Need advice/question regarding pre-reqs and quarter/semester units

[KungFuPanda123]

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Background information:
-While I was an undergrad (2 years ago), I did not know that I wanted to pursue a career in medicine.
-My institution was a quarter system school
-Science courses separated lecture from lab
-I had a 5 in AP biology (exempted me from the general biology series)
-My school does NOT report the specific courses that credit was given for for each AP credit on official transcripts (official transcript only states the total # of units derived from the AP credits with no references to their respective course numberes)
-I took 1 quarter of genetics (upper-division)

My situation:
-I am currently working and will be done at my current position in about a month. I will be moving on to work elsewhere.
-I am applying to medical schools this June in hopes of matriculating in 2016.
-I most likely will not be able to take classes at my original institution (work does not allow me to be nearby my old school) this summer/year before med school

My question:
-The medical schools I have looked at all state that they want 1 year of lecture + labs (for biology).
-No one accepts AP credit for Biology, and although some do not state how they want this coursework to be supplemented (which I assume to mean, "take any biology"), most state that I MUST take advanced/upper-division biology.
-At my undergraduate institution, this would have meant 3 quarters of upper division lectures + 1 quarter of lab (4 quarters total). My genetics course counts as 1 of those quarters of lecture.

I know that the easiest thing to do is just take 2 semesters worth of biology+lab at a local 4-year university (community college is out of the picture, since so many schools don't want lower-division credit if I already have AP credit. ugh, they're bleeding me dry.).
HOWEVER, would medical schools allow for me to take 1 quarter of lecture at a quarter-system institution and 1 semester of lecture+lab at a different semester-system institution? Would this combined total of 2 quarters of lecture + 1 semester of lecture+lab fulfill the requirement of "1 year of lecture + labs?" What options do I have to mix and match to save as much money as I can (a range of $300 - $1300 per unit per course is not cheap for me) while also fulfilling my biology pre-requisite?

Thank you so much!

 

[LizzyM]

If I understand correctly the only biology you actually took in college was 1 quarter of genetics with no lab.

You would need, at most school with AP restrictions, 2 full years of biology with lab, so you own 5 of 6 quarters. While technically you could do the splitting above however that would likely seem disjointed and less competitive (ie no continuous body of work ). My suggestion is the get the full 16-20 credits fresh

I'm confused... I thought that pre-reqs for medical school included one year of biology with lab.
Why would OP need 2 years?
I would think that one year (2 semesters or 3 quarters) would do it.

 

[KungFuPanda123]

I'm confused... I thought that pre-reqs for medical school included one year of biology with lab.
Why would OP need 2 years?
I would think that one year (2 semesters or 3 quarters) would do it.

Hi LizzyM, thank you for posting in my thread. From your experiences, would something like 2 quarters of lecture and 1 semester of lecture+lab combined be enough to cover my bases for the bio pre-req? Or would my 2 options be either:

(1) Find an institution like my undergrad school where I can take 2 more lectures and 1 full lab course
(2) Find an institution to take 2 semesters of lab+lecture combined

Thank you!

 

[sazerac]

I ran into a similar problem. I had one quarter of one year pre-req, and I now went to a school on a semester system.

There was no way around it. One quarter plus one semester was always less than one year, and did not fulfill the requirement.

Yes it stinks to have to take two more semesters of the class to obtain at least one year's worth, but that is the way it is. Sorry.

 

[KungFuPanda123]

I ran into a similar problem. I had one quarter of one year pre-req, and I now went to a school on a semester system.

There was no way around it. One quarter plus one semester was always less than one year, and did not fulfill the requirement.

Yes it stinks to have to take two more semesters of the class to obtain at least one year's worth, but that is the way it is. Sorry.

Thanks for the reply sazerac - do you know if 2 quarters of lecture + 1 semester of lecture/lab would cover the 1-year requirement of lecture+lab? I doubt that you have much experience with separated lecture and lab courses, as most schools don't do this, but I figured I'd ask

 

[nOchemallday]

Thanks for the reply sazerac - do you know if 2 quarters of lecture + 1 semester of lecture/lab would cover the 1-year requirement of lecture+lab? I doubt that you have much experience with separated lecture and lab courses, as most schools don't do this, but I figured I'd ask

Many schools will also list the equivalent semesters hours required (typically 8 sem hrs of Bio w/ lab). In theory 2Q + 1 Sem w/ lab = (2/3)*3cred+ 4 or 5cred = 8 or 9 sem hrs., but the most inclusive requirement is 1 year lecture + 1 year lab. Your safest bet would be 2 semesters of lecture + lab. Alternatively on the quarter system you could do 2 lectures and their associated 2 labs then do 1 quarter of lab-only concurrently for a total of 3 quarters lecture +lab. Some of the stand-alone labs at my quarter system school include: "Techniques in XYZ", "Bioinformatics laboratory", or "Independent Study/Research" courses. For the quarter system route, it would probably be easiest to do it at your alma mater.