Hello everyone. I'm a HS student that's been accepted to McMaster's life sciences program. I'm leaning heavily towards it, but I was wondering about the prospect of grad school after the life science undergrad. Is McMaster life sciences a good program to prepare for graduate school? Do a decent amount of lifesci students get into graduate school? I hear that the grad schools don't really look at what program/school you come from, but will I be ready for it if I go into Mac life sciences?

Thank you so much!

your first year of science here is pretty much generalized. near the end of the year you will apply to different science programs such as biochem, chemistry, physics...whatever you want to. you wont need to stay in life sci for 4 years. most people dont. and about grad school, i dont hear of many people going for life sci...life sci isnt too specific in what you learn compared to the other programs you will apply to at the end of first year

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hello everyone. I'm a HS student that's been accepted to McMaster's life sciences program. I'm leaning heavily towards it, but I was wondering about the prospect of grad school after the life science undergrad. Is McMaster life sciences a good program to prepare for graduate school? Do a decent amount of lifesci students get into graduate school? I hear that the grad schools don't really look at what program/school you come from, but will I be ready for it if I go into Mac life sciences?

Thank you so much!

I don't think that's true. Especially if you're going to do research in grad school, most schools would likely want to see you specialize (ie. biochem, chembio) rather than stay in life sci.

Originally Posted by MichaelScarn

I don't think that's true. Especially if you're going to do research in grad school, most schools would likely want to see you specialize (ie. biochem, chembio) rather than stay in life sci.

I think that's just because the specializations have courses surrounding research, but life science students also have courses that can get them research experience such as 3RP3, 4A03, 4B06, 4C09.

Thanks for the replies!

I guess you're both right. What about if I specialize (say, I decide to go into biochem after first year)? Would something like biochem at McMaster be good for graduate school? And if they do look at program/school, would a specialization like biochem at Mac be looked at as a decent program?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Thanks for the replies!

I guess you're both right. What about if I specialize (say, I decide to go into biochem after first year)? Would something like biochem at McMaster be good for graduate school? And if they do look at program/school, would a specialization like biochem at Mac be looked at as a decent program?

Any program with a mandatory thesis is probably good for graduate school, but even if your program doesn't have a thesis you can still apply to take a thesis. But mandatory thesis programs should also have a lab course (I think biochem has a lab course in 2nd year and genetics has a lab course in 3rd year) which will help as long as you are thinking about what you are doing and not just following instructions.

It also depends on what type of graduate school you are referring to.

If you are talking about things like optometry, dentistry, medicine etc. the program you are in is not as important, it is more about your marks and the standardized tests you have to take to get in.

If you are talking about a Masters/PhD on the other hand, you really should consider specializing. It is obviously not impossible to get a position with a Life Science degree, but you have much better chances of getting a position for instance at an Immunology Research lab with a degree in Physiology than a degree in Life Science ... of course you can decide to take the same courses as physiology students to get the knowledge you need but you have no guarantee of getting into them during course registration and potential supervisors may be deterred by your degree not being in the field that you are trying to pursue.

Just my 2 cents

Life Science is a very general degree. Grad school seems to be all about the specifics/specializing.

imho, if I were on a grad admissions committee, I would see two/three problems with life sci, if I had to choose between a life sci and say a physiol spec:
a) a lack of direction (you would expect a grad student to have clear research interests/ideas, not passing interests in psych, bio and chem. What does "Life Science" even mean?)
b) uncertainty (is this a good student? or did they get a general degree so they can take the birds? imho, its a lot easier to bird your courses in life sci than something with a lot of criteria/requirements)
c) where is the thesis (if there wasn't one. Many of my friend found it hard to find a supervisor, and they were warned in Sept, and in a specialization. I think it might be more difficult for a LS student, but that depends on how well you interact with profs and talk)

But that's just my opinion. Grades are also important (thought most grad school vaguely want something like "a b+ average in the final year").

Originally Posted by spyridm

It also depends on what type of graduate school you are referring to.

If you are talking about things like optometry, dentistry, medicine etc. the program you are in is not as important, it is more about your marks and the standardized tests you have to take to get in.

