Need to take bio 1a ?

[NRAI2001]

Hello,

I know we are required to take 1 year of biology with lab as a prereq to apply to med schools, but I was wondering does this have to be general bio? I have not yet taken bio 1a but I have taken bio 1b and a lot of upper division bio classes( including physiology, biochem, genetics) some with lab. Would this be acceptable, or is general bio a requirement?

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[jlee9531]

just take bio 1a.

 

[BeatArmy]

just take bio 1a.

I couldn't disagree more. More advanced bio can absolutely count toward the requirement for a year of bio with lab.

 

[calstudent]

hmmmmmmmm
i think if you have lab with more advanced courses, you may be o.k.
however, i do seem to remember some schools specifically asking for intro biology

 

[Graat]

As far as I know most schools will take upper division courses in lieu of lower division reqs. I only took one quarter of general bio + upper division.

 

[sfbear]

some schools have a seperate biochem requirement, so as long as you're not counting on that class to fulfill the req, you should be okay. but then, bio 1a's not such a hard class . . .

 

[NRAI2001]

some schools have a seperate biochem requirement, so as long as you're not counting on that class to fulfill the req, you should be okay. but then, bio 1a's not such a hard class . . .

Its probably not too hard after taking so much upper div, but it still requires going to lab and doing some busy work. Also i am trying to graduate in four years now ( was plannign 4.5 before) so I need to squeeze in a bunch of classes in the next 2 semesters.

 

[sfbear]

Yeah, if you're pressed for time, bio 1a's not worth it. i do have very fond memories of mcb 163 taught by prof winer, though. neuroanatomy - really interesting. and by the end of the year, we were skimming med school web sites as a review for the final. if you don't need to fulfill reqs, taking grad courses pass/fail is pretty interesting, too.

 

[NRAI2001]

Bump

 

[sfbear]

If you're still unsure, I'd say make a list of your top 10 schools, go to their websites and see what they have in the way of requirements. I think that an upper division class will fulfill the bio req for most schools, but you would hate not to take bio 1a and then find out the one school that you really want to go to is the one school that also has a general bio requirement.

 

[NRAI2001]

If you're still unsure, I'd say make a list of your top 10 schools, go to their websites and see what they have in the way of requirements. I think that an upper division class will fulfill the bio req for most schools, but you would hate not to take bio 1a and then find out the one school that you really want to go to is the one school that also has a general bio requirement.

Good call

 

[tic112]

You should just take bio1a. It's really not worth it to have to explain yourself to every school as to why you did not take bio1a when 500 other applicants from UC Berkeley took the class.

 

[americanangel]

I got a question about that...
My school doesn't have a traditional bio 101 and 102 class. Its a biodiversity class so it focus mainly on the evoluntion of everything. I withdrew from the class. Since the class doesnt even focus on the cell or genetics or the basic kingdoms...I saw it as a waste...
Anyway to get to the point, my plan was to take Cell Bio, Genetics, Microbio, Anat & Phys and a couple additional genetics classes. I know they require a year of biology so since all those classes have labs and are bio classes that would work right?