Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

Honours Degree or Non-Honours...Is it worth it?


joshto

Recommended Posts

Do medical schools in the US or Canada rank someone higher if they have an honours bachelor degree as opposed to just regular bachelor degree? I ask b/c I am wondering if its 'worth it' to get an honours degree which I would assume is tougher and makes you take tougher courses...? I would imagine the same person would have a higher GPA if they had a non-honours bachelor degree, and took non honours required courses. Can anyone give an opinion either from experience or from educated speculation?? I am specifically talking about an Honours Biology (H.Bsc) degree as opposed to just non-honours Biology degree (Bsc). I am uncertain what I should do!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

does it rule out a lot of schools or just UWO?????? what about the US and the other canadian schools, do they 'rank' you 'higher' with an honours degree??? I think the main question is do admission boards in US or Canada rank you higher if you have a honours degree or not?? I am at guelph and i was looking at the general biology degree and there are so many more spots for elective courses. im seriously debating switching cause I am postulating that the higher ranking with an Honour Degree maybe offset with a lower GPA b/c the courses may be tougher... Any real rationale in this thinking? Is it worth it? Please provide suggestions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, I'm doing an honours degree right now (in my fourth year). I'm not sure how it works at other schools, but at UBC an honours degree means you are more restricted in the courses you have to take (and generally they're harder courses), you have a tonne more lab courses (for science honours), and you have to do an honours thesis in your fourth year (a research lab project).

 

I have mixed feelings about my degree. Most of my friends took the major route - they have more room for electives (easy electives and the option of doing a minor in another area) and generally have an easier courseload. That gives them more time to pursue extracurriculars and more time to study and do well in the courses that they do have. I'm generally taking more courses as well in order to satisfy my requirements and to take some of the electives I want to take - I average over 5 courses a year (eg. I'm in 6 now and during one term last year I was taking 7). This is especially true in your third and fourth years. An honours degree also means that most of your courses will be within your field unless you take an extra year (or take a lot of summer courses). There are some people who manage an honours with a minor or a combined honours, but those people are very rare (and very talented).

 

However, if you are interested in research, the thesis will be a tremendous opportunity. If you love what your degree is about and you don't care as much about taking a lot of electives, then honours is great too. An honours program (or any rigorous program) will also teach you to study and manage your time well and it will teach you to prioritize your courses and the other activities you have - all skills that will become important later on in life. Additionally, you are sometimes not allowed to take some very specialized (and cool) courses if you are a major student - ie. some of those killer honours lab courses. Sometimes you learn the most from those and they are the most interesting (even as they are the hardest). And as someone already mentionned, Western now requires an honours degree.

 

Just my 2 cents.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm...I'm confused about Western once again.

I thought somebody emailed them a while back to ask what they mean by an honours degree and they said that as long as you can get into grad school with your degree, they consider it an honours degree, regardless of whether or not a thesis needs to be done.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm...I'm confused about Western once again.

I thought somebody emailed them a while back to ask what they mean by an honours degree and they said that as long as you can get into grad school with your degree, they consider it an honours degree, regardless of whether or not a thesis needs to be done.

 

When completing an honours degree you do not "have to" do a thesis, do you? I thought this was optional but recommended for those who were interested in pursuing graduate schooling. An honours degree is 20 credits and I thought a thesis was not needed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When completing an honours degree you do not "have to" do a thesis, do you? I thought this was optional but recommended for those who were interested in pursuing graduate schooling. An honours degree is 20 credits and I thought a thesis was not needed.
Different schools and even different programs define honours in different ways, which is why there are such differing opinions about this question. For medical school purposes, "honours" usually just means a four year degree that qualifies you to attend graduate school, according to the guidelines at your own school. And at your own school, you may or may not be required to do a thesis course depending on your major, the guidelines for your program, etc.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Different schools and even different programs define honours in different ways, which is why there are such differing opinions about this question. For medical school purposes, "honours" usually just means a four year degree that qualifies you to attend graduate school, according to the guidelines at your own school. And at your own school, you may or may not be required to do a thesis course depending on your major, the guidelines for your program, etc.

 

Yeah, I realized after I wrote my last post that I was probably misleading people cuz an honours degree at other schools is very different. My general impression (not qualified by precise knowledge) is that an honurs degree in Ontario is just a pretty standard 4-year program.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I choose the honours route at UW (I don't think there was any other option for our department though, so...). Some people will get in to med school after three years and technically have no undergrad, but others may never get in, or may not want to by the time they reach the end of their degree. Having an honours degree as supposed to a general degree keeps more doors open, to graduate degrees and other professional programs. It isn't honestly that much more work (unless you hate research), and you could get published! I would recommend doing it just to have more options.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

do they 'rank' you 'higher' with an honours degree??? I think the main question is do admission boards in US or Canada rank you higher if you have a honours degree or not?? I am at guelph and i was looking at the general biology degree and there are so many more spots for elective courses. im seriously debating switching cause I am postulating that the higher ranking with an Honour Degree maybe offset with a lower GPA b/c the courses may be tougher... Any real rationale in this thinking? Is it worth it? Please provide suggestions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

do they 'rank' you 'higher' with an honours degree??? I think the main question is do admission boards in US or Canada rank you higher if you have a honours degree or not?? I am at guelph and i was looking at the general biology degree and there are so many more spots for elective courses. im seriously debating switching cause I am postulating that the higher ranking with an Honour Degree maybe offset with a lower GPA b/c the courses may be tougher... Any real rationale in this thinking? Is it worth it? Please provide suggestions.

Some medical schools offer "bonus" points for those who have completed an honours degree.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some medical schools offer "bonus" points for those who have completed an honours degree.

Kiel,

what schools offer bonus points? what do they consist of?

 

i think an honours degree shows that you can do more than just study, my honours degree consists of doing research and writing a big thesis at the end. so on top of my regular 5 courses i work in a lab about 10-15h per week... its definitly more work than a regular major, but i love it so its all worth it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

At UBC an honours degree in science or any other department requires an honours thesis in the last year.

 

I'm in an honours program now, but if I had to do it again, I'm not sure I would choose honours. I would still take a full course load, but it would be easier than most of my terms at UBC, and UBC Med doesn't distinguish between honours and non-honour degrees, as long as you have a full course load. I would have more freedom to take other courses, and finishing my minor would be easier.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

is the potential drop in grades from the tougher courses with the honours degree equal to the higher rank a med. school will give u with that honours degree. ie. student 1 GPA 3.8, 4-yr Bsc-Biology. student 2, GPA 3.65, 4-yr Honours Bsc-Biology. Who is more likely to get accepted all other things being equal?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my personal opinion, student 1 is more likely to gain admission into med school. Why would med schools give you bonus points for doing an honours 4-yr bachelors degree vs a major 4-yr bachelors degree? Sure, all other things being equal (eg gpa, mcat, etc), they may prefer the honours degree. But otherwise, it would be too subjective for med schools to try & determine how much of the variability in the gpa's of applicants is due to the major vs honours distinction and how much of it actually reflects academic abilities. As another example, some people may say that a degree in psychology is "easier" than one in physics. Do med schools take this into account? Time and time again, the majority have said they don't. I think the same holds with the "major vs honours" argument. If you enjoy the more rigorous honours program, believe you can keep your marks up, like doing research, or want to keep more "back-up" options open, sure go ahead and do honours. But in the end, I believe gpa is more important that the type of program as far as academic criteria are concerned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...