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Kinesiology vs Life Sci

 
Old 04-23-2018 at 11:39 AM   #1
ntangri2000
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Kinesiology vs Life Sci
I have applied to both kinesiology and life sci at Mac but I really confused as to which program to choose (as of now I'm leaning towards kinesiology) because my goal after undergrad is med school but I'm afraid that with kinesiology, I will not be able to complete perquisites for some med schools and kinesiology may not have enough elective space to do so. So I wanted to know more about kinesiology as a program itself, which program should choose (which one will beneficial for med school) and will I have enough elective space in kinesiology

Pls help!!

Thanks
Old 04-25-2018 at 07:20 PM   #2
Sarah.A
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Hello there!

Congratulations on your offer! I am a first year kinesiology student at McMaster and I hope I can help you with my perspective. Last year, I was in a position similar to yours. I had offers from both kinesiology and life science and because I am also planning to apply to medical schools in the future I wasn't sure which program would help me achieve my goals. In the end I chose kinesiology which I am very happy with. Here are some things to consider about kinesiology:

- The kinesiology program is relatively small. Around 200 get in every year students compared to around 1000 who get into life science. This means that first year kin courses aren't as big as many first year life sci courses. If large class sizes overwhelm you and make it difficult socialize or to reach out and ask for help then kin is for you. You also will see many familiar faces in your courses because you would be taking the required kin courses with the same group of students.

- It is likely that there will be enough space to do most of your science electives of choice during the school year. Although keep in mind that the life sci program offers the advantage of doing these courses (eg: bio and chem) that prepare you for medical school while also contributing to completing your degree. However you still have space to fit these same courses in with kin courses. For example, first year kin requires you to do 5 courses plus 1 calculus course. That is 6 in total which leaves you with 4 electives first year which can be used to complete biology/chemistry/physics/social sci courses. You get electives in the following years as well.

- There is always the option of summer school. After you finish the school year (fall and winter semesters) you can do up to two courses in the spring semester running from May to mid June then two other courses in the summer semester from June to early August. So that is basically 1-4 courses you can do outside of the school year. This reduces the stress of doing kin courses with science courses which means you can use the electives during the school year to do courses you like.

- Kinesiology courses are, for the most part, not open to non-kin students. Life sci courses are open to most students in McMaster as long as you have the prerequistes. Life sci courses start with introductory science courses and get more specialized in the following years. In kin, you jump right away to doing kinesiology courses which are very interesting. I don't think I would have had the same first year experience if I spent most of it doing introductory science courses so I can apply to a 2nd year science program. In kin, I enjoyed learning about the human body in the Anatomy and Physiology courses. I also loved the nutrition course and the course about the benefits of physical activity and I was able to see how that knowledge could apply in real life. I was also fascinated by the motor control/learning course which examined how the human body learns to move and perfrom actions skillfully.

- Having a kin degree prepares you for many careers in healthcare. You will see during your first year the full spectrum of possible things you can do with a background in kinesiology. Of course you can become a kinesiologist. You can also apply to medical school. But you are also able to pursue further education in rehabilitation and physiotherapy. You can also get involved in kin research as an undergrad student and see if you want to keep doing it. There are plently of things you can do with a life sci background as well, but I am not doing life sci right now so I can't say much about it.

That is all I could think of for now. I hope it helps. Feel free to ask more questions or clarifications if needed.

ntangri2000 says thanks to Sarah.A for this post.
Old 04-26-2018 at 10:30 AM   #3
ntangri2000
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Hi,

Thank you so much for your help, it would really help me make a decision, however, I have a few more questions:

- I'm not interested in doing summer school, so will it still be possible for me to complete all of my electives by the end of second year?

- how much elective space do we get each year?

- also many med school such as the UofT med school wants "full course equivalent" prequisities so what does that mean and are all of McMaster courses considered "full course equivalents"?

- how hard is the first year in kin and is there a lot of workload?

- is there any "office" I can call at McMaster who can give more insight into prerequisites in med school?
Old 04-27-2018 at 09:50 AM   #4
Sarah.A
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Hello!

I am glad I could help. I would be more than happy to answer your other questions.

-I'm not interested in doing summer school, so will it still be possible for me to complete all of my electives by the end of second year?

It depends what medical schools you are going for. Some universities like McMaster have no course prerequisites to get into their medical school. Others like UofT require a couple courses. If you are applying to a lot of universities to increase your chances, it means you would have to do more electives that qualify you to apply to these medical schools. I suggest you look up your options and make a list of medical schools you want to apply to. Then make a list about what each school requires in terms of courses, MCAT, grades... etc.

- how much elective space do we get each year?

You seem to be intersted in finishing your prerequisites in two years so I'll tell you about the electives you have in the first two years of your dregree. In your first year you have to do 5 kinesiology courses and a calculus course which means you have 4 electives first year. Second year you have to do 6 kinesiology courses and a stats course so you have 3 electives second year. I was told by a professor that they will be changing some of these in the future so it is possible you will have more space to do electives. But if things stay the way they are, you have about 7 electives in your first two years.

- also many med school such as the UofT med school wants "full course equivalent" prequisities so what does that mean and are all of McMaster courses considered "full course equivalents"?

I don't think so. My understanding is that a full course equivalent would be equal to taking a course for a full year. Mcmaster offers courses you finish in one semester so to do the equivalent of a full course you do two McMaster courses. For example, to do one full course of chemistry you would have to do CHEM1A03 in one semester and CHEM1AA3 in a following semester and that adds up to a year of chemistry which is a full course.

- how hard is the first year in kin and is there a lot of workload?

It is not hard in terms of the ability to unerstand the material, but some of the courses have a larger workload than others. I would say that out of the 5 required kinesiology courses, the two courses in anatomy and physiology are the most demanding because they are all about memorization. The easiest course (to me) by far was nutrition. The other two courses (Motor control and Learning/ Physical activity and health) were medium load courses. On top of these courses I did a calculus course which is required to get your kin degree (you can do it first or second year, but not any later than that). The calculus course was also very demanding because you have to practice a lot to do well. Overall the work load was ok. What made my first year hard is that I used my elecctives to do chem/bio/phy. Trying to combine kinesiology courses will only science courses made me go through a lot of stress. If I were you, I would take some science courses in the summer even if I could fit them in the school year because it would make you less stressful and more able to get the gpa you want for medical school.

- is there any "office" I can call at McMaster who can give more insight into prerequisites in med school?

McMaster does not have course prerequisites as far as I know, they only want a high gpa and a high score in MCAT (CARS section). If you want more information about McMaster requirements or about using McMaster courses to fulfill othe school's requirements, I suggest you call and ask for the phone operator to direct you to someone who could help you with that. And check the McMaster website too, its pretty useful.

ntangri2000 says thanks to Sarah.A for this post.



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