first year math is essentially the same as highschool math...just harder. I dont see Kin or business really being a problem for you. The math in super simple in comparison to some engineering/physics courses. Plus there are more introductory courses in math first year that are basically high school BUT if will limit your option in later years.

If you are going to do university though (any program) you will need advanced functions and calculus. Perhaps a better option for you would be to really focus on it and do an victory lap. An extra year in highschool would probably benefit you.

Imo, don't bother aiming for med/dent. Most people don't get it, and most of the science degree people end up graduating with useless B.Sc's with mediocre gpa's wondering what happened with their life.

You'd be 10x better off choosing a professional program off the bat. Does nursing interest you? How about X-Ray technology? These are growing fields and your basically guaranteed a job afterwards.

Originally Posted by mastercool

Imo, don't bother aiming for med/dent. Most people don't get it, and most of the science degree people end up graduating with useless B.Sc's with mediocre gpa's wondering what happened with their life.

You'd be 10x better off choosing a professional program off the bat. Does nursing interest you? How about X-Ray technology? These are growing fields and your basically guaranteed a job afterwards.

Also dental hygienist! (Since she's expressed an interest in dentistry )

Wow, just read a bit about Nursing. My brother's doing that at Fanshawe at the moment. Never really knew what the program was about until now. Sounds like exactly what I'm looking for though! And only requires one 4U math for some schools! Which means I can just take Data next semester. It seems like a really interesting program too, since I really like anatomy. Thank you so much!

Ho, ho...anatomy...

If you are with the mindset of the doing the absolute minimal to get into medschool or any post undergrad education, you may want to reconsider your future a bit more.


While very advanced mathematics is not required for most fields, basic calculus is crucial to most fields due to the sheer applicability of the material. Even something like business or commerce will need math to some extent, and simply taking data management will leave you at a serious disadvantage. Try your best to work through advanced functions, and then see where you stand with math.

Originally Posted by cchels

rpg51 - but Dental school doesn't require any math courses.. Just Anatomy, Biology, Physics, and Organic Chem, I'm pretty sure. Are those graduate schools heavily based on math? It's not even that I hate math either, I just generally can never grasp any of the concepts no matter how hard I try.

What exactly does the stats course focus on? Would it be better for me to then take Data Management next semester? And If I minor in business or finance, is there any grade 12 pre-req required for those minors?

Finance involves a ton of math. What I've basically taken from you is that you say you're bad at math, so then you try to avoid taking math. Seems like the easy way out to me. Math is hard, try learning material in a different way (khanacademy.com) or practice more. It's all about practice.

You can still get a BSc degree without taking grade 12 math. You'll be accepted into the soc science program and then you'd have to take a couple of first year math courses at Mac (MATH 1k03 followed by 1m03 which is equivalent to 1ls3) and then apply for a transfer. This definitely works if you're going into life science or environmental science. You'd have to fulfill a few other requirements too of course. Not sure about kinesiology, physical sciences etc though.

However, that's only if you're willing to do give another shot at Math in uni. If not, social science is a solid program with lots of different options (econ, political sci, geo, anthro, history etc) and you can combine quite a few of them for a double major. I'm positive they don't offer criminology though.

I'm not looking for the "easy way out", I'm looking for a path that I know I can succeed in. I never said Dental school or Medical school was easy, I think we all know they aren't. I'm only in grade 12, I don't necessarily have to figure out my entire future now; my opinion, likes, and dislikes will obviously change in the future. Believe me, I've tried, I could spend all the time I've spent TRYING to understand math, on Biology instead.

Anyways, I think what I'm going to do is apply for Nursing, 1 or 2 Social Sci Programs, and Kinesiology (schools that don't require Adv Func or Calculus). I've done enough research on both, and I'm pretty sure that's my final decision. Thanks for all the help!

