P Chem

[rosemma]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Did most of you have to take P chem as your second semester of general chemistry? At my school we have one semester of general chemistry (inorganic) and then the next highest is p chem. I heard that at most other undergrads, gen chem was split into two semesters, is this true?

 

[cyrille104]

Did most of you have to take P chem as your second semester of general chemistry? At my school we have one semester of general chemistry (inorganic) and then the next highest is p chem. I heard that at most other undergrads, gen chem was split into two semesters, is this true?

That's true. For us, general chemistry covered p chem briefly, but actual p chem (thermodynamics, quantum, kinetics, stat thermo) was a 300-level sequence for chemistry majors. I would call the schools and ask them what to do. Alternatively, there MUST be pre-med students at your school, who also have the 1 year gen chem requirement: ask the pre-health advisors, or other pre-meds.

 

[rosemma]

Our pre-med and pre-vet students are all told (by our advisors) in order to achieve the credit amount needed, they must take pchem. I find this somewhat hard to believe because if we have covered as much, but just in one semester, then why should we have to take more classes just to reach credits?

 

[cyrille104]

Our pre-med and pre-vet students are all told (by our advisors) in order to achieve the credit amount needed, they must take pchem. I find this somewhat hard to believe because if we have covered as much, but just in one semester, then why should we have to take more classes just to reach credits?

The assumption is that you didn't cover as much in 1 semester as you would in two. Even if you did, there's no way around it. I also dealt with this with some pre-reqs because I'm on the quarter system, in which sometimes we're forced to cover a whole semester's worth of material in 9 weeks (because 2 quarters - 18 weeks - is too long). It's annoying, but you just deal with it and take an extra class 👎

 

[zygote]

I am also on the quater system and the way it works for us is there is a year of general chemistry (3 quarters) that covers basic p chem and there also is an upper division year long sequence of p chem which is recommended but not required before you take take biochem.

 

[kate_g]

Our pre-med and pre-vet students are all told (by our advisors) in order to achieve the credit amount needed, they must take pchem.

The other place to ask is the vet school itself. I know that Davis has a huge list of the exact Davis undergrad courses that satisfy their prereqs, and *also* equivalence lists for many other universities in CA. Since you were talking about applying only in-state, presumably your undergrad was also in Michigan, and you could ask the vet school if they have a list of what chem courses at your undergrad are considered equivalent to their prereqs. I'm guessing any schools that keep these lists do it only for other universities in their state, so if you do end up applying out of state you might have to either take pchem or ask for an exception.

Some schools are reasonably flexible in making exceptions. If you think you did cover a full year's intro chemistry in one semester, then you might be able to provide a syllabus and/or statement from the chem department and ask the vet school to consider your single semester as satisfying the one-year requirement. You'd have to do this individually for each school you apply to. The time to do this is *before* you apply, and ideally when you still have time to take the extra semester of pchem if you need it.

 

[soccerduck11]

You should talk to the schools that are applying to. I only had one semester of Organic, because I spent a semester overseas. Some schools flat out told me not to even try without 2 semesters, but some allowed me to waive the required hours because I took Biochem with an Organic pre-req. Early is better though, I had to give up applying to some schools cause I inquired too late to take the second semester.

 

[Capella]

Yes, make sure to ask the vet school you're applying to. Most schools want 8 hours of lower level "general" or "physical" chemistry, and another 4 to 8 hours of lower or mid level organic chemistry. Use the course numbers as a general guide. P Chem 1 and 2 at my school are 4000 level classes that are so advanced there are only 3 people in the class per semester.

 

[hoodle]

The assumption is that you didn't cover as much in 1 semester as you would in two. Even if you did, there's no way around it. I also dealt with this with some pre-reqs because I'm on the quarter system, in which sometimes we're forced to cover a whole semester's worth of material in 9 weeks (because 2 quarters - 18 weeks - is too long). It's annoying, but you just deal with it and take an extra class 👎

this is so damn frustrating. I go to one of the best and most competitive liberal arts schools in the country. It has an excellent premed acceptance rate, and NONE of the med schools quibble with the condensed, extra fast, 1 semester gen chem class we have to take. None of the vets schools do either - except for Cornell!! They'd accept AP chem credit rather than this year of gen chem, but don't accept Swarthmore's more rigorous and fast-paced gen chem class. They want me to RETAKE gen chem at another institution, or take P-Chem, which is very majors-only, hard on the GPA. I could scream.

 

[KittenKiller]

this is so damn frustrating. I go to one of the best and most competitive liberal arts schools in the country. It has an excellent premed acceptance rate, and NONE of the med schools quibble with the condensed, extra fast, 1 semester gen chem class we have to take. None of the vets schools do either - except for Cornell!! They'd accept AP chem credit rather than this year of gen chem, but don't accept Swarthmore's more rigorous and fast-paced gen chem class. They want me to RETAKE gen chem at another institution, or take P-Chem, which is very majors-only, hard on the GPA. I could scream.

Eh just suck it up and do what they want, or dont apply there. There are about 10,000 really frustrating and stupid things about applying to vet school and there's no point in getting worked up over them (advice I should have heeded better myself). You could also petition Cornell to count maybe an advanced biochem course or something, or if you have extra orgo or biochem credits, those might transfer as well.