Hi guys, I was wondering, for the Health Sciences program, lets say hypothetically that you got into your dream program in 2nd year along with admission to the Health Sciences program. Would you reject the health sciences program for your dream program? Or would you switch over.

The fact that you describe Health Sciences as "Health Sciences" and Program X as "your dream program", I think you already know the answer.

When you do things you're passionate about that you love, you'll do better at them and Health Sci is not a light program. If you dislike lots of group work and subjective marking, it may not be the program for you. Or it may.

But again, I believe you've already answered your own question.

Good luck.

If you feel there's a better choice for you than Health Sciences, you should take it. I love Health Sci personally, but I understand that it is not a good choice for everybody (someone from my high school transferred out after first year). Just be well informed and try to understand, where you would fit better.

If it truly is your DREAM program, there's no reason to take Health Sci over it. At the end of the day, you define yourself - your program doesn't define you.

Haha sorry let me rephrase, by dream program I meant a program a person might've wanted to go into or had their eyes set on for a while. I know the answer is obvious if it was a dream program.

I don't understand. Would both programs then not be termed "dream programs"?

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

I don't understand. Would both programs then not be termed "dream programs"?

Sorry for the confusion. Think of it like this, to be blunt, you wanted program X for a while now, and all of a sudden, the "great" program Y comes in (health sci) and you have to choose between the two. You've been considering program X for several months while not considering health sciences and all of a sudden, you're faced with a chance to go into a great program despite wanting program X for the past several months. I know this may seem a bit weird, but I'm asking for a friend since he doesn't have a macinsiders account.

Just find out more about the Health Sciences program before making the decision. The worst thing you can do is get yourself into something you didn't expect.

If after knowing more about the program, he/she thinks that it is better fit for them, then choose Health Sci. If not, choose the other program. I don't think you should really put Health Sci on a pedestal just because it's "Health Sci". Just weigh the options like how you would any other two programs. If he/she needs more information about Health Sci, he/she can PM me.

It also depends on his learning style and what he wants out of his university experience.
I wanted a content rich education where I could dip into various disciplines and have the opportunity to specialize if desired. I was in Chem Bio, and transferred to Bio and got the best of both worlds for my degree. Health Sci was appealing in first year but after talking to some of the people in the program, that was not the best fit for my undergrad. I wanted to have a foundation and knowledge base in the phys-bio sciences to open up more options after undergrad - grad school, work in safety, toxicology, agriculture, and that was what worked for me.

The best thing I would recommend is your friend make a pros vs cons list before he talks to anybody else. Then let him do his research. Make another pros vs. cons list and then compare the two and see where he stands.

good luck

If the only reason they're considering health sci is because of the reputation/prestige - go with the dream program.

Definitely go with whatever interests you more, seriously. The one thing I've learned from experimenting with electives is that if it's a course with a certain type of reputation, but you're just not interested in it, you're not going to do well or even if you do well, you won't enjoy it. I can only imagine that the example can be extrapolated to cover a program choice.

Your asking based on an ideal program without specifying. There is no possible reply other than follow your interest.

I'm pretty sure I was in the situation you're describing right now.

Following first year, like all other first years, I applied to my Level 2 programs. One of them was Health Sciences, and the other significant program was Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour with Music Cognition Specialization. I was not at all expecting to get into health sci, and I was so excited about PNB with music cog. I got stoked on all the courses, and dreamt up a potential awesome future surrounding it. I really didn't expect anything from health sci, so when I found out I got in, I obviously had a "crap what about PNB" moment. Ultimately I did choose health sci, because of the grade-12 part of me that was super upset following the initial health sci rejection, and I couldn't imagine turning down something that I thought I had wanted so much. I'm anticipating a lot of upcoming hostility for my decision.. But anyway.

Fast forward one year later. This upcoming year (third year), we have a LOT of electives. You can basically take whatever you want. I'm taking a variety of psychs that I would have taken if I were in PNB. I guess you're wondering, if I wanted PNB so much, why even bother with the one-year health sci delay? One advantage I found is that I won't have to take ALL the required courses for music cog - just the ones I'm genuinely interested in. Another advantage is that I can also take a slew of incredibly interesting health sci courses.. and there are a LOT of those. On top of that, for our research projects we are free to approach profs of any faculty at all -- so I got in touch with profs who are in the McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind. To me, I feel like I'm getting the best of both worlds, thus this isn't a choice that I regret. Others can argue otherwise.

I can't really speak for any of the other Level II programs. I would assume for something super specialized like, say, chem bio, you couldn't really hope to do chem bio within health sci... I don't know.

I think you should look into both programs in more depth. You should make sure that you know what you're getting yourself into if you choose health sci. Some people go in just thinking "HIGH MARKS FREE FOOD" but there's a lot more to it. The learning styles are so different, and sometimes, group-oriented self-directed learning really might not be how YOU would want to learn. If you feel you don't really have anything to gain from health sci, then don't do it!

I'm not sure if this response was holistic enough. I can only offer one viewpoint, and hopefully it was somewhat helpful. Feel free to ask if you have any questions!

Plan out what you would take in each of the next couple of years in each of the program (not set in stone, but just what you think sounds interesting and what meets program requirements). Then decide which one is more interesting to you.

Originally Posted by allstarme

I can't really speak for any of the other Level II programs. I would assume for something super specialized like, say, chem bio, you couldn't really hope to do chem bio within health sci... I don't know.

There is enough elective space in core health sci to minor in chembio