UWO Second Undergrad

[exodus9]

Hey guys,

 

I'm thinking about doing a second undergrad at UWO, a BA in Psych. I've talked to a counselor in the Psych department, and they said I'd be able to transfer two years (10.0 credits) of electives from my first degree. So I'd be able to get an honours BA in Psych in two years.

 

I have a 35R MCAT (13 ps, 12 bs, 10 vr). I know it's a good overall score, but I was thinking of redoing it to get that 11 for VR for UWO. I'm fairly confident I can keep the PS and BS scores up if I decide to redo.

 

I wanted to lay out my plan here and hopefully any UWOers would be able to provide some feedback.

 

Year 1 of 2

 

1.0 Psych 2800E - Research Methods in Psych

1.0 Psych 2075 (Campbell) - Human Sexuality (I'm debating whether to take this course online or not, any suggestions?)

0.5 Psych 2115B (Lomber) - Intro to Sensation/Perception

0.5 Psych 2134 (Joanisse) - Intro to Psycholinguistics

0.5 Psych 2135 (Minda) - Intro to Cognition (again, debating whether to take online or not)

0.5 Psych 3800 - Psych Stats with Computers

0.5 Math 1600 - Linear Algebra I

0.5 Math 1228 - Finite Math

 

Year 2 of 2

 

0.5 Psych from the following: Psychology 3184F/G, 3185F/G, 3285F/G, 3480F/G, 3485F/G, 3580F/G, 3780F/G

0.5 Psychology 3100-3299

0.5 Psychology 3300-3799

1.0 Psychology 3000-4999

0.5 Psychology 4000-4999

0.5 Psychology 2100-4999

1.0 Psychology 4850E course

0.5 Psych 2300-2799

 

In each year I'd be taking 5.0 courses. Just a few questions:

 

1) Will I be fine for the 3/5 courses corresponding to your year rule for UWO?

2) I was also thinking about doing the degree in 3 years, so I can be eligible for uOttawa med. Plus I'd be able to throw in some interesting, easy electives to bring my GPA up along the way. Any thoughts?

3) Has anyone taken any of the courses listed in my first year plan? Thoughts, suggestions?

 

Thanks!

[SheriffLobo]

 

1) Will I be fine for the 3/5 courses corresponding to your year rule for UWO?

 

 

Yes you should be fine. Remember though that it isn't 3/5 courses, it's 3/5 CREDITS. There's a big difference there.

 

2) I was also thinking about doing the degree in 3 years, so I can be eligible for uOttawa med. Plus I'd be able to throw in some interesting, easy electives to bring my GPA up along the way. Any thoughts?

 

If you plan on doing a degree in 3 years, pace yourself accordingly. Doing too much too soon may screw you over for uOttawa, but you'll have a shot at Queens and Western, maybe Calgary. Easy electives do come with a caveat, the fact that it'll probably get full really fast.

 

 

3) Has anyone taken any of the courses listed in my first year plan? Thoughts, suggestions?

 

Since I'm doing my second degree at UofT, I can't help you here. However that being said, two courses particularly come out to me as a 'proceed with extreme caution'. Those being Linear Algebra and Finite Math. These courses are notorious at UofT anyway for being extremely difficult to get a high mark in (the class average is in the low to mid 50's and since you're doing a second degree, you need a 3.7 (85% at UofT)AT MINIMUM)

 

I would seriously reconsider those math courses being in there. A second degree means near 0 chances for screw ups, and if you end up with a mid 70 to low 80, you may very well drop the competitiveness of your gpa by several levels.

[exodus9]

Thanks for your response Sherifflobo.

 

I'm finding it hard to decide whether to do the degree in 2 or 3 years. Is it really worth doing an extra year just to be able to apply to UOttawa?

 

I have to take 1.0 credits of math in order to proceed in Honours BA Psych. Countless people who've taken Linear Algebra and Finite Math have have told me these two courses are not difficult at all at UWO. Plus I took another Math course in my first undergrad that is an anti-requisite for most of the other math courses. So I'm kinda restricted to taking these two courses. And a 3.7 at Western is 80+, so I've got that in my favour.

