Screwed uip pre-med curriculum

[Psycho Doctor]

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My gf is studying abroad in Australia. She has just switched to pre-med. When she signed up to take chem, she thought it was basic chem 1 & 2. it turnsd out that it is a combination of physical chem and orgo. What should she now do about her chem sequence?

 

[swifty100850]

She should try to switch over to gen chem. Otherwise, I think med schools would honor those courses as the "one year of chemistry" requirement if they're in the chem department. however, she'll still need to take the labs and know the material for the MCAT.

 

[top]

Hmm...the best thing to do is talk to her pre-med advisor and call/email the admissions office at her state/top choice med school. However, given that most schools don't even accept AP credit for a lot of the pre-reqs (or they require an upper level in addition), I don't think they would look too favorably on international classes. There's enough variation in the US undergrad curricular spectrum that I bet they don't want to hear about those problems in other countries. Tell her to enjoy Australia (it's one of the coolest countries in the world) and take her pre-med stuff in the US. Even if it does take her an extra semester or year.

 

[diosa428]

You can't take the basic chem sequence in Australia. I tried. Everything is backwards, and it doesn't help that their semesters are the opposite of ours. She should drop the chem sequence she's in now (it will most likely not help her) and take something else if possible. She'll have to wait to take chem when she gets back. Tell her to take some other requirement, such as bio, b/c it doesn't matter what order you take bio in usually. Also, I don't think that she has to call medical schools and ask if it's ok if you take the premed requirements abroad - she is in an English speaking country and most medical schools will accept anything that your home institution will accept.

 

[Psycho Doctor]

She should try to switch over to gen chem. Otherwise, I think med schools would honor those courses as the "one year of chemistry" requirement if they're in the chem department. however, she'll still need to take the labs and know the material for the MCAT.

she can't switch now; the semester has had a few weeks already; and her classes do have labs

Hmm...the best thing to do is talk to her pre-med advisor and call/email the admissions office at her state/top choice med school. However, given that most schools don't even accept AP credit for a lot of the pre-reqs (or they require an upper level in addition), I don't think they would look too favorably on international classes. There's enough variation in the US undergrad curricular spectrum that I bet they don't want to hear about those problems in other countries. Tell her to enjoy Australia (it's one of the coolest countries in the world) and take her pre-med stuff in the US. Even if it does take her an extra semester or year.

i told her to contact her pre-med advisor also, but why shouldn't her science sequence/pre-med courses be accepted there?

You can't take the basic chem sequence in Australia. I tried. Everything is backwards, and it doesn't help that their semesters are the opposite of ours. She should drop the chem sequence she's in now (it will most likely not help her) and take something else if possible. She'll have to wait to take chem when she gets back. Tell her to take some other requirement, such as bio, b/c it doesn't matter what order you take bio in usually. Also, I don't think that she has to call medical schools and ask if it's ok if you take the premed requirements abroad - she is in an English speaking country and most medical schools will accept anything that your home institution will accept.

her courses in Australia are: physical chem; orgo, microbiology, physics and Australian studies