I've been accepted for the Life Science I program at Mac and was wondering about the possibilities beyond level I. The level II programs I'm wondering about are Biochemistry, Life Science and Molecular Biology, which would now all stem out of the Life Science I program. Basically I'm interested in knowing what kind of classes you would be taking in 2nd,3rd and 4th year of these programs, how much you're enjoying it, what advice you would give to someone looking at these programs etc.. I'm at the point now where I'm trying to decide what university to go to and academics and quality of the program is definitely a factor. Any info anyone has is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Meg543,

I'm not in science, but I'm going to give you one quick tidbit. Your year is the first when the sciences have been specialized for Level I. By that I mean in all previous years you were accepted into Science I, and it wasn't until year II when you were technically given a specific specialization.

Sooo this means that some of the courses you will be taking in level one are going to be different in past years (Calc is one I've heard of so far; Chem would be affected, as would others), so it is possible that courses in upper years may change a bit too.

I realize that didn't help you out at all...but it's something you should know.

So is that good or bad? I'm quite anxious and nervous about that change just maybe because no current student in McMaster have actually done a direct specialization in the First Year of Science.

By the way, I am also a perspective student of Life Science I of McMaster University.

I've been out of Mac for 2 years now, but I graduated from the Biochemistry program. As such, I had the general first year of science, then specialized in 2nd year. In my opinion, you don't really have to worry about the change at all.

It's only really a specialization in the sense that some of your courses are picked for you - they're apparently the exact same courses that I took in first year (in terms of content), it's just that if you're in that program, you *have* to take them. This is different than what happens in upper years, where you may have to be in a specific program to take a certain course.

In the past, science students basically did one of two things in first year - they either tried to "keep their options open" by taking pretty much every major first year course (bio, chem, physics, math), or they already knew which subject path they wanted to go down and tailored their first year courses towards that. Essentially, the new programs just force you to go that second route.

Now, I'm certain many people will be changing their programs during first year - it's sometimes hard to know exactly what you'll like before you get there, since the course style is so different from high school, so the Associate Dean's office will probably be even busier than usual, heh. Many people change their majors or programs over their time at Mac, so it's a pretty common occurrence, it just will be pushed down to first year now, I guess.

Hope that helped a bit!

Of those 3 programs, life sciences is the one that will give you more flexibility in terms of electives, however it is really meant to give you a well rounded background so you will be required to take psych courses, and you will not be permitted to conduct an undergraduate thesis, which is something that would be required for graduate programs. Many people who know that they want to go to medical school enroll in this because it allows them to take courses that they know that they can do well in.

If you're thinking of going into research or staying in core medical sciences, than I would recommend Biochem, or Molecular Biology. In both programs you will be required to complete a full year of organic chemistry (as opposed to life sci). In biochem you will be taking more chemistry courses and biochemistry courses, with little electives, and few biology courses, whereas with Molecular Biology you will be taking a lot of biology courses, and a more general biochemistry course.

Hope this helps.

What kind of things can you do with a Life sci degree??

Like Cippi mentioned, life Science I is not really specializing. I went from life science into physical science major. You still have plenty of flexibility to essentially take all your electives and make open decisions.

With a science degree, you can get all sorts of jobs. Here's a small list:
Biology:
http://caps.mcgill.ca/handouts/whattodo/biology.pdf
Biochemistry:
http://caps.mcgill.ca/handouts/whatt...ochemistry.pdf

Oh, and I should mention that you're not limited to those things. You'd be surprised at where different people end up.

Well I"m going to my 3rd year but basically taking all psych classes, in life sci... Im not sure if i should just switch to the psych program, but i dont know of the differences between the 2 degrees... whether one is considered to be better than the other?

Originally Posted by mel89

Well I"m going to my 3rd year but basically taking all psych classes, in life sci... Im not sure if i should just switch to the psych program, but i dont know of the differences between the 2 degrees... whether one is considered to be better than the other?

I wouldn't say that one degree is really "better" than another. It all really depends on your interests.