Originally Posted by doppelganger

adeola? its manjot. i never knew u used macinsiders!

Hey Manjot, yup its me.
I didn't know you had macinsiders either lol.

Originally Posted by doppelganger

@sara, have you ever done this yourself? how is the transfer process?

it really sucks that my average was only 0.1 credits off

I agree, it really does suck, but it's not the end of the world. Second year biology programs are very similar in terms of courses, so you won't be missing out too much if you apply next year. With regards to the transfer, I haven't done it myself but I've asked the academic advisors as to how it works and I know a lot of friends who have gone through it. Basically, you look at the course requirements for the program you want in this case Honours Bio and once course registration begins, take as many of these courses as you can, unless there are restrictions, but I don't think there are any for the Bio core program. And in mid-February/early March of next year you need to go to the Associate Dean's office and speak to the academic advisors where they will add your name to the list of people being considered for the program. A committee from the Biology department then reviews all the applicants in May and you find out at the end of May following second year, just as how it was this year. Let me know if you have any more questions

Originally Posted by Purple2309

I feel your pain! I was .1 credits off the cutoffs for Honours Bio Physio and it was my first choice.

You can do the same thing for Honours Bio (Physio) as well

Keep in mind however, that you'll need to be competitive and there needs to be seats available in the program!

Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~

Basically, you look at the course requirements for the program you want in this case Honours Bio and once course registration begins, take as many of these courses as you can, unless there are restrictions, but I don't think there are any for the Bio core program. And in mid-February/early March of next year you need to go to the Associate Dean's office and speak to the academic advisors where they will add your name to the list of people being considered for the program. A committee from the Biology department then reviews all the applicants in May and you find out at the end of May following second year, just as how it was this year. Let me know if you have any more questions

If I do this and there isn't a seat for me by the end of 2nd year, will I potentially have some problems for Life Science III?

Originally Posted by doppelganger

If I do this and there isn't a seat for me by the end of 2nd year, will I potentially have some problems for Life Science III?

If you plan it out well beforehand, you shouldn't. Also, note that Life Science gets a lot of electives, so it's like you're taking all your Life Sci courses to get into level III just in case, while taking the required courses for Honours Bio as your Life Sci electives. Also, courses like Bio 2F03 is equivalent to Life Sci 2F03 or Bio 2B03 is equal to Life Sci 2B03 so it counts towards both Honours Bio and Life Sci programs. Here are the two pages for the 2 programs: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...12/pg1538.html and http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...12/pg1957.html

I emailed Kathy Mcintosh and she informed me that the Honours biology program cutoffs are as follows

Honours Biology - 8.5
Honours Biology (Physiology) - 9.3
Honours Molecular Biology and Genetics - 8.6

Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~

I agree, it really does suck, but it's not the end of the world. Second year biology programs are very similar in terms of courses, so you won't be missing out too much if you apply next year. With regards to the transfer, I haven't done it myself but I've asked the academic advisors as to how it works and I know a lot of friends who have gone through it. Basically, you look at the course requirements for the program you want in this case Honours Bio and once course registration begins, take as many of these courses as you can, unless there are restrictions, but I don't think there are any for the Bio core program. And in mid-February/early March of next year you need to go to the Associate Dean's office and speak to the academic advisors where they will add your name to the list of people being considered for the program. A committee from the Biology department then reviews all the applicants in May and you find out at the end of May following second year, just as how it was this year. Let me know if you have any more questions



You can do the same thing for Honours Bio (Physio) as well

Keep in mind however, that you'll need to be competitive and there needs to be seats available in the program!

Thank you very much Sara.
But I think I'll just stick with Honours Biology since they are kind of similar.

Originally Posted by Purple2309

Thank you very much Sara.
But I think I'll just stick with Honours Biology since they are kind of similar.

You're very welcome . You're right they are very similar, especially in 2nd year bio courses and even some of 3rd year courses. With Honours Bio, you just get more freedom in terms of electives and such. Honours Bio (Physio) has more of a focus on physiology but covers a lot of the other Bio courses as well. And besides, you still have plenty of time, if you choose to take Bio 2A03 and find that Physio is something you want to continue with, you can always change it around. It's not set in stone or anything

Also, thank you for the update on cut-offs!