Questions regarding General Biology Pre-Req

[Guest justanotherpremedder]

Some schools require a year of general biology. I'm just curious as to what this exactly means.

 

I'm at UWaterloo, and took BIOL130 (Cell Biology, previously BIOL230) & BIOL139 (Genetics, previously BIOL239) in my first year. I'm sure BIOL130 would fit "general biology," but what about genetics?

 

I think most UofT undergrads use BIO150Y to satisfy the pre-req, but at UW there are so many first year biology course (110/120/130/139/140/etc.) Any advice from other UWers?

 

In addition, BIOL130 had a lab component, while 139 didn't. Will microbiology BIOL140 + BIOL140L (lab component course) satisfy the other half of my lab requirement?

[Guest justanotherpremedder]

Could veteran UWers share their academic experience please!

 

Possibly share some recommendations for upper year courses?

[Guest aneliz]

You will need to check with the schools that you are trying to satisfy pre-reqs for... each school has a slightly different opinion on what is acceptable. I know that UWO has a list of courses from the Canadian schools that have been deemed 'equivalent' to UWO undergrad courses. If the courses you have taken are on the list, you are good to go. If they aren't, no luck. So, if UWO is one of the schools you are looking at, check with them.

 

 

Of course, if you will be applying in fall 2006 or later, this is a dead issue at UWO because the new rules will be in effect and we will no longer have any pre-reqs.

[Guest CTU24]

For U of T meds there is no strict biology requirement...

 

the only prereqs are 2 full year life science courses and 1 full year social science/humanities course.

 

so any of your biology courses are probably fine as life sci courses at U of T. To be on the safe side though, I would contact any of the med schools your are interested in applying to ahead of time to make sure that your biology courses are fine. All it takes is an email, and than you won't have to worry anymore.

 

CTU24

[Guest Nightriders19]

hi there,

 

I just graduated from UW and I'm starting meds at UofT next week. I counted BIOL 130 and 140 pre-reqs, and there didn't seem to be any problems with that (although the courses were 230 and 240 way back when I took them ). For U of T, I think it was ok to use any biology course to help fulfill the life sciences requirement. Good luck with your application!

 

BTW, did you take BIOL130 with Dr. Bols? He was my supervisor for a summer research term, and he's a great prof!

 

Nightrider