question about gen. chem. pre-requisite

[sm521]

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hey everyone !

i have a question i was hoping some of you can help me answer.

i am going to be pursing my associate's degree in science/liberal arts at a community college to complete the pre-requisites for pharmacy school.

i registered for inorganic chemistry I for the fall semester instead of general chemistry I at my community college because the inorganic is suggested in the degree requirements since it is a higher level chemistry course than general chemistry I, which i was told is the same as high school chemistry, which i have already taken.

my question is, when i apply to pharmacy schools, will they accept my inorganic chemistry I+II since it technically is a higher level chemistry course designed for students entering the science/health care field. i asked an academic advisor at my school about this and she said they would accept it since it's at a higher level, but i just wanted to double check. would my inorganic chemistry classes satisfy pharmacy school's "general chemistry I+II" requirement?

thank you so much in advance !

 

[OChemist]

Dont you need organic chemistry or general chemistry before you take inorganic chemistry? my friend took inorganic chemistry (not gen chem) and told me if you are good in organic you will do good in inorganic, however inorganic is hard.

I dont know, I think you're setting yourself up for failure, inorganic is a really hard course, I think it's up there with physical chemistry.

 

[fenderbiz]

They should accept inorganic. Some schools list Inorganic instead of General and vice versa. The terminology seems to vary by state, as with other classes.
I didn't know community colleges offered "Inorganic," though. It's an upper division course in Florida.
By the way, gen chem is more advanced than what you learn in most high schools, unless you're in a good AP course.

 

[sm521]

Dont you need organic chemistry or general chemistry before you take inorganic chemistry? my friend took inorganic chemistry (not gen chem) and told me if you are good in organic you will do good in inorganic, however inorganic is hard.

I dont know, I think you're setting yourself up for failure, inorganic is a really hard course, I think it's up there with physical chemistry.

yes, i do need general chemistry before inorganic chemistry. i spoke to the advisor about this, but she told me the gen. chem. course is basically the high school chem. course, which i already took. and i told her i was trying to pursue pharmacy school, and she recommended me to take a higher level chemistry course, which was inorganic.

at my school, they require inorganic chemistry I before taking organic chemistry I, so either way, i'm still going to have to take inorganic so i can complete the organic pre-req. for pharmacy school.

 

[sm521]

They should accept inorganic. Some schools list Inorganic instead of General and vice versa. The terminology seems to vary by state, as with other classes.
I didn't know community colleges offered "Inorganic," though. It's an upper division course in Florida.
By the way, gen chem is more advanced than what you learn in most high schools, unless you're in a good AP course.

yeah, one of the pharmacy schools i was thinking of applying for listed inorganic chemistry I+II as a pre-requisite, but there was no sign of general chemistry I+II.
i get confused often because i keep thinking inorganic chemistry is a higher level chemistry than organic.
i looked up the description of the course for general chemistry I+II that my cc offers and it does seem to cover the topics that i learned in high school chemistry. im not sure if my cc's general chemistry classes are more advanced, but i was told not to take if i already took high school chemistry.

 

[OChemist]

I dont know a lot of schools that have inorganic chemistry 1 and 2.
Most of it is just inorganic 1 which is based on structure bonding of inorganic material (non living) and reactivity.

Principle of Chemistry is probably the high school course
General Chemistry 1 and 2 = Inorganic Chemistry
What is the diff?

Organic Chemistry deal with organic matters, and anything living.
Ochem focuses on Carbon.
inorganic focuses on metals.
General chemistry focuses more on the inorganic.

 

[bugg]

.

 

[OChemist]

Call pharmcas to see if they accept it. That would be the best advice, or call certain colleges.

They will ask you for a course description.

 

[sm521]

OP, Do what your advisor tells you to do and don't worry too much about what the course is called. Different schools call the intro. chem classes different names. At my school, it was called Principles of Chemistry I and II, and it covered topics in inorganic chemistry (the same stuff as in the general chem. section of the PCAT). We also had the option of taking an upper level inorganic chemistry course in our junior or senior year.

thank you for your help. that was what i figured.
i had the same confusing registering for biology class since pharmacy school pre-reqs label it "general biology" and my adviser told me to take "principles of biology" since it is a higher level bio class designed for students in the associates degree for science.

