Only accept Honours undergraduate degree holders?

[Guest joonboy]

Effective for Fall 2006, applicants must have a COMPLETED 4 YEAR HONOURS UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE in any discipline to be eligible for admission. UWO will NO LONGER accept applicants with three years of university or general undergraduate degrees. There will be NO pre-req courses required.

 

This is what it says in "UWO Admissons FAQ" topic at the top of this forum. Is this true?

[Guest Elaine I]

Yes. The same information can be found on the UWO website: www.fmd.uwo.ca/Admissions...Undergrad/

 

You will be able to apply during your 4th year, on condition that you will have earned your Honours degree prior to starting medicine (or at some date in the summer - not sure which).

 

Elaine

[Guest PLT]

Don't fret - when you can get that honours degree it will help prove that you're ready for medical school. but hey you answered your own question!

 

This is what it says in "UWO Admissons FAQ" topic at the top of this forum

 

Also, at www.fmd.uwo.ca/Admissions/Medicine/Undergrad/, it says :

 

For those applying in 2006 for entry in 2007

To be eligible to apply, students must have completed or be currently enrolled in a program leading to a four-year honours degree or equivalent from a recognized university and expect to have completed a minimum of 20 full or equivalent courses by the end of the academic year (September - April) in which application is being made.

 

It's being done so that they no longer have to enforce and vailidate prerequisite courses. There are a few more threads discussing this on this page if you scroll down a bit. here, read Aneliz.

[Guest joonboy]

Oh, I forgot to ask: Is it also true that students can only apply up to 4 times to Western Ontario Medicine? I think I read it somewhere~~.

Thanks~

[Guest TimmyMax]

Hey,

 

I've never heard of such a policy.

 

Best of luck!

Timmy

[Guest joonboy]

NOTE: Students who unsuccessfully apply from third year in four-year programs, will have two more opportunities to apply to Medicine. They may go on and apply from the fourth year of their program, and if again unsuccessful, may apply out of a special year constructed according to the directions above.

 

This is right from this website: www.fmd.uwo.ca/Admissions...ents.shtml

 

I'm not too sure what they are implying here....:\

[Guest CalicoKal]

I think what that means is that if your marks are what make you unsuccessful, you have two more chances to improve them and to gain admission as a result. You can continue to apply even if you are not in a degree program or have graduated the previous year.

[Guest aneliz]

First of all, the new honours degree requirement is 'true' and 'real' and it is coming. There will be no exceptions.

 

Second, there is no one keeping track of how many times you have applied to UWO's med school. However, if you have applied 4 times and have been unsuccessful, I think you need to consider that it is not random chance or luck that is preventing you from getting in. You might want to consider substantially changing something about your application to increase your chances (ie re-write the MCAT, start a new degree, etc).

 

Given the structure of UWO's admission criteria (ie MCAT and GPA are the only thing that get you an interview, no extra credit or consideration for graduate work), there are a limited number of times that you could realistically apply to UWO's med school before you will run out of things to change to increase your chances. I think that is all they are getting at.

[Guest leviathan]

What does it mean by honours degree? I'm confused as to how degrees are offered in Ontario, but I was told by someone that an honours degree means they just do 4 years instead of 3. In BC the standard bachelor's degree takes 4 years, and getting an honours degree means you take more than a full courseload in research and specialty honours classes, but still in a 4 year period.

[Guest aneliz]

In Ontario, you can do a general undergraduate degree or an honours undergraduate degree. In most cases, a general degree is a three year degree and an honours degree requires 4 years to complete. That said, there are also more than a few 4 year general degrees around too. Honours degrees require a certain number of 400 level courses +/- research or a 4th year thesis and a certain academic standard must usually be maintained to remain in the program.

 

To be considered an 'honours' degree by UWO, it must be considered an 'honours degree' by the school granting it. Doing 4 years of general studies and calling it a 4 year degree will NOT pass for an honours degree for pre-req purposes.

[Guest blinknoodle]

Hey Aneliz,

 

What about professional programs? I don't think nursing and engineers can get honours degrees - 4 year degrees yes, but not official honours designation.

[Guest leviathan]

Hey aneliz,

 

Thanks for clearing that up. I guess I won't ever be able to apply to UWO. But realistically, how many people have honours degrees? It seems like the applicant pool is going to drop significantly by doing that. Only 26/200 applicants accepted to UBC in 2004 had honours degrees, as an example.

[Guest SugarFreeK]

So those with a BScN (Nursing degree) cannot apply to Western then? I don't believe it is possible to get a honours nursing degree.

[Guest ploughboy]

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Hey blinknoodle,

 

Engineers can most definitely get honours degrees. In fact, at Waterloo that's the only type of eng'g degree you can get. I don't know about nursing, though. (Why are you still "incoming", by the way?)

 

I agree that the applicant pool will definitely be thinner in 06/07 because of the new requirement, and I think aneliz has commented on this in the past as well. I expect that the number of applicants will bounce back over the following couple of years as more people realize that an honours degree is the new ante for meds, and as (pure speculation here) other schools move in the same direction. But what do I know?

 

So if you're really keen on Western meds, make sure you're in line to get an honours degree by the spring of 2007...

 

Cheers,

 

pb

 

 

 

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[Guest blinknoodle]

Hey pb,

 

Thanks for letting me know about the eng'g honours. I didn't know eng'g degrees came in the honour flavour.. My brother is in eng'g at McMaster, and although he has a fourth/fifth year project, none of the degrees say (honours). I'm not actually too sure how the adcom plans to audit the honours degree, because I know not all honours degrees even require a thesis.

 

Re: the incoming, well no worries, I am actually in meds 1. There was some glitch in the moderators' titles last summer which I don't think has been fixed yet.

[Guest aneliz]

They plan to audit the 'honours' degree requirement by looking at the transcript. Where it says 'program' it should say something along the following lines:

 

BSc (Hons) or BA (Hons) or "Honours programme"

 

They will not be looking for specific courses or thesis, etc.

 

UWO is well aware that not all honours programs require a thesis. However, all honours programs require a high level of academic work - if not a thesis, a minimum number of 400 level or honours seminar courses is required.

[Guest Elaine I]

I e-mailed UWO admissions to find out if my degree would be considered an Honours degree. It is a Bachelor of Health Administration from Ryerson University. When I asked Ryerson, they told me that it was neither a general or an honours degree, but instead a professional degree. Here is the response I received:

 

"If your 4-year degree would be sufficient for you to get into a

graduate degree program, then we will consider it equivalent to an honors degree."

 

My assumption would be that the same would apply for engineering and nursing degrees. However, as always, it is probably best to check yourself (and keep a copy of the e-mail reply).

 

Elaine

[Guest ezaholic]

Yeah Elaine,

 

I emailed the UWO admissions as well, and received a message identical to your's. My specific question was regarding my degree which is a nursing degree. I guess that is good news!

 

ez

[Guest leviathan]

I don't understand this criteria about getting into graduate school....I most likely won't be doing an honours major, but I could still get into graduate school...so do I qualify for UWO's new admissions requirements in 2007?

 

Edit: Nevermind...

[Guest aneliz]

The major distinction between Honours degrees and General degrees is as follows:

 

1. Honours degrees are the pre-req degree to entering an MSc,PhD, or MA program. General degrees are designed to be your only university degree before entering the workforce. If the degree you have completed would allow you to enter an MSc or MA program at your own institution, without having to do any additional academic work, it will be considered to be an 'honours' degree by UWO.

 

2. Honours degrees usually have a requirement for a certain number of 400 level courses, a research project/thesis and/or senior seminar course.