Guest arjuna83 Posted February 29, 2004 Report Share Posted February 29, 2004 Hi everyone, First off let me thank myself..."Thank god for finding this site!"...seriously guys, it's been so informative and relevant. Being my first post, hope I'm not being redundant here. I'm a second year Anthropology specialist at UofT. After my first year in which I did different courses, I decided to specialize in anthropology as the subject matter really interested me...and I have no regrets. However, this does not mean that I'm having second thoughts on getting into medical school. I hear from many sources that one's undergraduate program of study doesn't really influence medical school admission in Canada. However, I guess it's understandable that the great majority of matriculates happen to be hard-core science undergrads since that's needed to do well on the MCAT etc.. So what I'd like to find out is, are their any of you here who aren't pursuing an undergraduate degree in a hard-core science area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest turtle Posted February 29, 2004 Report Share Posted February 29, 2004 you heard right. what you choose to major in during undergrad does not matter one bit. as long as you do well in whatever program you choose to take your chances of admission will be the same as everyone else...some may even say they'd be higher since doing a "different" degree will add some much-valued uniqueness to your application. if anthropology is what interests you the most, then by all means do anthropology. four years is a long time to spend studying one subject area and you will be much happier, more motivated to study, and will likely do better if you are studying something you love. one thing though: some medical schools have prerequisites...i.e. undergrad level courses that you must have taken before you can get in to their school (i.e. a year each of biology, chemistry, etc.). Check out the schools that you think you'll be interested in for the specifics...you will most likely be able to do all of these as electives. good luck! turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted February 29, 2004 Report Share Posted February 29, 2004 Hey there Arjuna83, Welcome. As turtle mentioned, above, don't worry about the unsuitability of your major for entering medicine. Little, if any, descrimination on undergraduate majors exists in the selection processes in Canada. On an anthropology note, and just as a wee FYI, my boss--a burn surgeon at a major Toronto hospital--completed his MSc in anthropology prior to entering medical school at Queen's. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest arjuna83 Posted February 29, 2004 Report Share Posted February 29, 2004 Wow that bring me new hope...thanks a lot turtle and Kirsteen...especially you Kirsteen for sharing that FYI;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest marbledust Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 Just as an aside, having a non-science degree may actually be a good thing because it helps you stand out somewhat from the tons of science majors (no offence to science-types). If nothing else, it will give you something interesting to talk about during your interviews. My first degree was in Political Science/International Relations and my interviewers were quite intruiged how I ended up picking medicine after that. The answer: it was as far away from science as I could possibly get Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest coastal79 Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 I got a BA in English. Not that I'm in yet, I'll let you know in a few months. However, having a diversity of interests can only work in your favour. As an interesting aside, Michael Crichton graduated from Harvard medical school before he turned full-time to writing made-for-Hollywood novels. Before meds, he was an anthropology major. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 Just curious arjuna83, what branch of anthropology are you planning to specialize in? Biological, archeological, linguistic/semiotic, or social/cultural? Or are you doing a general anthropology specialist program? I was thinking about doing a minor in anthropology, although the scheduling didn't work out well in 3rd year, and I'll have to be satisfied with my 2 courses in it (ANT100 and 203). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest arjuna83 Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 Hi Steve, Well as I'm at UofT Mississauga, I don't have too many options with deciding specialist programs in anthropology. The only two specialist programs they offer here (Erindale) for anthropology are "Anthropology (science)" and "Anthropology (arts)". So I'm sticking with the general anthropology science one I guess. It sucks though, cause I'd prefer to do something in biological anthropology. However, that doesn't deter my interest in it, as I get to learn many aspects of humanity, including biology, genetics, culture, history, archaeology etc. I think anthropology provides you with a wide range of knowledge, not just limited to science. Too bad that it isn't all that helpful if DON'T get into medical school:| Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest turtle Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 in case you're unaware.... U of T does allow you to take courses at the St. George campus even though you're enrolled at the UTM campus. So there may be some opportunity for you to take some biological anthropology courses as electives or within your general science anthropology degree if you can get it to work into your schedule...may be better for upper years. also there is a shuttle bus running between the 2 campuses so it's pretty easy to get back & forth. turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest arjuna83 Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 Hi Turtle, Thanks for the info. Yeah I was aware that UofT students have flexibility when it comes to taking courses out of their home College. Infact one of my friends takes a psychology course from UTSC. He never attends classes though, cause the prof posts VIDEOS of the lectures online, which is pretty neat I must say (pardon me if I sound like I've just awoken from the stone age :b ). UofT Mississauga have placed a few restrictions in this regard, depending on a student's circumstances. For example, UTM students can't enroll in a downtown program anymore. However, what puts me off is the fact that I won't be able to stay on the Dean's list if I take courses outside of Erindale. I haven't really asked anybody about it, but the calander says that "students who have completed 5,10,15 courses through UTM with a 3.5 GPA etc. etc. are placed on the Dean's list." I'm not sure how important a placement on the Dean's list is, but I figure it's an objective assessment that the student is performing well. (Unlike a scholarship in many cases, in which certain select groups of students are considered for an award.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest turtle Posted March 1, 2004 Report Share Posted March 1, 2004 that sounds like a weird restriction to me...i would definitely suggest getting the official word on that before you rule out taking courses from the other campuses. i mean, they are all part of the same school! turtle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest arjuna83 Posted March 2, 2004 Report Share Posted March 2, 2004 Just checked with UTM registrarial services....apparently you need to do all your courses at Erindale to be considered for Dean's list. Sucks, but what can you do. Take care Arjuna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DSheerin Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 I'm in my third year of anthropology at Trent and really loving it. You should really try to do some biological anthro, its far mroe interesting than Margret Mead or Levi-Strauss... and the list goes on and no... I'm just not a big fan of the scico-cultural aspect of anthro. OH and along the same lines, I know it doesn't matter what your UG was in but if you do grad work in say Anthro would that influence ones chances of getting in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted March 3, 2004 Report Share Posted March 3, 2004 Hi there, ...but if you do grad work in say Anthro would that influence ones chances of getting in? I'm not sure how much opportunity Anthropology provides as a graduate discipline for generating productivity, however, it might make a difference if you are applying to some of the schools that rely more heavily on proof of graduate productivity, e.g., Toronto and Ottawa in their assessment processes. Nonetheless, if Anthropology is what you love, then consider pursuing it in graduate school. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted March 5, 2004 Report Share Posted March 5, 2004 Well as I'm at UofT Mississauga, I don't have too many options with deciding specialist programs in anthropology. The only two specialist programs they offer here (Erindale) for anthropology are "Anthropology (science)" and "Anthropology (arts)". It's strange that Erindale only offers the 2 options. From what I understand, many of the faculty and graduate programs in anthropology are based at Erindale. I suppose there aren't enough students there to offer more specialized programs. I also found biological anthropology fascinating, and that's the course I took in 2nd year (1st year anthro is general and covers all 4 branches). I was also pretty interested by linguistic/semiotic anthropology, and would have liked to take additional courses in that if I had the time. I'm really surprised about those dean's list restrictions. Really strange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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