Hi there. Does anybody know what the science level 2 program cutoff averages were last year (2012-2013)?
Specifically Honours Psychology Neuroscience and Behaviour?
Thanks

Last year I believe the cut off for PNB was a 6.5 or 7. The minimum average for this year is 6.0, but as always since it's a limited enrolment program, the cut off will vary depending on how many people apply and what their averages are. That being said, try to get as high a mark as possible in the two intropsych courses specifically because those are used to make a final decision if you're tied with someone else.

Originally Posted by ooburii

Last year I believe the cut off for PNB was a 6.5 or 7. The minimum average for this year is 6.0, but as always since it's a limited enrolment program, the cut off will vary depending on how many people apply and what their averages are. That being said, try to get as high a mark as possible in the two intropsych courses specifically because those are used to make a final decision if you're tied with someone else.

Hi! Thanks so much for responding! Are you sure its that low? I've heard so many different averages ranging from (6.5-8.5) so I'm not really sure what to believe. I'll probably finish with around an 8-8.4. Do you think that's good enough? I really want to get it so I'm a bit worried :/

Also since you are in the program..How do you like it? How's the workload?
Any info would be great thanks!

Originally Posted by nmartins

Hi! Thanks so much for responding! Are you sure its that low? I've heard so many different averages ranging from (6.5-8.5) so I'm not really sure what to believe. I'll probably finish with around an 8-8.4. Do you think that's good enough? I really want to get it so I'm a bit worried :/

Also since you are in the program..How do you like it? How's the workload?
Any info would be great thanks!

It changes year to year, and most people don't actually have a reliable source for the cutoff they tell you. Even if it is somewhat reliable, I've seen cutoffs change by several grade points depending on what upper-years tell first-year students about the program (mostly for the more specialized programs though).
Whether or not your average is good enough depends on the averages of everyone else who applies, relative to the number of people that the program will accept.

ok thanks

I volunteer for the department of PNB at the second year program fair, fall preview and [email protected], and that is the range we were told to tell students. If you'd like a specific answer, you can ask Ann Hollingshead, as she's the academic advisor for PNB and can answer any question about the program, eligibility, courses, etc. Her office is on the first floor of the psych building, or you can email her.

I think you should be fine with an 8-8.4, to my understanding it has not been that high before (the program has only just been revamped 3 years ago), but that again depends on whether you have a super intelligent cohort applying this year or not. I suggest you apply anyway because you never know!

As for the program, I love it! I wasn't particularly drawn to any of the major science programs when I was in first year and I didn't think I wanted to stay in life science because it was too general, so pnb was a great choice because I found the content really interesting. the program size is around 140 students, which is small enough for you to get to know people really well in second year because you share 4 classes in first term and 2 classes in second term. the biopsych students are also in your classes so that's another ~40 students.

Because psych is such a huge and varied topic, you can choose basically any area of it to specialize in once you get into 3rd and 4th year. Some students choose to focus on neuroscience courses, others choose to take developmental courses, etc. There's research experience built into the program in the form of a lab course in 3rd year where you learn how to run an experiment, but there's also plenty of opportunities to work with professors on independent library projects and independent studies (where you run your own experiment).

You can also choose to volunteer in labs, and in fourth year you have the option of doing a thesis, which is an amazing opportunity to do hands-on work and to get experience & a reference for graduate and professional schools. You can also do these library projects and independent studies with professors from other departments and also with supervisors from the mental health facilities at chedoke, so you have many choices in terms of what kind of research you want to do. And if you're not interested in research, that's okay too. The nice thing about PNB is that after you get the foundations down in second year, you can basically customize your degree however you want to because you have few required courses. In the upper years you get a lot of electives compared to other programs so there's plenty of room to do a minor or to take courses outside of psych.

Class sizes in the upper years vary from 14-40 students so professors easily know you on a first name basis. In terms of workload, I'd say the peak workload times are in second year (first term) and fourth year, but it's definitely manageable. Our cohorts are very close-knit, and there's a lot of interaction between the different year cohorts, as well as between PNB and BioPsych students, so it feels like one big family all the time. I definitely recommend the program. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!


edit: wow this is so long LOL. Sorry I get carried away when asked about PNB. Hope it helps though.

Originally Posted by ooburii

I volunteer for the department of PNB at the second year program fair, fall preview and [email protected], and that is the range we were told to tell students. If you'd like a specific answer, you can ask Ann Hollingshead, as she's the academic advisor for PNB and can answer any question about the program, eligibility, courses, etc. Her office is on the first floor of the psych building, or you can email her.

I think you should be fine with an 8-8.4, to my understanding it has not been that high before (the program has only just been revamped 3 years ago), but that again depends on whether you have a super intelligent cohort applying this year or not. I suggest you apply anyway because you never know!

