Does anyone know a good phone number to call Mac so I can get any question resolved like whether the average has changed, if I need to take Grade 12 Calculus to get it and whether or not they look at the fact that I have taken calculus and if I will have a disadvantage if I don't take Calculus in Grade 12, Also other small problems like what I should aim for, what most students get, If I cant still take a course in the upcoming summer before university, things like that which relate specifically towards me getting into the Life Sciences Program in fall of 2011. ALSO IF I SHOULD APPLY TO HEALTH SCIENCE, LIFE SCIENCE, AND ENVIRONMENTAL AND SWITCH TO THE PREFERRED PROGRAM EVEN IF I GET INTO ONE OF THEM....

THANKS PLEASE GIVE ME THE RIGHT PHONE NUMBER BECAUSE IV LOOKED AROUND AND I CAN'T FIND THE RIGHT PERSON, AND I'M SURE YOU GUYS KNOW SINCE YOU GO TO MAC

TY ONCE AGAIN

I'm not a Life Sciences student.. not sure who to call..

Requirements:

Completion of High School Diploma plus;
Grade 12 U/M requirements - 6 courses in total, including:
• English (ENG4U)
• One of: Advanced Functions (MHF4U), Calculus & Vectors (MCV4U)
• Biology (SBI4U)
• One of: Advanced Functions (MHF4U), Calculus & Vectors (MCV4U), Chemistry (SCH4U), Physics (SPH4U)

Note: Calculus & Vectors (MCV4U) is recommended

Anticipated Admission Range - September 2011 (Subject To Change) 83-86%

I just checked and Health Science may not be the best to apply for because of the supplmental application process (someone mentioned in other thread) as well as the higher admission requirement.

The Life Sciences website suggests to contact Sarah Robinson ([email protected]). If you live near Mac, you should try to check out the Life Sciences building? This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

edit: theres also the Life Sciences Society Facebook Group

You only need one of the Math courses listed above, and the Calculus courses in the program that you have to take (either MATH 1LS3 or 1A03) are, in the beginning, review of Grade 12, so you don't need to take Calculus in high school, but it is recommended.

Aim for 2-3% higher than the top of the range of cut-off averages, which is most likely to stay the same. Depending on the averages of the applicants, the cut-off average will vary from 83-86%

You could switch programs from Env Sci and Life Sci to Health Science, but they take a minimal amount of people per year (20 - give or take, I've read). You could, however, take similar courses in Environmental Science and Life Science.

Check this: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...nt/pg1567.html <- As you can see, most of the courses listed here are Life Science courses. Take PSYCH 1X03 and 1XX3 as your electives and you're pretty much taking courses in the Life Science course list. If you complete courses listed here (http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...nt/pg1957.html) while in Environmental Science, you could get into Level II Life Science and move on from there.
Typing in caps is ugly. That's what bold and italics are for.


Faculty of Science (For Env. Sci and Life Sci): (905) 525-9140 Ext. 27590
Faculty of Health Science: (905) 525-4600

I've also read that you can apply for Physical Science (the cut-off range is lower and then shadow the life science program courses and then you can switch over to life science having all the reqs.

There is another thread about this somewhere, where some upper year students gave a lot of great advice about this, not sure where to find it though.

Good Luck and just work hard in your final year of highschool, because when you receive that acceptance letter, it's all worth it.

as a successful transfer student, its all possible. i like to keep my rejection letter from life sci as a reminder that theres more than one way to reach ur goal!!. aint no one gonna stand between me n my life sci!! (big brother reference anyone ?) on that note admission avgs ALWAYS change dont believe the 83-86% bull it was 87 last year so good luck

Originally Posted by MCHEDDENITE

on that note admission avgs ALWAYS change dont believe the 83-86% bull it was 87 last year so good luck

Yeah, my average was 86% but I got rejected in Life Science :'( soo I'm in Enviro Sci. now hoping to switch to Life Sci. in second year

Originally Posted by stephanemone

Yeah, my average was 86% but I got rejected in Life Science :'( soo I'm in Enviro Sci. now hoping to switch to Life Sci. in second year

ya i HATE how they post it n then its not even true. Keep ur rejection letter n use it as motivaton for first year.work ur ass off and u will feel such triumph when we get into life sci 2nd year. screw u mac I MADE IT

Originally Posted by MCHEDDENITE

ya i HATE how they post it n then its not even true. Keep ur rejection letter n use it as motivaton for first year.work ur ass off and u will feel such triumph when we get into life sci 2nd year. screw u mac I MADE IT

The average range they post is an estimate. They can't possible know the number of students applying to their program and all their averages in advance of that happening.

To answer your question about taking a course in the summer before university, I actually took the calculus course during the summer and that was fine. Only problem though was that when I picked my first-year courses, I had to take the university equivalent of the calculus course. Once my marks got recorded though, I was able to drop that and take something else.

Yo Meikeal, Get an 87% by midterm then you'll receive an acceptance letter, however after your grade 12 highschool year( meaning you finished all exams for second semester) you gotta keep an 85% as your total average (so that means all your top 6 has to be 85% or higher), if x<85% then pretty much you're screwed and your acceptance wil be "rescinded"(taken away) lol.

