6.3 Degree Requirements

Each student pursuing a B.A. & Sc. must be aware of the regulations as stated in this section of the Calendar and on the McGill and Student Affairs Office Websites.

While departmental and Faculty advisers and staff are always available to give advice and guidance, the ultimate responsibility for completeness and correctness of course selection and registration, for compliance with, and completion of, program and degree requirements, and for the observance of regulations and deadlines rests with the student. It is the student's responsibility to seek guidance from the Student Affairs Office if in any doubt; misunderstanding or misapprehension will not be accepted as cause for dispensation from any regulation, deadline, program or degree requirement.

To be eligible for a B.A. & Sc., students must fulfill all Faculty degree and program requirements as indicated below:

6.3.1 Minimum Credit Requirement

Students must complete the minimum credit requirement for the degree as specified in the letter of admission.

Students are normally admitted to a four-year degree requiring the completion of 120 credits, but advanced standing of up to 30 credits may be granted to students who obtain satisfactory results in the Diploma of Collegial Studies, International Baccalaureate, French Baccalaureate, Advanced Levels, and Advanced Placement tests.

Students who are readmitted after interrupting their studies for a period of five consecutive years or more may be required to complete a minimum of 60 credits and satisfy the requirements of a program. In this case, a new GPA will be calculated. The Associate Dean (Student Affairs) of Science, in consultation with the appropriate department, may approve a lower minimum for students who had completed 60 credits or more before interrupting their studies.

Students who are readmitted after a period of absence are normally subject to the program and degree requirements in effect at the time of readmission.

6.3.2 Residency

To obtain a B.A. & Sc., students must satisfy the following residency requirements: a minimum of 60 credits of courses used to satisfy the B.A. & Sc. requirements must be taken and passed at McGill, exclusive of any courses completed as part of the math and science requirements of the B.A. & Sc. Freshman program. At least two-thirds of all departmental program requirements (Multi-track, Honours, Interfaculty) must normally be completed at McGill. However, students in Major Concentrations or Interfaculty or Honours programs who pursue an approved Study Away or Exchange program may, with departmental approval, be exempted from the two-thirds rule. In addition, some departments may require that their students complete specific components of their program at McGill.

6.3.3 Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA)

Each candidate for a B.A. & Sc. must achieve a minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.00.

6.3.4 Time and Credit Limit for Completion of the Degree

Students who need 96 or fewer credits to complete their degree requirements are expected to complete their degree in no more than eight terms after their initial registration. Students in the Freshman Program become subject to these regulations one year after their initial registration. Students who need or wish to exceed this time limit must receive permission from the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) of Science to continue their studies.

Students registered in the B.A. & Sc. are expected to complete the requirements of their programs and their degree within 120 credits. Students will receive credit for all courses (subject to degree regulations) taken up to and including the semester in which they obtain 120 credits. Students who wish to remain at McGill beyond that semester must also seek permission of the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) of Science. Permission for exceeding the time and/or credit limits will normally be granted only for valid academic reasons, such as a change of program (subject to departmental approval) and part-time status. If permission is granted, students will receive credit only for required and complementary courses necessary to complete program requirements.

6.3.5 Program Requirements

Students with specific career goals should consult an academic adviser about their choice of program within the B.A. & Sc. However, students intending to pursue further studies following the B.A. & Sc. should refer to the admissions requirements of particular programs for the appropriate prerequisite courses.

· The minimum freshman science requirements in the B.A. & Sc. may not satisfy the introductory science requirements of all medical/dental schools.

· The Major Concentration in Psychology may not provide a sufficiently focussed background for admission to many graduate programs in Psychology.

· The Major Concentration in Chemistry is not certified by the Ordre des Chimistes du Québec. Students interested in pursuing a career in Chemistry in Quebec are advised to take an appropriate B.Sc. program in Chemistry.

6.3.5.1 Freshman Program

Students who need to complete 97-120 credits to fulfill their degree requirements are admitted to the Freshman Program. The Freshman Program requirements include foundational courses in both Science and Arts which must be selected as follows:


