Pitt secondary course requirements--****! so should I withdraw?

[oompa loompa]

I'm in the process of filling out this secondary, and I suddenly see that I don't have enough hours of Gen/Inorganic Chem. I only have 4 semester hours, but the requirement is 8. But this is because I took an accelerated honors course that was only a semester long as opposed to two. WTF? Do I need to email the school and ask or something? This is so stupid! Also, the separation of lecture and lab is driving me crazy! All my basic science classes had labs included. How am I supposed to split up the hours between lecture and lab? 2 and 2? 4 and 0?
Any help would be much appreciated.

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[theunderdog]

I'm in the process of filling out this secondary, and I suddenly see that I don't have enough hours of Gen/Inorganic Chem. I only have 4 semester hours, but the requirement is 8. But this is because I took an accelerated honors course that was only a semester long as opposed to two. WTF? Do I need to email the school and ask or something? This is so stupid! Also, the separation of lecture and lab is driving me crazy! All my basic science classes had labs included. How am I supposed to split up the hours between lecture and lab? 2 and 2? 4 and 0?
Any help would be much appreciated.

honestly dude, you need the pre-reqs BEFORE you matriculate. so i guess you know what you're doing in the summer after you graduate....

or take them next semester....

im assuming you're a senior in college, though.

 

[unicorn06]

Do you have pre-med counselors? They should be able to help. Some schools even have "special" permission to get out of certain requirements. At my school, we don't have to take general chem lab since it's not offered, and the med schools are okay with that. Maybe there's some special deal with your honors class too...

I'm in the process of filling out this secondary, and I suddenly see that I don't have enough hours of Gen/Inorganic Chem. I only have 4 semester hours, but the requirement is 8. But this is because I took an accelerated honors course that was only a semester long as opposed to two. WTF? Do I need to email the school and ask or something? This is so stupid! Also, the separation of lecture and lab is driving me crazy! All my basic science classes had labs included. How am I supposed to split up the hours between lecture and lab? 2 and 2? 4 and 0?
Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[oompa loompa]

Do you have pre-med counselors? They should be able to help. Some schools even have "special" permission to get out of certain requirements. At my school, we don't have to take general chem lab since it's not offered, and the med schools are okay with that. Maybe there's some special deal with your honors class too...

Yeah, I think my school should have that too. In our handbook, it explicitly lists the honors chem course I took as being THE ideal prereq for med school. I had hoped there were previous threads devoted to this topic in SDN so I wouldn't have to send emails to my undergrad or UPitt, but after a quick search, I found none. Anyway, I know the same issue of not having enough gen chem hours came up w/ Vandy, but the admissions director said I could put Biochem down instead. However, UPitt explicitly says "inorganic chem."

 

[LadyWolverine]

Yeah, I think my school should have that too. In our handbook, it explicitly lists the honors chem course I took as being THE ideal prereq for med school. I had hoped there were previous threads devoted to this topic in SDN so I wouldn't have to send emails to my undergrad or UPitt, but after a quick search, I found none. Anyway, I know the same issue of not having enough gen chem hours came up w/ Vandy, but the admissions director said I could put Biochem down instead. However, UPitt explicitly says "inorganic chem."

I had the same problem with UG inorg. chem. It was condensed into a 1 semester course with a 2 credit lab. However, I used physical chem and analytical chem to cover the rest of the requirements. I think that if you contact the school (email should be adequate) and explain the circumstances, you should be ok. Especially since you took an honors/accelerated course. They should probably be able to adjust the "semester hours". You have the important concepts. Obviously, if you took the physical sci section of the MCAT, you have covered what you need to know in gen/inorg. chem.

This is just my take on the issue...I'd contact the school just to be certain.

 

[oompa loompa]

ok, whatever, I'm just going to send this thing in and put down 4 hours for gen chem, 4 hours for lab, even though they are technically the same course at my school. The thing that sucks about my school is, every single damn course is considered 4 semester hours, whether it's an english class that meets 3 hours weekly, or biochem which requires 8+ hours in class or lab.

Anyway, I have a sh1tload of bio classes, so I don't see how they can think I'm not prepared.

 

[oompa loompa]

yeah, that P-chem I skipped out on (recommended but not required for my major) is really coming back to bite me! I will contact Pitt tomorrow, I'm just not sure who to talk to, and I'm afraid they'll say, sorry your Biochm course just won't cut it. I don't know if having my school contact them will give me more credibility or what. I've graduated college already, so it's all a hassle.

I had the same problem with UG inorg. chem. It was condensed into a 1 semester course with a 2 credit lab. However, I used physical chem and analytical chem to cover the rest of the requirements. I think that if you contact the school (email should be adequate) and explain the circumstances, you should be ok. Especially since you took an honors/accelerated course. They should probably be able to adjust the "semester hours". You have the important concepts. Obviously, if you took the physical sci section of the MCAT, you have covered what you need to know in gen/inorg. chem.

This is just my take on the issue...I'd contact the school just to be certain.

 

[Flopotomist]

I have the same problem, so I am just going to take another friggin semester next term - booo.

 

[veenut]

do you have AP chem credits? i'm pretty sure those will work, that's what i'm doing

 

[Duchess]

Oompa Loompa,

Some secondaries have a spot on the application for you to put in any future/current classes that you will be taking to fulfill the prerequisites for that medical school. If they don't, then I would contact the school and ask about it. They might just have you type a letter or something listing the prereq classes that you'll be taking before medical school (at least, that's what one of my schools had me do). Not a big deal, many people run into this problem.

As for your combing lecture/lab courses, my school does the same thing for a majority of the courses. The entire lab/lecture course is 4 credit hours, with the lecture consisting of 3 hours and the lab consisting of 1 hour. Usually the labs that are 2 or more credit hours are separate from the lecture. Still, I would check with your pre-medical advisor to make sure that it's the same at your school.

 

[robotsonic]

For someone who is well beyond the process of applying for med school, this thread seems absurd. (Although I also remember worrying about tons of these little things when I was applying.)

The 8 credit requirement is not directed to people who do a condensed honors semester; it is meant for those who are on the regular track, which pretty much always means 8 credits. So you will have to explain that to the school so that they don't automatically screen you out for not having the requirements. But after that, you should be fine. Also, I'm sure this problem must come up a lot at your school for other premeds, so your premed office should know how to deal with it.

This is also absurd because you really don't need that much chemistry for med school.