The Faculty of Science provides historical BSc specialization information to help students with their BSc Specialization Admission application.
Exact future admission averages cannot be predicted with this information since they vary due to shifts in students’ interests, changes in the number of available spaces in a specialization, and random factors.
Some BSc specializations admit all qualified students, and some specializations cap the number of students admitted to be able to accommodate students into the course sections available. These quotas and admission averages are not related to the academic difficulty of the specialization.
Use the information to help you decide which specializations you will rank for your three choices in the BSc Specialization Admission application. Select three choices for which you meet the eligibility requirements and rank your top choice first even if your average is lower than the historical averages. If you rank three specializations for which your average is substantially lower than the historical figures, you may not be admitted to any of your choices and you would then need to select a specialization from those with space available.
If you do not meet the eligibility requirements for a specialization or you are not admitted this year, you can explore applying in third year. Learn more about third-year admission procedures on department websites.
Quotas and Umbrellas
Quota means the specialization has a limit for how many students can be admitted this year.
No quota means the specialization admits all students who meet the eligibility requirements.
Umbrellas are groups of specializations which fall under an overall quota. The current umbrellas are Computer Science, Statistics, and Cognitive Systems. Within umbrellas, a specialization may also have its own quota (“sub-quota”). Admission averages are affected by the quotas and sub-quotas. For example, a specialization may not admit very many students because it is part of an umbrella with other more popular specializations, not because it is easier to get into. Students may select up to two specializations from the computer science umbrella.
Legend
Use the following legend to help you read the tables:
+ means accepted students had this average or higher.
NF means not filled. The specialization quota was not reached and all eligible students were admitted. Thus, the admission average is not helpful for planning.
sup means suppressed. If only one student was placed into the specialization in a given year, we do not release the average to protect their privacy.
- means no one joined the specialization.
Specializations with Quotas
Specialization | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Notes for 2024 |
| Major (0244): Biochemistry (BIOC) | 59.5+ | 74.3+ | 71.4+ | 71.0+ | 76.4+ | |
| Major (3095): Biology (BIOL) | 63.6+ | 52.8+ | 57.9+ | NF | NF | |
| Major (3992): Cellular, Anatomical and Physiological Sciences (CAPS) | Specialization did not exist | Specialization did not exist | Specialization did not exist | Specialization did not exist | Specialization did not exist | The new CAPS Major will have more spaces than the Honours CAPS program that was previously in the BSc Specialization Admission process. The Honours CAPS program still exists, but admission is done by the department. Students interested in Honours CAPS should apply to the Major. |
| Major (0409): Chemistry (CHEM) | NF | NF | NF | NF | NF | |
| Major (1263): Environmental Sciences (ENSC) | 65.8+ | 62.8+ | 60.8+ | 67.6+ | 70.3+ | |
| Major (1682): Integrated Sciences (INSC) | 76.9+ | 76.9+ | 77.2+ | NF | 80.1+ | |
| Major (0456): Mathematics (MATH) | NF | 68.2+ | 65.1+ | 69.1+ | 76.3+ | |
| Major (1153): Microbiology and Immunology (MBIM) | 79.7+ | 83.0+ | 82.7+ | 81.7+ | 82.2+ | This specialization will have more spaces in 2024. |
| Major (3742): Neuroscience | Specialization did not exist | Specialization did not exist | Specialization did not exist | 79.2+ | 81.4+ | Starting in 2023, this specialization also accepts a small number of students with lower averages. This specialization will have more spaces in 2024. |
| Major (0311): Pharmacology (PCTH) | 87.1+ | 87.4+ | 86.7+ | 85.4+ | 85.5+ | |
| Combined Major (3382): Biochemistry, Chemistry (BIOC, CHEM) | NF | 79.6+ | 65.3+ | 68.8+ | 73.7+ | |
| Combined Major (3340): Chemical Biology (BIOL, CHEM) | 72.9+ | 75.8+ | 69.9+ | 73.4+ | 65.9+ | |
| Combined Major (3144): Microbiology and Oceanography | 69.2+ | 69.6+ | 62.9+ | 71.7+ | 74.3+ | |
| Combined Major (3125): Oceanography and Biology | 42.0+ | 63.6+ | 55.3+ | NF | 60.1+ | |
| Honours (0577): Fisheries Oceanography | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Honours (1136): Biotechnology | NF | NF | 76.7+ | NF | NF | |
| Combined Honours (3508): Biochemistry and Forensic Science | 73.5+ | 71.2+ | 74.1+ | 74.1+ | 74.4+ | |
| Combined Honours (3676): Biophysics (BIOP) | NF | NF | NF | NF | NF | |
| Major (0562): Statistics (STAT) | 72.6+ | 79.2+ | 79.7+ | 77.5+ | 78.7+ | Also in the Statistics Umbrella |
| Major Cognitive Systems (1225): Cognition and Brain | 72.2+ | 74.9+ | 74.5+ | 77.3+ | 79.2+ | Also in the Cognitive Systems Umbrella |
Specializations within the Computer Science Umbrella
The Faculty of Science received provincial funding to increase the number of domestic seats in computer science specializations. This sometimes results in small differences in the admission averages for domestic (DOM) and international (INT) groups.
