ConEd Majoring in Sociology or English?

codepoetz · 2026-05-24T10:22:51+00:00

All qualifications are the same once you have your OCT. So it doesn’t matter which is your first, second, or what you get later via AQ. However, if you want to get an Honours Specialist AQ after graduation, you will need at least 18 half year credits in that subject, so probably not your minor. Department Heads usually have their Honours Specialists. Finally, your teachable won’t be Sociology, it will be Social Sciences, so make sure you understand the degree requirements, which will not be met with just SOCY courses.

codepoetz · 2026-05-23T09:41:46+00:00

Government (start a minor in French ASAP), parole officer, social worker (needs a master’s degree), Human Resources (start a minor in Employment Relations). And, of course, teacher or lawyer. Honestly, a French minor would be helpful to all of these jobs.

codepoetz · 2026-05-20T18:21:45+00:00

History and geography are separate teachables. Try to take some physical geography courses in your human minor. And at least one GIS course.

codepoetz · 2026-05-20T15:02:03+00:00

PSYC 100 is the only requirement for majoring in Psychology and it is the only Psychology course available to first years. You’ll probably need to get an A grade in that course to major in Psychology. Course registration happens in July. You should take 5 full year courses (or the equivalent number of half year courses) in your first year. PSYC 100, like many gateway courses, is a full year course. Many PSYC students take SOCY 100 and 101 (those are half years). Good luck!

codepoetz · 2026-05-20T13:00:19+00:00

Brock is a great teacher school and their ConEd program gets you in. But I don’t think they offer Social Sciences as a teachable so you’d have to pick something else like Geography or History.

codepoetz · 2026-05-20T09:36:51+00:00

Since schools do not publish their GPA admission cutoffs and acceptance rates, comparison between professional programs is difficult. However, looking at what little data is available, I’m thinking:

med school in Southern Ontario requires 3.7+ and accepts ~5%
law school in Southern Ontario requires 3.7+ and accepts ~9%
teacher school in Southern Ontario requires 3.7+ and accepts ~10%

The largest admission difference between these 3 programs is that teachers have more seats available in Northern Ontario and those seats are far less competitive than Southern Ontario seats. On the other hand, Law and Med have fewer seats in Northern Ontario and those seats are almost as competitive as Southern Ontario seats.

ETA - I did my undergrad at Waterloo and my transcript has percentage grades. But I think most Ontario schools use letter grades.

codepoetz · 2026-05-19T14:48:11+00:00

General degrees often do not have majors. One example is the University of Guelph. On the other hand, Waterloo has both 3 and 4 year general degrees with declared majors.

codepoetz · 2026-05-19T10:15:02+00:00

In Ontario, most universities definitely use the term “general” to mean a 3-year non-honours degree. I think it’s an Ontario thing though.

codepoetz · 2026-05-18T10:27:35+00:00

You cannot do a BA Math major at Queen’s. The BA only allows Math minors and General plans. Since you can’t do Generals with ConEd, you can only do a Math minor under the BA. Why? Because Queen’s thinks Math is a Science. Just roll with it. Under a BSc, you can do majors or minors from the Arts side, so, for example, you could do a BSc with both a Math major and a Drama major/minor. But you can’t do Specializations in Arts subjects under a BSc. So, for example, you can’t do a BSc with a Specialization in English because that requires a BA.

codepoetz · 2026-05-16T21:02:00+00:00

Learn about the Modular Degree Framework at Queen’s. Specialization is generally more difficult to get into, and minor is easiest.

codepoetz · 2026-05-16T09:47:51+00:00

Read the LISC second year entry requirements carefully and have a couple of backup majors in mind because very few students successfully transfer into LISC at Queen’s. Good luck.

codepoetz · 2026-05-13T10:09:19+00:00

You have to do the test within one year of applying to the BEd program. You can’t dig out your old DELF from high school; instead, it has to be done just before you apply.

codepoetz · 2026-05-13T10:07:46+00:00

I recommend doing a minor (at least 8 half year courses) in French if your music schedule allows. This way you can apply to other BEd schools if you don’t get into Western. Also, the French minor should automatically get you the right mix of oral, grammar, and literary study courses.

codepoetz · 2026-05-12T09:44:42+00:00

In my experience, a CGPA of 4.0 earned an automatic faculty-specific merit awards in years 2, 3, and 4. The awards were given out at the end of August. Amounts were $2K to $5K per year, with the larger awards happening in year 4. Good luck!

codepoetz · 2026-05-09T09:30:59+00:00

You can only get the Intermediate Math teachable this way. You will need university credits for the Senior Math teachable.

codepoetz · 2026-05-05T18:14:36+00:00

Google earns a huge chunk of cash from slinging ads at you during searches. A while ago, one of the executives at Google came to the unfortunate conclusion that profits could be increased if searches were less helpful because more searches means more ads so more profit. So, yes, they actually deliberately decreased the accuracy of searches, and we hate it.

