Very simply put, is that feasible?

I'm a first year student as of 2009/2010 and I've always been passionate about Biology and I'd like to keep the possibility of medicine open after I graduate but I'd also like the fallback of a Business degree.

I can get my 6 credits in Level I toward a minor by taking 2 Bio electives but I'm worried that there may not be place for these later on in the Commerce program.

In the later years, there seem to be more and more mandatory requirements for Commerce.


And I also wanted to ask if it was advisable.

I did Grade 12 Bio a year ago and to be honest, we didn't touch on the chemistry aspect as much and I've got a foggy recollection of the subject.

I'm good at it though and I've always enjoyed it.

Would it be possible, with the right time and dedication to do well in the course or should I study before it even starts?


I'd really appreciate it and I thank you in advance for your help and time.

Well remember that you only need 24 units in a subject for it to be declared a Minor. I'm not sure how many electives Commerce allows, but I would think you would be alright.

You can still get into medicine without getting a minor in biology.

If you do decide to minor (if commerce has enough electives), be sure to plan out your courses very carefully as upper year Biology courses have specific prereqs. I'd definitely recommend cell bio (2B03) and animal phys (2A03) as they are prereqs for many 3rd year bios.

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

Very simply put, is that feasible?

I'm a first year student as of 2009/2010 and I've always been passionate about Biology and I'd like to keep the possibility of medicine open after I graduate but I'd also like the fallback of a Business degree.

I can get my 6 credits in Level I toward a minor by taking 2 Bio electives but I'm worried that there may not be place for these later on in the Commerce program.

In the later years, there seem to be more and more mandatory requirements for Commerce.


And I also wanted to ask if it was advisable.

I did Grade 12 Bio a year ago and to be honest, we didn't touch on the chemistry aspect as much and I've got a foggy recollection of the subject.

I'm good at it though and I've always enjoyed it.

Would it be possible, with the right time and dedication to do well in the course or should I study before it even starts?


I'd really appreciate it and I thank you in advance for your help and time.

What did you like about biology? After first year, you can choose courses on you are interested in biology. As Jesus mentioned, bio 2b03 (cell biology) is required for many upper year biology courses, as is bio 2c03 but a requirement for bio 2b03/2c03 is chem 1aa3 (and the requirement for that is chem 1aa3) and those two are not part of your minor.. (and are kind of a pain) however there are still courses that you can take with out other science/non-bio courses. Basically, just be aware of prerequisites and know what you like and a minor shouldn't be too hard. Check out the course calendar. BUT yeah, that's next year's problem. lol

I have a friend in 2nd year chem who wants to minor in biology and they were planning on getting a few of the biology credits for a minor through field biology, but that's could be expensive though, but I hear it's really fun.

I don't see how you could do Hons Commerce and a Bio minor. However, it might be possible to do a Bio minor with just a B. Comm. as you get far more non-commerce electives in the B.Comm program than you do in Honours.

The econ minor is the only one that's simple to get with Hons Commerce because of the overlap of courses (you have to take 3 econ courses and some of the finance courses count towards the econ minor).

Remember, you only get 1 elective in 2nd year and scheduling Labs might prove very difficult. Your best bet is to talk to your Commerce Academic Advisor:

http://www.degroote.mcmaster .ca/UG/business1.html

- Alex McColl
Hons B.Comm & Econ Minor 08

Originally Posted by sinthusized

What did you like about biology? After first year, you can choose courses on you are interested in biology. As Jesus mentioned, bio 2b03 (cell biology) is required for many upper year biology courses, as is bio 2c03 but a requirement for bio 2b03/2c03 is chem 1aa3 (and the requirement for that is chem 1aa3) and those two are not part of your minor.. (and are kind of a pain) however there are still courses that you can take with out other science/non-bio courses. Basically, just be aware of prerequisites and know what you like and a minor shouldn't be too hard. Check out the course calendar. BUT yeah, that's next year's problem. lol

I have a friend in 2nd year chem who wants to minor in biology and they were planning on getting a few of the biology credits for a minor through field biology, but that's could be expensive though, but I hear it's really fun.

The way I was looking at it...I'd be taking my mandatory courses and squeezing in CHEM 1A03, BIO 1A03, BIO 1M03 and taking CHEM 1AA3 in the summer.

Would you recommend that?


I suppose I'm jsut worried about my MCATs because, taking all these courses sure does block up a lot of options.

I would have to defer a course in 2nd year, a mandatory Commerce course, in order to get in 2 Bios.

And then in 3rd and 4th year, I should be able to accomodate the others.

