Science X Business Undergrads
Science and business are often afflicting pathways that students entering university are forced to decide between. University programs rarely allow students to explore both of these pathways since they are quite different, however, science and business dual degrees are becoming more sought out by students, especially for those who are unsure of what they want to pursue as a career. The University of Waterloo’s Science and Business dual degree focuses on providing students with an experiential education that can help them enter either the corporate world, the natural world or both! For many of you, choosing your lifelong career pathway can be overwhelming, and as a teenager looking into the future, it can be much more difficult than trying to find what is right in front of you. Similar to many other dual degree programs offered by many universities nowadays, the Science and Business program will give you some extra time to sort out your lifelong career pathways whilst diving into these fields firsthand to see which one truly speaks to you.
Admissions
The Science and Business program at the University of Waterloo is very unique and is one of the pioneering programs that have led to a rise in the interest of students wanting to pursue this type of career pathway. It combines everyone’s favourite sciences including biology, chemistry and physics, and allows you to take courses in business studies including accounting, economics, marketing and even law. Although the program is founded upon a Bachelor of Science degree, this does not take away from the one-on-one and intimate group work that you will have the opportunity to engage in. These small groups allow you to work together with your peers on case studies and create business proposals, develop marketing strategies and construct budgets for entrepreneurs. Now, I am sure you are asking yourself what the admission requirements for this type of program might be since there are several different courses you could take and therefore a lot of background knowledge would be helpful. However, it turns out that this program is very similar to many of the standard science-focused undergraduate programs offered by most Canadian universities since the program is supervised by the faculty of science. The admission requirements include:
- English 4U (minimum grade of 70%)
- Advanced Functions (minimum grade of 70%)
- Calculus and Vectors (minimum grade of 70%)
- Two of Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Space Science, Mathematics of Data Management, and Physics
With that being said, these standard courses will allow you to succeed in your upper-level science courses, and since the program is under the faculty of science, it is not surprising that these courses are required. In addition to the admission requirements, the admission average that students are typically accepted into the program with, are high 80s, however, to be considered competitive, students likely have low 80s at minimum.
Experiential Opportunities
As I have previously mentioned, many universities are continuing to expand their degrees to allow for students to take more interdisciplinary courses that focus on a broad range of fields rather than one specialized field. This is the approach that the University of Waterloo took when deciding to implement this program into their diverse calendar of undergraduate programs. The program is unique because it provides you with essential scientific skills to problem-solve and be a critical thinker, but it also provides you with hands-on knowledge about both fields of business and science. Both of these fields are quite large and can seem overwhelming, however, the program does an amazing job at tailoring the courses and program structure to each student’s needs to ensure they receive the most beneficial education. Specifically, you can choose to focus your degree by specializing in one of the three scientific disciplines or remain unspecialized and take a variety of courses to continue exploring and find what it is that truly speaks to you. Another special part of this program is the option to complete your degree as a regular 4-year honours program, or as a co-op program. Once again, the program is very flexible and provides many different options so that you can find what best suits your learning style. The co-op stream includes 20 months of paid work experience as part of your degree. Some of the previous employers that students in the co-op stream in the Science and Business program have pursued include placements at the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Apotex Inc., Environment and Climate Change Canada, TD Bank Group, and many more. As you can see, the opportunities are limitless, and part of why this program is becoming increasingly popular is because of the wide selection that you get to choose from. In addition to the potential co-op placements that you can secure in the program, the regular stream provides you with many courses that you can take in your first year including general chemistry, introduction to business, calculus for the sciences, microeconomics, and many others. It is about a 50/50 split between science and business courses which allow you to explore both disciplines to determine which side suits you best, or if more of a dual focus career is something that speaks more to you.
Career Pathways
All in all, the Science and Business program at the University of Waterloo will allow you to learn important and transferable skills that are some of the most important skills to acquire before stepping into your career pathway. Some of these skills include public speaking, conflict resolution, leadership, initiative, research methods, and many others as the list goes on and on. With these skills, you will have a wide selection of career pathways to choose from, which can range anywhere from business analyst, logistic planner, project leader, all the way to clinical research officer, science commercialization officer, and many others. The unique thing about careers in science and business is that they often cross paths since for every operation running in the health industry, there are always business leadership positions open to ensure the business operations are running smoothly. Similarly, in any business or company, there are always areas for scientific and technological knowledge that can benefit them in their operations. Therefore, what is most interesting about these careers is that students often pursue business careers in scientific work environments, allowing them to apply both their scientific and business skills to get the best of both worlds!
Overall, the Science and Business program offered at the University of Waterloo is nothing short of a roller coaster where students are offered intimate and small group gatherings to work on case studies and experience working hands-on in a company to gain relevant work experience that will only boost up their resume. If this program seems of interest to you, be sure to check out the website on the University of Waterloo’s main undergraduate page linked here. Remember to keep this program at the back of your mind when it is your time to apply to university to make the decision that will provide you with clear insight and experience into what you want your lifelong career to look like.
About the Writer: Wynter Sutchy is a first-year undergraduate student at McMaster University studying Life Sciences and is from King City, ON. She is very passionate about the healthcare field and enjoys sharing her volunteering experiences through writing. She plans to pursue a career in medicine in the future and plans to explore the field of healthcare through research and volunteering throughout her undergraduate career. In her free time, you can expect her to be watching her favourite show, Greys Anatomy, teaching children how to swim, or baking some delicious desserts!
Sources
https://uwaterloo.ca/future-students/programs/science-and-business
