UC Berkeley and 2nd semester of G Chem

[DoubleOSeven]

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If theres anyone out there from uc berkeley, i have a question about the second semester of general chem.. is it true that mcb 102 (biochem) can substitue for the second semester of g chem required to apply to med schools? is there some sort of letter you have to get from the career center to justify this? did anyone take the second semester of g chem at a community college? if so, did you take it with or without lab?

 

[Ernham]

You guys have bio chem without taking orgo??? Interesting. Must just be a rote memory course.

 

[DoubleOSeven]

what? no we have a separate track for o-chem.

 

[Wednesday]

mcb102 is NOT a rote memorization course, at least the one over the summer isn't. It was open book in fact. Perhaps the best course I ever took. Great instructor and I learned TONS. I would definitly recommend taking it before med school since it will really help with biochem (it helped me!).

As for taking it instead of gchem, I don't know. Some med schools allow you to take biochem instead of the second semester of organic chem, but not as a replacement for gchem. It doesn't really have much to do with general chemistry. This is probably a question for individual med schools (or the advisor at Berkeley, is there such a thing?). I would think that if you took gchem at a cc, you'd have to take the lab as well, since it is required by just about every school.

Sorry, I wasn't a Cal student so I don't know the full answer to your question, but having mcb102 described as a rote memorization course was something I just HAD to comment on!!!

 

[JennyCal]

I asked one of the career center advisors a long time ago about this question. They said to classify Chem 1A and 3A as General Chemistry and Chem 3B and MCB 102 or 100 as Organic Chemistry.

I'm not sure how it works if you take G chem at a community college.

I hope that helped!

 

[simpleG]

yes there is a letter from the career center to justify that. career.berkeley.edu they've got an "ask a counselor" link. i asked the same question there and someone replied with an attached word document/letter that i attached to SOME of my secondaries. most schools i didn't need to.

if you can't get it online, just go to the office.

 

[DoubleOSeven]

thanks for the info!

 

[bcdnw]

If you took chem 1a and 1b, then you're good for g-chem. If you took chem 1a/3a/3b/102, it's as they say, use 1a/3a a g-chem and 3b/102 as o-chem. If you took the chem 4a/4b and 112a/112b series, then there you go right there. 😎


Secondly, 102 IS simply a memorization class, let's be honest here. It's a biochemistry class for people who don't really want to get a good grasp of biochemistry or molecular biology, but need it for their major or need to know some stuff for the MCAT. I TA'd it after taking MCB 100/110 and I assure you that 102 is just memorization. If you want to learn the material, 102 is okay, but if you want to understand it, 100/110 is the only way to go, for aspiring pre-meds. 😀

For that matter, plan 2 people bug me. You know it's weaksauce, I know it's weaksauce, but damn it, med schools don't always know it. 😡 😡 😡

 

[tgan]

med schools know...it has not been a prob applying for me with ony 1 sem of g chem comign from cal

 

[Haybrant]

yah its weak, but if you prove yourself in lower div. classes you should be allowed to study neuro if that is your interest. besides they figure it out in interviews who are the weaklings from cdb/neuro plans...

If you took chem 1a and 1b, then you're good for g-chem. If you took chem 1a/3a/3b/102, it's as they say, use 1a/3a a g-chem and 3b/102 as o-chem. If you took the chem 4a/4b and 112a/112b series, then there you go right there. 😎


Secondly, 102 IS simply a memorization class, let's be honest here. It's a biochemistry class for people who don't really want to get a good grasp of biochemistry or molecular biology, but need it for their major or need to know some stuff for the MCAT. I TA'd it after taking MCB 100/110 and I assure you that 102 is just memorization. If you want to learn the material, 102 is okay, but if you want to understand it, 100/110 is the only way to go, for aspiring pre-meds. 😀

For that matter, plan 2 people bug me. You know it's weaksauce, I know it's weaksauce, but damn it, med schools don't always know it. 😡 😡 😡