And if I were to take summer school, how long does that run and what are the starting and ending dates?

You can definitely fit in 24 units of bio electives into an Honors Commerce Degree. So I guess that means you can do the Bio minor.

Originally Posted by PTGregD

You can definitely fit in 24 units of bio electives into an Honors Commerce Degree. So I guess that means you can do the Bio minor.

I know Mac places a lot of emphasis on it's sciences, and from your experiences as a Commerce student, is Commerce so brutal that I would go through hell juggling it and the Sciences?

Do you feel, from what you've heard about the Sciences, it would be "impossible" to work both in?

I use hyperboles only because I know it's challenging, so I won't ask that but if it's...as advisable as running with scissors then...I might reconsider.

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

I know Mac places a lot of emphasis on it's sciences, and from your experiences as a Commerce student, is Commerce so brutal that I would go through hell juggling it and the Sciences?

Do you feel, from what you've heard about the Sciences, it would be "impossible" to work both in?

I use hyperboles only because I know it's challenging, so I won't ask that but if it's...as advisable as running with scissors then...I might reconsider.

Is commerce brutal? It can be. I'm doing an econ minor due to the fact it lends itself quite well to the Commerce program and I'm finding it fine.

I know sciences tend to err on the hard side on occasion, due to labs etc., so really, you would be the best judge as to whether you can handle the work or not.

If you are good at sciences and aren't a heavy procrastinator, then you will be okay doing a minor in bio. It's by far not the easiest minor you could choose, but it's definitely doable as long as you're willing to make the commitment to not slacking off.

There is the option of taking bio classes in summer school, as you thought of yourself, goodnews.inc

The only thing being you may not be able to take all four courses in one summer (if that was even your plan).

Summer school runs in two terms: one from the first week or may until mid-June, and the other the third week of June until the last week of July (of course, give or take a week or so depending on when the academic year finishes). This year the dates were May 4 - June 19 and June 22 - July 31. Course selection for summer school starts in March.

Classes are primarily at night, from 7-10pm twice a week (so either Monday-Weds or Tues-Thurs). However, I'm not entirely sure how labs get sectioned in the summer months, as they would need additional time outside of the lecture hours. However a lot of the upper-year bios (third and fourth year) do not require lab work.

If you are thinking about med school, and are interested in Bio take at least the courses for first year, and then you can decide if you want to continue.

Just a side note, the summer school schedule for 2010 has already been done:

Term 1: May 3rd to June 18th
Term 2: June 23rd to August 6th

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /regis...sessional.html

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

The way I was looking at it...I'd be taking my mandatory courses and squeezing in CHEM 1A03, BIO 1A03, BIO 1M03 and taking CHEM 1AA3 in the summer.

Would you recommend that?


I suppose I'm jsut worried about my MCATs because, taking all these courses sure does block up a lot of options.

As long as you get the course materials from Kaplan/TPR, you should be fine without taking the courses, imo. Most of the information that you need to solve the biology questions are usually included in the passages. Nevertheless, taking Orgo, Biology, etc. would definitely be helpful.

Keep in mind that certain schools have required prereqs (such as social sciences/humanities, organic chem, biochem). I'd look into completing those before completing a minor in biology if med school is what you're aiming for/keeping an option open for.

Taking all four of those courses in summer school for the first time would be really difficult. It's definitely doable but it won't be easy.

Also regarding learning the info from the MCAT books - the books assume that you've already learned the material so it really just tries to review it. It would definitely be beneficial to take the courses if you are planning on writing the MCATs. Actually, you really only need first year bio and chem to write the MCATs and maybe a little bit of orgo.

I think you should focus on getting the required courses rather than a minor in biology.

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

The way I was looking at it...I'd be taking my mandatory courses and squeezing in CHEM 1A03, BIO 1A03, BIO 1M03 and taking CHEM 1AA3 in the summer.

Would you recommend that?


I suppose I'm jsut worried about my MCATs because, taking all these courses sure does block up a lot of options.

I would have to defer a course in 2nd year, a mandatory Commerce course, in order to get in 2 Bios.

And then in 3rd and 4th year, I should be able to accomodate the others.

And if I were to take summer school, how long does that run and what are the starting and ending dates?

You can also take econ 2x03 in 1st year if you have room in your schedule, opening up 2 elective spots in 2nd year. I found this especially nice because it gets one of the "hard" (depending on what your strengths are) 2nd year courses out of the way at a time when you have plenty of time to spare. Just thought I'd throw it out there as an idea..

Cool I was actually wondering this. I'm in life sci and was thinking of switching to commerce and minoring and bio.