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Psychology and Social Psychology questions

 
Old 01-07-2011 at 01:30 PM   #1
LC20
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Psychology and Social Psychology questions
Hey guys, my name is Lucas and I will hopefully be a student at McMaster this time next year. I just have a few questions regarding courses I should take now to help myself do well while in university. Ok, so basically I want to take psychology courses at mac but I struggle in math. :( But luckily I saw that there is a new social psychology class that will be put into place by the time I'm there. So once I saw this I checked the new mac books and they said that they recommend math and biology for the psychology and neuroscience program but I dont want to go into that because I know I'll struggle with the math, but I was wondering how much math and bio are involved in social psychology? Also is the social psychology degree an honours BA? I have the marks right now in my AP psychology class and my marketing class to get in, (81 average between them) and next semester I'll have english and philosophy which I know I can do well in but the bio and math will bring me down (Ill probably be switching into a business course and a sociology course if I switch out of math and bio but I just need to know how much math and bio are in these courses so I can know whether to switch out or not. So if anyone can help me I will appreciate any tips or information to help me Thanks
Old 01-08-2011 at 11:25 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LC20 View Post
Hey guys, my name is Lucas and I will hopefully be a student at McMaster this time next year. I just have a few questions regarding courses I should take now to help myself do well while in university. Ok, so basically I want to take psychology courses at mac but I struggle in math. :( But luckily I saw that there is a new social psychology class that will be put into place by the time I'm there. So once I saw this I checked the new mac books and they said that they recommend math and biology for the psychology and neuroscience program but I dont want to go into that because I know I'll struggle with the math, but I was wondering how much math and bio are involved in social psychology? Also is the social psychology degree an honours BA? I have the marks right now in my AP psychology class and my marketing class to get in, (81 average between them) and next semester I'll have english and philosophy which I know I can do well in but the bio and math will bring me down (Ill probably be switching into a business course and a sociology course if I switch out of math and bio but I just need to know how much math and bio are in these courses so I can know whether to switch out or not. So if anyone can help me I will appreciate any tips or information to help me Thanks

Do you want a B.Sc or a BA? That's the biggest and most important difference here.

1. Figure out which side of Psych you like better, Social or Neuoscience basically. Note that I'm just using Soc and Neuro as shorthand, I dont meant that the Science one is all Neuro or that the Soc one is all Social Psych. Check these out: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...nt/pg1631.html and http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...nt/pg1945.html to get a better idea.

2. This will go for your entire academic career: NEVER, EVER be scared off by one or two stupid courses. There are ways to get around, like summer school, etc. And never shut yourself down before even taking it by saying you'll suck. Neither program is particularly math heavy, by the end of second year I think you are done for both. Psych Sci definitely has a larger Bio component, but its not a bio program, and you can avoid bio heavy courses if you want.

3. Whether to take math or bio or not depend on which psych you want to do. It is possible to apply to both, I think, but you need to sit down and figure out exactly which ten courses to take. I would recommend at least bio, since PSYCH 1X03, required for both Psychs, strongly recommends it.
Old 01-09-2011 at 12:14 AM   #3
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I am in Psych rt now..and was in Life Science in my 1st year..and the course choices is pretty limited at that time. Atleast through my experience, you only choose your major in 2nd year..and 1st year all life sci students take similar courses..
What I had was..2 psychs, 2 bio's, 2 chems, 1 physics, 1 math. - these were the reqmts
others were electives from enviro sci.
So don't wry abt the math. You only need 1 math course.

From what I know you don't need any math courses after 1st year. Although statistics is a course which is a reqmt for the degree.
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Old 03-26-2011 at 09:34 AM   #4
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Hey,

I'm in social psych right now and you do need stats. With this program what you have to be prepared for is the fact that your not focusing on one area. You'll be studying sociology, psychology and multidisciplinary courses all at the same time you'll never have just all psych courses so your knowledge will be all over the place which will be interesting but hard because it's harder to comprehend what's going on and it hardly relates to your other courses. For example say when you don't know much about religion but your stuck taking 2 religion courses because you need them to fufil your degree and then you also taking say political science and anthropology to fulfill the multidisciplinary course requirements. At least with a psych degree you'll be taking mostly psychology courses all thoughout so your knowledge will carry on to the next year.
Another issue with this program is that they are currently only accepting 65 students a year and then u have to maintain an average of i think 6.5 to carry on. Already in 2nd year we have dropped down to about 45 students which isn't bad as long as you stay at the top of all your courses.
If you do want to become a social psychologist i suggest switching to a school that has had social psychology for a long time like york as their program is more developed. We do have some amazing teachers from the field but i just worry about getting into a masters program as this won't be as recognized as say york's program.
Regarding your classes, math you should probably keep just in case you decide to switch to something completely different (this happens), bio for this program isn't needed I'd suggest that high school program that teaches psych, sociology and anthropology (if your school has that). You'll probably need philosophy for your high school marks but here philosophy is classifies as a humanities now a social sciences so you'd only take that as a elective. With your marks you should do fine in whatever you chose.

Good Luck with whatever you chose!

Last edited by merc67 : 03-26-2011 at 09:40 AM.
Old 03-26-2011 at 11:03 AM   #5
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huh i dont know much about your other topics, though i think most of the above ppl handeled them pretty well, but for math/... if your so worried about it you can always take math 1LS3, it is the life sci math, its very basic, mostly highschool with a bit of new stuff, and relatively simple. compared to this i heard 1AO3 is much harder for someone whos not so good at math......as for me i took ls3 math mostly cus i didnt want to bother with it to much, plus im going into h. bio next year so i wont really need it. and trust me its easy, the tests are ever 2 weeks or so, but there are like 4-6 in total so its better for ur marks the haveing 2 heavy midterms like other courses, they also provide u with plenty of practise questions and a practise test for each test u have so ur always well prepared, and the way they calulate ur marks makes it so u get the highest possible one in the end even if u dont do so well in the exam.
Old 03-26-2011 at 11:35 AM   #6
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The math requirements for a B.Sc. in psychology aren't particularly stringent - you can always take 1LS3 instead of 1A03.
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Old 03-26-2011 at 02:00 PM   #7
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You could also do BA psychology, you can take Math 1M03, which I'm pretty sure is easier than 1LS3, and you just need grade 12 bio to get in. However, if you're more interested in the social science parts of psychology rather than the neuroscience aspects, then do the social psych degree.
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Old 03-26-2011 at 03:58 PM   #8
Mahratta
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamescw1234 View Post
You could also do BA psychology, you can take Math 1M03, which I'm pretty sure is easier than 1LS3, and you just need grade 12 bio to get in. However, if you're more interested in the social science parts of psychology rather than the neuroscience aspects, then do the social psych degree.
Actually, 1LS3 may be easier than 1M03 - the material is similar, but the profs for 1LS (Lovric, Clements, etc.) tend to teach the material in an easier-to-understand way
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Old 03-29-2011 at 03:07 PM   #9
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Sorry to thread jack, but does anyone have an idea of what the general cutoff for level two B.Sc PNB is?
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Old 03-29-2011 at 03:24 PM   #10
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It was 7.2 or 7.7 last year. Those two numbers are for BioPsych and Psych. I have no idea which is which though...

BioPsych is probably the higher one.
Old 03-29-2011 at 03:41 PM   #11
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Not sure if this has been said already or not but you will have to take a biology class in order to take Psych 1XX3.



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