Hi everyone!

I'm going into second year and I just finished first year in Life Sciences.
I was wondering which program of the following three is best for me: Hon. Biology, Hon. Biochemistry, or Hon. Molecular Biology & Genetics.

My choice of program is based on how easy it is (in terms of getting a higher GPA and having easier courses) and how beneficial it is to aim for medical school or Physiotherapy in graduate school.

Can you guys give me suggestions and advice on which program is best for me??

Thanks so much!!

Originally Posted by sarahyuan

Hi everyone!

I'm going into second year and I just finished first year in Life Sciences.
I was wondering which program of the following three is best for me: Hon. Biology, Hon. Biochemistry, or Hon. Molecular Biology & Genetics.

My choice of program is based on how easy it is (in terms of getting a higher GPA and having easier courses) and how beneficial it is to aim for medical school or Physiotherapy in graduate school.

Can you guys give me suggestions and advice on which program is best for me??

Thanks so much!!

You should do what you like at what you're good at. Nobody can tell you which is "best" for you. I think biochem will be useful in terms of your end goals, because you learn a lot of relevant things, but you could just as easily do med or physiotherapy from bio or mol bio. Regardless of your program, you should look at taking physiology/kinesiology electives. Core biochem has lots of electives after second year, so this shouldn't be a problem. I don't know how many electives bio or mol bio have, but I believe there are some physiology courses required for those programs.

I only addressed what I think would be useful, not what will give you a higher GPA. Really, if you're struggling to understand something like physiology now, you probably should reconsider your goals. Your GPA also depends on many many more factors than the difficulty of the program/course. It is possible to get a high GPA in any program; it tends to be other non-academic factors that impact grades more than how hard a course is or what the prof is like. GPA isn't really a relevant consideration, since you can't predict it and your level of interest in what you're doing will affect it more than the program itself.

Med school and physiotherapy school are professional schools, not graduate schools. If you're considering grad school, they tend to be looking for different things than professional schools.

choose the program that fits your interest the most.

I can definitely understand the confusion. If your have varied interests or want to pursue a minor, I would go with honours bio. It gives you the flexibility to choose what you like, meaning you can avoid notoriously difficult courses if you like (helping your GPA), along with an optional thesis (whether you want grad or professional school). You can combine most of the courses from the other two programs as well, assuming you meet the pre reqs. Simply put, the other two programs are more prescriptive and less flexible. But remember, your most likely to do well if you enjoy what your doing. GL!

Originally Posted by mike4

I can definitely understand the confusion. If your have varied interests or want to pursue a minor, I would go with honours bio. It gives you the flexibility to choose what you like, meaning you can avoid notoriously difficult courses if you like (helping your GPA), along with an optional thesis (whether you want grad or professional school). You can combine most of the courses from the other two programs as well, assuming you meet the pre reqs. Simply put, the other two programs are more prescriptive and less flexible. But remember, your most likely to do well if you enjoy what your doing. GL!

Core biochem also has quite a few electives, and an optional thesis. Many of the "good" biochem courses aren't available to people in honours bio, such as 2BB3, 3D03 (which is quite the GPA booster!) etc).
You're recommending bio because you're in bio (and presumably in bio for a reason ). I'm recommending biochem because I have the most experience with that program/those courses. I also hate the way the bio dept is run and would never want anything to do with them. At the end of the day, it depends what the OP likes. Personally, I would hate to be in bio or mol bio. When I was picking programs, I didn't apply to general bio, and mol bio was my last choice and the easiest one to rule out. There are probably tons of people who enjoy both of those programs, though. This really isn't a decision other people can make, nor is it one that should be made based on other people's opinions of these programs (ie, don't not go into bio because you heard that I hate it ).

Choosing a program is pretty hard. I applied for Mol Bio, Physiology, and Honours Bio and I picked Mol Bio. To be honest, I randomly picked Mol Bio above the others. Luckily I think I chose the right program, having since taken some physio courses and not really enjoying them as much as my mol bio classes. I didn't really get a taste for my program until 3rd year though. So just try to pick what you think you'll be most interested in, sample a few courses from other programs in 2nd year, and go from there!

You need to look at your interest in the material & the courses, and your preferences for electives, a minor, thesis, and co-op. A thesis is optional in Biology and Biochemistry, whereas it is mandatory in Mol Bio. Co-op is offered in Biochem and Mol Bio. Biology allows more electives than Mol Bio (we don't really have that many) and people have told me that third year Biochem (core) has a good amount of elective space too. More elective space means you could do a minor, shadow the programs/courses you're interested in, or take easier courses to boost your GPA.

You can apply to your preferred professional school from anyone of these programs as long as you fulfil the pre-reqs, so you should really just choose whichever program interests you the most. At the end of the day you will do well in what you like. It might even lead to other career options, and that's always a good thing.

The way I did it was by looking at the upper year courses for each program in the online undergrad calendar and seeing whether I liked what was being taught. Also, reflect on what you liked during first year. Which part of biology did you like the most? Did you enjoy chemistry? Which do you think you will want to learn more about? I applied to Molecular Biology and Genetics, Biology, Bio - Physiology, and Biopsych. I chose the first one without much hesitation because I knew I really enjoyed the second half of Bio 1A03. It was by far the most interesting part of first year for me, I liked the upper year courses, and I wanted the co-op option.

