Pre-med courses

[mel.drescher]

I'm entering the IB program next year and because I'm planning on doing pre-med at university, I have a few questions.

The guidance counsellor system at my school is horrible and takes an upwards of 1-2 months for an appointment, and appointments are only 10 minutes long.

 

1) Is it possible to take Maths, Chemistry, Biology, and Physics? Physics is part of the MCAT, and in the US and Canada, many universities put biology, chemistry, and physics and prerequisites 

My dream course load would be:

Biology HL

Maths HL (My average this year is 100%, so I'm pretty good at math)

Chemistry HL

Physics SL

English SL

Either French or Psychology SL

Is this course load possible?

2) For pre-IB, I decided to also do my schools French Immersion program, and I really love the class, but would you recommend this or psychology, if I'm allowed to take maths, chem, bio, and physics? If I'm only allowed two sciences I will take them both.

Many schools recommend 4 years of foreign language and 4 years of social sciences but if I had to choose between french and psychology, which do you recommend?

Do you believe it'd be better for me to transfer to the public school in my area, and stick with French Immersion, and also be able to take social studies, and all the sciences that I want?

 

Thanks in advance

[Gaby]

That subject selection would only be possible if you took an irregular diploma, as you need to take a social science (group 3), or if you took physics as a 7th subject. 

[VeronicaG]

Hey fellow Canadian 

1) Technically that goes against the IB course selection 'rules'. Usually you can only take a max of 2 sciences (as a group 4 and elective). If your school has permission to grant an irregular IB diploma (aka ignore the course selection rules), then you may be able to take all 3 sciences. Find your IB coordinator and ask.

If you can't take all three, I recommend taking summer school or online classes to get the missing science credits. I took physics in summer school for this reason.

Or, see if you can take an introductory science course in university. I know for many life science programs in Ontario, they offer a beginner course in physics or something. Some universities don't require all three sciences for admission, which is why they have the university intro courses. 

The other option is to just not do IB, but more on that later.

2) Obviously this depends on the answer to question 1. I'd say stick with what you're good at to get a higher mark. You can always take the classes in university so don't put so much stress on high school course selection.

You're next question is reallllly good and I suggest you take a long, hard look at your goals for this. In Canada, life science is fairly easy to get into, usually around a low 80-low 90 admission average depending on the school. For most schools, IB does not give any significant admission advantage because admissions revolve around grades and in rare cases, extra curriculars. It does not matter if you take IB or not from an admission standpoint, so instead decide based on your interests and how much freedom you want when it comes to course selection.