Prereqs

[neuroiscool42]

I go to a school in the UC system and we are only offered two quarters(=1 semester) of lab for gchem, ochem, and physics. Do school really want a whole year of lab for each of these basic classes or will what I have be sufficient? I've been reading the pre-reqs it seems they think all lectures have labs attached. Can anybody who has been accepted with this situation give advice on how to deal with it?

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[AttemptingScholar]

I don't go to a UC, but at my school, we only take 1 semester of bio lab instead of two and the Committee Letter explains this as part of our normal course offerings. This is why it's so important to understand that application process at your school. Ask a premed advisor/upperclassmen who have already applied if something similar is true at your school, or if there is another form of those classes for premeds, in particular, you should be taking.

 

[Microbug]

There’s plenty of UC students that go on to med school, ask your seniors

 

[neuroiscool42]

I have contacted the admissions office of a few schools and they seem pretty adamant about a year(ie Albany medical college). Do you guys think that they're saying one thing but the adcoms could say another?

 

[snowballll]

For the most part, I think you'll be fine. Since your UC counts those two lab classes as covering the same material that other semester schools cover in a year, a good amount of medical schools will accept it. I applied to 30ish schools and emailed a handful of them to ask if my two labs were sufficient. Most replied that they were sufficient as long as my home school counted them as such (which is a yes since you go to a UC). So I would just make your school list first, then email the schools that have specific class requirements.

I also emailed schools that required a semester of biochem/stats/etc. to see if one quarter of that class was sufficient. Again, some said yes and some said no, so a simple email will potentially save you a lot of money!

 

[neuroiscool42]

For the most part, I think you'll be fine. Since your UC counts those two lab classes as covering the same material that other semester schools cover in a year, a good amount of medical schools will accept it. I applied to 30ish schools and emailed a handful of them to ask if my two labs were sufficient. Most replied that they were sufficient as long as my home school counted them as such (which is a yes since you go to a UC). So I would just make your school list first, then email the schools that have specific class requirements.

I also emailed schools that required a semester of biochem/stats/etc. to see if one quarter of that class was sufficient. Again, some said yes and some said no, so a simple email will potentially save you a lot of money!

Would you mind sharing what schools you emailed since the schools I've emailed seem to be sticklers?