Originally Posted by Silver

1) i doubt it prepares you for med school. health sci is pretty laid back, especially in 3rd and 4th year where its just electives. i doubt that kind of workload would prepare you for what you will face in med school.

2) i doubt you know what you like about uni courses yet. you dont know how those courses are structured and you havent even looked into /science/bio courses yet which actually have labs and actual science stuff. lots of health sci courses can be taken as electives by non health scis anyways. if youre looking for a gpa boost, my friends always recommend the health sci courses.

I know what the courses are like because my boyfriend JUST finished his fourth year and I've gone to a few of the lectures already (med genetics, mol bio of cancer, advanced immuno, 4th yr nutrition n metab, kin) plus I've read a bunch of course outlines and textbooks for the courses and how they're broken down. ;P I know what profs I like too! and I have a good understanding of some of the content covered in a few of the courses already.

Originally Posted by swarly

I applied to health sci after high school but got rejected and went into life sci. Honestly, I loved life sci. It's a general science course that covers your general sciences and there are a lot of opportunities to specialize in upper years. So if you don't get into health sci, don't worry, life sci is great. That being said, I did apply for a transfer after my first year and got in . The supplementary application is the same that the high school students write, and other than that, you need a 10.0 GPA on a 12.0 scale.

You had some concerns about group work. I had the same thoughts when I got accepted and was a bit worried, but now that I'm in it, its not as bad as you think. You get used to constant group meetings and it just becomes a normal part of your schooling. If you have any questions about health sci or transferring, PM me.

About which program is easier, when I was in life sci, I was sure that health sci would be easier and would be easy to get all 12s. But now that I'm in it, I can guarantee you that is not the case. I find that I am working much harder this year than I was first year, and my marks are lower. Like Starfish said, I feel that they pick students effectively for the program, and I think that is why you see students getting high marks in health sci

Okay! Thanks. Yeah I know that supplementary is huge for McMaster; especially since they pride themselves in finding applicants who are compassionate and when finding applications focus on their reasoning skills more than anything (I think my boyfriend even mentioned they were going to remove MCAT's completely and only use the program they developed for people entering medical school). Thanks for clearing it up I'm glad to know that I have a chance for Health Sci in second year if I don't make it in first year!

[ Quote by other user deleted by mod upon request ]

Mark wise, for my case (transferring), as long as your GPA is 10.0 and above (80% and above), marks do not matter. The bulk of your application is within your supp app. My advice for any supp app, whether it be from highschool to 1st year health sci, or from 1st year to 2nd year health sci transferring is be honest. Looking back at my supp app from high school and comparing it to the one I wrote in first year, they're like night and day.

When writing your supp app, be yourself. DO NOT attempt write in a formal style that is out of your comfort zone. Write as if you were talking to a friend. That's about all the advice I can give, plain and simple.

I also had the perspective that all health scis got all 12s during my first year in life sci. I can GUARANTEE that is NOT true for 2nd year and upper years. I find my self working much more harder than I was in first year, with my average being lower than I wanted it to be. The reason why the averages in health sci are so high is mostly attributed to the caliber of the students within the program. The students within the program are generally bright, and so will achieve high marks (due to the 90% cut off from high school usually)[/quote]

Thanks for your response too! I will keep it in mind. I was discussing with my guidance counsellor about how someone applied for Harvard, and got in with an essay about how life was like an ant hill. I'm definitely going to be myself (which is rather goofy but compassionate and serious at the same time) and hopefully people will appreciate it

Thanks for all of your responses guys! I really appreciate it.

have you ever considered kinesiology? I find it would prepare you more for med school (anatomy, neuromuscular, human nutrition, human growth) versus life science (chem, bio, physics).

I don't like Kinesiology as much as molecular and cellular biology. I feel like repeating the same courses in medical school would also get repetitious; I plan on taking kin I and kin II in first year as my electives if I do life sciences but I wouldn't go into Kinesiology specifically... I actually have a vendetta against physiology in general D: Kind of. I'm growing to like it more but my heart is still set on mol/cell bio right now.

But it's definitely an option!

Originally Posted by Cryssylol

I don't like Kinesiology as much as molecular and cellular biology. I feel like repeating the same courses in medical school would also get repetitious; I plan on taking kin I and kin II in first year as my electives if I do life sciences but I wouldn't go into Kinesiology specifically... I actually have a vendetta against physiology in general D: Kind of. I'm growing to like it more but my heart is still set on mol/cell bio right now.

But it's definitely an option!

I thought I liked physio. I was wrong, it sucks. The first-year kin courses aren't too bad in terms of physiology, but med school will be...
I asked a friend of mine at UofT med school what courses she is taking...and her response was "9-5 anatomy/physiology". I believe they have a couple of hours where they're doing other courses, but the vast vast majority of it is anatomy/physiology.

I am a fourth year BHSc student.
What Noel posted is correct. Once your average is above 90, your supplementary application becomes the sole factor. Fourth years and the staff read your supp app and assign marks out of 7. There will be three readers and the average of the essay score will be taken into account for admissions. Before applying, I would encourage applicants to read through the BHSc website and BHScene to see if the program will be a good fit for them. If you think it is, please be honest with your supp app. There is no one right way to write it.

As well, if you are interested in learning more about biochemistry, there is the biomedical specialization in BHSc. You will have lots of hands-on experience in biochemistry labs

There are other specializations - global health and child health. Global health program focuses on learning about health care systems in other nations. In third year, you go to another country for a semester to explore their health care system and do a project. Child health program is a new specialization so I can't say much about it, but it sounds amazing from what I heard.

