What do you think of Mac's Health Science program???

[Guest babytiger]

hi, i am an oac student trying to choose undergrad university.

 

i got accepted to Mac's health science program..

and i have many questions for those who were in this program..

 

>>How is the environment? is it friendly and small (class size wise)?

>>Did you enjoy being health science student?

>>Would you recommned someone to go to this program??

 

>>and also.. do many people from this program get into med/dent??

 

i konw that it is really competitive to be accepted..

so people who got accepted would all have really high marks.

 

i'm just worried because i think this program might be harder than.. other undergrad programs.. correct me if i'm wrong.

 

i'm trying to decide between waterloo's pre-health/pre-opt and mac's health science.

 

please leave your comments/input/insights.

 

i appreciate it very much.. THANKYOUUU

take care.

[Guest aneliz]

Mac's health sci program is a pretty new program...I think that the first class is only just finishing their 3rd year right now....So, in answer to your question, it is totally unanswerable right now because the first health sci students eligible to apply to meds/dents haven't finished an application cycle yet! This year will be the 'first attempt' of any Mac health sci's to get in.

 

I know that we had quite a few health sci people interview at UWO this year...as for how many will get in, we'll have to wait another week to find that out!

[Guest j282]

Hey aneliz, at UofT meds, we interviewed a number of Mac Health Sci people as well. Apparently there is a rumour going around (the faculty member interviewing with me) said that there is some majour grade padding in the program to get these students into professional program. In a sense to ensure the program lives up to the anticipated success it's supposed to generate for its students. After all what would be better for those glossy brochures then to say on the cover "Come to the Medical Sciences Program at McMaster, over 70% of last year's class accepted to Medical , Dental and Phamacy!"

 

Interesting if it's true. I know reference letter aren't a factor at UWO, but do come into play at UofT and its interesting that all of these students have glowing references that all say the exact same thing !!! ( gleaming boilerplate letters from different profs!) hmmmm. Makes you wonder:eek

 

Take care

[Guest aneliz]

Interesting...while UWO doesn't use reference letters, their interview scores are worth 2x as much as their GPA (should eliminate effect of any 'padding')....I guess we'll see what happens come next Friday!

[Guest MDFEVER]

I don't think this is true. Don't forget they have a pretty high cut off to get in. (above 90) So people in this program are smart, they will also get high mark in other programs too. They will also get killed in their electives offered by other faculties. in year two, they have 3 electives. A frined of mine has a 2.3 in Biochem and I believe this happened to some students in that program too.

[Guest j282]

Hi MDFEVER:

 

I'm not sure I'm following what you are saying. Are you saying that some people in the Health Sciences program have a 2.3 GPA as is the case with some people in the Biochem program?

 

Can you please clarify.

 

Thanks

[Guest MDFEVER]

Sorry for the confusion. What I am saying is even they favour the students in the program's required courses which I don't believe so, I don't think other faculties will do grade padding for the stidents in this program. In fact, my frined told me that some professors have bias on them and gave them hard time because those professors think they all try to get into med schools. I know many people in that program and they all work hard

and deserve the marks they got. It is easy for slackers to start a romour. Please give them credit.

[Guest MDFEVER]

Forgot to mentioned the Biochem issue, a frined of mine got a 2.3 in it as a elective. It also happened to some students got a low mark in their electives. So don't think their GPA are padded.

[Guest macMDstudent]

I don't think choosing a program because of what you may hope to be accepted into in the future is the best plan. Study something you are truly interested in. I think that would be the best way to do well at school. McMaster has accepted people from a huge variety of undergraduate and graduate programs. I don't think there is one "best" program as far as getting into McMaster's MD program.

 

I know that may sound corny or cliche but I believe it to be true!

[Guest j282]

Hey MDFEVER:

 

What you said about some of these students doing poorly in their electives may actually support the thoughts on Grade padding within the Health Science program. As soon as they are exposed to courses outside of their program, they do poorly, as in the case of electives. Hmmmmmm, makes me wonder even more!

