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2023-2024

The Undergraduate Calendar

 

 

Faculty of Science

Minors, Options, Joint Programs, and International Partnerships
Joint Honours Programs with Science (Home Faculty: Outside Science)

There are two types of joint honours plans with Science which students from a University of Waterloo faculty outside of the Faculty of Science may elect to pursue:

  1. Joint Honours Arts major with Science, and
  2. Joint Honours X with Science discipline Y, where X can be any non-Science honours plan, and Y is one of the four Science disciplines (Biology, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, or Physics).

Students must meet all the requirements for both plans as stated in the Calendar, and should be aware that combining some honours plans usually requires additional academic terms of study to complete. Not all joint honours plans with Science may be permissible if there is an excessive amount of double counting of courses. Students are advised to consult with the appropriate advisors before enrolment in courses associated with the joint honours plan.

Approvals are needed to pursue a joint honours plan with Science, first by the appropriate advisor in the Science department, second by the appropriate advisor in the student's home academic unit in the non-Science faculty, and finally by the senior academic advisor in the Science Undergraduate Office. Approval is normally possible only after introductory science and mathematics courses have been completed with necessary averages, therefore the earliest that joint honours requests can be reviewed is in Year Two.

Joint Honours Arts Major with Science

Continuing in this plan is contingent on maintaining a minimum cumulative average of 60% in all required science and mathematics courses, as well as meeting the requirements of the home faculty academic plan. 

The successful completion of the Joint Honours (Arts major) with Science plan requires the following: 

  1. 9.0 lecture units distributed as follows:
    • 1.0 Mathematics unit chosen from: ACTSC, AMATH, CO, CS, MATH, PMATH, STAT, excluding CS 100 and MATH 103
    • 8.0 Science units chosen from: BIOL, CHEM, EARTH, MNS, PHYS, SCI, excluding SCI 237 and SCI 250, with the following conditions:
      • 1.0 unit must complete one Year One sequence
      • 1.0 unit must complete a different Year One sequence
      • 4.0 units, 200-level or higher
      • 2.0 units, 300-level or higher
  2. All labs associated with Year One Science sequences.

Additional conditions:

  1. Year One Science sequences are chosen from:
  2. A maximum of 1.0 SCI unit counts towards the Science units.
  3. MTHEL and COMM courses do not count towards the Mathematics unit.

Notes

  1. Upper-year courses with separate labs do not require the completion of the labs, unless they are corequisites.
  2. Students enrolled in this joint plan can earn a minor in any of the Science subjects.

Joint Honours X with Biology

Admission into this plan requires a minimum overall average of 65% in the student's home academic plan. Continuing in this plan is contingent upon maintaining a minimum cumulative Biology average of 60%, as well as meeting the requirements of the home faculty academic plan.

The successful completion of the Joint Honours X with Biology plan requires the following:

8.0 units distributed as follows:

Notes

  1. If the home faculty academic plan requires CHEM 120 or CHEM 121, CHEM 120L or CHEM 121L, CHEM 123 or CHEM 125, CHEM 123L or CHEM 125L, an additional 1.0 BIOL lecture unit must be taken.
  2. CHEM 266 or CHEM 264, CHEM 266L and CHEM 237 or CHEM 233, CHEM 237L or CHEM 233L, can substitute a 0.5 or 1.0 BIOL unit provided they are not requirements of the home faculty academic plan.
  3. BIOL units required for the home faculty academic plan do not count towards this plan.

Joint Honours X with Chemistry

Admission into this plan requires a minimum overall average of 65% in the student's home academic plan. Continuing in this plan is contingent upon maintaining a minimum cumulative Chemistry average of 60%, as well as meeting the requirements of the home faculty academic plan.

The successful completion of the Joint Honours X with Chemistry plan requires the following:

9.5 units distributed as follows:

Joint Honours X with Earth Sciences

Admission into this plan requires a minimum overall average of 65% in the student's home academic plan. Continuing in this plan is contingent upon maintaining a minimum cumulative Earth Sciences average of 60%, as well as meeting the requirements of the home faculty academic plan.

The successful completion of the Joint Honours X with Earth Sciences plan requires the following:

9.75 units distributed as follows:

Notes

  1. EARTH units required for the home faculty academic plan do not count toward this plan.
  2. Non-EARTH courses required for the home faculty require a substitute course, approved by the Earth Sciences advisor, for the joint plan.
  3. Before declaring this academic plan, see invalid credential combinations.

Joint Honours X with Physics

Admission into this plan requires a minimum overall average of 65% in the student's home academic plan. Continuing in this plan is contingent upon maintaining a minimum cumulative Physics average of 60%, as well as meeting the requirements of the home faculty academic plan.

The successful completion of the Joint Honours X with Physics plan requires the following:

13.75 units distributed as follows:

Note

Before declaring this academic plan, see invalid credential combinations.

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