pre-med at berkeley

[oksannadog613]

<p>hey forgive me if this is stupid…</p>

<p>but what subject classes does a person take at berkeley as pre-med? im thinking bio, chem, physics, math yeah yeah</p>

<p>but then, does berk give ap credit for physics if its lower than a 5 on the test? or does this only apply to engineering majors…</p>

[MedDrummer]

<p>I’ve heard that if you’re applying for medical school, you still have to take all the required courses in college, like bio, chem, physics, math, etc, regardless of whether you could pass out of them due to AP test scores. The AP tests can help you get out of taking a course required for graduating, but not for medical school admission. So you’re still going to have take two semesters of physics at Cal.</p>

[Ducky_Dodger]

<p>Typical,</p>

<p>1 Year General Chem:CHEM 1A, CHEM 3A(/lab)
1 Year Organic Chem:CHEM 3B(/lab), MCB 102
1 Year Math: Math 1A, Math 1B (16A/B)
1 Year Physics: Physics 8A, Physics 8B (7A/B)
1 Year English: Any</p>

<p>There is a little wiggle room in terms of classes, but I believe thats a good model, let me know if I forgot something.</p>

[vicissitudes]

<p>Chem 3A is actually the first semester of organic chemistry. So you take 1 semester of general chemistry (Chem 1A), and 2 semesters of organic chemistry (Chem 3A/3B). You also need a year of bio (Bio 1A/1B) but usually that’s for 2nd years. You need a year of physics (Physics 8A/8B) which people usually put off until their second year. You need a year of math (16A/16B) which is usually taken the first year.</p>

<p>Alternatively, you can take Physics 7A/7B, and Math 1A/1B, which are harder versions of the ones listed above.</p>

<p>I think you need a year of writing too.</p>

<p>Berkeley lets you pass out of 1st semester physics with a 5 on AP Physics C: Mechanics. Med schools won’t though, so you still have to take it.</p>

[lovelynight]

<p>Duck Dodger:
What about Biology?</p>

[Golden_Bear]

<p>1 year Biology: Bio 1A & Bio 1AL (First Semester) then Bio 1B (Second Semester)</p>

[moviefreak126]

<p>haha… people’s republic of berkeley…so true…</p>

[Ducky_Dodger]

<p>Vicissitudes:

Being a Cell Developmental Biology major I have only taken Chem 1A as my general chemistry. I was wondering what I could do to make up for my lack of another semester of inorganic chemistry. Does MCB 102 Biochemistry satisfy this requirement? Or must I take Chem 1B?</p>

<p>I am going to assume that you have taken Cal classes in Chem: 1A, 3A, 3B and then MCB 100 or 102. If so, you list Chem 1A and 3A as NON organic. You may or may not recall that the beginning of 3A is general chemistry and then you get into organic. If you must list a year of organic chemistry, Cal students list 3B and the MCB biochem class they have taken (even if they did not take a lab). But to answer your question, MCB 102 is typically used to satisfy schools that insist on students having four full semesters of chemistry, but it does not fulfill the inorganic chemistry requirement (“bio” = organic).

</p>

<p><a href=“http://career.berkeley.edu/Health/MedFAQ1.stm#chemistry[/url]”>http://career.berkeley.edu/Health/MedFAQ1.stm#chemistry&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I think according to the counseling website, Chem 1A/3A= General, and Chem 3B/Biochemistry= Organic.</p>

<p>Ah yes, I forgot the biology requirement, coming from a biology major no less…</p>

[vicissitudes]

<p>Well, that’s assuming the medical school in question has such stringent requirements. For example, I was looking at the Harvard Medical Page, which says the following:</p>

<p>

2. Chemistry: two years with laboratory experience. Full year courses in general (or inorganic) and organic chemistry generally meet this requirement. A one semester course in organic chemistry which covers the relevant material supplemented by a semester course in biochemistry may substitute for the traditional year of organic chemistry. We will consider other options that adequately prepare students for the study of biochemistry and molecular biology in medical school. Advanced placement credits which enable a student to take an upper level course may be used to meet one semester of this requirement.

</p>

<p><a href=“http://hms.harvard.edu/admissions/default.asp?page=requirements[/url]”>http://hms.harvard.edu/admissions/default.asp?page=requirements&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>HMS requires 2 years of chemistry, but only implies that 1 year of general chemistry and 1 year of organic chemistry is needed (since, I believe, this is actually how most schools set up their chemistry courses. Berkeley is weird with 1 semester of general chemistry). In fact, HMS suggests that you can substitute an appropriate biochemistry course for 1 semester of organic chemistry, or substitute an inorganic chemistry course for 1 semester of general chemistry. So, you can take Chem 1A (general), Chem 3A/3B (organic), Chem 104a (inorganic).</p>

<p>Of course, this is just all technicalities. It doesn’t matter if Chem 3A is considered to be “general chemistry” or “organic chemistry”. The point is, depending on the medical school in question, you’ll most likely take Chem 1A, Chem 3A, Chem 3B, and another Chem course (probably upper-div).</p>