[Guest MDFEVER]

Hi j282,

You can think the way you want to think. You may be right, they are a bunch of losers. I also heard a rumour that UofT favours their students and add a 0.5 to their gpa.

[Guest aneliz]

Alright...this has the potential to get nasty...regardless of your feelings about the program, please don't take shots at the people in it. It really doesn't contribute to having a productive discussion. Thanks

[Guest babytiger]

rumour - is just a rumour. most of it isn't true. lets all chill ^^

 

although to my understanding, people who do get into this program are very exceptional and smart people. so i don't think this rumour or whatever it is applies to every health sci people.

 

i think i may be goign to mc for health science next year..

i'm still deciding beween waterloo's pre-opt/pre-health and mc's health sci..

 

so...lets not diss it. hehehe.

[Guest JS28]

Hi there,

I'm a third year Health Sci student and I'd like to give you some of my honest opinions about my program.

 

First off, regarding the rumours about mark inflation in our program: For the record, my classmates' OAC high school averages were in the mid-to-high 90s and they received numerous scholarships.

 

Why would we expect these marks to drop when we enter university? My friends and I somtimes work until 1 or 2 am in the morning to review our lecture notes, prep for classes, write papers and study for tests or exams. Most of my classmates have very good work ethics, have high standards, are very cooperative, and deserve the marks they receive. In fact, my core Health Sci courses are what take up most of my time and are the most challenging but at the same time, very rewarding. We have had to write essays, and do extensive reading and research. In our core Health Sci courses, we often have a 200-300 page courseware, plus a textbook of some sort on top of our lecture notes and independent/group research projects. We have online course folders where we can post our resources to help our classmates, ask questions, generate discussion, and get help from T.A.'s and profs.

 

We have the opportunity to take different electives from different departments (e.g. Philosophy, Physics, Orgo, Calculus, Biochem, Religious Studies, etc). To be honest, I felt like some of our core Health Sci courses had a greater workload than other science or chemistry courses because of the high expectations from our profs!

 

Our first-term organic chemistry prof came back at the beginning of the next term to show the class the results from first academic semester. To our surprise, he showed the class the overall Health Sci averages compared to the average of the rest of the class (minus Health Sci). The Health Sci students performed about 10 percent higher (in the A range). I personally didn't feel too comfortable with the prof doing this...I don't think any of us Health Scis wanted to prove anything though...

 

In fact, I have heard that one department (Biology) complained that when Health Sci students took their courses as electives, we ended up messing up the bell curve because our students were consistently getting high marks. That's why it's unlikely that our own department has padded up our marks to make us "look good".

 

As for me, I believe I've performed equally well in my Health Sci courses and my non-Health Sci electives. Also, our profs are also really approachable and they encourage peer collaboration and discussion. I have not had much trouble getting help from most of my profs or T.A.'s or from my classmates.

 

All in all, I think Health Sci is a program where you have to be motivated and hard-working to succeed. The rumours of mark inflation do not do us justice. Putting high-achievers and scholarship students in one class will no doubt result in a high class average, which is no fault of our own!

 

Hope this helps and clarifies some of the misconceptions!

[Guest krnboy]

I think I'm probably going to McMaster health science...if not UofT Life Science

My friend in engineering told me that some health science people walk in groups and look down on others...why would they do that? I hate those kind of people. I hope there will be a friendly environment where everyone, regardless of the program each one is in, gets along with each other.

[Guest j282]

I noticed a bit of elitism during interactions with a few of those health science students at the UofT meds interviews, but I'm sure this behaviour was isolated to individuals in question.

 

On a side note, I know you want to get good marks, but guys, relax, your only young once, take a night off, have some fun, you will seriously burn yourself out by the time you get to med school if you aim fo 100's and blowing out the class curves time in and time out.

 

Infact Roll a relaxo stick, (soon to be legal in this here fine province) :smokin