I agree with you - I feel better prepared than most of the kids in my classes, but in the end, I don't think there will be a significant difference once everyone gets used to uni.

To tell you the truth, I think IB negatively impacted my applications - I lost a lot of money on the entrance scholarship, maybe more on others ones that I applied to, since many don't make a distinction between IB and academic. I doubt it, but I might have made it into Health Sci if I was in academic - my marks would have been killer and it might have just compenstated for supplementary application short falls. I probably would have come to mac even if I went through school in academic - I prefer it over my second choice of U of T.

The community service part was all right, though the CAS forms were the biggest waste of time I've ever seen - pure lies.

Originally Posted by britb

The community service part was all right, though the CAS forms were the biggest waste of time I've ever seen - pure lies.

Agree. Everyone pretty much made up their creativity hours and BSed their way through the reflections.

Originally Posted by britb

To tell you the truth, I think IB negatively impacted my applications - I lost a lot of money on the entrance scholarship, maybe more on others ones that I applied to, since many don't make a distinction between IB and academic.

I think this was one of the worst parts of IB. All throughout the program, my class was told that universities would look at our IB grades, and they would consider the difference in difficulty level between IB and academic, but that never happened. All Ontario universities just convert your IB grades to actual percentages.

Nonetheless, regardless of the ups and downs, IB got me to where I want to be and overall, I enjoyed the program.

Originally Posted by Goce

All those things you listed are acronym's, not abbreviations.

While you're playing grammar police, you may not want to pluralize with an apostrophe. Just saying.

I call my calculator the "Maculator" and the backup calculator that everyone buys when they forgot theirs during that first physics midterm: the "baculator"

Originally Posted by Taunton

"Mac" and "Mc" mean the same thing and are directly related to each other. They both mean "son of" in Gaelic. Essentially, names like McMaster or (for example) MacMaster are exactly the same and calling McMaster "Mac" is like shortening the name to "Mc" (spoken "Mick").

Technically either one is appropriate, and this is the reason why it's used interchangeably (Mac for McMaster, Big Mac at McDonald's, etc).

(I too refer to Mac as Mac...I simply raised the point to illustrate that I would have never refered to it as "Mac" until I came here. It's slang I picked up around campus, which is what this topic is about)

But before we close the book on the discussion:

...you can tell them "well, it actually does make sense..."

Take a step back and ask yourself why it makes sense. Sure, lots of really old fellars from way back when started the convention and associated mc and mac (as you've demonstrated here), but that fails to show that the convention makes sense. Taking this as proof falls under "Proof by appeal to authority," namely "Some really old fellars say it makes sense, so it does."

Lots of really old fellars from way back when thought the earth was flat too...another example of "Proof by appeal to authority." ...certainly not a valid proof, since it was later disproven.

All I'm going to say is that in this case; URBAN DICTIONARY is your friend.

Originally Posted by ingénieur.xo

I don't really get this... so they can't call the school Mac in posters or anything but a large amount of the school clothing being sold at Titles say MAC in huge letters across them.

I think this is because
a. Titles started making those clothes before the Branding Manual was enforced (they are making more clothes with "McMaster" on them now)
or b. Titles gets a pass from the Branding Manual (I think this is more likely, especially when I see their signs/posters)

Originally Posted by Kathy2

Titles gets a pass from the Branding Manual (I think this is more likely, especially when I see their signs/posters)

I don't think that they really do. I used to be the student marketing co-ordinator there, and I was handed a 90-page style document to follow. :(

Maybe other people don't use "Mac" because it may confuse other people? Titles is on Campus and is used by McMaster students so there shouldn't be any confusion about "Mac".

That's what I think... although reading it after I typed it seems like a poor reason since there are so many rebuttals against it.

My high school was Mackenzie, we called it Mac. Now I go to McMaster, which I call Mac (becaue McMac although sounds awesome, is that extra syllable and I'd have to add it to my words list on my phone, also it doesn't flow as well because the Mc part makes you stop for a millisecond).

So my high school friends are always confused when I talk about someone from Mac because they have no idea which Mac I'm talking about.

..Wait, I don't get baculator. Why that for the second? Is it a physics joke?

o.o Okay, now I feel really dumb.

Originally Posted by britb

..Wait, I don't get baculator. Why that for the second? Is it a physics joke?

o.o Okay, now I feel really dumb.

Baculator is, I presume, short for "Back-up Calculator."

Ah, that make sense. lol.

Mac is short and cute compared to McMaster. It just rolls off the tongue and feels like a homey name.