however, labs at my school do not count for credits as I believe they integrate them into the lecture. Therefore my Biology lecture for example is 5 credits and it is mandatory that I take a lab. So if I were to take all three, I would be taking 6 classes in total. I definitely don't want to make the mistake of taking to many classes at once. Do the Med Schools consider this as 3 classes or 6 classes? If it is three classes, should I revise my schedule so that I am taking 4 classes, but that not all of them are sciences?

 

[rhesuspieces]

That's 3 classes. You have to consider that the lab is included in the total number of credits for the course. For example, Bio lecture alone would probably be worth 3 credits, but the extra time spent in lab bumps it up to 5 credits.

There's nothing wrong with only taking 3 classes if you still have a full credit load.

 

[Lunasly]

That's 3 classes. You have to consider that the lab is included in the total number of credits for the course. For example, Bio lecture alone would probably be worth 3 credits, but the extra time spent in lab bumps it up to 5 credits.

There's nothing wrong with only taking 3 classes if you still have a full credit load.

Thank you for the reply! 🙂

Oh so it depends on how many credits you take not the amount of classes? If that is the case, would 15 credits seem adequate or is it to little?

 

[gettheleadout]

Thank you for the reply! 🙂

Oh so it depends on how many credits you take not the amount of classes? If that is the case, would 15 credits seem adequate or is it to little?

Yes, and 15 credits is considered a full load. Less is sometimes looked down upon, but more won't look better. It's just right.

 

[rhesuspieces]

At my school, at least, 15 credits is the recommended load. Sounds like your schedule will be great.

 

[circulus vitios]

Yes, and 15 credits is considered a full load. Less is sometimes looked down upon, but more won't look better. It's just right.

I wonder if schools look at hours spent in lab/class. I'm "only" taking 12 credits a semester. 12 hours of lectures a week...plus 11 hours of labs.

 

[chrisoc13]

Yes, and 15 credits is considered a full load. Less is sometimes looked down upon, but more won't look better. It's just right.

Sometimes being the important part. I think of all the over-played pre-med things this is one of the big ones.

I was worried before applying because my pre-med adviser told me multiple times that less than 15 credits was a red flag. I probably have 4 or 5 semesters of 12-13 credits since I go to school year round (my school offers 3 semesters a year) on full scholarship and I saw no need to overload when I know I can take one class less and still graduate at the same time. My pre-med adviser told me that it would be a huge deal and schools would care... guess what? Not one has even mentioned it or hinted at it. I really think schools could care less. If you have good grades and a solid MCAT they aren't too likely to say "well now, 12 credits? Hmm..."

But that is just my two cents. Do what you can and don't worry about it.

As a side note I also worked for 3 years in college and was pretty involved as well as being married so if it ever came up I could easily say I live a busy life and just needed to fit everything in. Plus I have a couple of 16 credit semesters which obviously show I can handle the work load. But even without those I don't think they actually care that much. On their list of priorities it must be near number 15.

 

[Lunasly]

Thanks for the advice guys I really appreciate it. I was initially planning on taking 4 classes, 3 of them with labs and it would have come to around 19 credits so it was going to be intense. Then I realised I'd rather take a load which is just right (and now I know what that is) and put more time to EC's and just living college life. 🙂

Also regarding pre-reqs, is it a good idea to just take them in the summer? Because I am majoring in Chemistry, a lot of my pre-reqs will have to be fulfilled during the year, but there are some recorded courses that medical sch0ols in my area would like to see (like statistics, psychology, a year of physics, etc.)

Thanks 🙂