I'll be coming to mac in sept. and i've been looking over various programs that i could get into in the future. If you take eng & society do you have to pick a minor or can you take random courses ? Also if I were to take society can I minor in anything ? including physics or astronomy ? they don't sound as society based minors but then again i saw the minor in biochem on the mac site: http://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/engandsoc/electives.html

Originally Posted by LukeEngineer

I'll be coming to mac in sept. and i've been looking over various programs that i could get into in the future. If you take eng & society do you have to pick a minor or can you take random courses ? Also if I were to take society can I minor in anything ? including physics or astronomy ? they don't sound as society based minors but then again i saw the minor in biochem on the mac site: http://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/engandsoc/electives.html

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...nt/pg1202.html

Take a look at that. There are many kinds of Engineering and Society. Most of them looks as if you cannot minor in anything due to the lack of electives.

Originally Posted by LukeEngineer

I'll be coming to mac in sept. and i've been looking over various programs that i could get into in the future. If you take eng & society do you have to pick a minor or can you take random courses ? Also if I were to take society can I minor in anything ? including physics or astronomy ? they don't sound as society based minors but then again i saw the minor in biochem on the mac site: http://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/engandsoc/electives.html

Society doesn't really want you to take random courses. You're asked to choose and describe a "focus" when you get accepted into it, but it doesn't necessarily have to be a minor. A common example would be a focus on "pop culture", and that would allow you to take Music courses, Theatre and Film courses, History courses, etc. They just don't want you to use Society to take random first-year courses to boost up your mark, so if you go in with a set plan then you're fine.

And yes Jackie, I did steal that example from you.

You don't necessarily have to pick one of the minors mentioned on the website; as long as McMaster offers a minor in that program then anyone in Society is eligible. You're best off exploring the registrar's site and seeing what minors are offered. Minors in Astronomy or Physics are indeed possible, as long as you complete the requirements mentioned in the following links:

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...nt/pg1623.html

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...nt/pg1624.html

Originally Posted by jhan523

Most of them looks as if you cannot minor in anything due to the lack of electives.

Hmm... I'm not sure if this is true. You get 18 units of electives with Society (less with International Studies) and you need 24 units to get a minor. So if you take even one required class as a first year elective, and you don't mind taking a summer class here and there, it shouldn't be too hard to get a minor in most subjects. Some faculties are tricky though because they have a LOT of required courses for a minor. But its definitely possible.

If you were going to minor in something like physics, you should talk to an academic advisor b/c I think there's some rule that classes that count toward your degree (i.e. NON elective courses) can't count toward a minor. So for example if you're in Eng Phys, you can't use an Eng Phys required class like Phys 2D03 to count toward you minor. (I think.)

Originally Posted by Geek

Hmm... I'm not sure if this is true. You get 18 units of electives with Society (less with International Studies) and you need 24 units to get a minor. So if you take even one required class as a first year elective, and you don't mind taking a summer class here and there, it shouldn't be too hard to get a minor in most subjects. Some faculties are tricky though because they have a LOT of required courses for a minor. But its definitely possible.

If you were going to minor in something like physics, you should talk to an academic advisor b/c I think there's some rule that classes that count toward your degree (i.e. NON elective courses) can't count toward a minor. So for example if you're in Eng Phys, you can't use an Eng Phys required class like Phys 2D03 to count toward you minor. (I think.)

You would have to take courses that do not go towards your degree, so you are paying extra tuition for a minor and in my opinion it's not worth the extra money. It's only 6 units, but you would have 0 "electives" since you HAVE to take those courses to minor. Not to mention that you aren't guaranteed a spot in the courses.

Hey i was just wondering, im going into Materials Engineering and Society and I wanted to go for a minor in business. Apparently the website says i have to take Anthropology. Is this just a recommended course, or do I actually have to take it to be in the Society program?

^ Check the undergrad calender and look for Matls & Society and see what is required

Originally Posted by jhan523

You would have to take courses that do not go towards your degree, so you are paying extra tuition for a minor and in my opinion it's not worth the extra money. It's only 6 units, but you would have 0 "electives" since you HAVE to take those courses to minor. Not to mention that you aren't guaranteed a spot in the courses.

It might kind of seem like a waste, but if you're already passionate enough about a subject to minor in it, you can't really say you get no electives since you're using those electives towards a minor anyway. Also with a little effort and decent Solar skills you can get a spot pretty easily. =p

Originally Posted by JulianGayah

Hey i was just wondering, im going into Materials Engineering and Society and I wanted to go for a minor in business. Apparently the website says i have to take Anthropology. Is this just a recommended course, or do I actually have to take it to be in the Society program?

I'm also in Materials and Society and going for a business minor. The Anthro class is only required for the International Studies program, which is essentially Society with an international twist. I don't see anything wrong with it, but it just cuts back on the number of electives I have.

See here for the required courses.

If you're going for a minor in Business, then if you took both Econs in first year you've already done 6/24 units, so the 18 units of electives Society offers is perfect for you.

Also, I still recommend taking classes in the summer if that's an option for you, since it does make your four remaining school years a lot easier.

Originally Posted by Entropy

And yes Jackie, I did steal that example from you.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUU UUUUUUUUUUUUU--

Man, I came on here expecting to write up something big, but you guys have said everything!

Do society! It's fun, relaxing, you get to do courses you CHOOSE, you like them, and the profs for society are super awesome and enthusiastic

ENJOY!


oh! And i did a couple summer courses to get to the 24 units i need to have a minor in theatre and film studies, as well as adding in my 1st year electives. One course to go! (if anything fits... :/)

Thanks a lot for the help, but now I need advice. I only took microeconomics in first year, so I still have to do macro. Is the international twist recommended, or should I use the space to do the extra business courses I need?

Just got two questions. If I do Eng and Soc, cause that's what I've always been seriously considering, can I go for a minor that isn't on the link above? And with the 6 electives for first year, I can technically do my minor if I put all my electives towards it without taking summer school or something, right?

Cause if so I'll switch out of econ now because I'm probably not gonna go for management anyway :x

Originally Posted by Zimonada

Just got two questions. If I do Eng and Soc, cause that's what I've always been seriously considering, can I go for a minor that isn't on the link above? And with the 6 electives for first year, I can technically do my minor if I put all my electives towards it without taking summer school or something, right?

Cause if so I'll switch out of econ now because I'm probably not gonna go for management anyway :x

You can minor in anything you want, as long as the department offers a minor program. Some minors are trickier than others though because of how many required classes there are, and if its a small program, some courses may only be offered every other year, etc.
Technically yes, you can do your minor without taking summer school but you may want to be prepared for scheduling conflicts between minor courses and required courses, that may force you to overload/take a class in summer etc. It's not as big a deal as it sounds... most people at least try to get a minor in something with Society, so you'll have a ton of people to talk to for advice.

Originally Posted by Geek

You can minor in anything you want, as long as the department offers a minor program. Some minors are trickier than others though because of how mnay required classes there are, and if ts a small program, some courses may only be offered every other year, etc.
Technically yes, you can do your minor without taking summer school but you may want to be prepared for scheduling conflicts between minor courses and required courses, that may force you to overload/take a class in summer etc. It's not as big a deal as it sounds... most people at least try to get a minor in something with Society, so you'll have a ton of people to talk to for advice.

You can't minor in something if your program requires you to take more than 6 units of that minor, or something like that.