Orgo Lab requirements

[FirefighterDoc]

Ive been trying to find something on this but i couldnt. At my school we have Orgo I(3 credits), Orgo II(3 credits) and then an Orgo lab(2 credits) which you are supposed to take concurrently with Orgo II. This makes 1 year of Orgo 8 credit hours.

All other science classes at my school have a 3 hr class with a 1 hr lab every semester. Example: Physics I(3 credits) and Physics I lab(1 credit) first semester and then PhysicsII(3 credits) and Physics II lab(1 credit) the following semester. This adds up to 8 credits hours for one year of Physics.

So for Orgo, i am getting 8 credit hours(1 year), but i only have 1 lab technically. Will Medical schools accept this?

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[FirefighterDoc]

Also, what do you guys think about taking orgo lab AFTER orgo? I actually want to take all my orgo during next summer(i started late and siwtched majors) but there are other things i want to pursue over the summer. I plan on taking the two orgo semesters over the summer and then doing the lab in the fall. Is that advisable? Is it harder to be in the lab while youre not in the actual class anymore?

 

[Baller MD]

Yes, I think it's fine.

 

[FirefighterDoc]

Yes, I think it's fine.

whats fine. the fact that im technically only taking 1 lab? Or its fine to take the lab after the class as opposed to with the class?

 

[CoolWhipp]

It's o-chem, .

 

[FirefighterDoc]

It's o-chem, .

am i missing something here?

 

[snorlax]

Agreed. Ochem just makes so much more sense than "orgo"

You're lucky to only have 8 units of ochem. I think mine adds up to like over 15 semester units............ (23 quarter units)

 

[FirefighterDoc]

Ok, well what do you guys think about taking o-chem lab a semester or two after lecture as opposed to taking it with the lecture?

 

[lstone13]

Ok, well what do you guys think about taking o-chem lab a semester or two after lecture as opposed to taking it with the lecture?

In my opinion, that's a bad idea to take the lab after you've taken the class. Take the lab while the lecture information is fresh on your mind. It will make the lab itself much easier to get through, plus you may develop a study group through it for your lecture tests.

 

[marele86]

Ok, well what do you guys think about taking o-chem lab a semester or two after lecture as opposed to taking it with the lecture?

Definitely do it - I got an A in Ochem I because I had lots of time to devote to learning the mechanisms and studying like hell. If I had had 5 hours of lab a week, plus the lab report, plus the lab tests.. eesh, forget it. Plus, at least at my school, the lecture and lab don't really cover the same things at the same time, so it's super frustrating to be in lab having no idea what's going on.

Much easier to just learn everything for lecture, and then take the lab class afterwards. Spread out 2 really labor-intensive classes, and be the Ochem god/dess of your lab class at the same time.

 

[FirefighterDoc]

Definitely do it - I got an A in Ochem I because I had lots of time to devote to learning the mechanisms and studying like hell. If I had had 5 hours of lab a week, plus the lab report, plus the lab tests.. eesh, forget it. Plus, at least at my school, the lecture and lab don't really cover the same things at the same time, so it's super frustrating to be in lab having no idea what's going on.

Much easier to just learn everything for lecture, and then take the lab class afterwards. Spread out 2 really labor-intensive classes, and be the Ochem god/dess of your lab class at the same time.

Thanks, yeah i wanted to hear from someone who had tried it before. I get frustrated because every lab i've had so far does not run with the class itself. I also planned on taking my o-chem I & II during the summer(because after switching majors i need to take it then) and with the lab during that time i would have no time for shadowing/working/volunteering.

Not to mention at my school you are supposed to take our lab with O-chem II. During the summer the lab overlaps both of them, i feel i woudl almost be behind in the lab.

 

[marele86]

Thanks, yeah i wanted to hear from someone who had tried it before. I get frustrated because every lab i've had so far does not run with the class itself. I also planned on taking my o-chem I & II during the summer(because after switching majors i need to take it then) and with the lab during that time i would have no time for shadowing/working/volunteering.

Not to mention at my school you are supposed to take our lab with O-chem II. During the summer the lab overlaps both of them, i feel i woudl almost be behind in the lab.

Oh, whoa, yeah - I missed that they were summer classes - definitely put off the lab a semester. Especially since your school is like mine and doesn't make the labs cover the same material at the same time as the lecture class. It's hard enough learning one difficult concept at a time without trying to do several at once.

As far as the second semester of lab goes, I'd check the MSAR. There are a handful of schools (probably about 5-6) which only require 1 semester of organic lab. There are a couple of others that will let you substitute a biochemistry lab.

You can either only apply to those schools (I dislike organic lab enough to have seriously considered this possibility myself - but due to OOS/LOR issues I was only eligible for 2 of them, so I didn't), or else you'll have to take the second semester of lab, sadly.

 

[FirefighterDoc]

Oh, whoa, yeah - I missed that they were summer classes - definitely put off the lab a semester. Especially since your school is like mine and doesn't make the labs cover the same material at the same time as the lecture class. It's hard enough learning one difficult concept at a time without trying to do several at once.

As far as the second semester of lab goes, I'd check the MSAR. There are a handful of schools (probably about 5-6) which only require 1 semester of organic lab. There are a couple of others that will let you substitute a biochemistry lab.

You can either only apply to those schools (I dislike organic lab enough to have seriously considered this possibility myself - but due to OOS/LOR issues I was only eligible for 2 of them, so I didn't), or else you'll have to take the second semester of lab, sadly.

Well i was trying to ask about this in my first post, my school does it weird. A normal science sequence has a 3 hr class with a 1 hr lab every semester. Example: Physics I(3 credits) and Physics I lab(1 credit) first semester and then Physics II(3 credits) and Physics II lab(1 credit) the following semester. This adds up to 8 credits hours for one year of Physics.

So for O-chem, i am getting 8 credit hours(1 year), but i only have 1 lab technically. My adviser said that it is supposed to be taken with o-chem II. Will Medical schools accept this?

 

[Mike7704]

I didn't really read the whole thread but anyways...

My school also has the same system; Organic I (3 credits), II (3 credits), then a seperate lab course (2 credits). That's what I'm doing and for what it's worth I go to a large university where many people get into medical school every year and it is never a problem (according to our pre-med advisors and talking to other students). The schools will recognize that the lab course has it's own number and is more than one credit.

You will be fine.

 

[FirefighterDoc]

I didn't really read the whole thread but anyways...

My school also has the same system; Organic I (3 credits), II (3 credits), then a seperate lab course (2 credits). That's what I'm doing and for what it's worth I go to a large university where many people get into medical school every year and it is never a problem (according to our pre-med advisors and talking to other students). The schools will recognize that the lab course has it's own number and is more than one credit.

You will be fine.

Thanks, im glad to hear of another school doing it this way too

 

[Handinhand]

O Chem lab is stupid. I got an A both semester of Lecture and scored in the middle 90th percentile on the ACS Organic final and I got a B in Organic lab. Reason? Bad TA, gave us back our labs twice(so we got a fawking stack of like 7 labs back at a time). Basically, if you were doing something wrong on your labs or something he didn't like, you didn't find out until half the semester's points were in. The actual experiments are a little more interesting at the start compared to Gen chem, but towards the end, having to sit and watch something reflux or distill off is just boring as all hell.

 

[boaz]

Orgo lab is very different from orgo lecture. I wouldn't worry about it.
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