For schools that require a full year of biology, how can I meet that requirement?

[Psyched*Out]

My school only does a one semester general bio course with lab, so I was wondering how to fill up the second semester bio requirement. I'm taking other upper level bio courses next semester like cell bio and genetics, but neither has a lab component. For schools such as UPitt med that require a full year of bio with lab, I'm not sure how I can meet that 2 semester lab requirement. Would a class such as human physiology lecture+lab fulfill that requirement?

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[wysdoc]

My school only does a one semester general bio course with lab, so I was wondering how to fill up the second semester bio requirement. I'm taking other upper level bio courses next semester like cell bio and genetics, but neither has a lab component. For schools such as UPitt med that require a full year of bio with lab, I'm not sure how I can meet that 2 semester lab requirement. Would a class such as human physiology lecture+lab fulfill that requirement?

yes any class in Bio department with a lab would do

 

[Mr.Smile12]

What did your prehealth advisors say?

 

[eigen]

This is going to depend on the exact wording of the requirements for each school you want to attend.

Most that I've seen will say a missing lower-level course can be replaced by an equivalent upper level course. So if you only have 1 semester of general biology (and that's all your school offers) then you'd move to the next course in the sequence. Ditto places with a single semester of introductory chem that gets replaced by analytical, inorganic or physical chemistry.

That said, you also need to talk to your advisors: some of this is up to the department in question to specify. For example, our biology department has a 1-semester introduction and has specifically identified a two-semester series of courses intended to satisfy the "general biology" requirements for pre-health students. For us, anatomy and physiology would not count towards a year of general biology: it needs to be one of the 200-level courses that's intended as the path for majors.

 

[Psyched*Out]

What did your prehealth advisors say?

They didn't know/ have a clear answer to put it lightly.

 

[Psyched*Out]

This is going to depend on the exact wording of the requirements for each school you want to attend.

Most that I've seen will say a missing lower-level course can be replaced by an equivalent upper level course. So if you only have 1 semester of general biology (and that's all your school offers) then you'd move to the next course in the sequence. Ditto places with a single semester of introductory chem that gets replaced by analytical, inorganic or physical chemistry.

That said, you also need to talk to your advisors: some of this is up to the department in question to specify. For example, our biology department has a 1-semester introduction and has specifically identified a two-semester series of courses intended to satisfy the "general biology" requirements for pre-health students. For us, anatomy and physiology would not count towards a year of general biology: it needs to be one of the 200-level courses that's intended as the path for majors.

Well that 2nd semester of general bio lecture would likely be substituted by the cell bio or genetics course I'm taking. My concern is since there isn't a lab component to either class, would the lab portion of the human physiology class I intend to take later on (anatomy and phys are separate courses where I go), suffice for that 2nd semester general bio lab requirement?

Just taking UPitt again as an example, their website states that for biology they want, "...one full year (excluding Microbiology, Botany, Ecology, and Anatomy) with one full year lab or a single two credit lab." So since physiology isnt excluded, would that lab fulfill the requirement? It seems a bit vague.

 

[eigen]

I would not consider it a substitute, no. Also, the implicit requirement in that is that the lab needs to be coupled with the course.

Have you talked to the biology department? What do they say?

Well that 2nd semester of general bio lecture would likely be substituted by the cell bio or genetics course I'm taking.

This is an assumption I would not at all be comfortable making without more information. It certainly would not be the case at my school.

What exactly did your prehealth advisor say? Surely you're not the first student who's gone to medical school, and they can look and see what worked for students applying last year and the year before.

 

[Psyched*Out]

I would not consider it a substitute, no. Also, the implicit requirement in that is that the lab needs to be coupled with the course.

The human phys lab would be coupled with a lecture course.

This is an assumption I would not at all be comfortable making without more information. It certainly would not be the case at my school.

I see. Since gen bio is only one semester at my uni, wouldn't an upper level course such as the ones I mentioned fulfill the requirements?

What exactly did your prehealth advisor say? Surely you're not the first student who's gone to medical school, and they can look and see what worked for students applying last year and the year before.

They did not give me a clear answer, which is why I came here. I'll schedule another meeting though and ask for what worked for prior matriculants.

 

[eigen]

I see. Since gen bio is only one semester at my uni, wouldn't an upper level course such as the ones I mentioned fulfill the requirements?

It depends on the university and how the biology classes are structured.

Generally, you'd take the next course in the sequence. This depends on the university, but often single-semester intro sequences lead into a two-semester second year majors sequence.

 

[Psyched*Out]

It depends on the university and how the biology classes are structured.

Generally, you'd take the next course in the sequence. This depends on the university, but often single-semester intro sequences lead into a two-semester second year majors sequence.

I'll speak to the biology department and see. One last question btw, do you think taking a lab and lecture portion for a course at different semesters would work for fulfilling such requirements? For example, if I took a lecture one semester and the lab portion in a diff semester would that work do they need to be concurrent even if my school doesn't require them to be concurrent?

 

[eigen]

They don't need to be concurrent unless your school requires it. But you can't, say, take Cell Biology (no lab) + Physiology lab.