rmorelan Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi there, I just read on this forum that if you take more than 10 courses over the two terms they only consider the best 10. Never heard of this before, so I wanted to confirm that it is true (didn't see that on their site). I generally take 7.5 courses a term (I have a strange program), so just a rule would give me a big advantage and bonus motivation to continue doing it! thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webshy Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 Hi there, I just read on this forum that if you take more than 10 courses over the two terms they only consider the best 10. Never heard of this before, so I wanted to confirm that it is true (didn't see that on their site). I generally take 7.5 courses a term (I have a strange program), so just a rule would give me a big advantage and bonus motivation to continue doing it! thanks! Yes, it is true. Western only counts your top 5.0 courses, excluding repeats. There are some restrictions, if you are doing a Special Year for example. As well, one of your year must have a certain number of non-first year courses. Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trymeover Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 Yes, it is true. Western only counts your top 5.0 courses, excluding repeats. There are some restrictions, if you are doing a Special Year for example. As well, one of your year must have a certain number of non-first year courses. Elaine What do you mean 'top 5.0 courses'? Do you mean they take top 5 marks per semester or top 10 marks from a year? Those are two totally different scenarios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 What do you mean 'top 5.0 courses'? Do you mean they take top 5 marks per semester or top 10 marks from a year? Those are two totally different scenarios. She means top 5 full-year courses or top 10 one term courses, or some combination of the two that adds up to a full courseload. It depends on the system your school uses. If you take 11 one term courses you can drop your lowest. But be careful about this. I know of people who have overloaded to try and get rid of a bad mark and had it come back to bite them when the workload gets overwhelming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trymeover Posted January 6, 2009 Report Share Posted January 6, 2009 She means top 5 full-year courses or top 10 one term courses, or some combination of the two that adds up to a full courseload. It depends on the system your school uses. If you take 11 one term courses you can drop your lowest. But be careful about this. I know of people who have overloaded to try and get rid of a bad mark and had it come back to bite them when the workload gets overwhelming! My only other query that remains is on the subject of the courses. I looked over Schulich FAQs and they say they want 3 out of 5 full year courses to be courses of the year level that you're at. That's not a problem for me, but I'm wondering if they'd prefer a science course. Thanks a bunch by the way, you've absolutely been a lot of help and I really appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAusten Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 What if one of your courses is pass/fail? So 4/5 of your classes have marks but the last one doesn't? Will me taking an extra 0.5 course 'replace' another 0.5 course or just be considered in place of the pass/fail course? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 My only other query that remains is on the subject of the courses. I looked over Schulich FAQs and they say they want 3 out of 5 full year courses to be courses of the year level that you're at. That's not a problem for me, but I'm wondering if they'd prefer a science course to replace my biology mark. [/Quote] No. Western doesn't care about specific courses. Replace it with basket-weaving - it doesn't matter. Also, will there be any implications on having a low biology mark specifically as being a biology major? I heard UT or somebody takes your 'major's' average or something along those lines? U of T will blindly drop your lowest 6 classes (if you apply after third year) or 8 classes (if you apply after fourth year). It doesn't matter which classes they are, and they only calculate one average. Last year U of T's website stated that they might consider the rigour of a student's program (i.e. a 3.8 in engineering > 3.8 in basket-weaving) as a small factor, but they really seemed to underplay that point and I can't find it on their website at all this year. I wouldn't worry about it whatsoever - as far as U of T is concerned, that C+ doesn't exist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandomGuy Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 What if one of your courses is pass/fail? So 4/5 of your classes have marks but the last one doesn't? Will me taking an extra 0.5 course 'replace' another 0.5 course or just be considered in place of the pass/fail course? That's a good question. I can only guess - you should email admissions (admissions.medicine@schulich.uwo.ca) to get a definite answer. I would guess that the extra course would be considered in place of the pass/fail course. If you look at: A+ A+ A B Pass The Pass provides no GPA information - it's null. I would assume if you add another grade, it would bump the pass, rather than the B. I have no experience with pass/fail courses, though, so don't take my word too seriously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Yes, it is true. Western only counts your top 5.0 courses, excluding repeats. There are some restrictions, if you are doing a Special Year for example. As well, one of your year must have a certain number of non-first year courses. Elaine Could you please explain this further? (level of courses matching year of study...for only one year or for all your f-t years of study). This was asked on another thread as well. I had emailed Western a couple years ago about it. From their answer, I assumed I wouldn't ever be able to apply to Western. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webshy Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 What if one of your courses is pass/fail? So 4/5 of your classes have marks but the last one doesn't? Will me taking an extra 0.5 course 'replace' another 0.5 course or just be considered in place of the pass/fail course? The pass/fail course is the first one dropped. Only if you have grades for more than 5.0 courses (or 10 half courses) is your lowest mark(s) dropped. Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
webshy Posted January 7, 2009 Report Share Posted January 7, 2009 Could you please explain this further? (level of courses matching year of study...for only one year or for all your f-t years of study). This was asked on another thread as well. I had emailed Western a couple years ago about it. From their answer, I assumed I wouldn't ever be able to apply to Western. Thanks! I'm not sure what you are asking. One of your years can have any number of first year courses. The other year that you are using for GPA purposes must have a certain number (3.0 I believe) non-first year courses. There are additional restrictions if you are doing a Special Year. Elaine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 I'm not sure what you are asking. One of your years can have any number of first year courses. The other year that you are using for GPA purposes must have a certain number (3.0 I believe) non-first year courses. There are additional restrictions if you are doing a Special Year. Elaine Sorry, Elaine. Basically, does Western require that the years used for their GPA calculation have course levels that correspond with your year of study (i.e. BIOL 3XX in 3rd year of undergrad). Or, can it be any variation of non-first year courses in any year of study? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewels1986 Posted January 8, 2009 Report Share Posted January 8, 2009 There seems to be lots of confusion about Western's requirements - everyone asks the same questions. I'll try to answer yours, but let me know if you're still confused (or you could email them directly for a more definitive answer). "Three full or equivalent senior courses (second year and above) must be included in at least one of the two undergraduate years being used to determine compliance with established GPA cutoffs." In other words, you need to include one year with 3 or more courses that are some combination of second, third, and/or fourth year. Aside from that, the year level / year of study doesn't matter for this requirement as far as I know. (But you'd be breaking a different, albeit less important requirement - see below.) Just in case in helps, some info about a couple of other common issues that seem to come up: First, about the honours degree, "Honours degree or equivalent: applicants must have taken sufficient senior level courses during the second, third, and fourth year of their 4-year program to enable them to be eligible for admissions into a graduate (Master’s Degree) program." Whether this is an issue for you depends on your school. Almost all standard university programs qualify. Second, about the "year of study" requirement, "Applicants should note that the level of courses must correspond to the “year” of their program. For example, if a student is registered in the third year of their undergraduate degree program, then three out of the five courses must be at the third year level." That's the official requirement, and it's good to follow this advice if you're still in the stages of planning your program and it's not too much trouble. (That comes back to your question - if you're following this recommendation, it shouldn't be an issue, since all your years will have three at the right year level anyways.) However, if for some reason you can't meet this requirement, just email them - it's unlikely that they'll object. Hope that helps a bit. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 9, 2009 Report Share Posted January 9, 2009 Thanks, Jewels and Elaine, for the clarification. That's what I thought. Best of luck with your studies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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