Don't drop math. Regardless if you use it in Kin or not it is a good pre-req to have

Also keep in mind that kin programs can be very different between schools. Mac's is more science based...other schools' programs are more like gym class, with a lot of courses involving physical activity. These programs tend to be the ones that don't require math (though this isn't always the case). If that's the kind of program you want then great, but it's important to get a feel for what kind of program each school offers - just because it's called kinesiology that doesn't mean it's the same between schools.
Many of the programs also might require a math anyways once you get in...for example, so many people who want to do life sci drop physics in grade 12 because it's "hard" and they don't want to bring down their average. Well, first year life sci requires a physics. You can either take the gr12 equivalent (regardless of whether or not you took gr12 physics previously) or the first-year university level physics, for which grade 12 physics/equivalent is a prereq. If you didn't take it in high school you need to take the equivalent in first year, and it baffles me how people expect to be fine with that when they couldn't do it in high school with less courses on their plate at once, a longer time spent on less material, and much more academic support. So take a look at that too, and if the programs you want to go in to require math at some point, suck it up and do it now. If none of them ever require math and you're absolutely sure you won't need it, then you might as well drop it.

Also, if it helps any, advanced functions is stupid and calculus is way better. There's no point in the advanced functions course, because you learn how to do all of it properly in calculus anyways.

Let me give you some advice from someone who's been there.

I hate math. Suck at it, in fact. I started university in a socsci program (poli sci) that I enjoyed at first because I found it easy. The result of that? I did well until I didn't. There was little challenge to it for me, I felt like I was just writing papers that reiterated the prof's thoughts and being told things I already knew in lectures. It's a mistake to pick your major based on what you find easy. End of the story here: I ended up crashing and burning. I needed something more than that, I needed a challenge.

Fast forward: I start shopping around for something I can feel a passion for learning. I come up with economics -- I love it, I'm good at it, it interests me to no end... largely because it challenges me and it keeps me on my toes. I am earning better grades now than I ever did in poli sci.

Problem: I have none of the math requirements because I foolishly dropped math in grade 12. I had completely boxed myself in academically to the point where the only paths I could pursue were humanities and a limited number of social science programs. I ended up having to take 3 university math classes to cover what I could have learned for free in high school. Further, I wouldn't have had to worry as much about my grades in high school! I mean, the grades you get now matter only to get you into university and then nobody gives a damn about them. Your university grades/transcript will stay with you. You don't want those crummy math marks you could have finished up in high school. I graduated high school in 2007 -- you think I remembered the foundations, grade 11 math? In retrospect, I should have finished calculus and data back then. It'd have made my university life a lot easier.

At the very minimum, take Data Management because if you will require a stats class to graduate with a socsci degree. The prereq to that class is Data Management, so if you don't take it now, you WILL need to take it at the university level.

Lastly, it's a really poor habit to quit something, or change your pursuits just because they're hard and you may not do well. Everything worth doing in life is hard. I say bite the bullet, push through and you'll thank yourself when you're 21 and not stuck in first year calc classes to make up for what you missed.

Yup, I'm taking Data Management next semester instead. I dropped Adv Functions today since it was the last day to drop a course or else it will show up on your transcript. So I needed to make a decision. But in regards to kinesiology, I'm not planning on going to Mac for kin. I heard it's heavily science based and you need Adv Func for it, or Calc, don't remember which one. But I am applying to Nursing & possibly Poli Sci @ Mac. In general though, the other schools I'm applying to for kin, don't require math or they only require one 4U math, so I'm fine, I did my research, no worries lol. And Nursing only requires any 4U math.

And can someone please elaborate on what exactly Stats is?

Originally Posted by cchels

Yup, I'm taking Data Management next semester instead. I dropped Adv Functions today since it was the last day to drop a course or else it will show up on your transcript. So I needed to make a decision. But in regards to kinesiology, I'm not planning on going to Mac for kin. I heard it's heavily science based and you need Adv Func for it, or Calc, don't remember which one. But I am applying to Nursing & possibly Poli Sci @ Mac. In general though, the other schools I'm applying to for kin, don't require math or they only require one 4U math, so I'm fine, I did my research, no worries lol. And Nursing only requires any 4U math.

And can someone please elaborate on what exactly Stats is?

I was referring to after you get into the program....not entrance requirements, degree requirements. Did you look into those too?

Stats is...statistics. It's such a broad field, you can't really explain it adequately in a few sentences, although wikipedia does an alright job: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statistics
It's often applied to probabilities and especially data analysis, which is why so many programs require it.

Yes, it varies for different schools... Some require you to take 1 math course, others require 2. At the moment, I'm leaning more towards Nursing though. I'll still apply for Kin as a backup.