School of Business
Discussion thread

The School of Business offers two programs, each of which spans four levels of study. The Honours Commerce program, which leads to the Honours Bachelor of Commerce (Honours B.Com.) degree, provides substantial concentration in business subjects beyond the essential core of studies. The Commerce program, which leads to the Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) degree, contains essential grounding in business subjects and promotes the broadening of horizons through studies in Social Sciences, Humanities and Science. These programs are referred to collectively as the Commerce programs.
In addition, the School of Business and the Faculty of Engineering offer a five-year joint program for the Bachelor of Engineering and Management (B.Eng.Mgt.) degree. This program provides a full course of study in Engineering and includes a complete core of business subjects. Details concerning the B.Eng.Mgt. program and its academic regulations can be found in Faculty of Engineering section of the Undergraduate Calendar, or visit the Engineering and Management website at www.eng.mcmaster.ca/engandmgt/.
Also, the School of Business participates in the Committee of Instruction and offers courses for the B.A. program in Labour Studies which is described in Faculty of Social Sciences section of the Undergraduate Calendar.
In Level I, a student who wishes to pursue either of the Commerce programs establishes a foundation in behavioural science, computer science, economics and mathematics. Additionally, elective work is required, including cross cultural/language courses selected from a menu provided at the time of registration. While this course of study is prescribed in Business I, a student who establishes a similar background in the Level I program of another Faculty may also be considered for admission to Level II (Commerce II). Such a student should consult with the Academic Programs Office, School of Business.
A student must gain admission to Commerce II in order to proceed towards the Honours B.Com. or B.Com. degrees. In Level II a wide range of business subjects (accounting, finance, marketing, human resources/labour relations and management information systems) are introduced and further course work in economics is required. Elective work is taken from non-Commerce courses.
While the same core of required Commerce courses is completed in Level II, the Commerce programs diverge at Level III. In the Honours Commerce program, about two-thirds of the work is in Commerce courses, with the remainder of the load coming from electives outside the Faculty. In the Commerce program, about one-half of the course work is in each of Commerce subjects and non-Commerce electives.


In the revised programs, the School of Business has stressed the importance of breadth of knowledge. Students will be required to take courses in a variety of business disciplines, thus giving them a sound understanding of business functions and their relationships. They will also have exposure to international and cross-cultural issues. This will provide students with the knowledge needed for the world of global organizations. Prior to graduation, students will be required to complete two courses from the International / Cross-Cultural / Language menu.


Students can take Business I and the Commerce programs on a full-time or part-time basis. Progression to the next level is at the end of the successful completion of the 30 units of work that pertain to the lower level. Please note that only a few Commerce courses are offered in the evenings or in the summer sessions.


A student with an undergraduate degree will not be admitted or readmitted to either of the Commerce programs. Such students may wish to apply for admission to the MBA program.
For application information, visit the MBA Website.



In Level I, a student who wishes to pursue either of the Commerce programs establishes a foundation in behavioural science, computer science, economics and mathematics, and also undertakes elective work. While this course of study is prescribed in Business I, a student who establishes a similar background in the Level I program of another Faculty may be considered for admission to Level II (Commerce II). Such a student should consult with the Academic Programs Office in the School of Business.

Could somebody who is in the course please comment on the first year mandatory courses ( Math, Business, Econ, etc.) and how you liked them, what is hard, etc. Also, what are some good electives to choose?

Thanks

Econ 1B03 - I'm pretty sure Holmes is the only teacher for this. Try to do as well as you can on Aplia, it really helps, especially when you bomb your tests haha. Her tests are pretty hard in my opinion. Her notes are really good.

Econ 1BB3 - Try to get KRISHNAKALI SEN GUPTA!! She actually rocks, I loved her. Her tests are easy if you study her notes. Try to do well with Aplia with this class too.

Commerce 1E03 - Hmm.. probobly one of my worst classes haha. Rita Cossa's Report is BRUTAL. The marking is incredibly hard, they really nail you on like.. everything. Start the project like.. 1 month before it's due. You will thank me.

Computer Science 1BA3 - Was known to be brutal until this year. I had Yasser Ebrahim, awesome prof, hilarious guy. His tests are reasonable and the assignments are a breeze if you have prior computer experience.

Math 1M03 - I hated this class, with a passion. I know so many people that failed. Your other option is Math 1A03, which I think is alot easier.

Econ 1B03 - Definatly try to get Holmes for this if it is split between prof's. She cares about her students and her online lecture notes are very detailed, print them out and bring to class. That way, you can spend the time understaning the topic instead of copying down notes/graphs.

Econ 1BB3 - Was not a big fan of this class. The material itself was very intresting but I did not like how slow paced/unorganized Sen Gupta's classes were. I didn't go to class, and read the textbook and did aplia on my own, and ended up with an 'A'.

Commerce 1E03 - This class can go almost any direction, for some it is easy, others extremely tough. The only way to do outstanding is to read the assigned chapters every week, make notes, attend class, and do all the 'bonus' assignments. Most people fail the report, but you can make it up with the midTerm and Exam. The only way to do well on the midTerm and Exam is if you read the textbook, it comes down to understanding the 'triva', the lecture notes do not cover everthing.

