RapedByLifeSci Posted July 12, 2009 Report Share Posted July 12, 2009 Hey, so I was looking around the forum and I saw a post that stated that 0 level credits do not even count towards your credits. Is this true? Would this mean that this 0 level credit such as Phys020 not even count towards your GPA for med school or towards your graduation credit??! Why the hell do 0 level credits even exist then?! HELP! my course selection date ends July 17th and I've got two 0 level courses signed up this year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
switcheroo Posted July 12, 2009 Report Share Posted July 12, 2009 0-level courses exist to prepare students for 1000-level courses, when they may not have the requisite background knowledge to just take the 1000-level course. For example, if someone didn't take high school chemistry but wanted to take university chemistry, they'd probably have to take 0-level chemistry first. They're solely to be used as preparatory courses for university-level work, and that's why you don't get credits for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnny Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 0 level courses DO count. I took 2 of them at Queen's last year and they are definitely on my transcript . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RapedByLifeSci Posted July 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 yaaaa i just checked also with my department. They DO count for my transcript. But I'm gonna call around all the med schools in Ontario and ask them if zero level courses would count on my GPA. I don't see why it wouldn't... unless your transcript was just like plastered with zero level courses along with 100 level courses. Then.... yeah... you know where this is going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnny Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Yea that's a good idea. Do you think you can post back the information that you find out? I'm pretty sure we should be ok though . Let's keep our fingers crossed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
switcheroo Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Of course they count toward your transcript (i.e., your GPA). But they may not be usable credits in terms of counting towards the number you need to graduate. And there will likely be a limit to the number you can take, just as there is one for 1000-level courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnny Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Hey Switch, btw congratz on med! Which university did you do your undergrad? At Queen's our 0-level courses are counted towards usable credits. As confirmed by my verification of enrolment form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xi88 Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 0-credit courses count on your transcript, but they do not count towards you GPA for application purposes, because they are '0'-credit courses. I do not know of any school that count those courses towards your GPA for admissions. Also, they do not count as a part of your full course load, as they carry 0 credits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Side question here - what is a 0 level course? Some sort of a university prep course? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xi88 Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Side question here - what is a 0 level course? Some sort of a university prep course? I did my undergrad at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, and 0-credit hour couses at SMU were courses that carried no credit. For example, Intro to Calculus was numbered MATH 1210 as a first year course. Pre-calculus was numbered MATH 0190 as a 0-credit course meaning that it was a prep course below the first year university level. Alternatively, we also had non-major courses. For example, Biology and the Human Environment (BIOL 1203) carries no credits for students in the Faculty of Science, as science students should take the General Biology Courses. In both cases, these courses do not carry any credits, and do not contribute to graduation requirements, or application GPA calculations Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shredthegnar Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Ok so I wrote this as a private message to someone else, but this is my take. I guess it really depends on where you went to school, especially if you did your undergrad outside Ontario. But coming from Queen's undergrad, this is my take... In either case I think zero level courses count for any GPA. There's a lot of misinformation out there among life-scier's etc. (at Queen's) with regard to zero level courses, bird courses, number of upper year courses needed etc etc. But I wouldn't listen to any of it, go directly to the medical schools' websites for the info, or email the admissions people. I can tell you from experience that I took Phys 020, and a number of 1st and 2nd year courses in my upper years (I did five years, with a dual degree in Phys Ed and Life Science), and was accepted to medicine. I can't speak for every med school in Ontario, but in general as long you: a) are fulfilling the requirements to get whatever degree your aiming for (i.e. taking the prereq courses, electives, etc as outlined in your course guide, so that you will graduate as expected) are getting a degree that could possibly lead to a master's or some kind of higher degree c) are taking a FULL course load EVERY YEAR (which I gather is basically 5 courses for Ontario, if you don't you may be ineligible for some breaks that school's like Queen's, Western, and U of T give out) Then you will qualify for any med school in Ontario. OMSAS just calculates