Are there any compulsory courses in the Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree?
All BSc students must take SCIE101 - Science, Society and Me during their degree. It is easiest to take this in your first year of study but can be taken in the second or third year if that works best for your study schedule.
What sorts of lectures and hands-on activities should I expect from a Bachelor in Science?
This depends very much on the courses that you take. All first-year courses will include lectures. For Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Psychology there are likely to be some labs, while for Geology and Geography, there may be 1-day local field trips. We also run tutorials (small groups) to look at work that has come out of lectures.
Is there a benefit in doing the BSc in psychology over a Bachelor of Arts?
It is up to you what degree you do your psychology degree in. When you come to planning your other courses around your major this will help determine what degree fits best with your subject choices. To plan your degree contact our Future Students team by email futurestudents@canterbury.ac.nz or book a degree planning session with them on the website.
My gap year turned into a gap decade. Should I be taking remedial classes alongside my standard coursework or is there a way to test how much I've retained from my long passed schooling?
It will be worth making contact with our transitions team by email transitions@canterbury.ac.nz or you can call them on 03 369 3337.
How many courses do we take in our first year?
A normal load at University is a total of 120 points. In first year, that generally means 8 courses, breaking down to four courses in each Semester. In your first year, one of the four courses in Semester 2 would be SCIE101.
Will the courses require any textbooks that we need to buy?
Generally not. Most courses draw on a range of texts, and increasingly most are available electronically through the library. Everything is available online and this means free for students.
