Can anyone tell me what are the pros and cons of each? Is Honors Life Sci generally associated with higher grades (or easier)? How is PNB as a program? Is it more difficult than other programs or?

My goal is med school and but at the same time, I want to be part of something that I like.

Thanks

no. honours life sci does not equal to higher grades.
the simple difference is that honours life science you have more elective space. because it is alot more general. if you don't know what you really like (within science), honours life science would be ideal. if you really loved psychology in first year, go into PNB. If you also liked biology, do Biopsych. if you end up not liking it, then go back to honours life science to try different electives.

Thanks. Most people tell me to go into honors life sci because most premeds are in honors life sci. So presumably it is THE program for med. But my concern is that is PNB at mac a difficult program? I did not do too well in first year psych and that was because I did not try hard during exams at all... So unless PNB can significantly drag my grades down, I will stick to it

Go into a program that you like, not a program that you associate with a certain image. The more you like a subject, the easier it will be for you to do well. If you don't love a subject, don't specialize in it. Trust me, you'll regret it.
and also, you can enter med school from any program. the knowledge you need to do well on the mcat is mostly from the first year courses you take in life science (and organic chemistry, which you can take in 2nd year no matter what science program you're in).

I'm on the same boat as you larizhou, debating between PNB or Life Sci... I'm not particularly sure if I'm interested in psych enough to do it for the next three years, so what I might do is go into life sci and take some psych electives if anything

First year Psych courses can be tough. Why? For most students, it's their first time learning the material and midterm/exam questions can be tricky (they require a lot of application and critical thinking). A benefit of this program is the community -aspect. Everyone becomes close in the program because we share a lot of similar classes, we have our own Facebook group, we have socials, etc. The Societies are also excellent at planning both fun and informative events too!

From my experience in the PNB program, the courses are amazing. There is a wide assortment of classes in all years, lab experience, etc. Another neat feature is you can graduate with either a BSc. or BA depending on the courses you take and what faculty you are enrolled in.

I would suggest pursuing an area that you are interested in because you will tend to do better in those courses.

Each faculty has an undergraduate advisor and I would recommend you visit them and discuss what your interests and plans are.

Good luck!

Thanks for all the responses!

My friends believe they can achieve higher in honors life sci because they have more electives and that means they can choose to take "easy" electives more than other programs. I guess this is true in a way. But can anybody tell me the difficulty level of the PNB courses relatively? Is it harder to get 11s and 12s?

Everything depends on how hard you work, honestly. Apart from the few mandatory PNB courses, most of the courses Hons Life Sci students and Hons PNB students take end up being the same.

Originally Posted by Faer

Everything depends on how hard you work, honestly. Apart from the few mandatory PNB courses, most of the courses Hons Life Sci students and Hons PNB students take end up being the same.

Second year PNB students have to take 6 mandatory, and if I do go into PNB, I will take two other PNB electives. Second year honors life sci can take how many electives?

You will realize in a year or two that there is no "pre-med program". For most medical schools you can get in regardless of what undergrad program you take. What will count are your grades, required courses (if there are some), and MCAT (if the school needs it).

With that said, take a program that interests you. If you don't know yet what you exactly want to do, or haven't found what you really like, take Honours Life Sci. It's extremely flexible, and allows you to take a wide variety of science courses, and electives. That's the reason I took it, because I still don't know what the hell to do with my life lol.

Here is a link that will tell you what courses you need to take in your four years of life sci, and how many electives etc.

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calendar/2012-13/pg1957.html

Originally Posted by larizhou

Second year PNB students have to take 6 mandatory, and if I do go into PNB, I will take two other PNB electives. Second year honors life sci can take how many electives?

Could you clarify what you mean by PNB electives?

I'm not really sure for either, but I was under the impression that single majors got four elective courses a year, which is what I assume Hons Life Sci have too.

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...12/pg1957.html

It says you get 33-36 units of electives, that is, 11 to 12 courses from Level II to Level IV, or about 4 courses a year.

You can check out the program requirements too, and compare it to the program requirements for PNB:

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...nt/pg1631.html

EDIT: Whoops, thanks for the link, Buszaj, didn't see that.

Originally Posted by larizhou

Thanks for all the responses!

My friends believe they can achieve higher in honors life sci because they have more electives and that means they can choose to take "easy" electives more than other programs. I guess this is true in a way. But can anybody tell me the difficulty level of the PNB courses relatively? Is it harder to get 11s and 12s?

Some schools (ie UofT) actually consider the program you come from for med school applicants. Coming from an easier program, your average is worth less than if you came from a harder program.
People obsess over their averages like grades are everything, it's absolutely ridiculous. People with straight 12 averages have gotten outright rejected from med schools, there's more to it (and life) than grades. Focus on actually getting value out of your education.