Hi, i'm considering mcmaster's kinesiology program and was wondering a few things:

A- how much lab experience is there, in first year, and then in upper year courses?
B- how research intensive are the proffs? Are they easy to understand, approachable, smart... ? C- Does the program show different aspects of of kinesiology, like possibilities for after graduation (cause idk what i want to do yet)
D- Is it possible to minor in human nutrition?
E- Are there lots of oppertunities to get summer/part time jobs in the related field, or to gain experience to learn what i like and to earn money?

Thank you!

Originally Posted by Bee9

Hi, i'm considering mcmaster's kinesiology program and was wondering a few things:

A- how much lab experience is there, in first year, and then in upper year courses?

Define Lab Experience. If you mean test tubes and beakers not much. (Unless you take those as electives). The lab experiences (you can see for yourself in the course calendar which courses have them) are mostly with humans or in the anatomy lab.

B- how research intensive are the proffs? Are they easy to understand, approachable, smart... ?

Very. To all your questions. Most of the instructors are very active researchers. Fortunately they are all (so far in my experience) great profs. We also have some profs like Dr. Howarth who just teach. But really they are all of the above.

C- Does the program show different aspects of of kinesiology, like possibilities for after graduation (cause idk what i want to do yet)

Ummm yes, is what I'd say. The first two years is really about exposing you to all areas of Kinesiology.

D- Is it possible to minor in human nutrition?

No. Mac doesn't really offer a lot of nutrition courses. Two in Kin, one in Biochem. Exercise Metabolism (which includes exercise/sports nutrition) is a strength of our department though.

E- Are there lots of oppertunities to get summer/part time jobs in the related field, or to gain experience to learn what i like and to earn money?

Thank you!

YES! So many people in Kin get things from research jobs to jobs in the gym. Really the best advice is to take advantage of opportunities to volunteer in the field during first year and get some exposure.

ok, thank you for your responce. Looking at a typical timetable for term one for 1st year kin students there is one kinesiology lab, does that mean that there is one hour/week spent in the lab? what's it like for term two? What sort of things to work on in the lab? Do you work with cadavers?

I'm comparing mac's kin program to that of waterloo because i don't know which one i want to go to. So far, from what I know about waterloo, its very lab oriented and has great proffs. From experience, whats your advice?

I greatly appreciate your answers

In first year you have a 2-hour anatomy lab every OTHER week, for both semesters.
You don't work on human cadavers in first year, you're just working on animal specimens.
However there are human cadavers and human specimens at the lab that you can look at and touch, you just won't be dissecting them in first year.
Waterloo is good if you want to do a co-op with kinesiology, say in your third year. With Mac's program you can do a co-op in upper years as well though, and our program is just better all around...

ok, good to know. In what year are you able to work with human cadavers? In your opinion, why is mcmaster better than waterloo?

Originally Posted by Bee9

ok, good to know. In what year are you able to work with human cadavers? In your opinion, why is mcmaster better than waterloo?

First year!

Why is McMaster is better than Waterloo? Less asians maybe?

in your opinion, why is mcmasters kinesiology program better than waterloo's program?

You don't get to dissect human cadavers in Kin, unless you get a job working in the anatomy lab.

Originally Posted by jade177

You don't get to dissect human cadavers in Kin, unless you get a job working in the anatomy lab.

There are very few undergraduate programs anywhere that allow you to dissect a human cadaver. I may be wrong, but I think there is a pathoanatomy or pathophysiology course in 4th year Health Sci at Mac that allows you to do so, but other than that I'm not aware of any.

Originally Posted by Bee9

ok, good to know. In what year are you able to work with human cadavers? In your opinion, why is mcmaster better than waterloo?

I've heard Waterloo is a pretty boring place, boring campus etc. Great for co-op though, so if that is what you want you should head there.

Keep in mind though, while you can get decent jobs with a degree in kin, most people end up going to professional school (OT, PT, medicine etc.). In that respect...co-op will not put you at an advantage by much anyways.

So maybe have a look into the types of courses offered at Mac vs Waterloo and base your decision on that

Just a note about Cadavers.

You do in fact work with them in first year. You don't dissect them (as in cut and make permanent changes to), but you do get to move things around on them and look at them. I highly doubt there are any programs anywhere that let undergrads (excluding professional schools) in first year dissect human cadavers as they are a valuable resource. Having just read a bit of Waterloo's calendar you would not be dissecting cadavers there either.

ok good to know. i was looking at the undergraduate calendar for kinesiology at mac, and a lot of the 3rd and 4th year programs are labelled as not offered. what does that mean? do u find it holds you back from taking the courses that you want to take?

The courses that are offered are determined in the summer before every year. They are only offered if enough people are going to take them.
I've heard from a lot of people that Waterloo's program is very dry, and that the campus is awful and really old looking. Mac has a lot of new buildings being built, and it's a huge campus. They're doing even more upgrades to the athletic centre, and as a kin student that should interest you.
It truly is an amazing program. I feel like there's not even a contest... Waterloo offered me 3x the entrance bursary that McMaster did, and I threw out their letter right when I got it...

i agree with you in regards to the campuses. mcmaster has a way nicer campus (i visited them both) and i absoluetly loved it. waterloo isn't neccessarily as "old" but it appears like its not as well kept. the reason that i like waterloo, and am having troubles deciding is because of the co-op option, its proffs high reputations, and the amount of courses to choose from. it seems as though mcmaster doesn't offer as many programs, and i don't know any thing about the proffs at mac, or how much experience is available... what are your views?

i'm
mac's kin courses:
http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...nt/pg1808.html
waterloo's kin courses:
http://www.ucalendar.uwaterl oo.ca/...ourse-KIN.html

so waterloo has 47 and mac has 45.
mac's prof's all have amazing reputations, i'd heard of research projects by mac profs way before i even considered going to mac, and i've never heard anything about waterloo. but to be honest in high level institutions like this it's not like you're going to get bad profs...