u of t students - 1 full year of general chemistry

[Guest s sadry]

hello,

 

i'm considering applying to american med schools.

 

i find a lot of them are requiring 1 full year of general chem WITH lab.

 

for you u of t students, you know that our physical chem is split up into half credits. chm139...and the people who tend to continue tend to take chm 220. however chm220 does not have a lab component.

 

i was wondering if there was a way of getting around needing the FULL credit of general chem (would the half credit with lab suffice?)...or would the chm220 wihtout the lab be okay?

 

on the whole, how strict have you foudn the american medical schools to be regarding prereqs? must they be completed before you submit your application?

 

thanks!

[Guest studentz]

If they want, they can nail you for it. Alberta checked and told me I didn't complete the 1 yr general chem requirement.

 

I emailed UofT's chem department and told them it was pretty shortsighted of them to recommend the 138/139 first year sequence to students pursuing life sciences and hoping for professional school entrance when the vast majority of LCME med schools (and some US states for licensure) require the 1 year of general and orgo. Plus, Chem 220 isn't general chem, it's fairly advanced physical, which is harder than what would normally be in the other half of a first year general chem course.

 

What's worse is that even if you take a single 1 year orgo block and hope they don't notice that 138/139 is split orgo/physical chem, the course title for 138 changed a few years ago to make it obvious that it is orgo.

 

When you're doing secondaries, you may also be required to list the courses that make up the school's prerequisite courses and credit hours.

 

Of course, it's up to each school to check on the completion of prereq's so you may as well apply.

[Guest ESC]

You can apply with prerequisites outstanding, but they will usually ask in the secondary app for you to list your completed / plans to complete the required courses.

 

A half course lecture/lab can be completed by correspondance (check with the school first).

[Guest s sadry]

so what do you guys think i should do?

 

i agree..i didn't think that chm220 was exactly what they were looking for.

 

i think u of t's half credit system is a little silly.

[Guest VraisCopains]

you can also take chm217 (analytical chem)

[Guest studentz]

If you can fit it in to your schedule, you could try taking a second year course at UTSC.

[Guest PK]

is this problem a new one? did there use to be a full year inorganic chemistry for life sciences in the past, because it seems like no one but a handful of people understand this HUGE problem!!!

 

s_sadry, we're in the same position! I don't know what to do either!

 

I emailed the chem dept and was rudely told that if I wanted a full inorganic chemistry then I should take CHM238Y (basically a full year inorganic chemistry really meant for chemistry specialists with priority controls...and not to mention very hard...)

 

VraisCopains, do you know for sure that CHM217 analytical chemistry w/ lab would satisfy half of the inorganic chemistry requirement? Have you applied to the States and they accepted CHM217?

 

I'm thinking of going to UTM for a half-credit inorganic course during the year...but that's like 3 hours of lecture per week + lab +tutorial...big waste of time (1 hour trip from St. George to UTM) AND waste of money ($5 per one-way trip if you take the shuttle). Too bad there's no inorganic chemistry courses offered at UTM or UTSC in the summer.

 

Hey s_sadry, we need to get this point across to the chem dept! I just wish other students would realize this sooner than when its too late...

 

any suggestions are more than welcome!!!!

[Guest Elaine I]

I don't know anything about the requirements of general chemistry. However, if you are required a second half, what about completing it at Ryerson? It certainly would be closer than travelling all of the way to UTM. In addition, Ryerson allows you to simply register for courses, rather than having to formally apply. They do offer the second half of intro general chemistry both through the year and in the summer.

 

Elaine