University of Alberta or Waterloo?

[digitalfortress]

Hi,

I was an engineering student at UofWaterloo, but I am planning to switch into science so that I can try out for pharmacy school.

My school has a pharamcy program already, but I need to take a lot more courses than... say, University of Alberta. (My friend lives there, and he's willing to let me stay in his home...)

UofAlberta Requirement
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](1) AUCHE 110 and 112 or CHEM 101 and 102 [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](2) AUCHE 250 and 252 or CHEM 164 and 263 or CHEM 261 and 263 [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](3) AUENG 103 and 104 or two of ENGL 121, 122, 123, 124 or 125. (ENG 111, 112, 113, 114 are no longer offered). NOTE: Students with credit in ENGL 100, 101, 111, 112, 113 or 114 may not take current ENGL course [/SIZE].[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]as listed above. [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](4) AUBIO 130 or BIOL 107 [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](5) AUBIO 380 (formerly AUBIO 280) or AUCHE 380 or BIOCH 200[/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1] (6) AUMAT 110 or 111 or MATH 113 or 114 [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](7) AUSTA 213 or AUSTA 215 or STAT 141[/SIZE].


University of Waterloo

Biology

• Introductory Cell Biology † - BIOL 130/130L
• Genetics - BIOL 139
• Fundamentals of Microbiology - BIOL 140

Chemistry

• Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter † - CHEM 120/120L
• Chemical Reactions, Equilibria and Kinetics † - CHEM 123/123L
• Introductory Biochemistry† - CHEM 237/237L or Fundamentals of Biochemistry - CHEM 233
• Introductory Chemical Thermodynamics - CHEM 254
• Basic Organic Chemistry 1 † - CHEM 266/266L or Organic Chemistry 1 - CHEM 264
• Basic Organic Chemistry 2 † - CHEM 267/267L or Organic Chemistry 2† - CHEM 265/265L

Mathematics

• Calculus 1 for the Life Sciences - MATH 127 or Calculus 1 for Honours Mathematics - MATH 137 or Calculus 1 (Advanced) - MATH 147
• Calculus 2 for the Life Sciences - MATH 128 or Calculus 2 for Honours Mathematics - MATH 138 or Calculus 2 (Advanced) - MATH 148
• Introductory Statistics for Scientists - STAT 202

Humanities or Social Sciences

• 2.0 full credits (four terms) in Humanities or Social Sciences at the university level. No more than 1.0 credit in any one subject area.

10 Courses needed for Alberta + Reference Letter (Piece of cake LOL) and [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Letter of Intent (This will be a bit challenging)[/SIZE].

12 + 4 (humanity courses) for University of Waterloo.

It looks like UofAlberta is a bit easier in terms of course numbers, but UofAlberta has no residential preference... so any Canadian students could gamble for luck there. Letter of Intent looks like the only disadvantage here.

I am in University of Waterloo, and it will be great if I can stay here since it seems to have much better facilities, but a lot more courses (+more expensive, further from home, etc.) and CAP program (pre-pharm students from high school) would make it more competitive as well.

I don't need to decide this now, but it would be great if I can make the decision by the end of fall term. If you were in my position, what would you do and why? Your insights would be greatly appreciated.

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[ScottSAA]

A lot of the schools require the same basic sciences. I would aim for U of A first and if you don't get in, keep working with UW's pre-reqs. Also, a lot of what U of A wants is what many other universities in Canada want so you could open up more options (eg. Dalhousie University).
The U of A's letter of intent isn't that hard; it's the competition that makes it hard. That's the best advice I could probably give you.

 

[digitalfortress]

A lot of the schools require the same basic sciences. I would aim for U of A first and if you don't get in, keep working with UW's pre-reqs. Also, a lot of what U of A wants is what many other universities in Canada want so you could open up more options (eg. Dalhousie University).
The U of A's letter of intent isn't that hard; it's the competition that makes it hard. That's the best advice I could probably give you.

How competitive is UofAlberta? I heard the minimum is 3.4-5, so I thought 3.6-3.8 would be on a safe side with reasonable pharm experience. (ex. work, volunteer hours, etc.) Maybe I am looking at it too easy?

UofWaterloo is 75% overall average min. so I thought 85% or higher would be on the safe side.

Or is it as hard as med school, where all applicants have 3.9-4.0 insane GPAs?

 

[helloeveryone]

Hi,

I was an engineering student at UofWaterloo, but I am planning to switch into science so that I can try out for pharmacy school.

My school has a pharamcy program already, but I need to take a lot more courses than... say, University of Alberta. (My friend lives there, and he's willing to let me stay in his home...)

UofAlberta Requirement
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](1) AUCHE 110 and 112 or CHEM 101 and 102 [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](2) AUCHE 250 and 252 or CHEM 164 and 263 or CHEM 261 and 263 [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](3) AUENG 103 and 104 or two of ENGL 121, 122, 123, 124 or 125. (ENG 111, 112, 113, 114 are no longer offered). NOTE: Students with credit in ENGL 100, 101, 111, 112, 113 or 114 may not take current ENGL course [/SIZE].[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]as listed above. [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](4) AUBIO 130 or BIOL 107 [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](5) AUBIO 380 (formerly AUBIO 280) or AUCHE 380 or BIOCH 200[/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1] (6) AUMAT 110 or 111 or MATH 113 or 114 [/SIZE].
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1](7) AUSTA 213 or AUSTA 215 or STAT 141[/SIZE].


University of Waterloo

Biology

• Introductory Cell Biology † - BIOL 130/130L
• Genetics - BIOL 139
• Fundamentals of Microbiology - BIOL 140

Chemistry

• Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter † - CHEM 120/120L
• Chemical Reactions, Equilibria and Kinetics † - CHEM 123/123L
• Introductory Biochemistry† - CHEM 237/237L or Fundamentals of Biochemistry - CHEM 233
• Introductory Chemical Thermodynamics - CHEM 254
• Basic Organic Chemistry 1 † - CHEM 266/266L or Organic Chemistry 1 - CHEM 264
• Basic Organic Chemistry 2 † - CHEM 267/267L or Organic Chemistry 2† - CHEM 265/265L

Mathematics

• Calculus 1 for the Life Sciences - MATH 127 or Calculus 1 for Honours Mathematics - MATH 137 or Calculus 1 (Advanced) - MATH 147
• Calculus 2 for the Life Sciences - MATH 128 or Calculus 2 for Honours Mathematics - MATH 138 or Calculus 2 (Advanced) - MATH 148
• Introductory Statistics for Scientists - STAT 202

Humanities or Social Sciences

• 2.0 full credits (four terms) in Humanities or Social Sciences at the university level. No more than 1.0 credit in any one subject area.

10 Courses needed for Alberta + Reference Letter (Piece of cake LOL) and [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Letter of Intent (This will be a bit challenging)[/SIZE].

12 + 4 (humanity courses) for University of Waterloo.

It looks like UofAlberta is a bit easier in terms of course numbers, but UofAlberta has no residential preference... so any Canadian students could gamble for luck there. Letter of Intent looks like the only disadvantage here.

I am in University of Waterloo, and it will be great if I can stay here since it seems to have much better facilities, but a lot more courses (+more expensive, further from home, etc.) and CAP program (pre-pharm students from high school) would make it more competitive as well.

I don't need to decide this now, but it would be great if I can make the decision by the end of fall term. If you were in my position, what would you do and why? Your insights would be greatly appreciated.

Why don't you consider UofT at all?