Hey guys,
I have a few weeks to choose my specialty for next year, and in fact, I have already chosen one! But more on that in my next blog ;)
1. Intuition
- Certain studies show that when it comes to deciding which house to buy, what university to go to, and (following the same principle), which program to choose, you should trust your intuition and not rational thought. However, don’t dismiss the pros and cons list as well!
2. Rationality/Know What You Don't Want
- You should make a pros and cons list just to see if there are any MAJOR drawbacks to a program. For example, if I were to go to Chemistry, I know that I’d have to take physics, math, and more chem. That is a big no-no for me, so I’m not even considering it.
- Making a list will also help you see the advantages of the programs, which may solidify your choice. Lastly, you should see how the programs compare. For example, in both programs of my choice, Life Sciences and Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, there are external placements, and I used this criterion to condense my choice to those 2 programs.
3. 1st Year Knowledge
- I hated the online lectures that we had in my classes, so I’ll be cautious not to take (or avoid) the courses that have them. I also want to be in a rather small program to be able to develop connections with profs and other faculty members.
4. What do you want
- What do you mostly want for your program? Lab work? Essays? Co-op? Research, go explore the workforce, or go to a professional school after undergrad? If you aren't quite sure about what you would like to do in future, choose a more generalized program to explore your options!
5. Dig up at least 5 DIFFERENT sources of information
- One or two profs are not the best source of information. And it's not even about bias, but rather, they don't know how the program is to their graduate and undergraduate students. So, but sure to ask a few people, to make your understanding of things better.
6. Have good questions
- It's crucial that you don't go and ask "what was your favorite course?" or such, because this information is very subjective. A better thing to do would be to look at the course list, and maybe gather some information on the average GPA of the course to make any personal inferences.
- try to as objective questions, to which there is a somewhat short answer, because you must get the facts about the program down, not people's stories. Of course, don't completely disregard the stories, too.
- Here are some of mine, personalized questions:
1. Are there a lot or if any courses which have modules?
2. Is there an opportunity to directly interact with patients during my external placement, or would it primarily be the lab work?
3. What are the major drawback of the program in the opinion of yours and your classmates?
4. What courses offer an application for Teaching Assistance?
5. What is the grade breakdown for a certain/ the majority of courses?
6. What are the class sizes?
etc.
So, I hope you got the gist of it!
Enoy your day! :)
