Hello, I am a high school student planning on going to Mcmaster university, currently my average is 85 (might go up to 87 by the end of summer) and I applied to Business, Engineering, and Medical radiation sciences.

I checked the admission requirements for the 3 programs all were "low - mid 80s". I did not participate in any extra-curricular activities except maybe cross-country (left after 2 weeks).
Do I have a good chance of getting in at LEAST one of the program?

Also is it better to take co-op because i heard it helps u find a job after graduating.

You should be able to get into engineering, unless the required grades go way up next year. I had about the same average as you going in, and now I'm still here almost 4 years later!
I'm not in the co-op program so I can't comment on that, or business or medical radiation sciences.

Alright, time to destroy the lie they feed you in highschool: Almost zero universities care at all about your high school extracurriculars. The only school I can think of off the top of my head that does is Waterloo (and that's only for competitive programs).

I'd say you have a pretty good chance of getting into any of those (assuming that your average is taking into account all the required courses for each program).

As to co-op, at least for engineering, I hear it can help find you a job after university. I'm actually only looking into it really now (only now just completed the co-op course), so I don't really know too much.

Good luck!

Oh what a relief, my dad keeps saying i wont get in. :p

Thanks for the help guys!

Originally Posted by ILikeMC

Also is it better to take co-op because i heard it helps u find a job after graduating.

I'm in the co-op program, so I'll try to answer that.

I my experience, the co-op program at Mac is largely useless. I've had work terms every summer, and I know other people have done year long/sixteen month interships, but I haven't really heard of anything that the co-op office actually does for you except posting jobs on the student job site. You take a day long course when you first enrol in the program and it teaches you basic things like cover letter/resume writing tips, interview tips, etc. (nothing you wouldn't learn by googling "cover letter advice," IMO) and you pay a fee (~$100) to have access to all the job postings online.

Unlike some other Engineering schools you're not guaranteed a position in any way, and you're given virtually no assistance to actually find a job. While it's convenient having all the postings in one place, I can't really justify having to pay about $100 every year for that, when a little bit of online hunting would get you the same results.

I could just be completely missing out on all the great services the career centre has to offer though, so I suggest you get some other perspectives too, before deciding if co-op is for you or not. Whether or not you're enrolled in an official co-op program, a work term while you're in school will definitely put you in better position to find a job when you graduate.

if you get 85+ ull be guaranteed into eng and business afaik

If you maintain that average, you won't have problems getting into eng/business. Make sure you keep that mark though.

If you're looking for a co-op program, I strongly recommend you take Business. I'm trying to be unbiased (I am a third year Commerce student); Commerce has an internship program which you can take, and you get paid for it. Same as co-op pretty much; full-time job, but you get paid. Average salary is I believe between high $20k to mid $30k, with a range of mid $20k to low $40k. If you do the internship, you finish your undergrad in 5 years and then you can go straight into the MBA program with your intership and have your MBA in just one additional year. Six years, undergrad commerce + MBA is pretty good (that's what I'm trying to do right now.)

As previously mentioned, they don't give a crap about extra curriculars. If you have the average, you're in. Extra-curriculars are mainly for scholarships you can apply for.

First off, you can easily get into Engineering here as long as you maintain your average. Secondly, as someone said, extra-curriculars don't matter at all. And I mean at all .. although some are fun.
The trick with Engineering at Mac is you pick your major (Civil, Mech, Phys, etc) after your first year so you have to try
And, again as someone has already said, Co-op is useful, but here you really have to network and find jobs yourselves. The only reason you pay the $100 annual fee is to get the nice little 'co-op' designation beside your diploma.
And remember that Mac also offers engineering and management, who take all the engineering courses from their major plus business courses (accounting, commerce, etc), although it does make it a year longer. So if you want to go into engineering but think you want some business too - the programs here are great =D

Theres coop with every faculty, and you should be choosing your area of study based on your interests.. why you would apply to engineering, business, and medical radiation sciences is beyond me.. thats ridiculously broad, and you're basing your future on randomly getting accepted into one (I believe you can only be accepted into one). I'm not sure what the acceptance averages are, but I believe it would be Med Rad > Eng ~= Buisness.

Coop at McMaster doesn't garuntee a position, but you're paid for it, unlike some schools where you may be garunteed positions but don't get paid for them, as well as you pay more. Your fee is largely for the database access as well as career resources.

You don't have to be enrolled in a coop program right away to get coop.. you can decide to supplement your degree if you want.

Originally Posted by bcars

If you're looking for a co-op program, I strongly recommend you take Business. I'm trying to be unbiased (I am a third year Commerce student); Commerce has an internship program which you can take, and you get paid for it. Same as co-op pretty much; full-time job, but you get paid. Average salary is I believe between high $20k to mid $30k, with a range of mid $20k to low $40k. If you do the internship, you finish your undergrad in 5 years and then you can go straight into the MBA program with your intership and have your MBA in just one additional year. Six years, undergrad commerce + MBA is pretty good (that's what I'm trying to do right now.)

As previously mentioned, they don't give a crap about extra curriculars. If you have the average, you're in. Extra-curriculars are mainly for scholarships you can apply for.

good luck finding a job with an mba and little job experience.. if your looking at doing an mba, its better to work for a few years and then go back get it.

Originally Posted by david_08

good luck finding a job with an mba and little job experience.. if your looking at doing an mba, its better to work for a few years and then go back get it.

Mcmaster actually offers a co op MBA program which offers placement in some of canada's top firms. A relative of mine got his Bsc, didn't get into medical school so he applied to the MBA co op program. He is now doing his Co-op at RIM. He regrets wasting his time doing a BSC.

Originally Posted by david_08

good luck finding a job with an mba and little job experience.. if your looking at doing an mba, its better to work for a few years and then go back get it.

Wrong. That's the whole point of the internship. It's hard getting a job with a B Comm but companies kill for an accelerated MBA student, it shows commitment and intelligence.

Originally Posted by bcars

Wrong. That's the whole point of the internship. It's hard getting a job with a B Comm but companies kill for an accelerated MBA student, it shows commitment and intelligence.

Wrong. I've heard the opposite. Ive heard of people going straight into the mba and not being able to get a job.

Originally Posted by david_08

Wrong. I've heard the opposite. Ive heard of people going straight into the mba and not being able to get a job.

The same applies with every degree. There's also a lot of idiots. Business isn't about what you know, it's who you know and if you have no connections going into the MBA program, you're ****ed.