Lab Hours vs Lab Credits

[deleted817860]

Sorry to drag this up, but I can't seem to find the answer if it does exist. I'm looking at science pre-reqs for a couple different schools and many of them require 6 lecture credits and 2 lab credits. However, my undergraduate institution doesn't always differentiate between the two types of credit. For example, I took a 4 credit physiology class that included a lab section each week (3 lecture and 1 lab). Those credits are obvious. However, I also took an introductory Biology class that is listed in the course catalog as "2.0 credits, 2 class hours per week, and 1 lab hour". I'm lost on this one, how do I differentiate the two credits? What's the difference between a lab hour and a lab credit? Can I count that 1 lab hour per week as a lab credit on my AMCAS transcripts?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[efle]

That's very normal, a lot of the time schools with have a 4 credit "Intro Bio with Lab" for example. That meets the requirement, which is technically 1 year of chem/bio/ochem/physics, each including lab. The explicit credit requirements are only something to worry about if your school breaks up lab from lecture.

 

[JeffSwag]

Sorry to drag this up, but I can't seem to find the answer if it does exist. I'm looking at science pre-reqs for a couple different schools and many of them require 6 lecture credits and 2 lab credits. However, my undergraduate institution doesn't always differentiate between the two types of credit. For example, I took a 4 credit physiology class that included a lab section each week (3 lecture and 1 lab). Those credits are obvious. However, I also took an introductory Biology class that is listed in the course catalog as "2.0 credits, 2 class hours per week, and 1 lab hour". I'm lost on this one, how do I differentiate the two credits? What's the difference between a lab hour and a lab credit? Can I count that 1 lab hour per week as a lab credit on my AMCAS transcripts?

When entering courses on AMCAS, there is a question about whether or not the course includes a lab section. You can answer this question for any course with Lab Only, Lecture Only, or "Combined Lecture and Lab." For some of my classes, I would have Bio 211 and Bio 211L, for example. So I entered them separately as one 3 credit Lecture Only and one 1 credit Lab Only course. However, it sounds like for both your physiology class and biology class you would just list both 4 and 2 credits as "Combined Lecture and Lab."

Don't worry -- adcoms are aware that different undergrad institutions award credit differently, so they will recognize that what you entered above certainly satisfies their "2 lab credits" requirement even though it wasn't explicitly spelled out that way. You should add the credit to AMCAS in the same way it appears on your official transcript from your university -- don't try and manually split up the class into lecture/lab or that will cause confusion when AMCAS tries to verify your grades.

 

[aldol16]

Check your transcript. It should list the credit hours for each class. This will be the one you use because it's the one that is used to calculate your official GPA anyway.