Regardless of where you’re coming from, we know that the transition to university can be challenging, not only due to the transition itself, but especially when combined with all of the other moving parts of your life. INSPIRE course offerings are designed to support your transition to university, your transition through university, and your transition beyond university. This pathway might intentionally incorporate courses such as INSPIRE 1PL3 and INSPIRE 1A03 into your first year experience to support the transition to university, while including upper year INSPIRE courses that help you think about where you’re headed both within your studies and beyond.

Perhaps you’d like to finish your degree earlier than planned. By taking courses during Intersession, Spring, or Summer semesters you can gain more academic credits each year than your traditional course load. This pathway might be ideal for those who are hoping to move on to a career or further education sooner than initially planned. If taking this route, it is important to consult with an academic advisor to ensure you’re able to complete courses mandatory to your program and to consider any other implications of Intersession, Spring, and Summer study.

Completing a 4-year undergraduate degree at McMaster requires obtaining 120 units of academic credit. For students enrolled in a typical Fall and Winter semester cycle of learning, this means pursuing 15 units of credit per term, most often (but not always) taking the form of five 3 unit courses. For many of us, taking 5 courses at a time can be challenging for a number of reasons. Whatever your reason, you may be interested in spreading the load of your learning into the May Intersession, Spring, and Summer terms. For example, a student taking the equivalent of 6 units (two courses) during the May Intersession term could take a courseload of 12 units (four courses) in both the Fall and Winter semesters. This pathway might be ideal for those who are feeling overwhelmed with a five course load or those who have work or family responsibilities.

University is meant to be a time of personal growth and reflection that prompts us to rethink our assumptions about the world around us. For many of us, this process helps us to further clarify our interests within the disciplinary area of focus we enrolled in, but for others it might prompt us to ask “what else is out there?” If you’re wondering about other areas of study beyond your own program, you might want to use May Intersession, Spring, or Summer learning to open new doors and possibilities. By trying something new in an area that sounds interesting to you, you might find an excellent compliment to your primary area of study or find a new primary area of study altogether! This pathway might be ideal for those interested in exploring an interdisciplinary minor or taking a course in a discipline completely different from their core studies.

The May Intersession term prioritizes space for instructors who want to explore contemporary issues through an interdisciplinary lens via the INSPIRE 2II3, 3EL3, and 3II3 course codes. What does this mean for students? It means that every May there will be brand new courses that have never been offered before taught by instructors who are at the forefront of both the issues themselves and creative approaches to teaching and learning. If you’re looking for a course or two that is completely different from anything you’ve ever taken at McMaster, this pathway might be ideal for you. Check out our course listings page beginning in December of each year to see what’s on the horizon for the May Intersession term!