No orgo 1 lab at my school?

[Juicec]

OK so I've been at a community college the past 2 years which I've been lucky enough to get great profs and feel quite prepared for the rigors of the MCAT and upcoming med school course loads. With that said I am unsure how adcoms will look at my current situation...

I completed a good deal of prereq's obviously given my 2 years of school now out of the way, however I left organic chem's until university because I wanted to dig into some additional research with a few profs I had in mind. Now finally ready to register for classes I get slapped in the face with this:

http://www2.binghamton.edu/pre-health/curriculum/medicine.html

If you look at the "organic chemistry section" you will note they have orgo I, orgo II and orgo II lab... where the hell is my orgo I lab -_-

Browsing through the course list you will quickly find there is no orgo I lab. So with orgo I lab being a necessary component for med school admissions, shall I complete orgo I w/ lab back at my local community college while still taking a full course load at the university?

Although I can't seem to get someone on the phone to confirm it, I believe they are trying to suggest their orgo II lab covers orgo I lab concepts as well. Though I can't see med schools agreeing to that since lab time is a necessary component of the admissions process.

LizzyM perhaps has a quick golden nugget of knowledge to drop on the situation? 🙂

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[CopToEM]

OK so I've been at a community college the past 2 years which I've been lucky enough to get great profs and feel quite prepared for the rigors of the MCAT and upcoming med school course loads. With that said I am unsure how adcoms will look at my current situation...

I completed a good deal of prereq's obviously given my 2 years of school now out of the way, however I left organic chem's until university because I wanted to dig into some additional research with a few profs I had in mind. Now finally ready to register for classes I get slapped in the face with this:

http://www2.binghamton.edu/pre-health/curriculum/medicine.html

If you look at the "organic chemistry section" you will note they have orgo I, orgo II and orgo II lab... where the hell is my orgo I lab -_-

Browsing through the course list you will quickly find there is no orgo I lab. So with orgo I lab being a necessary component for med school admissions, shall I complete orgo I w/ lab back at my local community college while still taking a full course load at the university?

Although I can't seem to get someone on the phone to confirm it, I believe they are trying to suggest their orgo II lab covers orgo I lab concepts as well. Though I can't see med schools agreeing to that since lab time is a necessary component of the admissions process.

LizzyM perhaps has a quick golden nugget of knowledge to drop on the situation? 🙂

I would verify first off that the course is not a year-long course in which you must completely concurrent with both sections. That would be an odd arrangement but it's certainly possible.

If not, I would definitely feel that since this is a university that most schools would not hold it against you. After all, what can you do? With that said, it would certainly be a school by school decision, and one that you could easily call and ask about.

Best of luck... not necessarily a tough situation, but a situation nonetheless!

 

[LizzyM]

At Binghamton, Chem 335, Organic Chemistry Laboratory, is 2 credits. It is taken in addition to Chem 231 and 332, 3 credits each. All told that adds up to 8 credits which is similar to schools where organic chem plus lab is 4 credits per semester for 2 semesters. No worries.

 

[Jjkwest1]

I have a question relating to this also. What if a school offers both ochem 1 and 2 labs that are 2.5 credits each in addition to the lectures that are 4 credits each. Can we just take the ochem 1 and 2 lecture while taking only one of the labs since that exceeds the total 8 credits?

 

[LizzyM]

I have a question relating to this also. What if a school offers both ochem 1 and 2 labs that are 2.5 credits each in addition to the lectures that are 4 credits each. Can we just take the ochem 1 and 2 lecture while taking only one of the labs since that exceeds the total 8 credits?

The general rule is you need a year of Ochem with lab. Typically a school offers OChem 1 with a lab and OChem 2 with a lab. The sequence is typically 8 credits but this is not universallly true. Binghamton seems to have made a double long lab for one semester to cover all the lab material for OChem I and II. It seems that your school is offering Ochem I and II with labs and you'd be wise to take the sequence and do very well in it as there are many credits on the line (it can hurt your gpa big time, or help).

 

[Juicec]

At Binghamton, Chem 335, Organic Chemistry Laboratory, is 2 credits. It is taken in addition to Chem 231 and 332, 3 credits each. All told that adds up to 8 credits which is similar to schools where organic chem plus lab is 4 credits per semester for 2 semesters. No worries.

Well as always, thanks for the words of wisdom LizzyM. I must say, you seem extremely confident. Would you go as far to say that there will there be absolutely no issue at any school I apply to with the available Binghamton sequence? I will be applying to NYC "area" schools only. Many schools are just very straight forward with the way they lay out their requirements by saying "a year of orgo and lab." But that just translates into 2 orgo lectures + at least a 2 credit lab for 8 credits total? Binghamton's overview of the lab seems to touch on some orgo 1 concepts but I can't be 100% sure, I suppose it would be wise to call and confirm when someone is available.

I am very willing to take the full lecture + lab typical sequence at a local college if that would look any better. It is a feeder school for some great universities in the area so I know I will have the same if not better experience.

Thanks again.

 

[LizzyM]

If Binghamton is sending its grads to med school, you can figure that the sequence as it is laid out is acceptable to medical schools.

A year of Orgo plus lab doesn't always mean 30 weeks of Orgo plus lab. Figure "a year" as 90 hours of classroom plus the lab time. Some students jam that whole sequence into a 8 week summer session and it still counts as a "year".

If you are attending Binghamton, take Organic Chem there. To do it elsewhere may be misinterpreted as an attempt to escape a particularly difficult course and/or protect your gpa by going to a lesser school for a difficult course.

 

[mrmatt]

My undergrad had orgo lab only second semester, and it was a two hour lab. I think that's not too uncommon. However your institution adds it up, schools will most likely accept it if you take the full year of orgo offerings.

 

[Juicec]

Beautiful, thanks so much folks! 🙂

I will call and confirm just for funsies but the above makes complete sense. I will register up and hit the ground running.