Originally Posted by Bernard

What are your back-up programs in case you don't get into biochem? I would recommend taking psych 1XX3. It's an easier course than 1X03 IMO because they don't try to trick you as much with the MC questions and it was more biology based, which I liked. Also, some of the material overlaps with material from Bio 1A03 so that was an added bonus. And last year, because they needed so many more experimetrix volunteers, they made the final exam worth 8% less, which gave us a lot more leeway in case we didn't do well on the final. The only annoying thing about the course might be the group research paper, but if you get a good group, you should be fine.

So far, my back-ups are Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics, Honours Biology and Pharmacology, and Honours Chemical Biology. That's it for now seeing as I went through the Undergraduate Calendar they mailed me looking for which programs had co-op's. I know all of those are limited enrollment, but I just really don't want to take PSYCH 1XX3 if I don't need to; neuroscience isn't a huge interest of mine and I don't want it to possibly lower my CA.

Originally Posted by jenpower

So far, my back-ups are Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics, Honours Biology and Pharmacology, and Honours Chemical Biology. That's it for now seeing as I went through the Undergraduate Calendar they mailed me looking for which programs had co-op's. I know all of those are limited enrollment, but I just really don't want to take PSYCH 1XX3 if I don't need to; neuroscience isn't a huge interest of mine and I don't want it to possibly lower my CA.

Your choices of programs sound a lot like what I was interested as well. So in your case I think taking psych 1XX3 is beneficial only if you'd like to apply for Honours Life Science which is unlimited enrollment. With that in mind, I think you should take psych 1XX3 if you aren't too confident in your marks just so you can apply to Honours Life Science.

Originally Posted by jenpower

So far, my back-ups are Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics, Honours Biology and Pharmacology, and Honours Chemical Biology. That's it for now seeing as I went through the Undergraduate Calendar they mailed me looking for which programs had co-op's. I know all of those are limited enrollment, but I just really don't want to take PSYCH 1XX3 if I don't need to; neuroscience isn't a huge interest of mine and I don't want it to possibly lower my CA.

I think you should take Psych 1XX3 not only because it opens more options in second year but it might help you discover things you didn't know you liked.

Before coming to university, I had no interest in psychology and no interest in majoring in it.
But after taking a couple of psych courses I'm considering switching into a psych program!

My point is, don't rule out psych just because you think you may not like it. Don't set your mind on just Biochem because there are so many other exciting fields in science in addition to biochem.

I think in first year you should pick courses you're interested in and not necessarily taking courses to satisfy second year program requirements.
For example, for Biology (Physiology) you can get conditional offers even if you have not completed Physics 1B03 as long as you meet the cut-off CA.
The same applies for Life Science II and Psych 1XX3.

So my point it, you don't have to take the required courses for a second year program in first year because you can still get into it and you may change your mind about what you want to go into!

Take courses you're interested in because in the end your CA matters more than if you're missing a required course.

I remembered a way to get the cut-offs info I posted a few months ago.

Enjoy!

Originally Posted by BlueWave

For example, for Biology (Physiology) you can get conditional offers even if you have not completed Physics 1B03 as long as you meet the cut-off CA.
The same applies for Life Science II and Psych 1XX3.

So there are conditional offers for Life Science II regarding Psych 1XX3 that I could take in 2nd year?

I don't doubt that I'll achieve the cut off marks for Biochemistry, I like to consider myself pretty intelligent, that being said, I have no idea how my marks will change from high school to university. The only reason I'm worried is if there just happen to be a tonne of students with really high CA's in my year that get into Biochem ahead of me.

Originally Posted by jenpower

So there are conditional offers for Life Science II regarding Psych 1XX3 that I could take in 2nd year?

I don't doubt that I'll achieve the cut off marks for Biochemistry, I like to consider myself pretty intelligent, that being said, I have no idea how my marks will change from high school to university. The only reason I'm worried is if there just happen to be a tonne of students with really high CA's in my year that get into Biochem ahead of me.

Yes you can a conditional offer for Life Science II and complete Psych 1XX3 during the summer or during second year. I did Psych 1XX3 in the summer and it was great! (no group project and only one course to focus on).

Also, if the cut-off for biochem is an 8, I think that is a reasonable average to get in with because an 8 is equal to a B = 73-76%
http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...ent/pg145.html

Also, I would recommend sitting in some upper year biochem classes to see if you like the material. Don't stop at biochem, sit in upper year psych/cell bio/physio/molecular bio/chem lectures to see which fields you're interested in!

Don't worry, apply to everything you want, your average might be better than you expected and you never know you might get in!

honestly I think its way to soon to be thinking about what program u want to get into.
It's only july, u havent even started university yet
U never know that u might not want to do biochem when time comes to pick ur program
I know this because I was like u
At first i was like I'm going into biochem for sureee then after I went through first year I decided that I dont want to do biochem and I like bio better
And if u dont want to take psych 1xx3 then dont take it, dont force urself to take anything
if u end up choosing a program that needs 1xx3 then u can have a conditional offer saying that u will take it by the end of 2nd year (yes this is possible)
Anyway 1XX3 is 2nd term course so there's enough time to decide if u want to take it or not so just enjoy ur summer for now

Your back ups are just as (if not more) competitive as your first choice so I dunno if they really count as back-ups. They don't differ much and like you said your year might be different but they're still not safe enough to be a back up.

Honestly I found Psych1XX3 super tedious, especially the pbl. If you want to take something else then just take something else. I think most programs with psych 1xx3 as a prereq have a similar cut off as biochem?

psych 1xx3 is neuropsychology, which is more "sciency" compared to the material in 1X03 which is mostly social psychology, so keep that in mind when deciding whether or not to take it
and just a heads up from a person in biochem, it's definitely a lot of lab work (especially if you're in specialization), so if you're not really a lab person, may not be the best program..likewise for chembio