At least two mathematics courses selected from:
MATH 139	(4)	Calculus
or MATH 140	(3)	Calculus 1
or MATH 150	(4)	Calculus A
MATH 141	(4)	Calculus 2
or MATH 151	(4)	Calculus B
MATH 133	(3)	Vectors, Matrices and Geometry
At least three foundational science courses selected from:
BIOL 111	(3)	Principles: Organismal Biology
BIOL 112	(3)	Cell and Molecular Biology
CHEM 110	(4)	General Chemistry 1
or CHEM 115	(4)	Accelerated General Chemistry: Giants in Science
CHEM 120	(4)	General Chemistry 2 Note: not open to students who have taken CHEM 115
PHYS 101	(4)	Introductory Physics - Mechanics
or PHYS 131	(4)	Mechanics and Waves
PHYS 102	(4)	Introductory Physics - Electromagnetism
or PHYS 142	(4)	Electromagnetism and Optics
At least three Arts courses (or 9 credits) to be chosen in two of the following three categories:
Social Sciences: Anthropology, Economics, History, Linguistics, Political Science, Sociology
Humanities (Literature and Civilization): Art History and Communications Studies, Classics, East Asian Studies, English, French Language and Literature, German Studies, Hispanic Studies, Islamic Studies, Italian studies, Jewish Studies, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Russian Studies
Languages (courses may be taken in this category to improve language skills): Classics (Latin, Ancient Greek or Modern Greek), East Asian Studies (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), English or French as a Second Language, French Language and Literature, German Studies, Hispanic Studies (Spanish), Islamic Studies (Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu), Italian, Jewish Studies (Hebrew, Yiddish), Russian and Slavic Studies (Polish, Russian, Armenian)
A maximum of two courses (or 6 credits) may be chosen from one category, and no more than two courses (or 6 credits) can be taken in any one department.
No course may fulfill the requirements for more than one program, including the B.A. & Sc. Freshman program.

Students who have completed the Diploma of Collegial Studies, Advanced Placement exams, Advanced Levels, the International Baccalaureate, the French Baccalaureate, or McGill placement examinations may receive exemption and/or credit for all or part of the Mathematics and foundational science courses as well as exemption from all or part of the Arts courses requirement of the Freshman Program. Similarly, students who have completed courses at other universities or colleges may receive exemptions and/or credits.

Students must carefully select their mathematics and science Freshman courses so that they have all the required prerequisites for their intended Departmental Programs.

For further details, refer to information about the B.A. & Sc. Freshman Program on the Web at www.mcgill.ca/artscisao/basc.

6.3.5.2 Departmental Programs

Students pursuing a B.A. & Sc., other than those registered in the Freshman Program, are required to have an approved program (Multi-track, Honours, Joint Honours, Interfaculty), and to select their courses in each term with a view to timely completion of their degree and program requirements. Students must complete one of the program streams described below.

In all cases, the degree also includes a required integrative course (BASC 201; 3 credits), a complementary integrative course (3 credits) within or outside a student's programs selected from the complementary list in "Integrative Courses", section 6.11.6, plus electives (10-15 credits).

To recognize the diversity of student backgrounds and interests and the multiple routes to understanding provided by a modern university, the Faculties of Arts and of Science offer a 90-credit multi-track system that includes a Major Concentration in one faculty complemented by either a Major Concentration or two Minors/Minor Concentrations in the other faculty and that may be completed in one of the following ways:

· Arts Major Concentration (36 credits) + Science Major Concentration (36-38 credits) (see "Programs in the B.A. & Sc.", section 6.11, for a list of programs open to students in the B.A. & Sc.)

· Major Concentration in Arts or Science (36-38 credits) + two Minors/Minor Concentrations in the other faculty (2 x 18 credits = 36 credits)

· Programs offered by Computer Science, Mathematics and Statistics, and Psychology are considered Science programs for the purpose of the B.A. & Sc.

· Within both options, all Concentrations must be in different academic units. Thus, students may take a Geography program either in Arts or in Science, but not in both.

· Students will include within the 36 or 18 credits of their Major Concentrations or Minors or Minor Concentrations any university-level (200- or above) prerequisites to required courses within their programs.

lists of required and complementary courses (including university level prerequisites for required courses) prepared and maintained by units.

a program of 18 credits taken from a unit's course offerings. Expandable Minor Concentrations are those that can, on the completion of 18 additional approved credits, be expanded into a Major Concentration within the appropriate unit.

Honours programs demand a high degree of specialisation, and require students to satisfy specific departmental and Faculty Honours requirements while maintaining good academic standing. They are designed to prepare students for graduate study. Students in the B.A. & Sc. who complete an approved Honours program must also complete an approved Minor Concentration or a Minor in the Faculties of Arts or of Science. Students must complete at least 30 credits in the Faculty of Arts and at least 30 in the Faculty of Science as part of their Honours program and their Minor Concentration or Minor program. See "Honours Programs" in section 6.11.3 for a list of available programs.

Students who wish to study at the Honours level in two disciplines can combine a Joint Honours program component from an Arts discipline with one from a Science discipline; see section 6.11.4 "Joint Honours Programs" for a list of available programs. Each Joint Honours component consists of a maximum of 36-38 required and complementary credits (not including program prerequisites). In cases where a minimum of 24 credits are in courses normally restricted to Honours students, the total of required and complementary credits may be as few as 30.

