Hey guys, I've read several threads concerning this topic, but I still haven't really pinned down what the difference between these two is. I know that Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics are more research/lab based but what about Biology and Life Science?

Some important differences I've noticed between Honours Biology & Life Science are:

- In Honours Biology, you're required to take an organic chemistry course, but not in life science
- In Honours Life Science, you're required to take both psychs, in honours biology you don't have to take any
- In Honours Life Science, you have more freedom and room for electives

I've read that Honours Biology has more time-consuming labs and is heavier in terms of workload (ex. Bio 2A03), even though I know in every program there is going to be a high workload and labs.

Are there any other significant differences? I know they're very similar because some of the courses are interlisted.

And what would be better for someone who is looking to go on to professional school (Dentistry, Medicine, Physiotherapy, Optometry, etc.) ? I'm looking for a program that is not research/lab heavy and has more room for electives.

Thanks!

Well for professional schools, either program is a good choice. Most required courses are finished either in 1st or 2nd year with the left over being electives. The only significant difference I see in Hon. Bio and Hon. Life sci is the courses you'll be taking. The difference is not as large as lets say Biochem vs Bio as the required courses in Biochem involve lab work and research in the field of biochemistry. in Hon. Bio, you'll be taking more biology courses and will have priority over Hon. Life sci students when choosing bio electives on SOLAR. Vice versa also applies for Hon. Life sci students as they have almost all priority when choosing life sci electives (Such as Life Sci 2N03 or 2A03). With either program, you are fully able to choose to pick courses that do not involve lab work. In general, the difference lies in the courses you'll take. Both programs have a lot of space for electives.

Originally Posted by winter02

Well for professional schools, either program is a good choice. Most required courses are finished either in 1st or 2nd year with the left over being electives. The only significant difference I see in Hon. Bio and Hon. Life sci is the courses you'll be taking. The difference is not as large as lets say Biochem vs Bio as the required courses in Biochem involve lab work and research in the field of biochemistry. in Hon. Bio, you'll be taking more biology courses and will have priority over Hon. Life sci students when choosing bio electives on SOLAR. Vice versa also applies for Hon. Life sci students as they have almost all priority when choosing life sci electives (Such as Life Sci 2N03 or 2A03). With either program, you are fully able to choose to pick courses that do not involve lab work. In general, the difference lies in the courses you'll take. Both programs have a lot of space for electives.

Thank you so much. I agree, the difference is not that large, but Biology is more focused, and I think I'd like a more general degree where I can take a little bit of everything.

Based on the options you put at the bottom for your schooling after undergrad, I would go with Honours Biology.
It will be a bit more focused than Life Science but will still allow you a tonne of freedom with your electives (and I have also been told, with anecdotal evidence mind you, that Bio tends to prepare you better for the grad school entrance testing)... and quite frankly by trying to get all the prereqs for those programs you will likely end up taking what you need to graduate with a biology degree.

Also, sorry to possibly burst your bubble, but if you have any intention of going into Dentistry in Canada (idk about the states) you need to take 2A03 as I believe both Western & U of T require the two 3rd year physiology courses to be taken (of which 2A03 is the prereq). (edit: not sure about UBC though)

The caveat of course:
All that we say can all be irrelevant based on what you want to do after undergrad. If you are really serious about those graduate programs (or one in particular) the most logical thing would be to look up the requirements for the programs and see whether Life Sci or Bio would make it easier to get al the prerequisites you require.

Originally Posted by spyridm

Based on the options you put at the bottom for your schooling after undergrad, I would go with Honours Biology.
It will be a bit more focused than Life Science but will still allow you a tonne of freedom with your electives (and I have also been told, with anecdotal evidence mind you, that Bio tends to prepare you better for the grad school entrance testing)... and quite frankly by trying to get all the prereqs for those programs you will likely end up taking what you need to graduate with a biology degree.

Also, sorry to possibly burst your bubble, but if you have any intention of going into Dentistry in Canada (idk about the states) you need to take 2A03 as I believe both Western & U of T require the two 3rd year physiology courses to be taken (of which 2A03 is the prereq). (edit: not sure about UBC though)

The caveat of course:
All that we say can all be irrelevant based on what you want to do after undergrad. If you are really serious about those graduate programs (or one in particular) the most logical thing would be to look up the requirements for the programs and see whether Life Sci or Bio would make it easier to get al the prerequisites you require.

