I’ve been teaching the first college A&P lab a lot of students will ever take, for a long time. Every fall, I watch the same pattern: bright students from strong high schools walk into the room expecting it to feel like biology, and within two weeks they’re sideways. Not because they’re unprepared. Because nobody told them what was actually going to be different.
This page is what I would tell my own students before the term begins, if I had a venue for it. The goal isn’t to scare you — A&P is one of the best courses you’ll take in college, and most students who put in the work do well. It’s to make sure the work you’re putting in is actually the work that matters.
The big shift: it’s a vocabulary course in disguise
High-school biology teaches you to understand concepts — how membranes work, what evolution means, what genetics does. College A&P teaches you to name things, and then to explain how they work. The understanding part is still there; it just sits on top of an enormous vocabulary that has to come first.
A typical A&P unit introduces 80–200 named structures, 30–60 named processes, and 20–40 clinical correlations. By the end of the term you’ll have learned roughly the vocabulary of a second language. Students who treat A&P like a concept course (“I’ll just understand the ideas and reason out the names later”) get crushed by week three. Students who treat it like a vocabulary-and-procedure course (“I’ll learn the names first, then layer the understanding on top”) usually do well.
How the pace differs from high-school biology
| Dimension | High-school biology | College A&P |
|---|---|---|
| Pace | One unit lasts 2–3 weeks | One unit lasts 1–2 weeks; the calendar is unforgiving |
| Vocabulary load | ~30–60 new terms per unit | ~80–200 new terms per unit |
| Lab style | Recipe-following: read the procedure, get the expected result | Identification + technique: name structures on real specimens, perform observable lab skills |
| Assessment style | Multiple choice, occasional short answer | Practical exams (label structures on specimens), short answer, sometimes oral |
| Curve | Often graded on a curve; teacher knows you | Usually no curve; many sections; TA may be your primary grader |
| What “passing” means | D = pass | For most pre-health programs, C is the floor; many require B |
| Time expectation | ~30 min/day study | ~1–1.5 hr/day study (4 credits = ~12 hr/week total time) |
That last row is the most important. If you’re used to getting A’s in high-school biology with 30 minutes a day, you should plan for 4× that workload. The 4× is real. The good news is that “more time” plus “the right kind of work” produces A’s the same way it always did; it’s the kind of work that has to change.
Week one: what to bring, what to expect, what to do
Before day one of lab
Get a bound paper lab notebook with numbered pages. (Composition book is fine; ~$3.) See the lab notebook starter guide for setup. The notebook is non-negotiable in any college A&P sequence I’ve ever seen.
Read the syllabus carefully. Note: lab attendance policies (almost always strict; usually no make-ups), practical exam dates, and what’s required as pre-lab work each week.
Day one of lab — what to bring
- Lab notebook (in ink — pen, not pencil)
- Pencil (for sketches)
- Highlighter or two colors of pen (optional, for distinguishing observation from interpretation)
- Closed-toe shoes (this will be checked)
- Hair tie if your hair is long enough to fall forward
- Lab manual or course materials
- Eye protection if your course requires it (your syllabus will say)
- Water bottle (separate from lab area; you’ll thank yourself)
What day one usually looks like
First labs are typically a safety briefing, equipment orientation, and an introductory exercise. Your TA will introduce themselves and explain how grading works. Pay close attention to this part. How your TA describes the practical exam — what they’re looking for, how they’ll grade, what counts as a pass — is the most important study guidance you’ll get all term. Most students tune out the “policies” portion and regret it.
You’ll likely also do an opening activity that feels easy. Don’t let it lull you. Week one is the calibration session; week two is when the real load arrives.
Best questions to ask in the first session
- “What’s the hardest unit in this sequence, and when does it land?” Lets you plan ahead.
- “Where do students most often struggle on the practical?” Free study advice.
- “Do you have a list of structures you grade against, or any synonyms you accept?” Some courses publish the controlled vocabulary; if yours does, you should be using it as your study reference.
- “Is there a recommended way to set up our lab notebook?” Saves you reformatting later.
- “Are the lab models in this room the same ones used on the practical?” If yes, study from those specifically.
What gets students sideways — the four most common patterns
These are the patterns I see at the lab bench week after week. None of them are about intelligence; all of them are about adapting to a new course style.
Pattern 1: studying like it’s lecture
Re-reading notes, watching videos, highlighting the textbook. These work passably for lecture and fail almost completely for lab practical exams. Practical exams test identification on real specimens, which requires visual + spatial recall — a different cognitive system than verbal recall. The student who can recite the layers of the heart in order will still fail the practical if they can’t identify the right ventricle on an actual heart specimen. Get to the lab models early in the week, often. Sketch from memory. The how-to-study guide on this site goes deeper.