Good luck making your decision!

Thanks so much to everyone for their advice and input! I really appreciate it.
But actually, I applied for Biochem with biomed specialization... so I realized there isn't that much room for elective choice, compared to the core biochem.
I like most of the biochem specific courses as well as mostly molecular bio courses (not evolution, ecology, etc.) in terms of science courses.
If I took molecular bio & genetics, I could still take most of the biochem courses (like 2B03, 2BB3, etc.), while having slightly more flexibility than the biochem (biomed specialization)?
Thanks!

Originally Posted by sarahyuan

Thanks so much to everyone for their advice and input! I really appreciate it.
But actually, I applied for Biochem with biomed specialization... so I realized there isn't that much room for elective choice, compared to the core biochem.
I like most of the biochem specific courses as well as mostly molecular bio courses (not evolution, ecology, etc.) in terms of science courses.
If I took molecular bio & genetics, I could still take most of the biochem courses (like 2B03, 2BB3, etc.), while having slightly more flexibility than the biochem (biomed specialization)?
Thanks!

I believe you could take most of the biochem courses (by taking 2B03+2BB3 and then 3D03, you should have most of the prereqs covered). I'm not sure how many electives you get in mol bio--I think someone said on another thread that it's not actually that many. Look at the course calendar to see, and also compare the courses between biochem and mol bio to see which program has more required courses that you're interested in.
You can easily switch from the biomed specialization to core biochem during/after second year. In second year the courses are the same for core and the specializations, it's only in third year that it differs. Many people will choose to drop to core, and some will pick up specializations, depending on what their goals are.

Originally Posted by nerual

I believe you could take most of the biochem courses (by taking 2B03+2BB3 and then 3D03, you should have most of the prereqs covered). I'm not sure how many electives you get in mol bio--I think someone said on another thread that it's not actually that many. Look at the course calendar to see, and also compare the courses between biochem and mol bio to see which program has more required courses that you're interested in.
You can easily switch from the biomed specialization to core biochem during/after second year. In second year the courses are the same for core and the specializations, it's only in third year that it differs. Many people will choose to drop to core, and some will pick up specializations, depending on what their goals are.

You get a decent amount of electives, it's just a matter of the range of courses you want to take. But there are biochem courses that are in the program course list so you don't necessarily have to use your electives if those biochem courses are the only ones you want to take. I think those are included in the program course list because they relate to molecular biology and/or genetics. I remember 2B03 was about DNA/RNA and 4E03 was about stem cells which included things like gene regulation as well as tools which can be applied to gene therapy.

Originally Posted by nerual

You're recommending bio because you're in bio (and presumably in bio for a reason ). I'm recommending biochem because I have the most experience with that program/those courses. I also hate the way the bio dept is run and would never want anything to do with them. At the end of the day, it depends what the OP likes. Personally, I would hate to be in bio or mol bio. When I was picking programs, I didn't apply to general bio, and mol bio was my last choice and the easiest one to rule out. There are probably tons of people who enjoy both of those programs, though.

LOL I only said to in terms of flexibility, no bias in material (didn't know biochem was also flexible). But department IS run terribly...lets call that part a regret

Originally Posted by sarahyuan

Thanks so much to everyone for their advice and input! I really appreciate it.
But actually, I applied for Biochem with biomed specialization... so I realized there isn't that much room for elective choice, compared to the core biochem.
I like most of the biochem specific courses as well as mostly molecular bio courses (not evolution, ecology, etc.) in terms of science courses.
If I took molecular bio & genetics, I could still take most of the biochem courses (like 2B03, 2BB3, etc.), while having slightly more flexibility than the biochem (biomed specialization)?
Thanks!

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...13/pg1930.html
The mol bio course list actually has a number of biochem courses you can take which don't count as electives in the Molecular Biology and Genetics program, including 2B03 and 2BB3. You have 8 electives in the program (years 2-4), 7 if you didn't take Physics 1B03 in first year.

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...13/pg1515.html
In the Biochem - Biomed specialization, you have at most 6 electives in years 2-4. But here, you could drop out of the specialization and take core biochem, which has more elective space.

If you're interested in biochem courses other than the ones listed in the Mol Bio course list, then consider the biochem specialization, you can always drop out to core biochem. Or you could take those biochem courses you're interested in as part of your mol bio electives, but there aren't that many electives to begin with.

Also, I think I'll need to take two terms of English courses and two terms of Humanities courses. Do you guys know which elective courses from those two departments are the easiest? I really just need them to keep up my GPA as best as possible, because I would normally have no interest in English at all.

Originally Posted by sarahyuan

Also, I think I'll need to take two terms of English courses and two terms of Humanities courses. Do you guys know which elective courses from those two departments are the easiest? I really just need them to keep up my GPA as best as possible, because I would normally have no interest in English at all.

English is in the humanities... Of the first year english courses, I've heard long genres is harder than short genres for what its worth..

Oh yeah, true. sorry i meant social sciences then.
Are Psych 1X03 and 1XX3 considered two terms of social science courses?