use AP credit to waive gen chem req @ UCLA?

[desiyaar]

Im getting a hard time from UCLA abt the gen chem pre req.....my UC undegrad gave me a year of credit for getting a 5 on AP chem.....but they expect me to take 8 more units of gen chem. Any UCLA kids out there who got past this? Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[doc toothache]

Unless you are absolutely certain that your AP course was as comprehensive as the one offered at UCLA for science/engineering majors, you will be better served by taking the course come time for the DAT.

 

[uclaDDS101]

I would suggest that you just take the gchem at ucla. It'll help you for harder chem classes that you'll take at ucla (especially if youre in the 20/30 series, but also for the 14 series). It'll help you for the DAT. And it's recommended that you don't use AP to get out of chem cuz you never know how some d schools will see this. Passing out of psych, history, and maybe some math with AP should be ok. But I don't think you should do it for chem. Just my opinion as a former ucla chem major (one of my many past majors).

 

[dds4yrs]

The schools I applied to would not accept any AP credits to count for the pre-reqs. I would say just go ahead and take it now. You got a 5, so the gen chem classes should be pretty easy for you. If you have space in your schedule maybe you could at least get a permit from the chem department to take the lower level chem along with an upper level, so you don't feel like you have lost an entire year due to taking the gen chem classes.

 

[desiyaar]

what i meant to say was that I have already been accepted to UCLA School of Dentistry. I am doing my undegrad at another UC, but will be going to UCLA next year for d school. At my undergrad school, i cant take gen chem as i have already been exempted from it. there is no other gen chem i can take. i figure this should be adequate to satisfy the pre req for gen chem, but i wanted to know if any others have been in this situation...?

 

[Act0fgod]

what i meant to say was that I have already been accepted to UCLA School of Dentistry. I am doing my undegrad at another UC, but will be going to UCLA next year for d school. At my undergrad school, i cant take gen chem as i have already been exempted from it. there is no other gen chem i can take. i figure this should be adequate to satisfy the pre req for gen chem, but i wanted to know if any others have been in this situation...?

Have you taken other upper level chem classes aside from O-Chem/Biochem? I would figure this is not a question for Ms. Benitez because she'll probably give you the answer that she's been instructed to give - the requirement is 1 year of general chemistry. I could be wrong. Either way she is the starting point and if she tells you that you need to take a year in accordance with published policy I’d contact the dean that spoke during the interview, for us it was Dr. Sanders. Good luck and I hope they aren’t going to be all that critical especially if you have taken other upper level chem classes.

 

[water88]

Take PChem or AChem, significantly harder than GChem, but all you need to do is pass, right?

 

[desiyaar]

Yeah, I'm taking pchem right now.....Does Pchem count as gen chem though?

 

[doc toothache]

what i meant to say was that I have already been accepted to UCLA School of Dentistry. I am doing my undegrad at another UC, but will be going to UCLA next year for d school. At my undergrad school, i cant take gen chem as i have already been exempted from it. there is no other gen chem i can take. i figure this should be adequate to satisfy the pre req for gen chem, but i wanted to know if any others have been in this situation...?

It is a problem you will need to work with UCLA and whatever comments you may get from SDN are pretty much useless. You are, however, well advised to follow whatever suggestion they may have lest you want to give them a reason to rescind your acceptance.

 

[RMPredent2009]

i was in the same predicament during the summer when I was applying. My school gave me 8 general bio credits because I got a 5 on AP Bio but for some stupid reason they don't list them on my transcript so most schools I talked to said I'd have to take 8 more bio credits. I would recommend taking the classes over. When I went to study Bio for the DAT I hadn't seen the material since high school and had to relearn it anyway.

 

[XIloveteeth]

Hey desiyaar,
I just got accepted to UCLA but had a problem with my gen chem requirement too (the UC I went to only requires one semester for the major and UCLA was the only dental school requiring two). Because my acceptance was so late and I currently have a full time job making it difficult for me to complete the requirements, the admissions coordinator suggested that I write a letter of appeal explaining my situation. A couple days after I got my acceptance the appeal went through and the requirement was waived. I basically wrote that I understood course requirements are important to show that you can handle a strong science courseload but that I felt my other courses and DAT scores showed this already. If you need more information feel free to contact me directly =)
Good luck!! I hope you can get out of it gen chem is horrible!!

 

[desiyaar]

Haha thanks, I had ended up sending in an appeal as well a while back and they approved it!
I'm so stoked =]