School doesn't have gen chem lab

[Javert123]

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Hey guys,
My school doesn't have a gen chem lab class so can I not apply to any med schools that require it?
I'll ask people from the past who have applied but just wondering,

 

[deleted407021]

Are you attending a community college?

 

[Javert123]

No, I am at a 4 year institution.

 

[Jennyfishy]

Hey guys,
My school doesn't have a gen chem lab class so can I not apply to any med schools that require it?
I'll ask people from the past who have applied but just wondering,

Do you not perform any lab work throughout the course or are you saying you do not have a separate lab class?

 

[deleted407021]

I have yet to apply but I have never heard of a university not offering an accompanying lab.

@Agent B , you know what's up with schedules and such. Can you lend a hand?

 

[487806]

Hey guys,
My school doesn't have a gen chem lab class so can I not apply to any med schools that require it?
I'll ask people from the past who have applied but just wondering,

Weird. Two questions:

1. Is your college on a semester system?
2. Is there a biochem lab you can take?

Follow-up question

Are there labs for your bio/physics/ochem courses?

 

[Javert123]

We are on quarters, and there others have labs, but no gen chem or biochem labs, gen chem is also just 1 quarter, obv people have gone to med school before so I'll talk to them And my advisor

 

[487806]

We are on quarters, and there others have labs, but no gen chem or biochem labs, gen chem is also just 1 quarter, obv people have gone to med school before so I'll talk to them And my advisor

This is your best bet. I can't think of a school that doesn't require gen chem lab (or a similar substitute).

 

[yugo2113]

.

 

[leggo_my_ecmo]

I'm at very prominent university in Canada where the first-year curriculum consists on one semester of gen chem with lab (which I've come to learn is the equivalent of gen chem II at most US schools) and one semester of orgo with lab. Second year courses are orgo with lab and physical chem with no lab (very calculus heavy, to boot, not your typical gen chem stuff). I ended up taking an extra semester of gen chem with lab over the summer at home in the US because some med schools I contacted were not too keen on my university's curriculum and really wanted a full year of gen/phys chem lab. So this problem is definitely not unheard of from my experience at least.

 

[knv2u]

1. Prerequisites must be completed prior to matriculation and not to application, so a lack of a general chemistry lab shouldn't keep you from applying anywhere.
2. You can take upper division laboratories to satisfy prerequisite requirements. Most schools have classes on chemical analysis and instrumentation even if taught at a higher level.
3. Many medical schools are moving away from formal discreet labs anyway and are more concerned about exposure to hypothesis oriented exercises.
4. Apply to all schools that you have an interest in applying to; if accepted, you can ask whether you need a formal lab in which case you could always take the labs at a community college during the summer before matriculation.

 

[knv2u]

Gen Chem is only a single quarter? Thats the strangest 4 year university system i've ever heard of. It's a full academic year series.

Agreed

I'm at very prominent university in Canada where the first-year curriculum consists on one semester of gen chem with lab (which I've come to learn is the equivalent of gen chem II at most US schools) and one semester of orgo with lab. Second year courses are orgo with lab and physical chem with no lab (very calculus heavy, to boot, not your typical gen chem stuff). I ended up taking an extra semester of gen chem with lab over the summer at home in the US because some med schools I contacted were not too keen on my university's curriculum and really wanted a full year of gen/phys chem lab. So this problem is definitely not unheard of from my experience at least.

I think MIT has a similar structure for general chemistry (one semester) even though they split upper level inorganic chemistry into a series of courses (or at least that's my understanding). Maybe someone with experience with this curriculum could also shed some light for you.

 

[Akali]

What country are you in?

Why would a 4 year university not have any chem labs whatsoever? Is your school super, super poor? Are you at somewhere like Julliard's?

You could also try calling up the admission offices of schools you want to apply to. They'd probably know best.