Like Honours Bio prepares you more for the MCAT? I thought that would be Life Science since you're taking chemistry and biology courses. Wouldn't a life sci degree offer the same benefit of fulfilling prereqs like the bio degree?

Thanks for your answer!

Originally Posted by brady23

Like Honours Bio prepares you more for the MCAT? I thought that would be Life Science since you're taking chemistry and biology courses. Wouldn't a life sci degree offer the same benefit of fulfilling prereqs like the bio degree?

Thanks for your answer!

I have heard that Biology helps to prepare you more for the MCAT from some others who have taken it. For myself being in Biology as well, I barely have to look at my biology textbook as I have taken Genetics, Cell Bio, Physiology and Ecology in second year (which basically covers all the bio topics of the MCAT). In third year you will take even more of these sorts of courses which acts to compound your knowledge. You can still try to take them in Life Sci but you wont be necessarily guaranteed the courses.

In regards to the chemistry, all the chemistry you need if from first year (which both have to take) and Orgo. In Bio you have to take the 1st orgo and in Life Sci I am pretty sure you don't.

You would definitely be able to get your prereqs with Life Sci OR Bio, but in my opinion Biology will prepare you better and you will have a better chance of getting some of the courses you should take.

In addition, if you don't get into medschool, what will you do with your Life Sciences degree? There are a bunch of options open to you but for myself and some others I have talked to, they are more comfortable with Biology because there are more focused opportunities afterwards. (or you can do a Masters in a topic you know a lot about/enjoy and reapply afterwards or you can...just statistically speaking you have a better chance of getting profs being in Bio based on taking more specific courses, having smaller class sizes etc)

Honestly there's hardly any difference cause in Life Sci you can take any classes you want/would take in Hons Bio so you say Hons Bio has more labwork like Bio 2A03 but you can take that class if you are in Life Sci.

The only difference is that Life Sci has some required Life Science courses you need to take. If you by any chance want to do a psych minor I would NOT go into Life Science because there are some life sci courses that are exactly the same as the psych courses but they do not count towards a minor so you end up having to take more psych classes than necessary for a minor :(

I don't think Hons Bio would provide more focused opportunities afterwards because Biology is so broad you could have focused more on evolution, genetics, physiology, ecology and you can focus on all these things in Life Sci too so in the end I think a lot of it comes down to what classes you choose and it's hard to get a job with just a Bachelor of Science - regardless of being in Life Sci or Bio.

So in the end choose whatever you like and don't stress about this too much, school hasn't even started yet!!!! Around Jan-Feb they have a little thing with presentations on the second year programs and you can ask questions and find out more info. And who knows, maybe in the end you'll realize you really want to do Biochem or something!

Also Hons Bio doesn't prepare you better for the MCAT, the classes you take prepare you better so all the classes the above poster mentioned you can take in Hons Life Sci too

Originally Posted by spyridm

I have heard that Biology helps to prepare you more for the MCAT from some others who have taken it. For myself being in Biology as well, I barely have to look at my biology textbook as I have taken Genetics, Cell Bio, Physiology and Ecology in second year (which basically covers all the bio topics of the MCAT). In third year you will take even more of these sorts of courses which acts to compound your knowledge. You can still try to take them in Life Sci but you wont be necessarily guaranteed the courses.

In regards to the chemistry, all the chemistry you need if from first year (which both have to take) and Orgo. In Bio you have to take the 1st orgo and in Life Sci I am pretty sure you don't.

You would definitely be able to get your prereqs with Life Sci OR Bio, but in my opinion Biology will prepare you better and you will have a better chance of getting some of the courses you should take.