As for the program, I love it! I wasn't particularly drawn to any of the major science programs when I was in first year and I didn't think I wanted to stay in life science because it was too general, so pnb was a great choice because I found the content really interesting. the program size is around 140 students, which is small enough for you to get to know people really well in second year because you share 4 classes in first term and 2 classes in second term. the biopsych students are also in your classes so that's another ~40 students.

Because psych is such a huge and varied topic, you can choose basically any area of it to specialize in once you get into 3rd and 4th year. Some students choose to focus on neuroscience courses, others choose to take developmental courses, etc. There's research experience built into the program in the form of a lab course in 3rd year where you learn how to run an experiment, but there's also plenty of opportunities to work with professors on independent library projects and independent studies (where you run your own experiment).

You can also choose to volunteer in labs, and in fourth year you have the option of doing a thesis, which is an amazing opportunity to do hands-on work and to get experience & a reference for graduate and professional schools. You can also do these library projects and independent studies with professors from other departments and also with supervisors from the mental health facilities at chedoke, so you have many choices in terms of what kind of research you want to do. And if you're not interested in research, that's okay too. The nice thing about PNB is that after you get the foundations down in second year, you can basically customize your degree however you want to because you have few required courses. In the upper years you get a lot of electives compared to other programs so there's plenty of room to do a minor or to take courses outside of psych.

Class sizes in the upper years vary from 14-40 students so professors easily know you on a first name basis. In terms of workload, I'd say the peak workload times are in second year (first term) and fourth year, but it's definitely manageable. Our cohorts are very close-knit, and there's a lot of interaction between the different year cohorts, as well as between PNB and BioPsych students, so it feels like one big family all the time. I definitely recommend the program. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask!


edit: wow this is so long LOL. Sorry I get carried away when asked about PNB. Hope it helps though.

Wow! thanks so much for all the info. It actually really helped! It's literally my dream program and after the insight you gave me I know i will love it! I want to get more into the neuroscience and cognition side of things. I either want to use that for clinical research or to go into psychiatric medicine. You helped ease my anxiety and I will definitely try to check out [email protected]
Just out of curiosity, have you thought of what you want to do after your undergrad?
Feel free to personally message me if you want cause I actually dont know how to do that LOL
Thanks again, you were very helpful!

Originally Posted by nmartins

Wow! thanks so much for all the info. It actually really helped! It's literally my dream program and after the insight you gave me I know i will love it! I want to get more into the neuroscience and cognition side of things. I either want to use that for clinical research or to go into psychiatric medicine. You helped ease my anxiety and I will definitely try to check out [email protected]
Just out of curiosity, have you thought of what you want to do after your undergrad?
Feel free to personally message me if you want cause I actually dont know how to do that LOL
Thanks again, you were very helpful!

[email protected] is geared towards incoming first years, so you probably won't find it that helpful - asking here or on fb will probably give you more appropriate info in less time.

Originally Posted by starfish

[email protected] is geared towards incoming first years, so you probably won't find it that helpful - asking here or on fb will probably give you more appropriate info in less time.

I'm actually transferring from the University of Waterloo so I still might check it out just for the experience. But yeah you're right, all the info I needed I got here thanks to you guys
Thanks for your help

Originally Posted by ooburii

You can also choose to volunteer in labs, and in fourth year you have the option of doing a thesis, which is an amazing opportunity to do hands-on work and to get experience & a reference for graduate and professional schools. You can also do these library projects and independent studies with professors from other departments and also with supervisors from the mental health facilities at chedoke, so you have many choices in terms of what kind of research you want to do. And if you're not interested in research, that's okay too. The nice thing about PNB is that after you get the foundations down in second year, you can basically customize your degree however you want to because you have few required courses. In the upper years you get a lot of electives compared to other programs so there's plenty of room to do a minor or to take courses outside of psych.

Thanks for your post, it was helpful

A question about graduate and professional schools, is PNB flexible for opportunities in say, dental or medical school? I am interested in PNB but I also want to have a lot of open doors for my career path.

Not a problem! Glad I can be of help As starfish mentioned, [email protected] is focussed on first years. That's not to say that you can't come though, I'm sure that the reps would be more than happy to talk to you about the program since we spend most of the day waiting around for someone to walk into the psych building with questions.

To be honest I'm still undecided about what kind of career I'm hoping to pursue. My thesis examined youth voting behaviour, and through that I found that I'm drawn towards government/civic engagement kinds of careers. At the moment I'm looking at the areas of public administration, public policy analysis, or project management.

p.s. to private message, you click the person's username beside their post and then "send private message".

Originally Posted by Specineff

Thanks for your post, it was helpful

A question about graduate and professional schools, is PNB flexible for opportunities in say, dental or medical school? I am interested in PNB but I also want to have a lot of open doors for my career path.

Absolutely. Because you have a lot of electives, you have enough space for the pre-reqs you might need for those schools. We have students applying to medical school, law school, chiropractic school, etc. And the research experience + getting to know your profs is an added advantage because it shows those schools that you're reliable and are able to handle the workload.