Specialization | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | Umbrella | |||||
DOM | INT | DOM | INT | DOM | INT | DOM | INT | DOM | INT | ||
| Major (0185): Mathematical Sciences (MASC) | 79.4+ | sup | 83.5+ | sup | sup | - | 85.4+ | 83.1+ | sup | sup | Sub-quota within Computer Science and Statistics |
| Major (0376): Computer Science (CPSC) | 69.1+ | 81.7+ | 79.9+ | 83.5+ | 82.3+ | 82.3+ | 81.6+ | 83.0+ | 83.5+ | 84.6+ | Computer Science |
| Major Cognitive Systems (1226): Computational Intelligence and Design | 76.5+ | 83.3+ | 82.6+ | 87.6+ | 82.7+ | 82.9+ | 81.8+ | 86.5+ | 84.6+ | 86.0+ | Sub-quota within Computer Science and Cognitive Systems |
| Combined Major (1370): Computer Science and Biology | 69.7+ | sup | 87.5+ | 87.3+ | 82.4+ | - | 82.1+ | 83.2+ | 85.1+ | - | Sub-quota within Computer Science |
| Combined Major (1371): Computer Science & Microbiology and Immunology | 74.5+ | 87.7+ | 83.5+ | sup | 82.9+ | - | 81.6+ | sup | 84.0+ | - | Sub-quota within Computer Science |
| Combined Major (1375): Computer Science and Statistics | 74.0+ | 82.1+ | 80.4+ | 83.5+ | 82.4+ | 82.4+ | 81.8+ | 83.7+ | 84.1+ | 84.6+ | Computer Science and Statistics |
| Combined Major (1391): Computer Science and Physics | 79.2+ | 82.9+ | 80.3+ | 83.8+ | 84.1+ | 85.1+ | 87.7+ | 84.1+ | 84.6+ | 85.3+ | Computer Science |
| Combined Major (1429): Computer Science and Mathematics | 72.4+ | 88.1+ | 80.6+ | 83.8+ | 87.1+ | 82.7+ | 82.9+ | 84.6+ | 84.9+ | 84.5+ | Computer Science |
| Combined Major (3401): Computer Science and Chemistry | - | - | 84.2+ | - | 84.9+ | - | sup | - | sup | - | Computer Science |
Majors, Honours, and Combined Honours without Quotas
- Major (0030): Astronomy (ASTR)
- Major(0167): Atmospheric Science (ATSC)
- Major (1223): Earth and Ocean Sciences (EOSC)
- Major (3428) Geographical Sciences
- Major (3193): Geology
- Major (0001): Geophysics
- Major (0524) Physics (PHYS)
- Combined Honours (0517): Chemical Physics (CHEM, PHYS)
- Combined Honours (0206): Chemistry and Mathematics (CHEM, MATH)
- Combined Major (3383): Oceanography and Chemistry
- Combined Major (3126): Oceanography and Physics
- Combined Major (3096): Combined Major in Science (CMSC)
- Combined Honours (0009): Physics and Astronomy (PHYS, ASTR)
- Combined Honours (0014): Physics and Mathematics (PHYS, MATH)
- Honours (0344): Physics (PHYS)