Major? Minor? or Specialist?

[JOy]

I'm a first year undergrad and I'm taking a range of general first year science courses. 2nd year is when you can start pursuing a major, minor, or specialist program in your degree. I orignally wanted to do a specialist degree, but I changed my mind into doing a major and 2 minors. What are med school's looking for? Would they prefer a specialist degree? Or double major? Or Major minor degrees? (thanks in advance for replies)

[uofthopeful07]

I'm a first year undergrad and I'm taking a range of general first year science courses. 2nd year is when you can start pursuing a major, minor, or specialist program in your degree. I orignally wanted to do a specialist degree, but I changed my mind into doing a major and 2 minors. What are med school's looking for? Would they prefer a specialist degree? Or double major? Or Major minor degrees? (thanks in advance for replies)

 

i thought that the specialist program was a laregly UofT thing (i'm at uoft). so i doubt any preference can be given to it, if its not even offered at other universities. i think you'll hear time and time again, the med schools don't prefer any undergraduate degree, but you should do what you like and what you'll do well in. i know you prob want to hear something more concrete than this.

[Kuantum]

i thought that the specialist program was a laregly UofT thing (i'm at uoft). so i doubt any preference can be given to it, if its not even offered at other universities. i think you'll hear time and time again, the med schools don't prefer any undergraduate degree, but you should do what you like and what you'll do well in. i know you prob want to hear something more concrete than this.

 

I agree with this.

[The Law]

I don't really think it matters...

[FireDragoonX]

removed...

[Madz25]

it doesn't matter. do what you like. i did a specialist and i liked it.

[TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

The vast majority of Canadian medical schools won't give you any extra credit for taking a specialist degree versus a double major versus a single major with two minors versus a single major with one minor versus a single major with no minors, so as everyone else has already said, take what you find most interesting and don't worry so much about how it will be perceived by medical school admissions committees.

[daryn]

As far as I am aware of, U of T is the only place where there is such a thing called specialist program. I heard that it is really the same as any other major in other universities. As far as we are concerned, I don't think it matters at all.

 

It DOES matter, however, when you apply to graduate school.

[Kiel]

As far as I am aware of, U of T is the only place where there is such a thing called specialist program. I heard that it is really the same as any other major in other universities. As far as we are concerned, I don't think it matters at all.

 

It DOES matter, however, when you apply to graduate school.

Many universities have specialist based streams.

[JOy]

Does this mean I can get away with not taking Physics or Calculus in my undergrad career?

[Kiel]

Yes but these will come in handy with pre-requisite courses and for the MCAT(just physics)

[uofthopeful07]

Does this mean I can get away with not taking Physics or Calculus in my undergrad career?

 

you have to research two things:

 

1) what program of study (POSt) do you want to go into after 1st year? even some majors will require the PHY or MAT.

2) what medical schools do you plan on applying to? some will have specific prereqs...PHY and MAT may be some of them.

[rubberoduck]

I did my undergrad at Uoft, so I have an idea of what you're going through.

like the above posts, I don't think medical schools care about specialist vs. majors. that said, you have to be ABSOLUTELY sure that you don't want to do anything else that may require a specialist degree. specialist programs are generally tougher, less flexible, but you will meet a lot of brilliant people and learn really cool things (I speak from taking Lab Med & Pathobio, which was immensely helpful to medschool). If I were you, I'd consider the following things

1) are you deciding against specialist because you don't like certain pre-reqs? i.e. PHY and MAT

2) are you deciding against those pre-reqs bc you can't do well on them or bc you hear rumors that they're tough?

3) how much do you want to get out of your three years of undergrad? do you just want high GPA or do you want to learn something too?

 

know that you can always switch out of specialist programs, but you will have a hard time getting in if you decide right from the start that you don't want to pursue a specialist program.

[JOy]

Wow Thanks for the insight...I'm in first year, and after the mid term exams I've kind of realized what I liked doing and what I am good at...(math was never really for me.) Originally I wanted to go into a Bio specialist for my Post next year...however, after thinking about it, I really want to branch out and do a bunch of other courses, and I thought it would affect my chances into medicine... Basically I guess I heard rumours that specialist programs were ideal for medical shcool. But thanks for letting me know that I can do majors and minors too.

[uofthopeful07]

Wow Thanks for the insight...I'm in first year, and after the mid term exams I've kind of realized what I liked doing and what I am good at...(math was never really for me.) Originally I wanted to go into a Bio specialist for my Post next year...however, after thinking about it, I really want to branch out and do a bunch of other courses, and I thought it would affect my chances into medicine... Basically I guess I heard rumours that specialist programs were ideal for medical shcool. But thanks for letting me know that I can do majors and minors too.

 

you can take majors/minors of cousre, but you have to show that you are taking courses that are progressing in terms of the material. and you aren't continuously taking a bunch of random courses each year where you aren't building up your knowledge...your courses over the years should have some relation to eachother or some sort of 'theme'. but taking any sort of major will guarantee this, i'm sure. they do have guidelines for which courses to take, although, not as rigid as the specialist requirements.

[DoNair]

You will need to take intro courses for both physics (full year equiv) and calculus (half or full year).

 

Some schools won't require calculus but I'm pretty sure most schools want physics. The intro courses aren't that bad. The physics in these courses is the same stuff you'll see on the MCAT, so it is a good idea to take university physics. Calculus isn't a big deal but I would take it. I personally found it to be easy (especially having just finished high school calculus: it was essentially the same course).

 

Btw, I got my BSc with Specialization. I did it strictly because I enjoyed the subject area. You can do a general degree with a major/minor and get into med school. Many people I know did it. But you will need to take basic pre-req's which include physics (and maybe calculus). Check out the admission criteria for each school to get a better idea.