Hi, what is the difference between...
1) Honours Biochemistry (Biotechnology Specialization Co-op)
2) Honours Biochemistry (Biomedical Sciences Specialization Co-op)

I have to apply for OUAC, and these are the options. So what is the difference?
What cources are different? how are they different?

I know first year is Life science in general and then you go into biochem. About how many ppl get in biochem? What minimum GPA required?

ANY information will be helpful



Are coop relatively easy to find? where would the coop placements be?

for anybody taking biochem, how is it? how hard is it? profs?
How are the careers prospects AFTER you do masters in biochem? demand/salary.

Originally Posted by hellomoto208

Hi, what is the difference between...
1) Honours Biochemistry (Biotechnology Specialization Co-op)
2) Honours Biochemistry (Biomedical Sciences Specialization Co-op)

I have to apply for OUAC, and these are the options. So what is the difference?
What cources are different? how are they different?

I know first year is Life science in general and then you go into biochem. About how many ppl get in biochem? What minimum GPA required?

ANY information will be helpful



Are coop relatively easy to find? where would the coop placements be?

for anybody taking biochem, how is it? how hard is it? profs?
How are the careers prospects AFTER you do masters in biochem? demand/salary.

If you're just applying for OUAC then the differences are irrelevant. They just use this info for planning purposes and it doesn't commit you to anything nor does it guarantee you a spot in these programs after first year.

The programs are similar but a few courses in 3rd and 4th year are different. You can look at the course calendar to see which ones, along with a brief description of each course. I don't think there are that many that are different.

I believe about 120 get into biochem in total, and ~20-40 per specialization. They may have changed it in the last few years though so I don't know how current those numbers are.

The minimum GPA depends on the number of people applying and what their GPAs are. Same as when you apply for first year, the university decides how many people it will accept (for example, they will send out 150 acceptances) lists everyone from highest GPA to lowest and the top 150 people will get in. The "cutoff" GPA is the GPA of the 150th person.
For most second year programs, generally above a 10 will get you in wherever you want.

You apply for co-op in second year to start in third year, and that has an interview as well.

Co-op jobs are mostly on your own to find, and it's not that easy.

If you just have a masters, it's not really going to get you anywhere. You'll probably be doing benchwork for some company with not a lot of job security. Even PhD graduates have difficulty finding jobs, often you need to do 1-2 postdocs - this is based on my experience working in labs in the biochem department at Mac and talking to Masters and PhD graduates and students there, as well as a lot of the guest speakers they'd have come in.

so most probably even a PhD wont get you anywhere?

Originally Posted by hellomoto208

so most probably even a PhD wont get you anywhere?

Depends what you want to do. Many jobs require a PhD, but also a postdoc.

The cut-off this year was 9.0

Im deciding between chemical engineering and bioengineering vs biochemistry.
If i do chem/bio engineering im going to do my masters.

For chem eng im just worried i wont be able to find jobs in ontario, with a good salary. Or i would go there. Both the fields interest me.

for engineering, youd have to go into engineering. for biochem, youd have to do first year science.

dont worry about any of the stuff you asked earlier now. just get into your program. science or engineering. you can figure the other stuff out later.

Originally Posted by hellomoto208

For chem eng im just worried i wont be able to find jobs in ontario, with a good salary. Or i would go there. Both the fields interest me.

Chemical engineers get high salaries, and there are jobs in Ontario too. Lots of people confuse chem eng with petroleum engineering. You should study something you like and forget about jobs now...you'll get a good job in engineering if you know what you're doing.

Originally Posted by starfish

If you just have a masters, it's not really going to get you anywhere. You'll probably be doing benchwork for some company with not a lot of job security. Even PhD graduates have difficulty finding jobs, often you need to do 1-2 postdocs - this is based on my experience working in labs in the biochem department at Mac and talking to Masters and PhD graduates and students there, as well as a lot of the guest speakers they'd have come in.

I really wouldn't suggest taking this information into account when making your decision into what program you want to do. Yes good jobs are hard to find, but this is highly anecdotal and certainly doesn't meet what I would say is evidence for how the future will work out.

Originally Posted by Philipp31

I really wouldn't suggest taking this information into account when making your decision into what program you want to do. Yes good jobs are hard to find, but this is highly anecdotal and certainly doesn't meet what I would say is evidence for how the future will work out.

I agree...but it's really the only way to answer the OP's question, since it was asked directly.

Anyways, the same applies for most science programs...it's not like there's much of a difference in how good a job you'll get with a masters in biochem vs chem vs bio or anything like that. Definitely shouldn't be used to decide on a program.

Also, if you're interested in engineering but not sure if you want eng or just plain biochem, it is possible to do a biochem undergrad degree and then masters in biomedical engineering.

If you're thinking about chem/bio eng, it would be a good idea to go into eng I and see whether or not you like the idea of continuing with engineering. Its always easier to switch from eng to science than from science to engineering.