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Honours Chem.

 
Old 04-23-2013 at 08:46 PM   #1
Danielrus
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Honours Chem.
So I've conceded that my average isn't high enough to get into chem bio at the moment, and so I was thinking about maybe going into honours chem, and depending on how I feel about it switch into chem bio. I heard 1st year chem bio is crazy tough interms of work load, can anyone tell me how the workload in honours chem would be?
Old 04-23-2013 at 10:10 PM   #2
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Courses don't really overlap at all...you'd be better off just going into chembio straight off, otherwise you might need to take an extra year and/or end up with a much more brutal workload down the road (source: someone who tried to switch into chembio and then catching up was too difficult).

Chem isn't a joke either...but I think it varies a lot based on the year. They're really not similar programs though.

Also, you don't know what the cutoff for chembio will be, so unless you're way below the anticipated range, you might as well try.

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Old 04-23-2013 at 10:23 PM   #3
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so would you suggest life sci for switching into chem bio since theres more elective space? Also how many people are in chem, is it a big program since its unlimited enrolment?
Old 04-23-2013 at 10:32 PM   #4
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In second year, Chem and Chembio aren't that similar. In Chembio you'll have a lot more courses with the Biochems than the Chems. But in third year you start to have more classes with Chems than Biochems. You might as well try to apply for Chembio cause they are expanding the program. In terms of workload, I can't really comment, but I'm quite sure second year Chem was tough. If you're really set on trying to get into Chembio though, I suggest you go into Biochem. But from what I've heard, it's a lot tougher trying to switch into Chembio than it is switching out because of certain courses you'll have to take.

Source: Third year Chembio that takes courses more than the average amount of Chem courses for Chembio.

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Old 04-23-2013 at 10:38 PM   #5
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Also, Chem has unlimited enrollment, but the Chem program is even smaller than Chembio. Definitely do not go into Life Sci since the elective space probably wouldn't help you. Some courses you need to take will only allow you to enroll if you have been admitted to that program.

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Old 04-23-2013 at 10:54 PM   #6
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why do so little people pick chem?
Old 04-23-2013 at 11:24 PM   #7
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I don't think anyone would be able to provide a sufficient answer to that question since there can be a variety of reasons for this. For example, why would you not choose to go into Biology or Physics or Music? Everyone has different interests, skills and end goals. So trying to justify why Chem has such small enrollment seems futile to me. But one the other hand, I think having a small class size is great. You get to really know your professors and peers. I find it's much easier trying to get a reference letter or a research position from a member in the faculty since they have more opportunities to get to know you.

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Old 04-23-2013 at 11:42 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Danielrus View Post
so would you suggest life sci for switching into chem bio since theres more elective space? Also how many people are in chem, is it a big program since its unlimited enrolment?
Pretty sure this info is in the brochures they give you, but they anticipate switching into chembio will only be possible from a few programs (biochem is one of them, life sci definitely isn't, and I can't remember the others).
That's because chembio has a ton of required courses, and you won't be able to take most of them if you're in life sci, so if you were to switch in it would add an extra year onto your degree.

As much as chembio and biochem are NOT the same thing, the biochem specializations are probably closer to chembio than chem is.
Old 04-24-2013 at 12:00 AM   #9
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There's one other option that wasn't mentioned. If the problem is that your overall average is too low, just shadow the program. That's what I did with chem since I faced a similar situation when I was going into my second year.

I went into Physical Science 2 (from physical science 1) but took all of the courses that a regular honours chemistry student would take.

In 2nd year Chem, it's only the full year lab course which has a pre-req of being in honurs chem (chem bio probably has courses that requires you to be in chem bio) but if you go to the chem office, they have pre-requisite waiver forms you can fill out in order to take these courses. That way, it'll be as if you're in the program. All you need to do is ensure that you get your average high enough during second year to go into Level 3 chem bio in your third year.

As a side note, my graduating class is comprised of 13 Chem students. You'll need to ask a chem bio how many of them there were.

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Old 04-24-2013 at 01:58 AM   #10
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I was just curious lol, it has a smaller course size than limited programs which is unusual, im not questioning anyones interest or end goal, i was just wondering if maybe people are scared away from it because of how difficult it is or if the workload was too much. I totally agree with the whole professor and peer interaction being better, and thats one of the reasons why I am considering doing chem.
Old 04-24-2013 at 08:52 AM   #11
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To answer Rob's question, the current year of chembio has 11 graduates
Old 04-24-2013 at 09:26 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Danielrus View Post
I was just curious lol, it has a smaller course size than limited programs which is unusual, im not questioning anyones interest or end goal, i was just wondering if maybe people are scared away from it because of how difficult it is or if the workload was too much. I totally agree with the whole professor and peer interaction being better, and thats one of the reasons why I am considering doing chem.
Both chem and chembio are small, and it's to allow for a better learning experience. The labs are expensive to run, they wouldn't be able to do it for a ton of people. There's also the issue of thesis supervisors. Now that they're expanding chembio though, there aren't enough thesis supervisors so a thesis is no longer required - that was a down side of increasing the number of people in the program. Chem is still small enough that a thesis/project is required, though.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jenn View Post
To answer Rob's question, the current year of chembio has 11 graduates
The year after will have much more though. I think this year's graduating class was the one where a lot of people were scared off by the workload and didn't apply, because they also started off as the smallest class. The other years are (relatively) big, though.
Old 04-24-2013 at 01:32 PM   #13
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Second year chem is currently at around 26 people (I think). We started off with 30-ish in September. The lab courses are really tough (they don't call it boot camp for nothing), but are really worth it in terms of how much you learn. You get to know most of your peers and the profs pretty well. I agree with what's been said already: it's not easy to switch between chem and chem bio. I know someone who's trying to switch from biochem to chem and it would definitely have been easier for her to go to chem bio from there instead. We just don't have a lot of overlap between courses. Chem is a great program and I love it, but if your ultimate goal is chem bio, you might want to consider other options.
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Old 04-24-2013 at 04:52 PM   #14
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well my ultimate goal would be med school, and since both chemistry and biology are important for medicine i thought that chem bio would probs be a good choice, but i guess i could just take bio electives for chem
Old 04-24-2013 at 04:55 PM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Danielrus View Post
well my ultimate goal would be med school, and since both chemistry and biology are important for medicine i thought that chem bio would probs be a good choice, but i guess i could just take bio electives for chem
choose chem only if you really like chem. it isnt an easy program. do it if you like it not just because it may benefit you for med school. youre gonna be in this program for 3 years so get as much info as possible to know if youll like it or not.

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