Is this common?

[TamarMD]

I'm trying to help my little brother register for his classes because it's his first semester in college. He also has dreams of becoming a physician. I wanted to register him for either the Gen Bio or Gen Chem course. I don't want to overload him his first semester. The thing is at his school (which is in Florida he's going to a CC and then transfering to my undergrad) to register for Gen Chem you have to take an Intro to Chem course and to register for Gen Bio you have to do the same. Is there anyway to get around this? I'm asking because I didn't have to do that. Granted I didn't start school in Florida, we moved down here last year. At my previous undergrad you go straight to Gen Chem and Gen Bio. So is it common for schools to request that you take an Intro to Chem and Intro to Bio course before taking BIO I and CHEM I. I just find this strange because now I'm wondering how the students who live in Florida manage to apply to Med School in time seeing that they have an extra year of sciences that they need take. Thanks in advance.

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[neurocirujano]

That seems a bit ridiculous to me. I am sure if he goes and speaks with an academic adviser or registrar at the college he'll be allowed to enroll. If nothing else, he could talk to the actual professor. Maybe they'll have him take an entrance exam? I don't know, but that's too bad. Intro to bio and general chem? As elementary as it is, isn't that what high school was fors ? Yeah, I'm sure if you talked to a registrar or something, they'd let him in assuming he has previous experience with the subjects.

 

[chad5871]

At my undergrad we took placement tests during orientation (Chemistry, Biology, Math, English, and a Foreign Language). This exempted us from those ridiculously easy intro classes if we did well.

 

[kami333]

At my undergrad we took placement tests during orientation (Chemistry, Biology, Math, English, and a Foreign Language). This exempted us from those ridiculously easy intro classes if we did well.

Same, or if you had taken chem or bio in high school that would exempt you.

Although now that I look back on it, I should have just taken those intro classes for the A's.

 

[ar2388]

we had something similar in my school. they requested people takes those intro classes if they have a weak background in chem and/or bio. if they have taken it in HS, then i really see no reason for them to take the silly intro class

 

[Caesar]

He will probably need to take placement tests or show that he took bio and chem in high school.

 

[pianola]

I'm trying to help my little brother register for his classes because it's his first semester in college. He also has dreams of becoming a physician. I wanted to register him for either the Gen Bio or Gen Chem course. I don't want to overload him his first semester. The thing is at his school (which is in Florida he's going to a CC and then transfering to my undergrad) to register for Gen Chem you have to take an Intro to Chem course and to register for Gen Bio you have to do the same. Is there anyway to get around this? I'm asking because I didn't have to do that. Granted I didn't start school in Florida, we moved down here last year. At my previous undergrad you go straight to Gen Chem and Gen Bio. So is it common for schools to request that you take an Intro to Chem and Intro to Bio course before taking BIO I and CHEM I. I just find this strange because now I'm wondering how the students who live in Florida manage to apply to Med School in time seeing that they have an extra year of sciences that they need take. Thanks in advance.

What you're running into is probably a "community college" thing. I go to school in Florida right now and I don't believe that there's an extra course requirement to start chem most places (ask OTHERS to CONFIRM).

 

[p30doc]

I did my post-bacc at a florida university, and they didn't try to make me take intro courses. Talk to the school, like others have said it sounds like CC thing, I guess to make sure ppl don't completely fail out of the Bio I/Chem I.

 

[Argonaut8]

I'm starting my first year at a CC in Florida this fall, and Gen Bio I is on my fall schedule. I had no high school experience (literally, I never went to high school; I have a GED), and the placement test only covered reading/writing and math, so it can't be that. The only pre-req for Gen Bio at my school is to score into college-level reading and math on the placement test. It seems very odd that he'd need to take an intro course. I'd ask the school what the deal is.

 

[Jacobian78]

If it just says that you SHOULD take an intro class but the computer will still let him register for gen bio/chem, you should just sign him up. It's probably the equivalent of how a lot of schools say you need to take Introduction to College Math before taking Calculus, but you can still just sign up for calculus.

 

[katarzyna]

I'm trying to help my little brother register for his classes because it's his first semester in college. He also has dreams of becoming a physician. I wanted to register him for either the Gen Bio or Gen Chem course. I don't want to overload him his first semester. The thing is at his school (which is in Florida he's going to a CC and then transfering to my undergrad) to register for Gen Chem you have to take an Intro to Chem course and to register for Gen Bio you have to do the same. Is there anyway to get around this? I'm asking because I didn't have to do that. Granted I didn't start school in Florida, we moved down here last year. At my previous undergrad you go straight to Gen Chem and Gen Bio. So is it common for schools to request that you take an Intro to Chem and Intro to Bio course before taking BIO I and CHEM I. I just find this strange because now I'm wondering how the students who live in Florida manage to apply to Med School in time seeing that they have an extra year of sciences that they need take. Thanks in advance.

that's true here... welp, i didn't want to take intro to chem however i had to take a placement test. I don't think there's such thing as intro to bio...

I go to a CC (in FL) right now and there's no such thing as intro to bio. If there is really such thing, go talk to the adviser about placement tests for chem/bio.

 

[TamarMD]

So I reread the schools catalog. The intro to chem is required for both BIO and CHEM. I'll try and register him for Gen Bio and see what happens. If it says he can't then I'll have him go to his advisor and see if he can take a placement exam for that. Thanks for all the answers.