Hi all, I have a B.Com from Mac but I want to switch my career path into pharmacy. I know this is a big stretch, but to get into pharmacy school I will need some science prereqs, so I was wondering if anyone has done/knows someone who's gone for a second degree in a completely different field.

Oh btw I don't know if requirement for program entry changes between high school students and people who already have an undergrad degree but I know high school students are usually required to have done 2/3 sciences, where as I only took gr 12 chemistry way back when. Anyone know if that requirement isn't necessary for an undergraduate?

One more thing, I would like to get into one of the schools in Toronto since I wan't to commute with ease.

Thank you for any help!!

damn that's a lot of things you are asking.
I'd recommend taking it 1 step at a time. First apply to mac through ouac (there is a section for applying from uni again). look up the pharm school you are interested in and regulations. make a note of the courses, take it to a counsellor at mac etc. and after 2nd year start chipping away at it.

btw can I ask what you did under B. Comm? Which branch did you finish from?

Originally Posted by ZSimon

damn that's a lot of things you are asking.
I'd recommend taking it 1 step at a time. First apply to mac through ouac (there is a section for applying from uni again). look up the pharm school you are interested in and regulations. make a note of the courses, take it to a counsellor at mac etc. and after 2nd year start chipping away at it.

btw can I ask what you did under B. Comm? Which branch did you finish from?

Do you know anyone who's taken their first degree at Mac, but then did their 2nd degree at a different school?? I think it's easier to get a 2nd degree at the school you originally studied at (Mac in this case), but I really can't afford to go through more years of paying for rent in Hamilton.

To your question, I wasn't in a particular branch, as I took courses from most streams, but I guess you can say I was slightly more headed into HR & management.

For some reason I thought this was going to be about second degree murder.

Originally Posted by banana.milk

Hi all, I have a B.Com from Mac but I want to switch my career path into pharmacy. I know this is a big stretch, but to get into pharmacy school I will need some science prereqs, so I was wondering if anyone has done/knows someone who's gone for a second degree in a completely different field.

Oh btw I don't know if requirement for program entry changes between high school students and people who already have an undergrad degree but I know high school students are usually required to have done 2/3 sciences, where as I only took gr 12 chemistry way back when. Anyone know if that requirement isn't necessary for an undergraduate?

One more thing, I would like to get into one of the schools in Toronto since I wan't to commute with ease.

Thank you for any help!!

If you're lacking high school bio and physics, you will need to take a full year of each for pharmacy school, which means you'll also need to take the grade 12 equivalents (bio 1P03 i think it is? and physics 1L03). I can't remember if 1L03 counts towards the one-year physics requirement or not, but that's something you should look into.

As for switching schools, I'd imagine you would need to talk to people at whatever school you want to switch into.

Second degree programs are set up a litttlllee bit diffferent. Basically they'll be looking at your University marks and not your high school marks but you will need to get minimum marks in the high school pre-reqs. As for asking whether you NEED those high school sciences: you do. They won't waive them for undergraduate degree holders because you wouldn't have a basis for the material. I'd also suggest taking a first year bio or chem if you can just to get your feet in the water.

Also, if you're planning on coming back to Mac to take pre-req courses for your next degree you DO NOT have to apply through OUAC. When you graduate you are immediately considered to be a continuing education student at McMaster and you are able to take courses here next year or in the summer. I know this is correct because I've spent the last year creating my back up plan just in case I do not get into my desired program and was told that because I'm graduating from here I can come back as a continuing education student to upgrade if I want to. Go to your faculty office and see if you need to fill out a returning student form, I didn't need to but you may have to.

If you need more advice you can totally contact me. I'm graduating from my first degree here at Mac this year and am going (hopefully, if I get in) to Midwivery in the Fall.

Originally Posted by sarahsullz

Second degree programs are set up a litttlllee bit diffferent. Basically they'll be looking at your University marks and not your high school marks but you will need to get minimum marks in the high school pre-reqs. As for asking whether you NEED those high school sciences: you do. They won't waive them for undergraduate degree holders because you wouldn't have a basis for the material. I'd also suggest taking a first year bio or chem if you can just to get your feet in the water.

Also, if you're planning on coming back to Mac to take pre-req courses for your next degree you DO NOT have to apply through OUAC. When you graduate you are immediately considered to be a continuing education student at McMaster and you are able to take courses here next year or in the summer. I know this is correct because I've spent the last year creating my back up plan just in case I do not get into my desired program and was told that because I'm graduating from here I can come back as a continuing education student to upgrade if I want to. Go to your faculty office and see if you need to fill out a returning student form, I didn't need to but you may have to.

If you need more advice you can totally contact me. I'm graduating from my first degree here at Mac this year and am going (hopefully, if I get in) to Midwivery in the Fall.

That's interesting, I was explicitly told the opposite (that once I graduated, I couldn't come back to upgrade). It might depend on your specific situation so it's best to discuss it with an advisor.

Originally Posted by starfish

That's interesting, I was explicitly told the opposite (that once I graduated, I couldn't come back to upgrade). It might depend on your specific situation so it's best to discuss it with an advisor.