[Etude]

If my understanding about the course level rules in UWO meds, your first year will not meet the best year requirement for UWO. Even if you are starting a new degree, the schools will actually consider your "2nd first year" as another 4th year.

 

If my understanding is not correct, please disregard my comment

[EBDOC15]

Figured I'd point something out just to make sure you're aware. UWO will look at your current year, so if you do a second degree they will look at both. This is not the case for other schools. Queen's will look at your last two years excluding your current year. Ottawa looks at your last 3 years, excluding your current year.

 

As a result, you can only apply to Queen's during your second year if your last year of your first degree is ok. Ottawa's weighing formula may allow you to apply in your second year, or your 3rd year but only if your marks from earlier years aren't too low.

[EBDOC15]

For second undergrads, the 3/5 rule is different. The only stipulation is that you can only take 2/5 classes without prerequisites (first year classes etc...). 3/5 must be senior level (all this means is they have prerequisites)

[Etude]

For second undergrads, the 3/5 rule is different. The only stipulation is that you can only take 2/5 classes without prerequisites (first year classes etc...). 3/5 must be senior level (all this means is they have prerequisites)

 

Does that mean even second year courses with prerequisites will be considered as senior level courses?

[SheriffLobo]

For second undergrads, the 3/5 rule is different. The only stipulation is that you can only take 2/5 classes without prerequisites (first year classes etc...). 3/5 must be senior level (all this means is they have prerequisites)

 

I think you should avoid using the term prerequisites. The way the 3/5 rule works (and this is after much research mind you) is that 3/5 credits (equivalent) should be second year + courses. To simplify it additionally, in your first year of a second degree, 3/5 credits must be spent toward year 2 and above courses, while 2/5 credits can be used to first year courses. For your second degree, 3/5 credits must be at the THIRD year and above, though in its admission requirements, they specifically state 2000+ courses, I only assume the second year they expect you to take a majority of third year courses, since they mostly do require you to complete the second degree requirements.

 

Another misconception as far as I know is that Western doesn't look at your current year. While this is true, people have and do apply during the second year of their undergrad and get conditional acceptances (aka maintain a certain gpa in your second year, and finish the degree requirements). If any confusion still persists, I highly advise reading the stickies in this forum.

[dreamer]

Exodus. I'm not sure if some schools look at last MCAT or top MCAT, but you may wish to look into that. You don't want to rewrite and have a VR drop to 9 and then you'd be out for more schools.

 

With regards to completing it in two or three years, I would recommend you do it in two years. What was your GPA in the last year in your last degree? It is very difficult and strenuous to keep up a solid effort for three years. To spend every waking moment of your life studying to get a crazy high GPA / average is very challenging; I would only like to do two years of that.

 

I would look into changing your province of residence after your second undergrad degree as well.

[dreamer]

I sent you a PM.

[EBDOC15]

I think you should avoid using the term prerequisites. The way the 3/5 rule works (and this is after much research mind you) is that 3/5 credits (equivalent) should be second year + courses. To simplify it additionally, in your first year of a second degree, 3/5 credits must be spent toward year 2 and above courses, while 2/5 credits can be used to first year courses. For your second degree, 3/5 credits must be at the THIRD year and above, though in its admission requirements, they specifically state 2000+ courses, I only assume the second year they expect you to take a majority of third year courses, since they mostly do require you to complete the second degree requirements.

 

Another misconception as far as I know is that Western doesn't look at your current year. While this is true, people have and do apply during the second year of their undergrad and get conditional acceptances (aka maintain a certain gpa in your second year, and finish the degree requirements). If any confusion still persists, I highly advise reading the stickies in this forum.

 

 

This is incorrect. For second degrees its different. The only stipulation is that you can only take 2/5 first year classes (or second year classes without prerequisites). It is the same for each year of your second degree.

 

Senior level = course with prerequisite

[SheriffLobo]

This is incorrect. For second degrees its different. The only stipulation is that you can only take 2/5 first year classes (or second year classes without prerequisites). It is the same for each year of your second degree.

 

Senior level = course with prerequisite

 

This is good to know. I was under the impression that it had worked the way I had understood the rules. Also, you keep mentioning classes, I assume you mean credits?

[EBDOC15]

2/5 full course equivalents (4/10 classes altogether) per year.