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McMaster University · Hamilton

Honours Health Sciences (BHSc)

Gated at the dooranalysisHealth Sciences

The decision is made while you are still in Grade 12. High stakes, one shot, but you know where you stand by May.

You are admitted to Honours Health Sciences and you graduate from Honours Health Sciences. There is no second competitive gate on university grades.

A supplementary application is required. Its deadline for this cycle has not been published.

Supplementary app
Required
Next deadline
118 days left
OUAC application deadline
Enrolment
240 seats
Faculty
Faculty of Health Sciences

OUAC code

  • Honours Health Sciences

Verified 2026-09-15/2026-09-17. Confirm against the university's own page before you act.

01

When you're evaluated

Gated at the dooranalysis

Decided before you arrive.

You are admitted to Honours Health Sciences and you graduate from Honours Health Sciences. There is no second competitive gate on university grades.

You are admitted to the program you will graduate from. There is no second competitive filter on university grades.

What this rests on (1)

  • Gated at the door — Mac BHSc and Queen's BHSc. A supplementary application decides it before you arrive. High stakes, one shot, but you know where you stand by May.

    OntApps Raw Data 6 — corrected (clean), framing line

02

Timeline and deadlines

  • OUAC application deadline

    118 days left

  • Supplementary application due

    due early February 2027 per OUAC; exact dates not yet published by McMaster ("Coming Soon", 15 Sept 2026)

    Not yet published

Previous cycle — for reference only

  • Instructions for submitting the supplementary application emailed

    Last cycle: instructions emailed in January

    Last cycle

  • Level 1 portal access (prior cycle)

    Level 1 portal access 2–5 February 2026 (third-party report)

    Feb 2, 2026 – Feb 5, 2026Last cycle

Dates close to other programs

  • Waterloo Engineering — OUAC application deadline, Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • U of T TrackOne — OUAC application deadline, Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • U of T TrackOne — Complete OSP and required documents — final deadline, Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • U of T Core 8 / EngSci — OUAC application deadline, Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • U of T Core 8 / EngSci — Complete OSP and required documents — final deadline, Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • McMaster Engineering I — OUAC application deadline, Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • McMaster iBioMed — OUAC application deadline, Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • Rotman Commerce — Final application deadline (OUAC), Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • Western Medical Sciences — January 15 equal-consideration deadline (full-time undergrad), Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • Western Health Sciences — January 15 equal-consideration deadline (full-time undergrad), Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • U of T Life Sciences (St. George) — Application deadline (St. George Arts & Science), Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • UTM Life Sciences — Application deadline (U of T Mississauga), Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • U of T KPE — OUAC application deadline (shared with Engineering, Arts & Science, and most other St. George faculties), Jan 15, 2027 (same day as OUAC application deadline)
  • McMaster Engineering I — Supplementary application deadline (high-school applicants), Jan 28, 2027 (13 days from OUAC application deadline)
  • McMaster iBioMed — Supplementary application deadline, Jan 28, 2027 (13 days from OUAC application deadline)

03

Supplementary application

Supplementary application required — admission is by selection and an application without it is not considered.

"Required" confirmed; the "not considered without it" wording was not individually re-checked.

McMaster Honours Health Sciences Supplementary Application

A supplementary application is required.

Weighting

A 90% average scoring 95+ on the supp app can be admitted over a 98% average scoring below 80.

Supp app scores are percentiles and compete directly against GPA.
Unconfirmed

Source is a McMaster open house presentation observed first-hand, not a published page. Label it as such wherever it renders.

Presented by McMaster at its own open house and observed first-hand by the site author. Not published on any McMaster page, so it cannot be re-checked against a live source.

  • McMaster open house presentationNot published online. Observed first-hand by the site author at a McMaster open house. TODO: add the date attended.not re-checked by us
Positions on this chart are approximate.

Positions are approximate and exist only to order the points. The axes show McMaster's own wording.

Format published

Last year's Mac Health Sci Sup App Qs followed a similar format to the preceeding years. With a twist. Applicants answered 2 questions (#1, #2), with each question displaying 2 options (A, B). Applicants MUST choose only one option per question. Essay questions are structured to a limit of 1500 characters, including punctuation & spaces.
CommunityCommunity unverified

No source is named for the format description in the PDF.

What they look for

  • Answer questions specifically (limited character count of roughly 1500 per question); demonstrate problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, value and communication skills.
    CommunityCommunity unverified
  • "we encourage you to only include these details if they clearly connect to your response. Forcing in personal experience can actually set you back."
    Not individually verified

    Attributed to McMaster Health Sciences in the PDF (p.71); the specific page was not re-opened.

