A) Is it possible to complete a 2-year Master's in 1-year, or are there prereq's and such which would get in the way?
B) Are there any science Master's programmes at Mac you can complete in 1 year?

I know I'm going to regret this, but if you work hard and through summer and all those sorts of things...

If you complete a B.Comm at McMaster, and you get into the Masters program, you can do an accelerated 1-year MBA at McMaster (DeGroote School of Business). However, you shouldn't just get an MBA to get an MBA, it depend on a lot of things and many people will have great jobs and never actually need to spend the time and money getting an MBA.

I think grad school is more structured than undergrad so for the most part I don't think it is possible for a master's.

I don't think you can generalize a "science masters", although assuming that the masters involves lab work, probably not.

With science though, it depends on the branch of science and even the specific lab - some labs do work that inherently takes longer than others. If your work is with cells that take two weeks to grow, it's going to take you a lot longer than if you were working with E. coli that grows overnight, and both of them will take a lot longer than someone in chemistry who doesn't have to depend on cells growing properly at all.

It sounds like you just want a Masters to have a Masters, and put in the least amount of time possible. I'd recommend finding a specific area that you actually want to do further work in and then decide if doing a Masters is worth the time.

A) Is it possible to complete a 2-year Master's in 1-year, or are there prereq's and such which would get in the way?

No, if the program requires 2 years you cannot complete it in a single year.

B) Are there any science Master's programmes at Mac you can complete in 1 year?

There are a number of programs that have minimum requirements of 12 months or less (I know Biochem and Psych both allow 12 months or shorter completion), however it's nearly impossible to complete a research based masters in less than 12 months unless you've worked in the lab before and are functionally continuing your undergrad project.

Originally Posted by starfish

It sounds like you just want a Masters to have a Masters, and put in the least amount of time possible. I'd recommend finding a specific area that you actually want to do further work in and then decide if doing a Masters is worth the time.

It's a plan B for med school...
Speaking of which, anyone have experience in this field?

Do Master's if you really have interest in research. If you are going as a backup for med school, that's not enough to justify doing a Master's degree. Master's is A LOT of work, and you might end up hating your life because you are doing something you don't really care too much about. 1-year programs are usually just course based, and those don't really help you in getting into medical school (unless you do research...). It's the research productivity that could be come be a benefit to you when you apply for professional school.

What would you recommend as a good plan B, then?

Originally Posted by Zebedee

What would you recommend as a good plan B, then?

It's got to be something that you're actually interested in, that you wouldn't mind doing. If you're just buying time and plan on reapplying to med school each year until you get in, then you might as well try to find a job in the meantime. If it's a real "Plan B" then it's something that's not med school that you'd actually be okay doing for the rest of your life if med school doesn't work out. Nobody else can really answer that for you.

I know someone who is planning on teachers' college and then teaching for a few years before med school...this person has always wanted to teach and is really excited about doing that even though med school is the ultimate goal.