Pattern 2: not asking questions
High school rewarded students who quietly figured things out. College A&P moves too fast for that. The students who do best ask the TA questions every single lab session — not procedural questions (“what page is this on?”) but content questions (“why does the right ventricle wall look so much thinner than the left?”). TAs love these questions. They are also the moments when the deepest learning happens.
Pattern 3: skipping pre-lab
Most students don’t do real pre-lab. They skim the manual on the way to lab. That works for the first week or two; by week three, the students who haven’t built a pre-lab habit are spending the first 30 minutes of every lab session catching up on what they should have already understood. The pre-lab checklist on this site is a 15-minute version that pays back 30+ minutes per session.
Pattern 4: trying to memorize everything alone
A&P is volume-heavy enough that going it alone burns most students out by the second exam. The students who thrive form study groups — usually 3–4 people — and meet weekly to quiz each other on the lab material. Group quizzing implements active retrieval (the most evidence-supported study technique), provides external accountability, and turns the social pressure that usually works against studying into pressure that works for it. Form your group by week three. By week five it’s harder to enter an established group.
The cultural shift — what college lab is like socially
A few things will feel different from high school in ways nobody warns you about:
- Your TA is not your teacher. They are a graduate student or advanced undergraduate who is paid to run your section. They’re probably good at their job; they are not your academic advisor, not your friend, and not necessarily an expert. Treat them with respect; ask them anatomy and procedure questions; take grading questions directly to your course coordinator if there’s a real dispute.
- You will see real specimens. Sheep hearts, sheep brains, fetal pigs, and sometimes preserved human cadavers (uncommon at the undergraduate level, but possible). The first time can be confronting. Almost every student adjusts within one or two sessions; some take longer. If you’re uncertain whether you can handle it, it’s worth checking your course’s policy on accommodations before the term starts.
- People will be at very different levels. Pre-meds with three years of bio prep sit next to nursing students taking their first college science course. The material assumes everyone’s starting fresh. Don’t let the loud confident pre-med at the next bench make you feel behind; they’re often confidently wrong.
- Office hours are underused. If your course coordinator holds office hours, you should go to them at least once before the first practical. Bring two specific questions. The students who go to office hours regularly do measurably better — not because of the information they get, but because they’re building a relationship with the person who designs the assessments.
What “passing” really means for pre-health
If you’re considering nursing, PA, PT, OT, dental, veterinary, or medical school, you should know upfront: most professional health programs treat A&P differently than other prerequisites. Some require a B or better. Some require it taken within the last 5 or 7 years. Some won’t accept online versions or community college transfers without specific lab hours.
Look up the specific requirements of every program you’re considering, before you take A&P. If you’re unsure where you’ll apply, optimize for the strictest version — B or better, in-person, at a 4-year university, with the standard 4-credit lab. That keeps every door open. A C in A&P closes a surprising number of doors that are very hard to reopen.
If you finish with a grade lower than you need, most institutions will let you retake the course. Many programs will only count the higher grade. Some will count both grades. Some count only the most recent. Know your specific program’s policy before you decide whether to retake. Often the better strategy is to take A&P II first (different course, different grade), do well, and then revisit A&P I in summer if you have to.
What I wish every first-day student knew
- The first practical exam will feel impossible. Almost everyone feels this. Most students recover by the second practical because they finally understand what practical exams test (and adjust their study). Don’t give up on the course because of the first practical.
- Your lab grade and your lecture grade are usually separate. A great lab grade can offset a weak lecture grade and vice versa. Know which one is weighted higher in your course.
- Sleep matters more than the last study session. See the how-to-study guide. The all-nighter before a practical exam is the single worst thing you can do.
- The structures you handle yourself stick. The structures you only see in pictures often don’t. Maximize your hands-on time with real specimens and models. Open lab hours, if your program offers them, are the highest-value time of your week.
- You’re not behind. The first weeks of A&P feel disorienting for almost every student, including the ones who go on to A’s. The feeling passes. The work doesn’t.
Companion resources on this site
- How to study A&P (the science of learning, applied) — the working method.
- A&P terminology survival guide — decoding the vocabulary you’re about to encounter.
- Lab notebook starter guide — the bound, dated artifact you’ll need from week one.
- Pre-lab checklist — printable, used the night before each lab session.
- A&P reading list — what books to actually buy before the term starts.
- Weekly study-cycle template — printable schedule that drops the spaced-retrieval method onto your week.
A&P is one of the genuinely formative courses in any pre-health education. Done well, it changes how you see your own body, how you think about disease, and what kind of clinician you become. The two months of disorientation at the front of the course are worth what comes after. Pace yourself; ask questions; sleep; and start the lab notebook in week one.