I have biochem lab over bio lab. Will this be a problem?

[Hzreio]

Hello,

Going through a lot of school's prerequisite requirement I noticed a lot of them say want a year of bio classes + labs. I've taken the two intro bio sequences + genetics but don't have any labs for bio specifically. However, as I am a biochemistry major, I have a biochemistry lab. Will this count to replace the bio lab prereq? If not, how would this affect me down the road? Should I even apply to these schools?

Thanks in advance.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[ismyexistenceamemeyet]

This would be school-specific, but to my knowledge, most schools differentiate between biochemistry lab + bio lab, because the material covered in bio lab is pretty different from that covered in biochem lab (someone can correct me if I'm wrong). Unfortunately, a lot of schools have bio lab as a prereq (on the other hand, I've seen very few schools that have biochem lab as a prereq), so you want to squeeze in the bio lab before you apply.

 

[Hzreio]

My general biology classes did not have any lab sections associated with them. Will this be a problem?

 

[eigen]

Were they integrated labs? Did you do any lab content along with the course?

Some schools do integrated classes and labs for intro biology.

 

[Hzreio]

Were they integrated labs? Did you do any lab content along with the course?

Some schools do integrated classes and labs for intro biology.

My intro bio courses had no labs integrated. That's how it worked for all sciences. Lab courses were separate classes from the lab. I didn't take my separate intro bio lab because my advisor told me that biochem lab would be fine (I am a biochem major). I am a TX applicant though so she was probably talking about TX schools, but it would be a bummer if that held me back from OOS schools.

 

[eigen]

Oh, yeah- if there were separate labs and you didn't take them, that might be a problem. To be clear, this isn't a case of your introductory biology classes not having labs associated with them- you did have associated lab courses, you just were not required to take them/didn't take them.

Did you have just one semester of biochem lab, or a full year?

I can't speak to TX schools, so your advisor may well be giving you specific advice for there that will work.

 

[Hzreio]

Oh, yeah- if they were separate labs and you didn't take them, that might be a problem.

Did you have just one semester of biochem lab, or a full year?

I can't speak to TX schools, so your advisor may well be giving you specific advice for there that will work.

I had 3 credit hours of biochem lab, 2 credit hours of gen chem lab, 2 credit hours of ochem lab, and 2 credit hours of physics lab. The physics lab was taken over a year with my physics sequence (1 hour per semester), but the biochem lab and gen chem lab were just one semester long labs. As far as I know, my school does not have a year's sequence worth of intro bio labs. This is also the first that I've heard of bio and bio labs being grouped in the same class. @gonnif could you advise? Would it be possible to take these classes at some point before matriculation or would this take me out of the running for even interviews?

 

[eigen]

In general, there are three broad ways schools handle lab classes:

• One course that contains both the class and lab (integrated or separate times), and includes the credit for both with one grade across the two.
• Separate class and lab that must be taken together as co-requisites. This can include both classes and labs that are graded separately or together, but will appear separately on transcripts.
• Separate class and lab that are not linked as co-requisites, but are intended to be paired from a content perspective.

There are also completely stand alone labs that are not directly tied to a course.

A 3-credit hour biochem lab is significant. With general crediting, I would assume it met at least 2 days per week and had significant out of class work as well? Was it a co-requisite class to your biochem lecture, or was it a stand-alone lab class?

As mentioned, however, it won't be the same type of material covered in intro biology labs, necessarily. I teach a two-semester biochem lab sequence and would not advise students that it could replace intro biology labs.

 

[Hzreio]

In general, there are three broad ways schools handle lab classes:

• One course that contains both the class and lab (integrated or separate times), and includes the credit for both with one grade across the two.
• Separate class and lab that must be taken together as co-requisites. This can include both classes and labs that are graded separately or together, but will appear separately on transcripts.
• Separate class and lab that are not linked as co-requisites, but are intended to be paired from a content perspective.

There are also completely stand alone labs that are not directly tied to a course.

A 3-credit hour biochem lab is significant. With general crediting, I would assume it met at least 2 days per week and had significant out of class work as well? Was it a co-requisite class to your biochem lecture, or was it a stand-alone lab class?

As mentioned, however, it won't be the same type of material covered in intro biology labs, necessarily. I teach a two-semester biochem lab sequence and would not advise students that it could replace intro biology labs.

Yeah, it was upper level so it met twice a week with an additional lecture every week. This lab would fall under your third category. There was no class which the content paired up with directly, but it was a requirement for all biochemistry majors. It's was a stand alone lab probably.

 

[Hzreio]

1) it is common for schools to have general bio integrated with lab. All the other general sciences do not
2) if your UG, only has single terms for introductory, that usually is sufficient
3) prereqs are not typically checked until after you have an acceptance
4) As a biochem major you have had no other bio labs?

Nope. Other than gen physics lab, gen chem lab, and ochem lab, there is no requirement for a pure bio lab for biochem at my school. I was actually about to take a bio lab for bio majors in my junior year that is a 2 hr stand-alone lab, but my adviser told me not to take it as it was not a requirement for my major or medical schools in my state (TX). My school's general bio courses did not come integrated with lab so I guess this is an anomaly. I did take intro bio I/II as well as genetics if that makes a difference.

 

[Hzreio]

You needed the bio lab outside of TMDSAS.

For schools that require this, would you recommend I don't apply to them at all? Or rather just look to complete this course at some point before matriculation?

 

[zorcandpals]

For schools that require this, would you recommend I don't apply to them at all? Or rather just look to complete this course at some point before matriculation?

Just look to complete before matriculation. You can usually apply without all prereqs

 

[Hzreio]

the latter

Thank you all for this useful information.