honours vs specialization

[CaribPirate]

Hi everyone,

If i were to take a undergraduate degree in the faculty of science (biochemistry for example), is it worth taking it in honours or is specialization better?

[offmychestplease]

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[CaribPirate]

40 minutes ago, offmychestplease said:

neither, honours, specializations, etc are useless. Choose the easiest possible major. 

So the extra research done in honours isn't worth it, right?

Also would a science degree be challenging in university even if I am interested in biology?

 

[offmychestplease]

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[DrOtter]

certain schools, e.g. Western, require that your degree be an "Honours" 4-year degree. 

Also, you should not completely dismiss Honours if you're interested in doing research and hoping to use that as one of your strong points in your application. Maintaining a full course load is hard enough. Maintaining a full course load while aiming to do productive research on the side is much more difficult than that. Doing an Honours project is a good way to incorporate research into your actual study program.

It's also not that easy to figure out what the "easiest" programs are. It could be very prof-dependent, save for a few schools like UofT where it is well known that the BSc programs there are quite competitive.

[offmychestplease]

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[Bambi]

You want to be a competitive candidate to have a shot a med schooo, which means at a minimum having a top GPA and doing ECs and volunteering that demonstrate CanMED competencies. Hen you have the MCAT, CaSPER, the MMI, etc.

It you think that taking an Honours Program or doing research and even starting research before entry to undergrad, the more power to you. What you do not want to do is bite off more than you can chew and become a casualty of the process. And much more is involved. You need stress and time management skills and finding a s.o. who is needy for your energy and time can derail your goals and ambitions.

For undergrad, I selected a specialty program with internships in Exercise Science or Kin. I could have floated through the program with a B average, but then, I would have obtained a job at WalMart instead of entering into medical school. I needed to be a straight A student to be competitive. So, what I did was to choose what I considered easy electives to balance the more difficult core courses in my program. My s.o. was entirely supportive of my goals and we only saw each other Saturday nights for a few hours with no texting or other communication during the week. The material was not difficult but was voluminous. As a result to attain As, I studies to the point of exhaustion and I was totally wiped out at the end of each semester. I loved my program and with the internships, I was able to apply my theoretical knowledge with with elderly chronically ill patients, which was an excellent prep for medicine. I tired to find electives where the exams were multiple choice based upon the text of the course, which enabled me to entirely skip lectures and to use my time efficiently. I remember that for one course, I attended the lecture once and the prof called me out and made fun of me for not attending. Well, I led the course with my efficient strategy. 
Take a program that interests you as you will likely do better. A difficult Honours program is not going to enhance your chances of being selected when he time comes. One of the most important factors in gaining entry is pure luck. Excellent candidates are routinely rejected every cycle.