Guest newman72 Posted November 12, 2003 Report Share Posted November 12, 2003 I completed a math degree at Waterloo and have been working in the business world for the past 8 years. My desire to become a doctor led me to apply to Mac med for 2004 admission - the only med school I can apply to without any science pre-reqs. If I don't get in, I'll apply again next year, but my back-up plan for September 2004 was to take a year of undergrad science courses to satisfy pre-reqs for other med schools. This way I can apply to other med schools for 2005 admission, not just Mac. However, I just got laid off from my job last week, so I want to re-assess my plan. Now I'm thinking about going back to school in January 2004 to start taking pre-reqs. But I'm not sure if any universities (preferably around Toronto - ie. UofT, York, Mac) offer undergrad admissions for January? Also, I'm not sure what my status is, since I'm not applying from high school and I've already got a bachelor's degree. I don't really need another degree, just a year or so of science pre-reqs to be able to apply to other med schools. Can someone please tell me if it is even possible for me to get into any universities in January 2004 to start taking science pre-reqs? Are most 1st year undergrad biology and chemistry courses full-year courses that run from Sept-April? University websites are terribly designed and very difficult to navigate to get the information I'm looking for. Any advice from those of you still in undergrad at different universities would certainly help. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Elaine I Posted November 12, 2003 Report Share Posted November 12, 2003 Most universities do allow students to take courses as non-degree students. In the Toronto area, both U of T and York require you to apply as a non-degree student or a visiting student respectively. Ryerson allows you just to register without having to apply. I'm not sure of admission deadlines for the other two, but you certainly aren't too late for Ryerson, and they do offer the prerequisites in both the winter term and the summer term. Best wishes with your science courses! Elaine :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve U of T Posted November 12, 2003 Report Share Posted November 12, 2003 I'm currently a U of T undergrad, so I'll tell you what I know about the school. I'm not sure whether it's acceptable to enrol in January, although I suspect it's quite possible. Your status would be as a 'non-degree student', which should give you some flexibility about when you start (although you get lowest priority for course enrolment). I definitely know of graduate students who have started in January of years past, although that's a slightly different situation. The chemistry courses for life science students are available as half year courses, and you could probably get a half credit each in physical (CHM139) and organic chemistry (CHM138) in the same semester. If you need more chemistry, you can probably pick up the 2nd year courses (CHM220 - physical, CHM247 - organic) over the summer, or the following year. The main biology courses (BIO150, BIO250) are full year (September-April), although I think they are probably offered over the summer term as well. For U of T meds, you'll need 2 credits worth of life science courses, which may be difficult to pick up in one year because bio150 is a prerequisite for all upper year life science courses that I'm aware of. I do have a friend who was not enrolled in a life science program, but wanted to take several courses in it, and got bio150 waived as a prerequisite, allowing him to take some 2nd year courses. If you can do that, you should be able to get your 2 credits of life science done in a summer. However, since you will also have next year to complete your courses, you can take things slow, and do bio150 over the summer, and take a followup course over the 2004/2005 fall/winter term. I made sure I had all my prereqs a while ago, so I don't remember exactly what is required for other schools, but I think 2 credits of chemistry, 2 credits of life science, as well as the math and non-science courses you'd have from your Waterloo degree should cover you for the Ontario schools. You should be able to get at least 1 credit in the January-April term, but since most life science courses are full year, you'll need to get the rest over the summer or following year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest notold Posted November 12, 2003 Report Share Posted November 12, 2003 I did some searching on this awhile back as I am starting in January. If you take courses via distance there a few universities you can still apply to for January starts, that may have the courses you want. www.cohere.ca/ www.cvu-uvc.ca/english.html Both Athabasca and BC Open have "open" enrollment for many courses. ( You can start any time.) Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest steak Posted November 13, 2003 Report Share Posted November 13, 2003 Hey Newman, You might want to look into UW's distance ed program. It saves you the hassle of having to be close to a school, and they have a reasonably good course offering (incl science courses). As alumni, the enrollment process is quite easy. Check out their site at dce.uwaterloo.ca for info. I too, am another UW mathie, whose decided to try the meds route, and am doing a BSc by DE to a) get the pre-req's, and to get the GPA up. Feel free to msg me if you have any questions. Steak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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