Those are professional schools meaning you don't absolutely need to graduate to enter into those programs (But competition makes it so that very few non-degrees make it, for optometry I think most schools accept less than 10% non-degrees).

like mentioned; its about the post-grad that your are looking at
for things like dental,doctor, etc etc you can go into soc sci and still end up a doctor as long as you get the grades and prereqs covered
if you want to have a backup option if you dont get into medschool/whatever it is then go into another program afterwards; life sci (like physical sci, and the other two) are gateway programs; which means you can switch into the major you want second year as long as you meet the requirements (refer to the 2013 Undergraduate calender)

Originally Posted by britb

Life Science is a very general degree. Grad school seems to be all about the specifics/specializing.

imho, if I were on a grad admissions committee, I would see two/three problems with life sci, if I had to choose between a life sci and say a physiol spec:
a) a lack of direction (you would expect a grad student to have clear research interests/ideas, not passing interests in psych, bio and chem. What does "Life Science" even mean?)
b) uncertainty (is this a good student? or did they get a general degree so they can take the birds? imho, its a lot easier to bird your courses in life sci than something with a lot of criteria/requirements)
c) where is the thesis (if there wasn't one. Many of my friend found it hard to find a supervisor, and they were warned in Sept, and in a specialization. I think it might be more difficult for a LS student, but that depends on how well you interact with profs and talk)

But that's just my opinion. Grades are also important (thought most grad school vaguely want something like "a b+ average in the final year").

wait so is it also hard for those in specializations to find a supervisor.... but does everyone eventually find one or do some have to drop it cus they weren't able to?

Originally Posted by Atheist?

like mentioned; its about the post-grad that your are looking at
for things like dental,doctor, etc etc you can go into soc sci and still end up a doctor as long as you get the grades and prereqs covered
if you want to have a backup option if you dont get into medschool/whatever it is then go into another program afterwards; life sci (like physical sci, and the other two) are gateway programs; which means you can switch into the major you want second year as long as you meet the requirements (refer to the 2013 Undergraduate calender)

Dentistry and med (and pharmacy and optometry) are considered professional degrees, NOT grad school.
The OP asked about grad school. Since I'm assuming they want grad school in science, lab experience and a science degree are absolutely necessary.

First professional degrees, regardless of title, are usually undergraduate degrees. Even though some professions are direct entry from high school (i.e., Eng, Nursing, Kin) others require at least a few years of University but are not "graduate degrees". Med, Law, Education, Optometry etc. are not grad school, but should be referred to as professional school).

You should probably specialize if you want to go into grad school, however, University will be what you make of it, and I'm sure there are cases where taking Honours Life Science was a better choice for an individual than specializing.

If your question is about coming to Mac for Life Sciences I though, the answer should be you'll be fine, because it's the program you go into and then choose a specialization.

Originally Posted by Chevalier

wait so is it also hard for those in specializations to find a supervisor.... but does everyone eventually find one or do some have to drop it cus they weren't able to?

To my knowledge, everyone who stayed past first semester of year III did at the end. Some only got confirmed the last week or so of class (the have a supervisor by "end of March" deadline is actually pretty soft, they're relatively lenient)

But a lot of people dropped between first and second semester. It was mostly a combination of being scared of the thesis, not having a supervisor, having troubles in some required courses, wanting more electives (to boost their average) and other random things ("I don't like physiology anymore," etc). imho, they were weak.

Originally Posted by arathbon

First professional degrees, regardless of title, are usually undergraduate degrees. Even though some professions are direct entry from high school (i.e., Eng, Nursing, Kin) others require at least a few years of University but are not "graduate degrees". Med, Law, Education, Optometry etc. are not grad school, but should be referred to as professional school).

You should probably specialize if you want to go into grad school, however, University will be what you make of it, and I'm sure there are cases where taking Honours Life Science was a better choice for an individual than specializing.

If your question is about coming to Mac for Life Sciences I though, the answer should be you'll be fine, because it's the program you go into and then choose a specialization.

Yes, this is what I was looking for. I guess I was vague. I'm sorry, still trying to get used to how universities work.

My question is about coming to Mac for Life Sciences I and then specializing in upper years. Will doing that be looked at as decent by grad schools? I suppose what I'm asking is if McMaster has a good reputation for lifesciences/specializations within the life sciences.

I am planning on pursuing a Masters (probably in something along the lines of biochemistry or microbiology) and maybe even a PhD if I can manage.

(Oh, this is the Unregistered. Made an account because it wouldn't let me creep the forum threads anymore...)