Admission from High School

1. Students usually apply to the Faculty of Science for Year 1

OUAC application:  Medical Sciences First Entry Program (ESM) or Science and Biological Sciences (ES)?

You have two options on the OUAC application when applying to first year in the Faculty of Science:  ESM (Medical Sciences First Entry Program) or ES (Science and Biological Sciences). If you are admitted to the two-year Medical Sciences First Entry Program, you will be guaranteed admission to Year 3 of the BMSc Program, provided you satisfy certain conditions in Medical Sciences 1 and 2.  If you are admitted to Western through another faculty/program, such as Science and Biological Sciences, you may apply for admission to Year 3 of the BMSc Program and will be admitted on a competitive basis to any remaining spaces.  See MEDICAL SCIENCES FIRST ENTRY PROGRAM and ADMISSION TO THE BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (BMSc) PROGRAM for more information.
The Admission Average you’ll need for admission to the Medical Sciences First Entry Program will likely be higher than the average required to be admitted to Science and Biological Sciences (see Minimum “Admission Average”).  Unfortunately, the Admission Average is not known ahead of time and averages required in past years may not be particularly helpful since the Medical Sciences First Entry Program is new for September 2013.

OUAC application:  Subject of Major Interest?

Do not stress about the Subject of Major Interest that you have to supply during the OUAC application process.  We do not take this into consideration when you’re applying for Year 3 of the BMSc Program.

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Grade 12 U/M courses

To be admitted to the Medical Sciences First Entry Program in the Faculty of Science (ESM on the OUAC application), you must have a credit (at least 50%) in Grade 12 U Biology, Grade 12 U Calculus and Vectors, Grade 12 U Chemistry, and Grade 12 U English.  These four courses will be included in the group of six courses used to calculate your Admission Average.
To be admitted to Science and Biological Sciences in the Faculty of Science (ES on the OUAC application), you must have a credit (at least 50%) in Grade 12 U Calculus and Vectors, and Grade 12 U English, as well as credit in at least two of the following Grade 12 U courses:  Advanced Functions, Biology, Chemistry, Computer and Information Science, Earth and Space Science, Math of Data Management, and Physics.  These four courses will be included in the group of six courses used to calculate your Admission Average. 
Please refer to the Admission Requirements for Ontario High School Applicants in the online Academic Calendar for more details.

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Minimum “Admission Average”

Western will use marks in a group of six Grade 12 U and M courses to determine your “Admission Average”.  This group of six courses must include the prerequisites for admission to the Faculty of Science.  If you have more than six Grade 12 U and M courses, only six courses will be used in calculating the Admission Average and some course(s) will be left out.
For admission to the Medical Sciences First Entry Program in the Faculty of Science (ESM on the OUAC application), this group of six must include Grade 12 U Biology, Grade 12 U Calculus and Vectors, Grade 12 U Chemistry, and Grade 12 U English, and the two courses with the best marks from any remaining Grade 12 U and M courses. 
For admission to Science and Biological Sciences in the Faculty of Science (ES on the OUAC application), this group of six must include Grade 12 U Calculus and Vectors and Grade 12 U English, and the two Grade 12 U courses with the best marks from:  Advanced Functions, Biology, Chemistry, Computer and Information Science, Earth and Space Science, Math of Data Management, and Physics.  The other two courses that will be used to complete the group of six will be the two courses with the best marks from any remaining Grade 12 U and M courses. 

If you anticipate your Admission Average to be in the high 80’s or above, you should apply to the Medical Sciences First Entry Program (ESM on the OUAC application) since you will be guaranteed admission to Year 3 of the BMSc Program, provided you satisfy certain conditions in Medical Sciences 1 and 2.  You will also have priority for admission to the Honors Specialization modules in Year 3 of the BMSc Program.  If you apply to the Medical Sciences First Entry Program (ESM) and fall below the required Admission Average, you will NOT receive an alternate offer of admission to Science and Biological Sciences (ES on the OUAC application).  For this reason, you may wish to apply to Science and Biological Sciences (in addition to the Medical Sciences First Entry Program) to increase your chances of receiving an offer of admission to the Faculty of Science.

