Worth it to take a year of biochem or just one quarter?

[ZaneKaiser]

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I go to UCSB and I can choose to take a 3 quarter biochem series (year long) that is notoriously difficult with an extremely hard professor, or a one quarter biochem class that is much easier.

According to some dental schools though, they require a year of biochem, or one semester of biochem (which would have to be the equivalent of two quarters). Is it worth taking the year long series at risk to my GPA, or to take the easier one and risk losing out on applying to some schools?

 

[ajj70]

What are your GPA breakdowns now and what is the average grade coming out of that year biochem class?

 

[customx]

I would suggest taking 2 quarters worth of biochem. The school that I'm accepted and another I'm waitlisted at requires 1 semester, but the school I attend is on the quarter system so I had to take two quarters of biochem. It's the same with micro, 1 semester or two quarters

 

[Faux]

Take whatever you need to take for schools you're actually interested in and willing to attend. Also consider how likely you are to get an interview based on instate/OOS interview ratios and GPA/DAT. You can also leave classes for spring, not everything has to be completed by the time you interview.


Other wise, put that time into something else. High GPA and peace of mind over anything else.

 

[excited_alumni]

While not sure about dental school, I had the same problem when I was applying to medical schools because my school also offered either a 1 quarter biochem course or the year-long series. My advice would be to email the schools and ask if it would suffice. I did the one quarter series and it worked for me at every single school I applied to that required a semester, with the exception of IU.

Some schools I think may also be more lenient if you have more upper div science or if you took a year of Ochem since ochem includes some biochem in its final quarter...but email the schools to be sure and they will tell you their policy

 

[Hammer Time]

Don't do the whole year. Just one or two quarters. (My school offers a one semester biochem class and that's what all the predents take).

 

[katiebell]

Don't do the whole year. Just one or two quarters. (My school offers a one semester biochem class and that's what all the predents take).

Hey I just posted a thread kind of similar to this... Kinda but am not getting bites. My biochemistry class is Foundations of biochemistry and it is one semester. My school offers biochem 1 & 2 which would take a full year. Would one semester of the easier foundations of biochem ( 300 lv) satisfy? I have been wondering this. From what you are saying it sounds like it would.

 

[Hammer Time]

Hey I just posted a thread kind of similar to this... Kinda but am not getting bites. My biochemistry class is Foundations of biochemistry and it is one semester. My school offers biochem 1 & 2 which would take a full year. Would one semester of the easier foundations of biochem ( 300 lv) satisfy? I have been wondering this. From what you are saying it sounds like it would.

Oh yeah, definitely go with the one semester level 300. From what I've heard, the full year class is completely overkill. Not all schools require biochem as a prerequisite. But all the schools that do require it only require one semester. I've heard the year long class is much harder than organic chemistry, and really is only necessary for biochem majors.

 

[stressedscholar]

I would also like to know whether it would be recommended to take 2 quarters. I also go to UCSB and the first quarter of the year long biochem series is infamously hard. How many schools do you know of that actually require a 2 quarters equivalent (for one semester) of biochem. i know UCLA only requires one quarter but it is probably different for every school.