Originally Posted by nino

Oh I forgot to mention a while ago that I decided not to switch out of Life Science.

Finish the fight bro...finish the fight

Originally Posted by jana

thanks for that, it was relly helpful. For the society program, can your major be anything, like say i wanted to minor in a language like french, and french studies course would i be able to do that ?

Yep, you can minor in anything you want! I'm actually going to be doing French myself.

Hey Jana, this is word for word the letter that I sent to Maria White and Peter Smith (dean of eng)

"Hi Ms. White, I’m very sorry to bother you during the holidays but I needed feedback from you before school continues in January. My name’s Jonathan, (student number 07#####). I’m a first year science student here at McMaster and recently I have decided that I want to try to enter the engineering program. I’ve checked with an academic counsellor to confirm that I have all the prerequisites needed. I realize that transferring in from science 1 would require me applying to engineering 1 next year. But what I’m wondering is if it is possible that I can take some engineering courses next term while I’m still in science 1 so as to lessen my workload or help me ease the transition into engineering 1 next year. Any help that you can offer me would be of great assistance in figuring out my next step. Thank you for your time and consideration. By the way, happy holidays!"

I sent it during the Christmas break of '07. I was more of a science person in high school, I never dealt much with computers. Even to this day I admit I barely know the basics, and I only learned that cause I bought a new laptop and wanted to know if I was getting a good deal. So once I found that science wasn't my thing during first year, I figured I should try chemical engineering. I couldn't take the chem eng core courses but I took chem 1aa3 and chem 2e03 (orgo) and they were great. If you're like me and don't really like computers/programming etc. then I would stay away from the biomed program and take chem/bioengineering instead. You can still get into med school but this way you avoid technical computer work and most of the Life Science courses transfer. Anyways, hope that helps!

Jon

I'm surprised no one has brought this up, but there are only something like 25 or 30 spaces available in Biomed engineering. It also requires a very high average (due to competition to get into it) so if your average is significantly below a 10, you might also want to consider your other options.

yes i admit the biomed program is a bit more exclusive than the other programs, but that shouldn't deter you from it if it's what you want. I have 3 friends in that program and the lowest average out of the three was a 7.something (i can't remember it to be exact). But that was last year, and as others have said, the averages fluctuate. I'd say an 8 or at most a 9 will get you into almost anything.


Jon

thanks for the info, that was awesome. I got in touch with sally williams again, and wrote my letter too. I just have to wait till july to find out whether i can get in to eng. can't wait!!! I am not a computer person my self, and i think i will probably try for the chem/bio program or the chem/society program.

thanks again
Jana