Goodluck though! Ya can do it mon, no one Kyan tell you what to doo lol.

Originally Posted by jhan523

The average range they post is an estimate. They can't possible know the number of students applying to their program and all their averages in advance of that happening.

but it also gives such false hope like they know they get like xxx amount of studentn they know that they raise the admission avg each time so just keep it that way that way they dont crush yooung hopeful dreams

They don't give preference to students with certain courses. If you have the requirements and your average is above the cutoff, you get in.
You cannot take courses in the summer after grade 12 and have them count towards admission. You can take them, and they'll still count as credits (for example, taking gr12 physics the summer after you graduate will allow you to immediately take phys1B03 without having to first take the gr12 equivalent course), but you can't take a course required for admission. So, you need gr12 bio to get into life sci, you MUST have that course completed by June 30 of the same year you're going to start university--you can't take it in summer school that year. The same thing applies with upgrading marks...you can't go to summer school after you graduate to increase your average to above the cutoff--all admissions requirements must be met by June 30 (at least, that's been the date for the past few years, I guess it could change though).

Originally Posted by MCHEDDENITE

but it also gives such false hope like they know they get like xxx amount of studentn they know that they raise the admission avg each time so just keep it that way that way they dont crush yooung hopeful dreams

They don't arbitrarily raise the admissions average each time. They accept a certain number of people....let's say they accept 1000 people. If 5000 apply, then the top 1000 will get in. If 10000 apply, the top 1000 will still get in, but the cutoff will likely be higher because a lower percentage of applicants are accepted. That's assuming that the applicants' averages follow a normal distribution...if, for some reason, out of the 10000 applicants, 1500 students apply with averages over 90%, then you'll need over 90% to get in--and even 500 of those students will get rejected. The only way the university can predict the cutoff is from previous years...so, if the cutoff was 85 last year, but has been 83 or 84 in previous years, then 83-86 is a good estimate. Putting it unnecessarily high will prevent people from applying...if you see 83-86, and your average is 87-88, you'll apply...but if they said they're anticipating a cutoff of 90 just to be "safe", then many people with mid-to-high 80's will get discouraged and won't even bother applying, when realistically they would have had a good chance of getting in. The reason it still says 83-86, when this past admissions cycle had the cutoff at around 87, is either because they haven't updated it yet, or decided this year is a fluke. As people have said, the anticipated cutoff isn't an absolute, the universities make that very clear, and to be safe you should aim to be 3-4 percentage points above it.

Originally Posted by nerual

They don't give preference to students with certain courses. If you have the requirements and your average is above the cutoff, you get in.
You cannot take courses in the summer after grade 12 and have them count towards admission. You can take them, and they'll still count as credits (for example, taking gr12 physics the summer after you graduate will allow you to immediately take phys1B03 without having to first take the gr12 equivalent course), but you can't take a course required for admission. So, you need gr12 bio to get into life sci, you MUST have that course completed by June 30 of the same year you're going to start university--you can't take it in summer school that year. The same thing applies with upgrading marks...you can't go to summer school after you graduate to increase your average to above the cutoff--all admissions requirements must be met by June 30 (at least, that's been the date for the past few years, I guess it could change though).


They don't arbitrarily raise the admissions average each time. They accept a certain number of people....let's say they accept 1000 people. If 5000 apply, then the top 1000 will get in. If 10000 apply, the top 1000 will still get in, but the cutoff will likely be higher because a lower percentage of applicants are accepted. That's assuming that the applicants' averages follow a normal distribution...if, for some reason, out of the 10000 applicants, 1500 students apply with averages over 90%, then you'll need over 90% to get in--and even 500 of those students will get rejected. The only way the university can predict the cutoff is from previous years...so, if the cutoff was 85 last year, but has been 83 or 84 in previous years, then 83-86 is a good estimate. Putting it unnecessarily high will prevent people from applying...if you see 83-86, and your average is 87-88, you'll apply...but if they said they're anticipating a cutoff of 90 just to be "safe", then many people with mid-to-high 80's will get discouraged and won't even bother applying, when realistically they would have had a good chance of getting in. The reason it still says 83-86, when this past admissions cycle had the cutoff at around 87, is either because they haven't updated it yet, or decided this year is a fluke. As people have said, the anticipated cutoff isn't an absolute, the universities make that very clear, and to be safe you should aim to be 3-4 percentage points above it.

were u rejected from life sci? i hate that range becuase i was within that range n i didnt get it and it was a waste of my money + it was stressful beyond belief. i wuldnt even have bothered applying had i known they were gonna raise the avg i wuldnt even have bothered of coming to mac

Originally Posted by MCHEDDENITE

were u rejeted from life sci?

No...but how is that relevant?

Originally Posted by MCHEDDENITE

were u rejected from life sci? i hate that range becuase i was within that range n i didnt get it and it was a waste of my money + it was stressful beyond belief. i wuldnt even have bothered applying had i known they were gonna raise the avg i wuldnt even have bothered of coming to mac

They didn't raise the average. The estimate is just that, an estimate. They can't tell you what the cut-off is going to be if they don't know how many people are applying and what their averages are.