a straight average of all your courses taken each year, which is then sent to the medical schools, who further tweak your average based on their specific rules. For example, U of T drops your 3 lowest full year (or six half year) courses, IF you have taken a full load each year, and are applying during your fourth year. From this they do a simple average of all the years (I don't think they count summer courses). Remember that with almost 3,000 applicants to U of T this year, there is absolutely no way that admissions committee's would know which courses at the various schools are 'bird courses.' In addition, zero level courses at some schools are first year courses, or are altogether different from another school. I do believe it's true that if your in fourth year you can't take all zero or first year courses, because then things start looking suspicious. But, speaking from experience, you can definately take a few to pull up your GPA. If in doubt, take an easy course like Phys 020 as a sixth course to pull up your average (because you don't really have to go to class), and if you need to, drop it before the add/drop deadline. Sorry that was so long, I definately heard my fair share of bull**** at school from randoms and friends who were applying to medicine. But when it comes time to apply, pleading ignorance about the various rules/requirements doesn't help. Spend a bunch of time looking at the admissions websites for each school, and THAT is the accurate information. Word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RapedByLifeSci Posted July 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Ok so I wrote this as a private message to someone else, but this is my take. I guess it really depends on where you went to school, especially if you did your undergrad outside Ontario. But coming from Queen's undergrad, this is my take... In either case I think zero level courses count for any GPA. There's a lot of misinformation out there among life-scier's etc. (at Queen's) with regard to zero level courses, bird courses, number of upper year courses needed etc etc. But I wouldn't listen to any of it, go directly to the medical schools' websites for the info, or email the admissions people. I can tell you from experience that I took Phys 020, and a number of 1st and 2nd year courses in my upper years (I did five years, with a dual degree in Phys Ed and Life Science), and was accepted to medicine. I can't speak for every med school in Ontario, but in general as long you: a) are fulfilling the requirements to get whatever degree your aiming for (i.e. taking the prereq courses, electives, etc as outlined in your course guide, so that you will graduate as expected) are getting a degree that could possibly lead to a master's or some kind of higher degree c) are taking a FULL course load EVERY YEAR (which I gather is basically 5 courses for Ontario, if you don't you may be ineligible for some breaks that school's like Queen's, Western, and U of T give out) Then you will qualify for any med school in Ontario. OMSAS just calculates a straight average of all your courses taken each year, which is then sent to the medical schools, who further tweak your average based on their specific rules. For example, U of T drops your 3 lowest full year (or six half year) courses, IF you have taken a full load each year, and are applying during your fourth year. From this they do a simple average of all the years (I don't think they count summer courses). Remember that with almost 3,000 applicants to U of T this year, there is absolutely no way that admissions committee's would know which courses at the various schools are 'bird courses.' In addition, zero level courses at some schools are first year courses, or are altogether different from another school. I do believe it's true that if your in fourth year you can't take all zero or first year courses, because then things start looking suspicious. But, speaking from experience, you can definately take a few to pull up your GPA. If in doubt, take an easy course like Phys 020 as a sixth course to pull up your average (because you don't really have to go to class), and if you need to, drop it before the add/drop deadline. Sorry that was so long, I definately heard my fair share of bull**** at school from randoms and friends who were applying to medicine. But when it comes time to apply, pleading ignorance about the various rules/requirements doesn't help. Spend a bunch of time looking at the admissions websites for each school, and THAT is the accurate information. Word. shreddie you sent that msg to me bud. alright I have taken my time to call around to EVERY SINGLE MED SCHOOL in ONTARIO. Not Canada. So the only schools that actually picked up were McMaster and U of T. All the other schools went to voicemail. From what I've gathered, YES ZERO LEVEL COURSES DO COUNT TOWARDS YOUR GPA. EVERYTHING THAT IS ON YOUR UNDERGRAD TRANSCRIPT (they don't look at WHAT exactly) WILL COUNT TOWARDS YOUR GPA. That's the general consensus that I got from U of T and Mac. I did not contact schools outside of Ontario however. Maybe others living in different provinces can do that and also post it here? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonnny Posted July 15, 2009 Report Share Posted July 15, 2009 Thank you Shred and Raped for clarifying. My heart skipped a beat as I read that comment by a previous reader claiming med schools don't look at those marks, lol. Where are you for medicine Shred? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shredthegnar Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Starting at U of T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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