The university requires three lab science courses. I’m a junior and have only taken three science courses; two of which were lab science. Will I will not get in because I am missing that one lab course?
Are you certain the school does not list the course as a w/lab course, even if your actual experience does not reflect that as being part of the course? Check the educational guidelines for courses, or talk to your counselor. Generally, the colleges assess the totality of your student profile to determine if you would be eligible for admission. Sounds like you are going for entry into a specific program…that could be a deal breaker.
Pick up the telephone and call the college. Our third tier guesses give you nothing.
Good luck, though
Take a lab science senior year.
Check with the college. I had the same question a few years ago. It turned out that they consider all science courses (biology, chemistry, and physics) as lab science disregarding there is a lab section or not.
@billcsho thanks that calms me a bit. after reading these replies I spoke to my counselor she said our school doesn’t offer any other lab courses available for me senior year, but if I take a college credit Physics class it would probably make my application stronger. I’ll email the admissions office as well to check. thanks to everyone who replied.
@Waiting2exhale I’m going into a music technology program. I don’t think I’d need an extra science lab for that major; which is why I decided to not take another lab course since Science is my not my favorite subject. But for a music technology program, maybe they’d gloss over that one lab requirement? (i hope at least…)
@shairisgarcia: Yes, I found out this year, with my second child applying for college, that schools often list their courses as ‘w/lab’, and this leaves students confused as there will have been no actual lab involved. Good luck.
@T26E4 : Regarding placing a call to the college: I had an unfortunate moment last week where I called an Ivy and, due to this being crunch time (I guess this is why) there were people answering the phone who were not seasoned admissions officers, giving very questionable information. When I questioned the information given, the person sought verification and was told something different; more in line with what I had thought the process might be. My second question resulted in the same level of back-and-forth, and I was entirely uneasy after the exchange. I eventually sought a different approach, and was given a comprehensive response that fell in line with the tone of the overview, but answered my specific question without room for doubt.
Not saying that answers here cannot have flaws, of course, nor that the best source of information would not naturally be that of the college admissions offices, just that one needs to use a level of scrutiny and diligence even within those exchanges.
What college is this and what sciences have you taken?
Take a lab course senior year. That will count towards the requirement.
@BrownParent NYU - I’ve taken Earth Science w/lab, Biology w/Lab, and now I’m taking a Chemistry class without any labs. I know that they aren’t lab classes because my school gives us an extra period for science classes that involve labs.
“Science with lab” doesn’t mean they only accept 2-period science classes, but that they want to see classes such as Biology, Chemistry,and Physics, that have an experimental component. Chemistry is considered a “lab science” because you can’t do chemistry with just a lecture and no application/experimentation – even if in your school lab is a separate class period.
When I talked to Purdue a few years ago, they considered all biology, chemistry, and physics classes as lab sciences disregarding if there is actually any lab sessions or not.
Do you mean disregarding if there is designated lab time on top of coursework or disregarding if the student does anything hands on in the class?
I can’t speak for @billcsho, but “regardless” would probably have been a better word.
IME, colleges (outside of California public unis, which classifies all CA HS courses) will assume that all general bio/chem/physics classes (whether college prep/honors/AP) are lab classes. Certainly in the case of my HS, neither my transcript nor the school profile lists them as lab classes. For more specialized classes, e.g. biochem, organic chem, they’d probably dig a little deeper.
^Yes. I mean even there is no lab work involved.
@sharisgarcia: Want to wish you the best of luck on your application to NYU. Please be aware, however, that they almost never (AO told me to me face “never”) give merit money and their FA program is less than generous… Other schools gave my DD almost 30X (thirty times) what they offered. Have a backup plan.
@mexusa NYU is probably my dream school and even though I won’t need FA, I have read that they participate in HEOP and that most people pay about 20,000-30,000 rather than their 45,000 usual cost. That’s probably bad rather than good, but then again I don’t know much about FA programs…