In addition, if you don't get into medschool, what will you do with your Life Sciences degree? There are a bunch of options open to you but for myself and some others I have talked to, they are more comfortable with Biology because there are more focused opportunities afterwards. (or you can do a Masters in a topic you know a lot about/enjoy and reapply afterwards or you can...just statistically speaking you have a better chance of getting profs being in Bio based on taking more specific courses, having smaller class sizes etc)

Oh, can't I take ecology, genetics, physio, and cell bio in life science as well? I guess they're both really similar so it doesn't matter which one I choose, I could choose bio for the sake of not doing a 2nd psychology course in first year if I don't like psych 1x03, but you're right, they're very similar, in the end it might not make a huge difference. I'll do some research closer to next year about which one to take, I'm leaning towards life science because it's more general and I can apply to other professional schools.

Originally Posted by lt93

Honestly there's hardly any difference cause in Life Sci you can take any classes you want/would take in Hons Bio so you say Hons Bio has more labwork like Bio 2A03 but you can take that class if you are in Life Sci.

The only difference is that Life Sci has some required Life Science courses you need to take. If you by any chance want to do a psych minor I would NOT go into Life Science because there are some life sci courses that are exactly the same as the psych courses but they do not count towards a minor so you end up having to take more psych classes than necessary for a minor :(

I don't think Hons Bio would provide more focused opportunities afterwards because Biology is so broad you could have focused more on evolution, genetics, physiology, ecology and you can focus on all these things in Life Sci too so in the end I think a lot of it comes down to what classes you choose and it's hard to get a job with just a Bachelor of Science - regardless of being in Life Sci or Bio.

So in the end choose whatever you like and don't stress about this too much, school hasn't even started yet!!!! Around Jan-Feb they have a little thing with presentations on the second year programs and you can ask questions and find out more info. And who knows, maybe in the end you'll realize you really want to do Biochem or something!

Also Hons Bio doesn't prepare you better for the MCAT, the classes you take prepare you better so all the classes the above poster mentioned you can take in Hons Life Sci too

Thanks, super helpful post! But if Life Science has more mandatory psych courses I'll want to avoid that, I don't think I'll like it, but we'll see after first year

But I'm not stressing haha, it's just something that I've wondered about it and thought I would ask

Yeah it has several different courses to choose from only some of them are psych and you don't have to choose the psych ones that was just something I wished I knew from beforehand!

In the end being in Life Science or Biology you can take the same courses- the main difference is only in what you are forced to take! (which you obviously seem to realize)

As much as it seems like a backwards process, looking at the requirements and eliminating one program by the courses you don't want to take will serve you just as well as choosing by what you do want to take.

You also might have a better idea after first year is done

If you feel like you're going to have more questions you should definitely consider signing up for the peer mentoring program called "Student Care Initiative (SCI)" next year. The Science Society is supposed to be making the umbrella program and each of the respective Science Societies are going to be having their own program for people who are in first year life science or other years in their program. I would suggest you attempt to either be mentored by the Life Science Society or Biology Society so you can ask your mentors questions...and it doesn't matter which society you go to since everyone has been in first year life sci

Not sure of the Life Science society, but if you want to be mentored by the Bio Society you can email them now at [email protected] .com (or PM me )

Both are good for professional schools. You might do a few more med school prereqs in bio than life sci (like doing orgo) but you can do prereqs from either program. Choose the program which suits your interests and has more courses you like because you will get priority if they're full. Or look at the requirements and see if there's something you really don't want, like orgo in biology (except it's a requirement for some med schools so many life scis take it anyways) or life sci 2A03 in life sci. In bio you can get out of taking 2A03 if you really don't want to by taking ecology or plant bio or something else.

Both have lots of elective space except life sci seems to be more broad in terms of its course list. I do find that a lot of life sci courses are the equivalent of some psych courses. Bio has a cap on its program size (you have to be above the minimum average to get in), whereas life sci doesn't. Both have an optional thesis. Both have the potential to be as research-focused as you want.

Life sci seems like a pretty good choice. Unless you do first year and find lots of 2nd and 3rd year bio courses to be extremely interesting or want to shadow a bio specialization. Or you could also choose bio and drop to life science if you want to later. People say it's easier to go from bio to life sci than the other way around but I doubt the reverse is that much harder, it seems like you'll be taking a couple courses either way.

I'm in life sci and have taken all the 2nd year bios, and most 3rd years bios aswell as my required life sci courses so I haven't had any problem with course selection