Physics Prereqs

[customx]

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I'm trying to plan out my schedule for winter and spring quarter, so I took a look at the dental school prereqs for each school. I'm a post bacc student and have already completed 2 quarters of physics. At the community college where I am taking classes, all of the science courses are 6 credits each. It appears that all dental schools, except for UW, require 8 semester credits, or 12 credits of physics. This may be a stupid question with an obvious answer, but would it be acceptable to apply with just the 2 courses that I have taken thus far? UW, where I completed my undergrad, and all other community colleges in the Seattle area have 5 credit physics classes. I'd like to avoid the third quarter of physics if at all possible, but it seems like all dental schools want to see 1 year of bio, chem, orgo and physics.

 

[Toothshucker]

So how many SEMESTER hours of physics, or QUARTER hours have you taken? Sorry, a bit confused.

 

[DentalJedi]

I have a physics question as well. Do you need 1 semester of physics lab or a full year?

 

[customx]

So how many SEMESTER hours of physics, or QUARTER hours have you taken? Sorry, a bit confused.

12 quarter credits, which I believe equates to 8 semester credits

 

[Toothshucker]

I have a physics question as well. Do you need 1 semester of physics lab or a full year?

I am almost positive every school requires a lab component with each physics lecture. So if you take 2 semesters of physics, you should be in lab both semesters.

I think most schools require around 8 or fewer credits of physics w/lab. If there is a school which requires more than 8 credits (semester credits btw), and you have only 8, for example, you should call the school and ask. I had similar problems with my biology pre-req at many schools, called, and they said I would be fine.

 

[buzz123]

I have a physics question as well. Do you need 1 semester of physics lab or a full year?

I believe we need 2 semesters of Physics with lab which means a full year... but NYU does not mention anything about lab and they says on their website that they require 6-8 semester hours, so lab component is not necessary? cuz 1 semester course without lab offers 3 hours/week. This is my understanding...

 

[Toothshucker]

12 quarter credits, which I believe equates to 8 semester credits

I think you should be fine at a lot of schools. If not, call them and ask. See my previous post.

Which school(s) do you think will have a problem with you taking only 8 semester/12 quarter credits?

 

[Toothshucker]

I believe we need 2 semesters of Physics with lab which means a full year... but NYU does not mention anything about lab and they says on their website that they require 6-8 semester hours, so lab component is not necessary? cuz 1 semester course without lab offers 3 hours/week. This is my understanding...

That's correct, I guess maybe they don't.

Also, it is COMMON that an algebra based physics course is 4 credits, and calculus based is 5 credits. Not everywhere though.

 

[customx]

I think you should be fine at a lot of schools. If not, call them and ask. See my previous post.

Which school(s) do you think will have a problem with you taking only 8 semester/12 quarter credits?

The only school which requires 12 semester credits or 18 quarter credits is UW. I figure I'll apply to UW next year, and if I'm accepted then I'll take the 3rd quarter of physics in the spring of 2013.

 

[Toothshucker]

I would call anyways. A lot of applicants will only have 8-10 semester credits. Like I said, I had this problem with my biology pre-req at a lot of schools and they said I was fine.

 

[customx]

Does anyone else know about this? I called a few schools today and it seems to vary. Some of them base prereqs off of the # of credits, while others want to see one full year of physics completed, be it 2 semesters or 3 quarters.