Upper-year students talk program selection, experiences, and advice.
Program enrollment for life science students is coming up on March 1—the time of year when first-years collectively raise their heads from their studies and look to the future. It can be hectic and stressful; thinking about your academic life, especially something as serious as joining an official program, isn’t always fun. The sheer number of programs is sometimes overwhelming, and it can be hard to talk to people who have gone through the same thing.
Scrolling through the UofT life sciences program page, it can seem like the list goes on forever. There are a total of 13 programs, such as Physiology and Immunology, each with their associated minor, major, and specialist. Several of the programs also include upper-year independent research projects, such as BCH471, a fourth-year course in the Biochemistry program.
So, how do you choose? Thinking about your interests and strengths in the past semester can be a good start, but it can be difficult to decide with so many options. “As a first-year student, there [is] a lot of pressure on declaring a major, and this creates a lot of tension, competition, and stress,” said Hunter Xu, a second-year Psychology major, in a written interview with The Strand. Xu, who is also the treasurer of the Psychology Students Association, decided on the program after attending a SOC100 class. “I realised that the labs conducted in Biology and Chemistry [were] not for me.”
Michelle Wang, a fourth-year Pharmacology and Toxicology specialist, Neuroscience major, and Psychology minor, also chose her program as a result of her first-year courses and suggests taking advantage of the many resources UofT has to offer, like the Sidney Smith Program Exploration Days. “It’s a great way to get a feel of the program content and gauge students’ perspectives.” Wang finds her specialist rigorous but rewarding, especially the co-op options: “The PharmTox [Pharmacology and Toxicology] faculty really emphasises learning outside of the classroom and application of knowledge to the real world,” she wrote.
There are two types of programs in the life sciences stream: open and limited. Open programs have no specific course requirements, while limited programs have prerequisite courses and minimum grades for acceptance. For example, the Biology major at UofT is open, but acceptance to the Psychology program requires completion of PSY100 with a minimum grade of 75 percent. “Even if you struggle to choose something now, you can always pick an open program and switch to another program in upper years,” wrote Wang.
Emily Mitchell, a second-year Molecular Genetics and Microbiology (MGY) specialist and Neuroscience major, wrote that program size and potential research should also be a consideration, “Some good things [about MGY] are that the class sizes are pretty small so you can really get to know your professors […] and the research paths by professors in the department are all really fascinating.” You don’t have to choose just one major, either. “Like many first years, I didn’t know what I wanted to pursue. So I chose a mix of majors and minors that I wanted to learn more about,” wrote Catherine Wang, a third-year double major in Neuroscience and Cell and Molecular Biology. By finding programs where the courses overlap, you won’t overload yourself, all while pursuing a range of interests.
Although this time of year can be stressful, it doesn’t have to be. “Reach out to upper years in the program! Execs on student unions ([such as] HBSU, PTSA) are always happy to chat,” wrote Michelle Wang. It’s also important to remember that your choices aren’t set in stone. Although there is definitely pressure to finish your degree and have it all figured out, “most people’s paths aren’t linear, and they change their major multiple times—and that is ok!” wrote Mitchell. Look into your interests, use resources such as the Sidney Smith Program Toolkit, and don’t be afraid to take risks. According to Xu, “Stepping outside of one’s own comfort zone and taking a course you would never think about taking can be life-changing.”