 

[pharm B]

Most schools have two first year chem options. At my school it's intro to chem and gen chem. They're on the same level, but intro is reaaallly basic and gen chem is what most people are expected to take.
Your advisor probably wants you to take the non-training wheels course because it's still first year chem (though somewhat incorrectly labeled inorganic).

 

[OChemist]

Most schools have two first year chem options. At my school it's intro to chem and gen chem. They're on the same level, but intro is reaaallly basic and gen chem is what most people are expected to take.
Your advisor probably wants you to take the non-training wheels course because it's still first year chem (though somewhat incorrectly labeled inorganic).

yeah, l looked at prin of chems, it's the same thing as gen chem in most aspects; my department just name it prin of chem because it is for the dental hygiene majors.

My prin of bio = gen bio, I used the same book and compare it to gen bio in different colleges.

 

[charfdorn]

I would contact your top two or three choices and see what they say. You don't need to call every school you're applying to, but you should check a couple. PharmCAS will take it but PharmCAS doesn't make the distinction - the schools do.

 

[busyizzy]

Some schools have very specific requirements for their prereqs. Like someone said, you should check with your top several choices. Example, I talked to UCSF, and they said they would not accept a higher level bio lab course to replace the bio lab - they specified that it must be the basic bio lab. Why, I'm not quite sure... but there you go.

 

[xtsukiyox]

at my school, they require inorganic chemistry I before taking organic chemistry I, so either way, i'm still going to have to take inorganic so i can complete the organic pre-req. for pharmacy school.

My FIRST advice to you - Please Please Please contact your school of choice!! Do not take your CC advisor's word for much of anything relating to Pre-Pharm! If it happens to be the same as what your school of choice says... Great. For me - I wasted literally a year of full-time school because of a bad advisor, then when I switched to Pre-Pharm, I got a blank stare from supposedly the most senior advisor at the school. Take your prereq list with you, if you haven't already - don't count on them to know it.

Anyway, back on topic. 😛

It sounds like your school does this:

Gen Chem = High School / Remedial Chemistry
Inorganic Chem = College Chemistry
Organic Chem

Is that about right? At my school it's called Fundamental Chemistry -> Gen Chem -> Organic Chem.

Hang on to your syllabus and print out a course description. 🙂

 

[sm521]

My FIRST advice to you - Please Please Please contact your school of choice!! Do not take your CC advisor's word for much of anything relating to Pre-Pharm! If it happens to be the same as what your school of choice says... Great. For me - I wasted literally a year of full-time school because of a bad advisor, then when I switched to Pre-Pharm, I got a blank stare from supposedly the most senior advisor at the school. Take your prereq list with you, if you haven't already - don't count on them to know it.

Anyway, back on topic. 😛

It sounds like your school does this:

Gen Chem = High School / Remedial Chemistry
Inorganic Chem = College Chemistry
Organic Chem

Is that about right? At my school it's called Fundamental Chemistry -> Gen Chem -> Organic Chem.

Hang on to your syllabus and print out a course description. 🙂

yes, that is what my school does with their chemistry courses !

thank you for everyone's advice. i will be sure to contact some of the schools of my choice to be sure. i wouldn't really take the adviser's word about this situation because if i'm assed out of the general chemistry credits, i don't expect them to do anything for me except say "oops, my bad."

but anyway, i looked up the course description for my inorganic chemistry I class and it consists of: "a definitive study of chemistry encompassing modern atomic and molecular theory and periodicity. an in-depth study and physical and chemical behavior of matter, including stoichiometry, gas laws, and solutions. the laboratory work reinforce concepts presented in lecture through the application of the scientific method. emphasis in the laboratory is placed upon accuracy and precision in the development of qualitative and quantitative techniques."

i googled the general chemistry requirements of some pharmacy schools, and their course descriptions look a lot like the chemistry course i took in high school, so maybe i should be taking general chemistry I.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Depends on your course curriculum. Typical college first year chemistry is not solely comprised of Inorganic chem- it should include basic foundations of organic (nomenclature, bonding) and physical chemistry (thermodynamics, etc.) within it too.

Or at least, this is how my school does it (But then again, they force you to take their Gen Chem regardless if you get AP or transfer credit).