Student review [#25301] for Mathematics and Statistical Science
at McMaster University

Hey, Prospective McMaster Math and Stats students!

I am an International Student pursuing Mathematics and Statistics at McMaster University, and I just finished my Second Year. Here are some of my views on University life, Course Selections, Specializations and more. The program is awesome, and you won’t regret coming here! Full of nice people, most of which will want to work together. Find some friends, work together to solve problems, and you’ll do great! The program allows you to take a bunch of electives throughout your course (I had 6 in my first year), so you can very easily minor in something, or you can take a bunch of bird courses and relax. The department here also provides opportunities to undergrads like TA work, summer Research Assistant positions and CO-OP, so you get a chance to stand out there.

If you like math, this is a fantastic program to develop your math skills and take the plethora of courses in other fields at McMaster while gaining valuable work experience in their CO-OP program. During my second year, I chose Stats Sub-plan CO-OP as my specialization. A bunch of students go for AFM, so that is fairly competitive to get into. Selection is based on your grades and an application for those applying in AFM. If you’re looking for more info, go to the McMaster math and stats information, it should show all specializations they offer for the second year and the grades required.

The professors in the math department are definitely good at their job, and I genuinely enjoy learning from them. They also aren’t trying to lower the average or cut out the numbers, so don’t worry about crazy hard courses in your first year. Most of my time isn’t spent doing assignments but more on learning the material outside of class! One tip I’d give to my first-year self would be to plan where and when you take your courses; it can help make sure that you get a spot in the popular first-year bird courses. Overall, a pretty nice program that you can easily succeed in if you put your mind to it. Good luck, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions!