Lab course prerequisites question!

[enghead]

Hey all,

The normal science course prerequisites for dental school appear to be:

2 semesters of bio w/ lab
2 semesters of gen chem w/ lab
2 semesters of organic chem w/ lab
2 semesters of physics w/ lab
1 semester of biochem w/ lab (only some dental schools)

I have AP credit for gen chem and for physics, so I never even thought of taking the college level equivalent classes, but now I'm starting to hear that dental schools won't just accept AP credit because you need to have taken science classes with labs? Is this true?

I still have one more year of college so I may be able to take the necessary gen chem and phys classes to satisfy the prerequisite lab courses, but it seems like a waste of time and money for me because i've already covered the content before in my AP class and the only difference would be the "lab" component which tbh is a joke in the basic science courses.

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[jackalo34]

Take em. If you know the stuff well enough, it'll be a breeze GPA booster, and AP classes are not typically as hard as college level courses.

 

[enghead]

i've already applied to dental school this summer so taking additional science classes will have little to no effect on my acceptance. it's much more of an annoyance to me because I already have a full course schedule this fall, and was originally planning to graduate early and skip the spring semester in order to save money. However, if I am required to repeat these science classes in order to have the lab component, I will have to pay for an additional semester of college just to do it.

My college doesn't even offer 2 semesters of general chemistry, only a one-semester accelerated gen chem course. It might not even be possible for pre-dental students from my college to meet the normal dental school prerequisites without AP credit...

 

[asugar19]

You need to closely look at each school that you apply to. The rules for AP credit vary. Some schools don't accept any, some schools accept all. Then there are many schools that are in between. Some schools even want the official score report sent to them.

If the schools accept AP credit for a prereq which has an included lab, they assume you took the lab during the course, since lab material tends to be included in the AP exam. Regardless, if they say they accept your AP credit, they accept it.

I'm also surprised that the college you attended gave you enough credit for two courses in both gen chem and physics. You may want to check with the schools on that. I'm pretty sure that's uncommon, even if you got a 5. UCSF allows AP credit for a prereq (and score report), but you must also have a college course to fulfill the requirement. Ex: 5 on AP Chem = 4-5 credits = first semester gen chem. The prereq required is for 8 credits of gen chem I think. Then you would have to take gen chem 2 or an advanced inorganic chem course.

 

[asugar19]

My college doesn't even offer 2 semesters of general chemistry, only a one-semester accelerated gen chem course. It might not even be possible for pre-dental students from my college to meet the normal dental school prerequisites without AP credit...

Most colleges will offer an inorganic chemistry course which will usually count.

 

[amdrocks]

I thought AP chem and physic only cover the first semester?
If the schools you apply to take the AP credits, you'll probably need to take the second semester of gen chem and physics...
For 2nd semester gen chem, you can take Inorganic Chem as a replacement.

 

[enghead]

i have AP credit for both the mechanics C and E/M C physics classes, which counts for two courses at my college. I have AP credit for chemistry, but you're correct that it only covers one course. I suppose that means i'll have to take an additional chemistry course. not a hard course, but just a waste of time and money imo...

 

[asugar19]

i have AP credit for both the mechanics C and E/M C physics classes, which counts for two courses at my college. I have AP credit for chemistry, but you're correct that it only covers one course. I suppose that means i'll have to take an additional chemistry course. not a hard course, but just a waste of time and money imo...

How many credits did your college grant you for those three courses?

 

[jackalo34]

I'm surprised they let you skip both PhysI and PhysII-you should definitely look into credits for that, because I know my school only allowed you to skip PhysI if u got 5...and for PhysII, you had to take an exam to skip no matter what. Skipping II was often strongly advised against.

 

[doc toothache]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=791511
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=527335

 

[enghead]

How many credits did your college grant you for those three courses?

my college only grants semester course credit for a maximum of 2 AP courses, but shows the college course equivalents of each AP course I took.