Hey, my name is Kashini.
Totally looking forward to coming to Mac!! I'm a first-year student for Psychology under Soc Sci.
The problem is, I'm interested in the Honours Biology and Psychology program, which is under Science.
Just wondeirng if theres anyone in the same boat, or anyone who has already sailed in this boat or anyone with some tips in general ?!!

Thank you!

The best thing you can do is talk to an academic advisor, they'll be able to give much more detailed info on exactly what do do for your situation.

Going into a second year program for a different faculty isn't too difficult from an administrative standpoint, you apply the same way you would for a second year program in your own faculty (you'd apply to it in late first year, and find out if you got in when grades are released).

The most difficult thing is going to be getting the pre-reqs. The required courses for admission to the Honours Biology and Psychology program can be found here: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...nt/pg1533.html

You need a lot of courses from the faculty of Science, and I know others have had issues with getting waivers. I'm not sure exactly who you would contact for that, although the Associate Dean of Science is a great place to start. There's another member who recently went through a similar situation (switching into Science from Commerce), I'll PM her to see if she can give you better info.

I was actually in the BioPsych program until just recently, it is definitely a cool program. Good luck!

You'll be taking Bio 1A03 during the summer unless they changed the rules radically to let in non science students which I don't think they have. It's very doable but it is compressed so you'll need to stay on top of the readings, lab work and lecture notes. This course was the only one I had to wait till the summer of first year to get a waiver for, other courses didn't mandate one.
Apart from that, you'll probably be carrying a full science course load. It can get heavy at times but if you've taken science in high school, you'll definitely be okay. The most confusing thing I found about switching over is having to give my little "schpeel" when people asked what program I was in.
Another thing you may want to look into is Chem. You need an 80% or higher in grade 12 Chem in order to get into Chem 1A03. If you only have Chem from grade 11, you'll need to take Chem 1R03 and take both Chem's in the summer. I'm not sure how that would affect your transfer. Any offer you get for a bio program will be conditional. I went into Chem Bio but I just finished Bio 1A03 last month, so it was conditional on completing that. It's a bit late though and you may still have more questions so feel free to fire away and I'll respond as best I can

ahhaa, I know what you mean by the whole what program you're in scpheel...
I took Chem in Gr11, but I didn't in Grade 12. I'm going to be taking it in summer school though just as preparation for next year..
I don't plan on having it count towards my transcript or anything, but it seems like I may have to talk to someone if I do want to take 1A03. A friend of mine who just finished her first year said that because the Science people have their SOLAR registration tmrw, and Social Sci people have theirs on the 30th, the science courses/classes might be full. She told me to try anyway and that I most likely won't get them, so to have backups in case BUT that I need to make sure I talk to an academic advisor ASAP after SOLAR so they can try to get me a spot.
Also, say you're taking courses in the summer, that are needed in order to get into a prgram, do they bother considering those courses or does it depend on the program??

I have a friend going into second-year who is doing/has done the exact same thing as you. I believe he goes by "TheCheese"on these forums if you want to message him.

From what I have gathered from numerous conversations with him, it wasn't too difficult to switch - the only problem he is facing is getting the biology and chemistry prerequisites. As already mentioned, these classes fill up quickly, and it would be better to get them over with sooner rather than later. So, I think my friend would recommend trying to do chemistry and biology in first-year, or at least in the summer after first-year.

However, my friend did get many prerequisites waived for second-year psychology classes, so perhaps the prerequisites are not overly important.

You shouldn't have too much trouble getting a seat in Chem, there's like 4-5 cores usually, and people tend to drop it so more spots open up closer to September.

That's very comforting to know !! I was wondering how many courses I might have to end up taking in the summer : |
Hey, I noticed you're a SOC Welcome Week Rep. I'm going to be living off res for first year, but literally across the street from the Med Centre. Can't wait for WelcomeWeek

Well, the max you can do is four, but you probably won't need to do that many.

Welcome Week is going to be a blast, especially with SOCS! This is going to be my third time, I can't get enough :p Make sure to come out to all the events!

