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Taking Science electives as a Social Science student?

 
Old 05-30-2011 at 09:30 PM   #1
gabrielle.lr
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Taking Science electives as a Social Science student?
I am enrolled as a first year Social Sciences student, but I was wondering if I will be able to take science courses as electives. I assume that priority for science courses go to Life Science, Arts&Sci, etc.

Will I still be able to take a few as electives in my first year, or should I transfer into a combined program in my second year?

Is it possible to have a minor in Sciences???

Thanks!

(Sorry, I'm totally new to this!)

Old 05-30-2011 at 09:34 PM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gabrielle.lr View Post
I am enrolled as a first year Social Sciences student, but I was wondering if I will be able to take science courses as electives. I assume that priority for science courses go to Life Science, Arts&Sci, etc.

Will I still be able to take a few as electives in my first year, or should I transfer into a combined program in my second year?

Is it possible to have a minor in Sciences???

Thanks!

(Sorry, I'm totally new to this!)

I'm in Social Science and I was able to take Science courses during the fall + winter semesters (BIO 1P03, BIO 1M03, CHEM 1R03, MATH 1LS3 [not a science course, but it's Life-sci math])

During this summer I'm taking CHEM 1A03, CHEM 1AA3, PHYSICS 1L03, and maybe PHYSICS 1B03

So.... yes, you can take science courses as long as you meet the prerequisites. Even though Science students get to register for courses before social science, it wasn't too difficult for me to get in these courses. The only time I had trouble getting into a course because it was full was with MATH 1LS3

As for minor... I'm not too sure, it depends on what you want to minor in

Good luck on your first year

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Old 05-30-2011 at 09:50 PM   #3
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Of course you can take Science electives! Although there are a limited number of seats but if you keep trying, I'm sure you can get in. As for the minor, I'm not sure. But it would have to be in something specific like Biology, Chemistry, Psychology..etc. Best to email an academic advisor and find out for sure though!
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Old 05-30-2011 at 10:00 PM   #4
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One of my friends in social sciences told me that she wasn't allowed to take Bio 1A03 and she had to get special permission from the course coordinator for Chem 1A03 and a couple other science courses.

Other science courses you can get straight through SOLAR.
Old 05-30-2011 at 10:24 PM   #5
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If you really like science though, why not the art and science program? Cause im sure as you get to upper year it will be more difficult compared to first year where the classes are big anyways.
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Old 05-31-2011 at 11:00 AM   #6
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Yeah, like others have said, most of the "standard" first year science courses are open to everyone, as long as you have the prerequisites. I took most of them except for Biology 1A03, which for some reason is restricted to level I science students. If you wanna take that you'll either have to do it after first year or during the summer.
Old 05-31-2011 at 01:31 PM   #7
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Few things I wanted to mention:

-Math courses are technically science courses and can fill many science requirements.
-You can take any science you want given the appropriate pre-requisites. The exceptions are very specialized courses that only permit a small number of students (like you can take general courses on cells and nerves, but if you wanted to take a neural control of human movement course, you'd have to be in Kin (Hunan movement) or psych (neural).)
-you can't minor in "science" as far as I know but you can minor in math, bio, psych etc. It depends only on your interests and motivation!
Old 05-31-2011 at 02:37 PM   #8
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Thanks!

Now when you say "prerequisites", does that mean just having taken the course in high school, or are there also specific grade requirements or cumulative average?
Old 05-31-2011 at 02:40 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gabrielle.lr View Post
Thanks!

Now when you say "prerequisites", does that mean just having taken the course in high school, or are there also specific grade requirements or cumulative average?
Prerequisites are courses that you've taken beforehand, not grades or average. For first year courses, prerequisites are high school courses, but for upper year courses, some of them have prerequisites that are 1st or 2nd year courses and such.
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Old 05-31-2011 at 02:51 PM   #10
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Yep, like Sara mentioned.

But when I specifically said pre-requisites, I was refering to upper level courses. To take 4th year courses, you require certain 3rd years, which require 2nd years, which require 1st years.

For the first year courses, you either require the highschool equivalents, or each department offers an "introductory" course in the field that's roughly akin to the highschool Grade 11 & 12 courses.
Old 05-31-2011 at 03:06 PM   #11
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Okay perfect!

I took all the Math, physics, Calc, Bio and Chem available at my school this year so I should be okay

You guys are so helpful, I really appreciate it!
Old 05-31-2011 at 03:27 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~ View Post
Prerequisites are courses that you've taken beforehand, not grades or average. For first year courses, prerequisites are high school courses, but for upper year courses, some of them have prerequisites that are 1st or 2nd year courses and such.
There are a couple prerequisites out there that ask for a certain grade in the prereq course (usually around C- or C).
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Old 06-11-2011 at 02:31 PM   #13
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Switching from Life Science to Social Science
Hi there,

Since first year of life science was a very difficult experience for me, my chances of going into Biology for second year are zero to none, and now I am in the position of repeating first year, and improving my marks, so that I can get into Honours Biology in my "second"/third year. I was wondering whether it is wise to switch to Social Science for first year again, then switch in Biology for the second year, or should I just stay in Life Science first year, and hope for a better year.

Thanks
- Jes
Old 06-12-2011 at 11:28 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vigj View Post
Hi there,

Since first year of life science was a very difficult experience for me, my chances of going into Biology for second year are zero to none, and now I am in the position of repeating first year, and improving my marks, so that I can get into Honours Biology in my "second"/third year. I was wondering whether it is wise to switch to Social Science for first year again, then switch in Biology for the second year, or should I just stay in Life Science first year, and hope for a better year.

Thanks
- Jes
If your goal is bio, you should stay in Life Sci. Don't just 'hope' for a better year, though--work hard for it. If you think there's no way you can do better in life sci, then you likely won't fare very well in the honours bio program. Many people have a bad first year, you might just have needed an extra year to figure things out--this year will hopefully be much better.



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