slightly confused about semester hours: lab vs no lab

[fatalerror]

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So AMCAS counted most of my courses as 3 semester hrs (in 1 semester) regardless if it had a lab or not. But when I'm reading some of the med school pre-reqs more closely. I'm noticing they sometimes include an extra hour for lab. For example, some school require 8 semester hrs of biology, which include 2 lab hours.

But I would only have 6 going by AMCAS , because they didn't add a semester hour (1 per semester) for the lab. Does that mean I don't satisfy the criteria or something? Because the courses I took had labs as well.

 

[LawNonTrad]

So AMCAS counted most of my courses as 3 semester hrs (in 1 semester) regardless if it had a lab or not. But when I'm reading some of the med school pre-reqs more closely. I'm noticing they sometimes include an extra hour for lab. For example, some school require 8 semester hrs of biology, which include 2 lab hours.

But I would only have 6 going by AMCAS , because they didn't add a semester hour (1 per semester) for the lab. Does that mean I don't satisfy the criteria or something? Because the courses I took had labs as well.

I've never heard of a college offering a 3 credit med school prerequisite that includes a lab. All of the ones that include a lab as part of the overall course are at least 4 total credits or even 5. Many colleges offer the lab separately from the lecture in which case the lecture would be worth 3 credits and the lab would be worth an additional 1 or 2 credits.

Are you sure you took the right pre-reqs, the ones for science majors? I know at my undergrad institution they did offer a few 3 credit science courses with labs (such as bio for non-science majors, or fundamentals of organic chemistry, but these are one-semester courses and do not count as medical school prereqs.

I guess it's possible that you took the right courses and your college is simply weird in how it chooses to list courses. If you took general biology I and II with a lab that met once a week and your college assigned only 3 credits total for it, then I guess the medical schools have no choice but to accept it. I would find out details from your school, however, and maybe include an addendum on AMCAS explaining the situation.

 

[fatalerror]

I've never heard of a college offering a 3 credit med school prerequisite that includes a lab. All of the ones that include a lab as part of the overall course are at least 4 total credits or even 5. Many colleges offer the lab separately from the lecture in which case the lecture would be worth 3 credits and the lab would be worth an additional 1 or 2 credits.

Are you sure you took the right pre-reqs, the ones for science majors? I know at my undergrad institution they did offer a few 3 credit science courses with labs (such as bio for non-science majors, or fundamentals of organic chemistry, but these are one-semester courses and do not count as medical school prereqs.

I guess it's possible that you took the right courses and your college is simply weird in how it chooses to list courses. If you took general biology I and II with a lab that met once a week and your college assigned only 3 credits total for it, then I guess the medical schools have no choice but to accept it. I would find out details from your school, however, and maybe include an addendum on AMCAS explaining the situation.

My school doesn't even assign semester hours on the transcript, just credits (0.5 half semester/1.00 credit full semester), I'm Canadian by the way. It's how AMCAS converted it that I'm curious about. Basically, some of my courses include a lab (not separate) like Biology I, but in AMCAS conversion, they assigned 3 semester hours to it. Same as any other half-semester course I took with no lab. I indicated it had a lab, so they would know too.

 

[LawNonTrad]

My school doesn't even assign semester hours on the transcript, just credits (0.5 half semester/1.00 credit full semester), I'm Canadian by the way. It's how AMCAS converted it that I'm curious about. Basically, some of my courses include a lab (not separate) like Biology I, but in AMCAS conversion, they assigned 3 semester hours to it. Same as any other half-semester course I took with no lab. I indicated it had a lab, so they would know too.

I would take it up with them immediately. If they won't change it from 3 credits to 4 and send out an updated report, I would at least ask them to amend your report to state that each of the prereqs did in fact include a lab.

 

[fatalerror]

I would take it up with them immediately. If they won't change it from 3 credits to 4 and send out an updated report, I would at least ask them to amend your report to state that each of the prereqs did in fact include a lab.

Well, I stated that it did in the title, and checked market it. Does it say 4 hrs in your app?

 

[LawNonTrad]

Well, I stated that it did in the title, and checked market it. Does it say 4 hrs in your app?

Haven't applied. Also not from Canada.

But I asked a high school friend of mine just now on Facebook chat who has gone through it and, like you, went to a Canadian institution for undergrad (why, I don't know, I guess because you guys have some good schools up there 😛). Anyway he went to U of Toronto and applied in the 2009 cycle, and he said that his AMCAS app listed his prereqs with 4 credits apiece. So take that FWIW.