Let me clarify: You can't upgrade a course for the degree you already have but you can take courses that will act as pre-reqs for another. For example, if I come back next year to take courses then they WILL NOT help my GPA for my current degree but they will be considered by other universities. Like, I can't retake a course I'm in now and expect my GPA for this degree to change but I can take an entirely different course and have another University look at it when they consider my application. Hopefully that makes sense.

Originally Posted by sarahsullz

Let me clarify: You can't upgrade a course for the degree you already have but you can take courses that will act as pre-reqs for another. For example, if I come back next year to take courses then they WILL NOT help my GPA for my current degree but they will be considered by other universities. Like, I can't retake a course I'm in now and expect my GPA for this degree to change but I can take an entirely different course and have another University look at it when they consider my application. Hopefully that makes sense.

It does, but my situation wasn't coming back to take a course for the degree I already had, it would have been fulfilling requirements for a different degree, and I wouldn't have been allowed to do this. Again, it depends on your specific situation, so the OP should really talk to an advisor just to make sure, or to find out how they need to work things in order to be allowed to do it.

Haha, I was in the opposite situation: I did my first degree in Psychology at Queen's, now I'm at Mac doing a second degree in Stats. My scenario was a bit different though; my summer before my fourth year, I realized Psychology wasn't for me (a bit too late, ahaha) and so I knew I wanted to study Stats after finish the degree, so in my fourth year I took the necessary courses to be admitted into the program. It was surprisingly easy to apply for a second degree at another school... The stressful part was waiting until late summer for a response. :/

When I applied to Mac, they did not look at my high school grades at all, just my transcript from Queen's~

Do you plan on applying as a level I/first year student? If so, they may take a look at your high school grades. If you plan on applying as an upper year student, then you'll need the relevant first year courses required to get into the program, which are all listed on the Registrar's website.

Originally Posted by starfish

It does, but my situation wasn't coming back to take a course for the degree I already had, it would have been fulfilling requirements for a different degree, and I wouldn't have been allowed to do this. Again, it depends on your specific situation, so the OP should really talk to an advisor just to make sure, or to find out how they need to work things in order to be allowed to do it.

Interesting. I'm under the impression that all alumni have the option of taking courses at Mac if they choose to. I work at Titles and we see alumni coming in just to take a refresher course on a whim all of the time.

Originally Posted by sarahsullz

Interesting. I'm under the impression that all alumni have the option of taking courses at Mac if they choose to. I work at Titles and we see alumni coming in just to take a refresher course on a whim all of the time.

Yeah, but there are certain cases apparently where it's not allowed, and mine was one of those, unfortunately :( It depends on your specific program too, I think. I know people who have come back for second degrees and I know it's definitely possible, but in my case it wouldn't have been, for the degree that I wanted to pursue. I'm pretty sure it's possible in the majority of cases, though.

It ended up all working out in the end, because I only asked the advisor about coming back as part of a back-up plan, but my Plan A ended up working, so there was no need to deal with Plan B

Originally Posted by sarahsullz

Second degree programs are set up a litttlllee bit diffferent. Basically they'll be looking at your University marks and not your high school marks but you will need to get minimum marks in the high school pre-reqs. As for asking whether you NEED those high school sciences: you do. They won't waive them for undergraduate degree holders because you wouldn't have a basis for the material. I'd also suggest taking a first year bio or chem if you can just to get your feet in the water.

Also, if you're planning on coming back to Mac to take pre-req courses for your next degree you DO NOT have to apply through OUAC. When you graduate you are immediately considered to be a continuing education student at McMaster and you are able to take courses here next year or in the summer. I know this is correct because I've spent the last year creating my back up plan just in case I do not get into my desired program and was told that because I'm graduating from here I can come back as a continuing education student to upgrade if I want to. Go to your faculty office and see if you need to fill out a returning student form, I didn't need to but you may have to.

If you need more advice you can totally contact me. I'm graduating from my first degree here at Mac this year and am going (hopefully, if I get in) to Midwivery in the Fall.

Thanks for the lengthy, helpful response

I do have another question though. So since I only have 1 of the 3 sciences fulfilled, do you know how I can obtain one of the other two high school science levels? I wouldn't be able to take said high-school science at a university would I? If that's actually possible, that'd be awesome.

Also, thank you to everyone else who responded!

Originally Posted by banana.milk

Thanks for the lengthy, helpful response

I do have another question though. So since I only have 1 of the 3 sciences fulfilled, do you know how I can obtain one of the other two high school science levels? I wouldn't be able to take said high-school science at a university would I? If that's actually possible, that'd be awesome.

Also, thank you to everyone else who responded!

I mentioned in one of my posts, there are high school equivalent courses at university, they're listed as first year courses in the course calendar, but they serve as prerequisites for anyone who didn't complete them in high school (physics 1L03, bio 1P03, chem 1R03 i think?).

Starfish is correct, those are the highschool equivalents that Mac carries