Computer Science 1BA3 - Above

Math 1M03 - This class can be extremely tricky for most students. I was fortunate because I am strong in math, but if you are not, you really have to do all the assigned problems, and focus on understanding. It can be tough, and this is, like samantha mentioned above, a course where alot of students failed. Math 1A03 is not recommended to take because one or two sections are more difficult., but my roommate took 1A03 , and we both aggreed it moved at a much slower pace, and had less content.

Thank you very much. Can you also recommend on electives? I understand that every person is different, but what did you take and how did you like it?

Thanks James and Samantha for the detailed explanations.
oh, and these are the five prerequisites that we need to take, right?
Econ 1B03
Econ 1BB3
Commerce 1E03
Computer Science 1BA3
Math 1M03/1A03

Which will give us a total of 15 units? Thus, we need to pick 5 electives?

Those are the 5, and then you must choose at least 1 of a group of Social Science Courses. I think these were the choices, but double-check to make sure: PSYCH 1A03, GEO 1HS3, SOC 1A06, ANTHRO 1A03.

And after that, you can choose ANY 4 other electives.

Here's what I thought were my easiest electives:

CMST 1A03 - Intro Communication: All about how we communicate. Some of the material is boring, some interesting, but overall the work is pretty easy. You maintain a Blog, writing once a week on your choice of assigned articles and then there's a pretty big Essay, but that's about it. No Midterm, just Multiple Choice final exam.

PHILOS 1B03 - Philosopy & Law: You discuss moral issues like War, Environmental Ethics, Aboriginal Rights, Racism, etc. There was a small essay and a large essay, and every week you had to read short articles and come up with a couple questions based on each article, one that you would answer and one that could be used to discuss in your tutorial. No midterm, just Short Answer and Essay Question exam.

**But, of course it is important to take courses based on both your interests and your knowledge of the subjects.

For example, I took THTR&FILM 1B03 - Intro Film Analysis because I like movies and it seemed like an easy course. While it wasn't a difficult course, it wasn't as easy and fun as I expected, and having no previous knowledge of film analysis (camera lenses/angles, shot types, etc) made it harder and it ended up being my 3rd worst mark (after COMM 1E03 & MATH 1M03 lol)

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To add to what was said above, I think most people would agree COMM 1E03 & MATH 1M03 are by far the hardest courses in First Year. Having said that, don't worry because you still can do well in those courses and I do know people that did get A's (though, not me). Two big tips, for Calculus: Do the Assigned Homework right away (don't leave it all to the couple days before the test like I did), you only learn by doing the work, so make it a habit to get it done every week. For Commerce: you have to do a big report in groups, and once again: don't wait to get it done. Come on with a schedule and deadlines and actually follow them. There's nothing more frustrating than working your ass off for 2 weeks straight and still failing (my group). So work on it everyonce in a while throughout the semester and you won't be as stressed towards the end.

So right now I'm pursuing a double major in Communication Studies and Cultural Studies. Going into 2nd year.

BUT:

I also kind of want to Minor in Business, and have a Major in Comm. Studies if I could, but then I'd have to start from scratch, which SUCKS.

Would ECON 1B03: Microeconomics (or any other commerce course) be too hard for a humanities student who is good (read: obsessive compulsive) with numbers, but not too great with complex math? (ex. calc.) For reference, I got like, 90s in my accounting classes in high school (hopefully that will help me!!)

Major in Comm and Minor in Business is a fantastic idea! I think you would be perfectly capable of it. Microecon and Macroecon dont have very complex math, it just sometimes gets confusing. But I'm sure you'll be fine.

You can always do a double maj in CMST and Cultural Studies and then do your MBA to get business experience after you get your B.A. (its what I'm contemplating at the moment)

And minoring in Econ or Business/being prepared to work full-time for 2-5 years so you can be accepted into an MBA

Just realise that minoring in Business will result in you having to take at least one or two courses in practically every area of business, such as Finance, Human Resources, Information Tech and Marketing.

Anyone would like to comment on the electives you took in first year (professors, hard or easy, etc.)?

For students registered in the business program, do they actually need to complete 2 courses from International/Cross-Cultural/Language?

If anyone currently at mac or is planning on coming to mac in the fall has any questions regarding the DeGroote Commerce Program, I'm in 4th year and willing to give the real lowdown on how things go and the course-loads.

Feel free to add me to msn for faster communication: [email protected]

Originally Posted by ColinT

If anyone currently at mac or is planning on coming to mac in the fall has any questions regarding the DeGroote Commerce Program, I'm in 4th year and willing to give the real lowdown on how things go and the course-loads.

Feel free to add me to msn for faster communication: [email protected]

How's 3rd year commerce? And are you going to get an accounting designation or anything like that?

I already took Calc and Data Management in my high school, does that mean I have to fill up those 2 courses with 2 extra electives? Is the 30 credit rule mandatory for all Business I students?