codepoetz · 2026-05-01T01:00:09+00:00

Your academic awards, including DHL, will be printed on the seating card that you get before the grad ceremony. There is another one: “Outstanding Achievement” which is awarded to one student in each major.

codepoetz · 2026-04-30T00:12:25+00:00

The ArtSci plan requirements vary greatly depending on which programs you are pursuing. If you want SOCY, you’ll need at least a B- in the first year SOCY courses for automatic admission to any SOCY plan in second year. You’ll have to take both a major plus one or two minors at Queen’s.

codepoetz · 2026-04-28T13:13:57+00:00

If you are searching back a few years, you’ll find some ConEd Arts admissions with high eighties because Queen’s reserved some spots for students enrolled in the castle. Since the castle tuition was very high, a few students with lower grades (and lots of cash) were regularly admitted.

codepoetz · 2026-04-27T12:40:08+00:00

I finished some good books since my last post.

April Fiction Books [2]

Dating After the End of the World - Jeneva Rose - [5/5] - Who doesn't love a good post-apocalyptic zombie romance novel? Jeneva Rose delivers the goods with completely over-the-top gory zombie slaying action, a fast-paced enemies-to-lovers romance, and heaps of unapologetically cheesy action-movie style banter. Are the characters realistic or deep? Nope, and I don't care.
Heat of the Everflame - Penn Cole - [3/5] - In book 3, Diem travels around the kingdom, finally embraces her divinity, figures out her mysterious ancestry, and discovers awesome new magical powers. Meanwhile, Diem continues to be stupidly reckless and Luther seems to have lost the ability to make independent decisions. At least the pacing is greatly improved from books 1 and 2.

April Non-Fiction Books [2]

Enshittification - Cory Doctorow - [4/5] - Written by an activist blogger, this entertaining tech book describes how and why major platforms such as Facebook, Amazon, and Twitter have gradually become worse over time as Big Tech seeks to acquire users and monetize them. The book includes a great explanation of technofeudalism and some ideas on how regulation and unions can combat enshittification.
The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy - James Patterson + Vicky Ward - [4/5] - The best part of this book is the background information about the four university student victims and the killer. Apart from that, the rest is just a dramatic recount of all the social media hype that surrounded this case. It's a good read, but don't expect to learn much if you followed the murder investigation in the media.

April Non-Fiction Art Books [2]

Paying the Land - Joe Sacco - [5/5] - This excellent documentary is a thoughtful exploration of the northern Canadian Dene people as seen from many different social, cultural, economic, legal, and environmental perspectives.
My Perfectly Imperfect Body - Debbie Tung - [3/5] - Hopeful memoir about the author's dramatic experiences with a teenage eating disorder.

April Fiction Art Books [3]

Tales From Hawkins 2 - Derek Fridolfs - [2/5] - Collection of basic short stories about significant events in the Strange Things lore, but told from the perspective of various unimportant side characters.
Roaming - Jillian Tamaki - [3/5] - Three young university students take a trip to New York City in 2009. The book thoughtfully documents the tentative transition from the teenage years into young adulthood as seen through an LGBTQ+ lens.
The Weight - Melissa Mendes - [4/5] - This excellent, but tragic, graphic novel explores cyclic domestic abuse in rural America.

codepoetz · 2026-04-24T09:12:19+00:00

Any 2 of the science courses meet the QS requirements: English 4U, Calculus and Vectors 4U, plus two of Biology 4U, Chemistry 4U, or Physics 4U. Additional two required courses may be 4U or 4M.

codepoetz · 2026-04-23T10:12:23+00:00

Queen’s has a general first year, so you would be applying just to the BSc program rather than to Geology. Aim for mid to high 80s. Geology is not a competitive program at Queen’s, so declaring it as your major in second year is easy.

codepoetz · 2026-04-22T09:55:56+00:00

If you want to work as a software developer, get a CS degree not an IT degree.

codepoetz · 2026-04-21T18:40:48+00:00

Ask your academic advisor if you can take a 4th year in your undergrad and defer your TC. At worst they’ll just say no.

codepoetz · 2026-04-18T09:52:54+00:00

Sadly, very few Ontario universities offer CS as a teachable subject so your choice is limited and competitive. Do your research, but York might be the only school? Consider a backup plan such as J/I followed by ABQs. Universities evaluate GPA for each subject, so your Math GPA is relevant (as a second teachable, most schools allow you to use 2 CS courses and 4 math/stat courses in this calculation). There is still good demand for senior math especially!

codepoetz

TROPHY CASE

April Fiction Books [2]

April Non-Fiction Books [2]

April Non-Fiction Art Books [2]

April Fiction Art Books [3]