Physics Labs

[rls303]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi guys,
I'm planning on applying next summer and I'm going to be done with Physics by this quarter's end. However, I have yet to start the physics labs and I might consider doing that next year. I may also have to start my upper division biology labs next year and won't have them done due to the budget cuts and tight lab space at my university.

My counselor says that all that matters is that I have my actual bio, chem, and physics done by the time and apply, the labs just need to be done by the time I matriculate into the Med School assuming if I get in. Is she right, or would it be best to just put extra pressure on myself and get those labs done right away?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bashir]

If your school has the labs set up so that you don't need to take them concurrent with their respective classes, I don't see a problem with waiting, at least from the perspective of adcoms. For your own sake, though, you might consider fitting in any labs you can when you take their respective classes. In my experience it's a whole lot easier to do them as you're learning the material.

 

[afugazzi]

Any required courses for med school only need to be done by matriculation. That being said, some courses will be helpful for the MCAT. Physics lab probably won't help that much compared to physics lecture. Just make sure you don't load up your last semester of college with 3+ labs. That would suck.

 

[physicsguy]

I've been confused about this too. Not physics labs; rather I have a deficit of humanities coursework and advanced biology from my undergrad days, and some schools require one or both of these. My advisor only lets me take one class a semester, so the question of whether I need to have prereqs done by application time or matriculation is a rather important one.

I've been reading med school websites. Some say (or rather, indirectly suggest) that all coursework must be completed by application time, and others say that it must be done prior to matriculation. Can I assume that the answer to this question varies from school to school?