I find it hard to imagine that the science courses would be full. I mean...maybe the Physics? But that's about it. Yes, I would definitely advise talking to an academic advisor. If you get an 80% in Grade 12 Chemistry, that should let you into Chem 1A03. Because, if you take Chem 1R03 in first term, Chem 1A03 will be offered first term too. Chem 1AA3 (2nd part) is offered in term two. There's no way you'll be able to take Chem 1R03 and any other Chem until summer. I only needed to take Bio 1A03 and since Chemical Biology mandates Bio, I got a conditional offer, same as you did for acceptance to Mac. My offer was conditional on completing Bio so yes, they did take my summer course into account. I finished Phys 1B03 in the summer so as not to have to deal with it during the year and I'm taking English because I enjoy it. But a conditional offer with 3 summer courses? I'm not sure if they would do that. You'd need to get the Chem situation sorted out right away so that you don't end up shadowing the program in 2nd year too

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

I find it hard to imagine that the science courses would be full. I mean...maybe the Physics? But that's about it. Yes, I would definitely advise talking to an academic advisor. If you get an 80% in Grade 12 Chemistry, that should let you into Chem 1A03. Because, if you take Chem 1R03 in first term, Chem 1A03 will be offered first term too. Chem 1AA3 (2nd part) is offered in term two. There's no way you'll be able to take Chem 1R03 and any other Chem until summer. I only needed to take Bio 1A03 and since Chemical Biology mandates Bio, I got a conditional offer, same as you did for acceptance to Mac. My offer was conditional on completing Bio so yes, they did take my summer course into account. I finished Phys 1B03 in the summer so as not to have to deal with it during the year and I'm taking English because I enjoy it. But a conditional offer with 3 summer courses? I'm not sure if they would do that. You'd need to get the Chem situation sorted out right away so that you don't end up shadowing the program in 2nd year too

So when you apply for majors in second year they will give you conditional offers if you don't have the required course? Is it possible to receive a waiver and be allowed to take Bio 1A03 in first year even if you aren't in science?

Originally Posted by kash.ini

I took Chem in Gr11, but I didn't in Grade 12. I'm going to be taking it in summer school though just as preparation for next year..
I don't plan on having it count towards my transcript or anything, but it seems like I may have to talk to someone if I do want to take 1A03. A friend of mine who just finished her first year said that because the Science people have their SOLAR registration tmrw, and Social Sci people have theirs on the 30th, the science courses/classes might be full. She told me to try anyway and that I most likely won't get them, so to have backups in case BUT that I need to make sure I talk to an academic advisor ASAP after SOLAR so they can try to get me a spot.

Getting a spot in the course is probably less of an issue than being allowed to register. Since you don't have gr12 chem right now and aren't in a science program, SOLAR won't let you register whether there's room or not, since you don't have the pre-req. You might have to wait until you've completed gr12 chem in the summer (and get over 80%), and then tell the chem dept that you have the prereq so they are aware of it and can get SOLAR to let you register. You likely won't be able to register when you first get on SOLAR.

Originally Posted by vp15

So when you apply for majors in second year they will give you conditional offers if you don't have the required course? Is it possible to receive a waiver and be allowed to take Bio 1A03 in first year even if you aren't in science?

Yeah I'm having this problem too; I have 12U Biology, and I added the Health Safety/Lab Courses as well, but it still says that I cannot take Bio 1A03.

Originally Posted by changturkey

Yeah I'm having this problem too; I have 12U Biology, and I added the Health Safety/Lab Courses as well, but it still says that I cannot take Bio 1A03.

Are you in the faculty of science? If so, then email them at [email protected] to ask why you're having this problem. Also, make sure you added both Sci 1A00 AND Hth Sci 1BS0...they didn't require 1BS0 when I was in first year (apparently, it was our epic failure when handling bacteria that made this course necessary), but I think now both courses are corequisites for Bio 1A03.

Originally Posted by nerual

Are you in the faculty of science? If so, then email them at [email protected] to ask why you're having this problem. Also, make sure you added both Sci 1A00 AND Hth Sci 1BS0...they didn't require 1BS0 when I was in first year (apparently, it was our epic failure when handling bacteria that made this course necessary), but I think now both courses are corequisites for Bio 1A03.

Yeah I added both, but I am not in the faculty of Science. I emailed them about it though.