Need advice on course requirements/retakes

[trojanpremed]

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Hi,
So I have a question regarding prereq requirements. Some schools say you need "one full year" of ochem and other schools actually say 8 semester hrs etc.

I took ochem at 2 different places b/c I was a transfer student and I had 1 semester and 1 quarter of ochem. The 1 quarter of ochem was a course equivalent to 1 semester on the articulation agreement with my schools. Since I technically only have 6 semester hours...does that not fulfill the prereq requirement? Should I just contact each school directly? :/

Also, I got a B- in both semesters of biology. Do you think I should retake those? I currently need to retake gen chem 1 (C-) and Physics 1 (C) too.

 

[keels99]

As far as OChem goes... What happened to your lab hours?

 

[CUNYguy]

A B- is okay, but some schools require a B (can't recall which schools in particular needed a B or higher), so just look at your prospective school choices, and their prereq grade requirements. User3 has a list lying around this forum somewhere that has generally preferred GPA/MCAT scores. Coupling those two, you should be able to decide yourself if you need to retake.

Best of luck.


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[Dreamstoo]

Hi,
So I have a question regarding prereq requirements. Some schools say you need "one full year" of ochem and other schools actually say 8 semester hrs etc.

I took ochem at 2 different places b/c I was a transfer student and I had 1 semester and 1 quarter of ochem. The 1 quarter of ochem was a course equivalent to 1 semester on the articulation agreement with my schools. Since I technically only have 6 semester hours...does that not fulfill the prereq requirement? Should I just contact each school directly? :/

Also, I got a B- in both semesters of biology. Do you think I should retake those? I currently need to retake gen chem 1 (C-) and Physics 1 (C) too.

You should retake gen chem 1 and physics 1. If you could, I think making up the second bio and getting a B+ would be good enough unless you have the money and time to do both.

I also got a B- in my first bio class but had an upward trend in bio classes after that

 

[Dreamstoo]

A B- is okay, but some schools require a B (can't recall which schools in particular needed a B or higher), so just look at your prospective school choices, and their prereq grade requirements. User3 has a list lying around this forum somewhere that has generally preferred GPA/MCAT scores. Coupling those two, you should be able to decide yourself if you need to retake.

Best of luck.


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Really? I don't think even MDs have such strict requirements for prereqs.

 

[CUNYguy]

Really? I don't think even MDs have such strict requirements for prereqs.

TouroNY: http://legacy.touro.edu/med/admissions.html

"* All students who have yet to complete the pre-requites for the program will be admitted on a provisional basis and are expected to earn a grade a B or better on those courses."

I'm not sure if this is a requirement, but it explicitly states this.

I'm sure TouroNY isn't the only school that explicitly requests this.


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[WesternRedCedar]

They mean that, if you haven't already taken the pre-req you need a B if you are already admitted.

If you take the pre-reqs before being offered admission, the regular C minimum applies.

 

[Dreamstoo]

They mean that, if you haven't already taken the pre-req you need a B if you are already admitted.

If you take the pre-reqs before being offered admission, the regular C minimum applies.

Oh ok thank you. Most of my pre reqs are in the A and B range. I think I have one or two that I got a B- in but had an upward trend after them.

 

[CUNYguy]

Whoops. Sorry for the faulty info.

Nevertheless, a B should be a desirable score for your prereqs.


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[trojanpremed]

the B- I received in bio 1 is already a retake. Would retaking it for a 3rd time look bad? I only took bio 2 once and got the B-

 

[trojanpremed]

As far as OChem goes... What happened to your lab hours?

My lecture and labs were combined so I don't think I have separate hours for those?

 

[razor]

the B- I received in bio 1 is already a retake. Would retaking it for a 3rd time look bad? I only took bio 2 once and got the B-

I'm just curious why you've already retaken bio1? Were you just trying to pass so you could take Bio2 or were you planning on going to med school when you retook it?

 

[trojanpremed]

I'm just curious why you've already retaken bio1? Were you just trying to pass so you could take Bio2 or were you planning on going to med school when you retook it?

For both reasons. I always knew I wanted to be premed and I didn't get a passing grade the first time I took bio 1 so I had to retake it.

 

[razor]

For both reasons haha. I always knew I wanted to be premed and I didn't get a passing grade the first time I took bio 1 so I had to retake it.

I'm going to be a little bit harsh here, so please don't get your knickers in a crinkle and just take it as advice. Get your **** together and be more motivated. You can't honestly look an interviewer in the face and say you're ready for Medical Biochemistry/Molecular Biology/Cell Biology/Genetics all taken concurrently if you were only barely a butt hair above getting a C+ in your RETAKE of Freshman Bio!

If you had some extenuating circumstances maybe, but this is apparently a trend with a lot of your prereq grades. Don't take the attitude of "it will be easier to be motivated in medical school because we will be learning actual medicine." When you're trudging through first year basic science courses it's going to feel as pointless as undergrad at 5X the volume and you'll crumble.

Now if you really do want to do this, you can. But you need to prove it to YOURSELF and take school seriously before even thinking about walking into an interview and trying to fool someone. They'll probably make you a deal and tell you they'll save you $40k by shredding your app now instead of setting you up to fail first year.

 

[keels99]

I guess what I didn't understand is how your class was only three credits if it included a lab. Our orgo classes are 5 credits each

 

[trojanpremed]

I guess what I didn't understand is how your class was only three credits if it included a lab. Our orgo classes are 5 credits each

I had 1 semester (4 units) and 1 quarter (4 units)
but when I convert the quarter into semester units it's only about 2.67 semester units
So I only have a total of 6 semester units

 

[Xavi13]

Many of the schools require 6 English credit hours. I currently only have 4 English credit hours on my transcript and have already graduated from college. I have taken several courses that are listed at writing enhanced and are similar to english/literature courses. Does anyone know how this will effect my application?

 

[Ginglymostoma]

Many of the schools require 6 English credit hours. I currently only have 4 English credit hours on my transcript and have already graduated from college. I have taken several courses that are listed at writing enhanced and are similar to english/literature courses. Does anyone know how this will effect my application?

If it listed in the course description as being a substitute for English/Composition, you can list the course as English and email AACOMAS the course description. For my undergrad institution, Ecology was considered an Advanced Composition course. AACOMAS allowed me to use as part of my English requirement.