If you anticipate your Admission Average to be in the mid to low 80’s, we recommend that you either (i) use two application spaces on your OUAC application and apply to BOTH the Medical Sciences First Entry Program (ESM) and to Science and Biological Sciences (ES), or (ii) apply ONLY to Science and Biological Sciences (ES).  If you’re admitted to Science and Biological Sciences, you may apply for Year 3 of the BMSc Program from the competitive pool of students applying for the remaining spaces in Year 3 of the BMSc Program.  See MEDICAL SCIENCES FIRST ENTRY PROGRAM and ADMISSION TO THE BACHELOR OF MEDICAL SCIENCES (BMSc) PROGRAM for more information.

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2. Registration in the Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMSc) Program begins in Year 3.

Guaranteed admission from the Medical Sciences First Entry Program

If you complete the Medical Sciences First Entry Program, admission to Year 3 of the Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BMSc) Program is guaranteed provided:

• you successfully complete a full load of 5.0 courses in Medical Sciences 2,
• you complete ALL of the 2000-level modular courses listed in the Admission Requirements for the module to which you apply in Year 3,
• you achieve a mark of at least 60% in each of these 2000-level modular courses (without repeating any of them), and
• you achieve an average of at least 80% on the best 3.0 of these 2000-level modular courses

When applying to Year 3 of the BMSc Program, you will also apply to either an Honors Specialization module or to Double Major modules, if you’re interested in graduating with an Honors degree.  There are a limited number of spaces in each Honors Specialization module and your admission to a particular Honors Specialization module will be based on the average you obtain in ALL of the 2000-level courses listed in the Admission Requirements for that module.  If you satisfy the conditions for guaranteed admission to Year 3 of the BMSc Program from Medical Sciences 2, you will be admitted to an Honors Specialization module before students are admitted from the competitive pool.
Note:  If you do not satisfy the conditions for guaranteed admission to Year 3 of the BMSc Program, you will be considered for competitive admission to the remaining spaces in Year 3 of the BMSc Program.

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Competitive admission for the remaining spaces in Year 3 BMSc

It is unlikely that Year 3 of the BMSc Program will fill up with students who are guaranteed admission from the Medical Sciences First Entry Program.  It is anticipated that there will be several spaces available for (i) students applying for admission from Year 2 of other programs, and (ii) students from Medical Sciences 2 who don’t satisfy all the conditions for guaranteed admission to Year 3 of the BMSc Program. 
If you apply for admission to Year 3 of the BMSc Program from this competitive pool of students, you will be considered if you satisfy ALL of the following conditions:

• you complete all of the eight first-year half courses in biology, chemistry, math and physics, by the end of Year 2, with marks of at least 60% in each half course (marks of at least 70% are required in each of Biology 1201A and 1202B),
• you successfully complete a full load of 5.0 courses in Year 2,
• you complete at least 3.0 of the 2000-level modular courses listed in Admission Requirements for the module to which you apply in Year 3,
• you achieve a mark of at least 60% in each of these 2000-level modular courses (a maximum of one of these half courses may be repeated), and
• you achieve an average of at least 75% on the best 3.0 of these 2000-level modular courses

Note:  The average you achieve on the best 3.0 to the 2000-level modular courses listed in the Admission Requirements of the module to which you apply in Year 3 will be used in ranking you within the competitive pool of students who apply for admission to Year 3 of the BMSc Program.  An average greater than 75% may be required if the number of applicants exceeds the number of remaining spaces in Year 3 of the BMSc Program. If you repeat one 2000-level modular course, we will use the average mark of these two attempts in the calculation of the average on your best 3.0 2000-level modular courses.

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IB and AP credits

See the information under Applicant Types for basic information about applying with IB or AP courses.  Questions about admission to Western with IB or AP credits should be directed to the Admissions Office

If you receive a transfer credit(s) for first-year biology, chemistry, math or physics based on an IB or AP course(s) taken in high school, you have the option of moving on to a second-year course(s) or repeating the first year course(s) at Western.  You should consult with an Academic Counsellor from the Academic Counselling Team for Science and Basic Medical Science Students if you have questions about repeating a course(s) for which you have been granted transfer credit and/or taking a senior course. 

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