Choosing a Program for Undergrad

Before reading this post, it'll be helpful to read my previous posts based on applying to university.

Selecting a Career: https://rueshi25.wixsite.com/studywithaarushi/post/setting-career-goals-in-3-steps

Selecting a University: https://rueshi25.wixsite.com/studywithaarushi/post/8-things-to-think-about-when-deciding-on-a-university

Read on!

Applying to a university in Ontario can be a very simple process if you already know which programs you want to apply to. You go onto OUAC.ca, enter/update your personal and contact information, browse through the programs, select programs, enter your credit/debit card details and pressing submit. The website sends your applications for you with the given personal information along with grades that your school is responsible for uploading onto the server. But what do you do if you don’t know which program suits you?

If you have read the past few university-oriented blog posts about setting career goals and deciding which university to go to, this process won’t be as hard as you think. You can have a look at those before continuing with this post.

A lot can go into deciding what program you want to apply to. So, use your career option as a starting point and work backwards. A lot of careers these days require a postgraduation degree. If you have already researched your career path, you’ll have an idea of what post-grad degree you need. If not, look it up. Next, look up what that post-grad degree requires from your undergrad degree, as in prerequisites. It’s easier if you select a specific university to look at the prerequisites. But there’s no harm in simply looking up “prerequisites to get a(n) (selected degree) in (city/country)”. Browse the websites that pop up to get a general idea.

Another way to figure out what undergrad degree will be helpful is to look up “which undergrad degree is required for (selected degree) in (city/country)”. Then your next step can be to browse these degrees and the connected programs on the websites of the university/universities you have decided to go to.

It sounds a little chaotic in an article. But it becomes simple once your goals are clear to you.

There are some factors to think about:

Requisites of Passing: Certain universities keep requisite courses you must take to graduate from the program. Make sure you research those and have a full understanding of what you are signing up for. These may be a part of the program, like Biology 101 in Life Sciences, or it could be a general course like English 101. At the University of Toronto, you must complete a breadth requirement to graduate. You must take a 1.0 credit, or a full course equivalent, in each breadth category to get your degree. So, your Science Courses would count towards the Living Things and Their Environment category and your Social Science Courses would count towards the Society and Its Institutions category. If you think you want to keep your courses closer to one subject, this requirement would not be helpful to you. So, fully research what the university wants you to do to pass.

Flexibility: U of T allows its students to pick their own timetable. But Queen’s University has courses a student must take for a certain program, with the freedom to choose a few electives. Think about what is important to you. If you can stick to the university’s readymade timetable, apply to that program. But, if you want a little freedom of choice, apply to a university that gives you just that.

A different path: Of course, when you look up “what undergrad degree would help me get an MD degree?”, the results will be science-based. But, in Canada, you are allowed to have graduated from any program, with any major, to qualify for the MD degree. As long as you have taken the 10-15 prerequisite courses, you are eligible to apply. The advantage you get with a Science-based undergrad degree is that the prerequisites of the MD degree are usually your perquisites to pass your under-graduation.

For example, if the MD degree requires 2.0 credits in Science, you will have fulfilled that in your first year of under-graduation. But, if you want to choose a music program, and you have room to take Biology and Chemistry as your electives each year, you can fulfill your requirements that way. A couple of my friends are taking Computer Science programs in under graduation and will apply to Medical School from there. As long as you have your prerequisites secure, you may have the option to take any kind of program you wish to take. You will have to do some research of your own here because mine is restricted to Science-based careers and those aren’t the only ones that exist.

I hope you found some help in this post. I would love to know which programs you are thinking of applying to. You can comment down below or email me at rueshi25@gmail.com. - Aarushi