Choosing options

Read all 4 options; score each out of 10 for engagement; brainstorm which would be more interesting/compelling/unique.
CommunityCommunity unverified

Answering

Don't force personal experience; think how most people will answer, then find a more unique approach; develop a hook, a well-structured argument and a clear 'why'.
CommunityCommunity unverified

Scoring claims

  • Supp app scores are percentiles; lowest score 80
    CommunityCommunity unverified
  • Scored by 2 evaluators (usually 4th-year BHSc; sometimes staff/profs)
    CommunityCommunity unverifiedSources disagree
  • Cluster / pyramid slides matching supp app scores to GPA cut-offs
    CommunityCommunity unverified
  • Success checklists (self-scoring tables)
    Third partyCommunity unverified

Prep time

Writing 1–2 hours; revising/polishing 1–2 weeks
CommunityCommunity unverified

04

Required courses

  • ENG4U
  • SBI4U
  • SCH4U
  • One of MCV4U, MHF4U, MDM4U
  • One non-math, non-science, non-technology 4U/M creditnot checkable
ENG4U, SBI4U, SCH4U; one of MCV4U, MHF4U, MDM4U; one non-math, non-science, non-technology 4U/M credit — required; six 4U/M courses total (co-op excluded from the average)

McMaster Admission Requirements tool (17 Sept 2026): "ENG4U / One of MHF4U, MCV4U or MDM4U / SBI4U / SCH4U / One non-math; non-science; non-technology 4U/M credit". The "co-op excluded from the average" note was not re-checked.

05

Averages

Applicant-reported — not official

  • ~3% of applicants are taken (240 from 8000)
    CommunityCommunity unverified

    240 matches the published seat count; the 8,000 applicant figure has no source in the PDF.

  • Supp app is essentially the deciding factor, as the supp app scores are percentiles. so a 95 score on the supp app means you scored better than 95% of other applicants. The lowest supp app score is 80 (meaning you scored better than 80% of all applicants).
    CommunityCommunity unverified
  • Your supp app is scored by 2 evaluators: More often than not they are 4th year Bhsc, but they can also be Staff/Profs
    CommunityCommunity unverifiedSources disagree
  • See image transcriptions on p.91: cluster slide (Cluster 1 >95 with GPA 90%+ → Offer (50); Cluster 2 90–94 with low 90s → Offer (100); Cluster 3 85–89 with mid 90s → Offer (150); Cluster 4 80–84 with high 90s → ?) and a pyramid of GPA cut-offs by supp app score.
    CommunityCommunity unverified

    Unattributed images; provenance unknown.

06

Traps

07

Additional details

Admission structure

McMaster University, Hamilton · Direct entry, Level I · 240 seats
Not individually verified

Alternate offer

"We do not automatically make alternative offers of admission. Instead, we encourage you to apply to all of the McMaster programs you are interested in (up to 3)."

McMaster-wide OUInfo wording (checked 17 Sept 2026); the PDF states this for McMaster Kinesiology and in the Rotman comparison (p.74, 119, 131).

Related codes

  • Honours Health & Society I (not the BHSc)

09

What the university hasn't published

  • Grade ranges: not published
  • Some dates: not yet published for this cycle

10

Where sources disagree

  • McMaster Future Students supplementary applications page lists 2026 dates

    unresolved

    • McMaster Future Students — Supplementary Applications

      Lists 2026 dates (page modified 26 Sept 2025).

    • McMaster Faculty of Engineering — Supplementary Application

      Supplementary deadline "January 28, 2027 at 11:59 p.m. (ET)"; "The supplementary application will not open until October 1, 2026".

  • McMaster BHSc supplementary timing: "Early February 2027" (OUAC) vs "Early/mid-February 2027" (McMaster tool) vs "Coming Soon" (HHSP)

    unresolved

    • OUAC — McMaster guide (updated 14 Sept 2026)

      Honours Health Sciences I supplementary "Early February 2027"

    • McMaster Admission Requirements tool (17 Sept 2026)

      "Supplementary Application Deadline: Early/mid-February 2027. Please visit here for details."

    • McMaster Honours Health Sciences — Level I page (15 Sept 2026)

      All Level I dates read "Coming Soon".

  • McMaster BHSc supplementary scoring: "2 evaluators" (unsourced) vs "multiple reviewers" (McMaster)

    unresolved

    • PDF note (no source named)

      Your supp app is scored by 2 evaluators: More often than not they are 4th year Bhsc, but they can also be Staff/Profs

    • McMaster Honours Health Sciences — Supplementary Application FAQs (captured 15 Sept 2026)

      "Honours Health Sciences Program faculty, staff and Level IV students review and score the Supplementary Applications. Each application is scored by multiple reviewers. Where there is a significant discrepancy in the scores given by the reviewers, an additional reviewer is assigned."

11

Sources

Dates and codes checked 2026-09-15/2026-09-17.

Cited on this page