I'm talking about the bio chem - bio med and bio tech specialization and their co-ops, what do people think of them? I heard from a lot of people that students tend to drop out of specialization and go to core, some people even dislike the idea of staying back a year for co op. what are your opinions, and if any of you have experience please share

? What program are you talking about?

Originally Posted by omgwtfitsp

I'm talking about the bio chem - bio med and bio tech specialization and their co-ops, what do people think of them? I heard from a lot of people that students tend to drop out of specialization and go to core, some people even dislike the idea of staying back a year for co op. what are your opinions, and if any of you have experience please share

A lot of students do switch to core, but students also switch from core to specializations.

It depends what you want to do. The people who switch to core often just don't see the point in doing the extra courses - the specializations are quite a bit more work than core.
There's no difference in co-op between the two specializations, but in terms of courses, check the course calendar to see if the required courses interest you at all.
The specializations have a lot more lab work and require a thesis (core doesn't require a thesis).

As for whether or not you want to stay an extra year for co-op, that's entirely up to you...I'm not sure what it is you're asking about for that.

Originally Posted by mike_302

? What program are you talking about?

If you read my first sentence, you wouldn't need to ask...its literally in the first line...

But anyways, I'm pretty much asking if all the extra work required in the specialization is to any benefit. And what does a thesis comprise of? These things I don't know

Originally Posted by omgwtfitsp

If you read my first sentence, you wouldn't need to ask...its literally in the first line...

But anyways, I'm pretty much asking if all the extra work required in the specialization is to any benefit. And what does a thesis comprise of? These things I don't know

Rude much? Is this a Science program specialization (in which case I'm completely clueless). Or is this a question re: Eng faculty, in which case the specializations options are not accurate.

Well, that's all the help I feel like providing... Good luck with that.

Originally Posted by mike_302

Rude much? Is this a Science program specialization (in which case I'm completely clueless). Or is this a question re: Eng faculty, in which case the specializations options are not accurate.

Well, that's all the help I feel like providing... Good luck with that.

I'm not trying to be rude at all but if you just look at the first few words I typed, I clearly stated that this was for bio chem specialization, and yet you are still asking me what faculty this is. Thanks anyways...

If you don't want to do the Biochem (+specialization) co-op route, you could also try Molecular Biology and Genetics Co-op (once again, you have to do a thesis, however, if you want to get into research, this is a really great opportunity).

Pardon me for not being aware of a Biochemical Faculty. I know of Eng, Science, Health Science, Med Rad, Kin, and others, but you could be a little less assuming that everyone knows of the Biochemical Faculty.

there is no biochem faculty. its in faculty of science.

I'm in Molecular Biology and Genetics Co-Op, but all the science co-op's (biochem, chem bio, pharm, etc.) are pretty close-knit/facilitated by the same office so I can try to answer any questions you might have.

I just finished my first co-op term this past summer; I worked in a government lab in Saskatchewan on a molecular plant pathology project. It was an absolutely incredible experience; I learned so much, met some amazing people, and it was just a happy time overall. In January I'll be moving to Montreal for one year, where I'll be working and completing my thesis. I'm crazy excited for this. So yeah, for co-op you spend an extra year on your undergrad... but it's so worth it. You gain relevant work experience, you get to travel, network, etc... I wouldn't have done it any other way.

All in all, co-op is awesome and you should go for it.

Originally Posted by mike_302

Pardon me for not being aware of a Biochemical Faculty. I know of Eng, Science, Health Science, Med Rad, Kin, and others, but you could be a little less assuming that everyone knows of the Biochemical Faculty.

There's no med rad faculty, it's a department within the faculty of science.
And he stated the program right off, if you didn't know what it was, that's not exactly the OP's fault. It could have been stated nicer I guess, but I can also understand being annoyed at someone asking a question like that when it looks as though they didn't read your post at all. It seemed like you were assuming engineering because that's what you were familiar with, when the exact names of the program and specializations were given.

And really? You didn't know Mac has a biochem program? (I'm not saying that to be rude, I'm just really surprised).

Originally Posted by Silver

there is no biochem faculty. its in faculty of science.

Actually, biochem kind of straddles science and health science faculties. The undergrad program is primarily science, but all the profs and TAs are under health sci, the facilities are primarily health sci facilities, and the grad program is in the health sci faculty. I think undergrad is just under science so that you get a BSc instead of a BHSc.

Originally Posted by starfish

There's no med rad faculty, it's a department within the faculty of science.
And he stated the program right off, if you didn't know what it was, that's not exactly the OP's fault. It could have been stated nicer I guess, but I can also understand being annoyed at someone asking a question like that when it looks as though they didn't read your post at all. It seemed like you were assuming engineering because that's what you were familiar with, when the exact names of the program and specializations were given.

And really? You didn't know Mac has a biochem program? (I'm not saying that to be rude, I'm just really surprised).



Actually, biochem kind of straddles science and health science faculties. The undergrad program is primarily science, but all the profs and TAs are under health sci, the facilities are primarily health sci facilities, and the grad program is in the health sci faculty. I think undergrad is just under science so that you get a BSc instead of a BHSc.

Well, this is exactly it. I asked what Faculty it was in. As has now been answered, it's sort of in Science but straddles another program. Thanks for this info. I've been around for a bit but didn't know it was its own seperate group. Re: Med Rad, I think even that was once it's own seperate group, outside of Science, no? I might be crazy. I've been around a few years, and may have heard some "rumours" over the years too.

lol this thread has turned into an argument on minutiae...I inferred from words like "core" and "specialization" that the OP was talking about Science, since I don't hear those in Eng, but Eng does have Chem + Bio as well as Elec and Biomed and I think B Tech has BioTech (not sure), so I can see why there was confusion.

In terms of actually answering the question, if Undergrad is the new HS diploma, you should do everything possible to distinguish yourself from your peers (research, high marks and, probably most importantly, relevant work experience).

From my biased Eng perspective, co-op is essential (UW doesn't even have a non co-op Eng program and I'm sure Mac would like to do something similar if they had a bigger/better co-op program). Nor sure, how that applies to Science since I'm not too familiar with its co-op program.

What did you want to do after your degree?

If you want to go into the biomed or biotech industry go for the co-op, it'll be easier to get a job afterwards. If you were thinking of graduate school work, then doing something with a thesis (core or specialization) would be useful. If you just want to go into professional school afterwards, I wouldn't bother with the extra year unless doing a co-op and getting hands on skills is something that you're interested in.

That said, most of the biology programs are essentially the same anyways so it's fairly easy to switch out if you decide that you don't want to do something.