UCSF - Appealing prerequisite requirements

[snailman]

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I won't go into detail, but I've been admitted to UCSF and I have a good case for getting out of one of the prerequisites. Does anyone know who is the best person to talk to about this? I want to talk with the highest-up person in the chain of command who will listen to me. Also, has anyone had any luck with prerequisite appeals at UCSF? Any tips? Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[MuraRX]

I won't go into detail, but I've been admitted to UCSF and I have a good case for getting out of one of the prerequisites. Does anyone know who is the best person to talk to about this? I want to talk with the highest-up person in the chain of command who will listen to me. Also, has anyone had any luck with prerequisite appeals at UCSF? Any tips? Thanks in advance for the help!

I have not received any word yet from UCSF. However, I have been going back and forth with the Admissions office regarding my pre-reqs ever since my interview. One of the issues was that I was originally told I had to take public speaking again because they felt "oral communications" (which I took at a business school) did not fulfill the requirement. I contacted the professor who taught the course and asked him to send an email with the syllabus from the course. Upon receipt of his email, they approved it.

There were a few more classes I had to clear up with them, but basically, they are just seeking more information so they can make a better decision when evaluating. If they are asking you to take a course over because they don't believe the content they require was covered, call your school and ask them to help you. In most cases, universities are eager to help alumni with getting into graduate/professional programs. If you can't get a hold of your former professors, call the chairperson of the department, or the dean of the college.

The person I have been dealing with at UCSF is James Betbeze (Admissions Coordinator).

Good Luck and Congrats on your acceptance!!

 

[tomrocks]

yeah talk to james. he deals with all the admissions stuff. good luck.

 

[snailman]

alright well here's my situation. if you guys have any comments or advice, please share.

i took AP chem in high school and got a 5 on the AP test. my college gave me a full year's worth of general chemistry credit, so i didn't (couldn't, actually) take a general chemistry class there, since in their eyes i had already taken it. UCSF only awards two quarters of gen chem credit for an AP 5, so they are making me take another general chemistry class. this is going to be a complete waste of time. i've always been good at chemistry, and i mastered it the first time around. in the past few years i've taken environmental chem, organic chem, and biochem, all of which build on gen chem, and it just seems a little ridiculous to me to have to repeat basic chemistry.

not to mention, i'm already taking two other classes this summer (physiology and speech), and taking this additional class will force me to work part-time instead of full-time, which will in turn cause me all sorts of financial problems. i work in a research lab and i'm very interested in the project i'm working on, so decreasing my work time is intellectually disappointing as well. i really don't want to spend time i don't have and money i don't have on a class that will teach me pretty much nothing.

i'd really appreciate any suggestions or ideas on how best to argue my case to admissions (or opinions on whether i even have a case). thanks!

 

[thaliagoo]

i took AP chem in high school and got a 5 on the AP test. my college gave me a full year's worth of general chemistry credit, so i didn't (couldn't, actually) take a general chemistry class there, since in their eyes i had already taken it. UCSF only awards two quarters of gen chem credit for an AP 5, so they are making me take another general chemistry class. this is going to be a complete waste of time. i've always been good at chemistry, and i mastered it the first time around. in the past few years i've taken environmental chem, organic chem, and biochem, all of which build on gen chem, and it just seems a little ridiculous to me to have to repeat basic chemistry.

I know this post was awhile ago- don't know if you worked it out since. But I was in the same boat with the AP Chem. I emailed James and told him all the chem classes I took in college, and the ones that included lab. I took 2 analytical chem, 2 physical chem, 2 biochem courses, and all these classes came with lab. So I guess what he did was used one of these as a substitute for my general chem course. It was easy and they didn't give me much hassle about it.