Just one last comment - I don't think other programs have more workload than BHSc. Although there are some common electives, such as chemistry, in first year, life sciences and health sciences are inherently different programs. They are based on different philosophies and run by different faculties. It is like comparing Apple and Orange.

Hope that helped!

Originally Posted by Silver

1) i doubt it prepares you for med school. health sci is pretty laid back, especially in 3rd and 4th year where its just electives. i doubt that kind of workload would prepare you for what you will face in med school.

2) i doubt you know what you like about uni courses yet. you dont know how those courses are structured and you havent even looked into /science/bio courses yet which actually have labs and actual science stuff. lots of health sci courses can be taken as electives by non health scis anyways. if youre looking for a gpa boost, my friends always recommend the health sci courses.

I don't understand where you are getting this information from and what it even means. What is "actual science" and how does it differ in Life Sci vs Health Sci?

I also transferred after first year Life Sci, if you have any questions about either program, please send me a PM.

Originally Posted by Philipp31

I don't understand where you are getting this information from and what it even means. What is "actual science" and how does it differ in Life Sci vs Health Sci?

compared to faculty of science, health sci does a lot less science.

Please elaborate on this. If you are talking about variety, sure, the Faculty of Science has departments in Physics, Chemsitry, and Biology whereas the Faculty of Health Sciences obviously does not. But please explain what you mean

i mean the scientific method of doing experiments. health sci doesnt do that so if youre interested in science, dont go into health sci

The scope of Health Sciences is not limited to just hardcore sciences. It encompasses biochemistry/biomedical research, health policy, global health, population health, clinical research, health ethics and so on.
The program itself is more geared towards exposure to the breadth of knowledge. That's why we take courses like health policy, epidemiology on top of cell biology or biochemistry. That's also why there are lots of elective space in the general stream - you can explore whatever you like. Some people choose to take many social science courses while others take science courses. Some minor in psychology while others minor in physics or math. There is no limit in the program.

Originally Posted by hyvaa

The scope of Health Sciences is not limited to just hardcore sciences. It encompasses biochemistry/biomedical research, health policy, global health, population health, clinical research, health ethics and so on.
The program itself is more geared towards exposure to the breadth of knowledge. That's why we take courses like health policy, epidemiology on top of cell biology or biochemistry. That's also why there are lots of elective space in the general stream - you can explore whatever you like. Some people choose to take many social science courses while others take science courses. Some minor in psychology while others minor in physics or math. There is no limit in the program.

That is both a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing because you're exposed to a number of different areas, learn a bit about all of them, and are able to explore things to figure out what you do and don't like/have interest in. It's a bad thing because you don't really end up knowing any of the topics really well (unless you choose to focus all your electives in one area, but even then...a minor is weak compared to a major). That is the limit of the program.
Honestly, it all depends on the person to decide whether or not health sci is a good program.

Originally Posted by Silver

1) i doubt it prepares you for med school. health sci is pretty laid back, especially in 3rd and 4th year where its just electives. i doubt that kind of workload would prepare you for what you will face in med school.

2) i doubt you know what you like about uni courses yet. you dont know how those courses are structured and you havent even looked into /science/bio courses yet which actually have labs and actual science stuff. lots of health sci courses can be taken as electives by non health scis anyways. if youre looking for a gpa boost, my friends always recommend the health sci courses.

1) It all depends on the person and their interests so the workload varies . I know some who barely sleep at all because they do have a high workload (and at the same time, they are learning valuable skills (ie. teamwork, critical thinking, self-directed learning and etc.). Looking at their courses, such as Critical Appraisal of Medical Literature, Epidemiology, Communications, Pathophysiology, Anatomy and Physiology, Immunology and etc. It looks like they are pretty much learning what would be covered in medicine.
2) The only courses I know that are available to non-health scis are the immunology,virology courses! and a lot of my non health sci friends who took this course found it difficult.

Originally Posted by goldfish101

1) It all depends on the person and their interests so the workload varies . I know some who barely sleep at all because they do have a high workload (and at the same time, they are learning valuable skills (ie. teamwork, critical thinking, self-directed learning and etc.). Looking at their courses, such as Critical Appraisal of Medical Literature, Epidemiology, Communications, Pathophysiology, Anatomy and Physiology, Immunology and etc. It looks like they are pretty much learning what would be covered in medicine.
2) The only courses I know that are available to non-health scis are the immunology,virology courses! and a lot of my non health sci friends who took this course found it difficult.

1) They don't learn any of it in nearly the amount of detail they would in medicine. There's no comparing the two.

2) Psychobiology
epidemiology
engaging the city - community based research (i know a couple non-health scis who took this course, so even though you need instructor permission, it's open to anyone)
therapeutic drugs
matters of taste
neuroimmunology
special topics in health sciences (requires permission, idk how they are about giving it to non-healthscis)
education practicum in health sciences (again with the permission)
advanced immunology
biochemical immunology
human pathophysiology (requires instructor permission for non-health scis)
information literacy and library research practicum (permission)
principles of virus pathogenesis
communication skills practicum (permission)
drugs, devices and desires (requires permission for non-health scis)
current research initiatives (requires permission for non-health scis)
education practicum (prereq + permission)
health forum practicum (permission)
global health advocacy (requires permission for non-health scis)


I'd say that's a pretty decent list. Many of the courses require permission whether you're in health sci or not, and I specified which ones only require permission for non-health scis.
As a side note, they used to have a space medicine course that was open to non-health scis, but it's been replaced by a microgravity course that isn't :(

Just focus on learning some physiology, pharmacology, anatomy, basic genetics, a little epi/stats.

Everything else is just undergrad fluff.

My comparison:

Mac Health Sci: Better anatomy/epi
Mac Bio: Better physiology/pharm.