An Interfaculty program is an approved selection of courses constituting a concentration in an intellectually coherent and inter-faculty field of studies. These courses must include approved selections from the Faculties of Arts and of Science and possibly other faculties. See section 6.11.2 "Interfaculty Programs" for a list of approved programs. Students in the B.A. & Sc. who complete an approved Interfaculty program must also complete an approved Minor Concentration or a Minor in the Faculties of Arts or of Science. Students must complete at least 30 credits in the Faculty of Arts and at least 30 in the Faculty of Science as part of their Interfaculty program and their Minor Concentration or Minor program.

6.3.6 Course Requirements

All required and complementary courses used to fulfill program requirements, including the Freshman Program, must be completed with a grade of C or better. Students who fail to obtain a satisfactory grade in a required course must either pass the supplemental examination in the course or do additional work for a supplemental grade, if these options are available, or repeat the course. Course substitution will be allowed only in special cases; students should consult their academic adviser.

Normally, students are permitted to repeat a failed course only once. (Failure is considered to be a grade of less than C or the administrative failures of J and KF.) If a required course is failed a second time, a student must appeal to the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) of Science for permission to take the course a third time. If permission is denied by the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) and/or by the Committee on Student Standing of the Faculty of Science, on appeal, the student must withdraw from the program. If the failed course is a complementary course required by the program, a student may choose to replace it with another appropriate complementary course. If a student chooses to substitute another complementary course for a complementary course in which a D was received, credit for the first course will still be given, but as an elective. If a student repeats a required course in which a D was received, credit will be given only once.

Full details of the course requirements for all programs as well as the locations of departmental advisory offices, program directors, and telephone numbers for further information are available as follows:

6.3.6.1 Course Overlap

Students will not receive additional credit towards their degree for any course for which the student has already received credit at McGill, CEGEP, at another university, or as a result of Advanced Placement, Advanced Level, International Baccalaureate, or French Baccalaureate exams. It is the student's responsibility to consult the Student Affairs Office or the department offering the course as to whether or not credit can be obtained and to be aware of exclusion clauses specified in the course description in the Calendar.

Sometimes two different departments offer the same course. Such courses are called "double-prefix" courses. When such courses are offered simultaneously, students should take the course offered by the department in which they are obtaining their degree. For example, in the case of double-prefix courses CHEM XYZ and PHYS XYZ, Chemistry students take CHEM XYZ and Physics students take PHYS XYZ. If different departments offer a double-prefix course in alternate years, students may take whichever course best fits their schedule.

Credit for computer science and statistics courses will be given with the stipulations specified in "Course Overlap", section 12.3.6.1 in the Science section of the Calendar.

6.3.6.2 Courses outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science

The following regulations apply to students in the B.A. & Sc. who wish to take courses outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science:

· Regardless of their minimum credit requirement towards their B.A. & Sc., students are allowed a maximum of 12 credits in ELECTIVE and/or COMPLEMENTARY courses taken in faculties other than the Faculties of Arts and of Science.

· Students in certain designated programs that include a number of REQUIRED and COMPLEMENTARY courses in other faculties are permitted a maximum of 30 credits outside the Faculties of Arts and of Science. These programs are the Interfaculty and Honours Programs in Environment, the Minor Concentration in Environment, and the Major Concentration in Geography (Urban Systems).

· Any courses taught at McGill University may be used towards the maximum allowed except for courses in Continuing Education, for which students receive credit only in Continuing Education.

· For the purpose of this policy, courses taught in other faculties and specifically listed in the Arts or Science section of the Calendar are considered as courses taught in the Faculties of Arts and of Science.

6.3.6.3 Distance Education Courses

· A maximum of 6 credits of courses taught through distance education may be used as electives towards the B.A. & Sc. degree at McGill.

· Courses taught through distance education from institutions other than McGill will be approved as transfer credits under the following conditions:

· the course is given by a government-accredited, degree-granting institution acceptable to McGill;

· the course counts for credit towards degrees granted at the institution giving the course;

· prior approval for the course is obtained from the Arts and Science Student Affairs Office.

· The combined total of regular course credits and distance education course credits may not exceed the permitted maximum number of credits per term according to the regulations for the B.A. & Sc.

· Courses taught through distance education may not be used to complete program requirements, except on an individual basis when serious, documented circumstances warrant it. In such cases, prior approval must be obtained from the student's program adviser and the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) of the Faculty of Science.

6.3.6.4 Courses Taken Under the Satisfactory/ Unsatisfactory Option

6.3.6.5 Courses in English as a Second Language

ESL courses are only open to students whose primary language is not English and who have studied for fewer than five years in English-language secondary institutions. Students in the B.A. & Sc. may take a maximum of 12 credits, including academic writing courses for non-anglophones.