Science: International Year One (Cornerstone Entry)

Science at university moves quickly, and a solid first term can make the difference. Choosing Cornerstone Entry for Science at FIC’s International Year One (UTP Stage II), based at SFU Burnaby, means beginning with a dedicated support semester, so the full pathway takes four terms, about sixteen months.

In the Cornerstone semester you complete CNST101 for language and study skills, CNQS101, a quantitative survey useful for future science students, and CNSU101 on university life. Then your pathway courses begin: MATH151 and MATH152 in calculus, MATH232 in linear algebra for the mathematics and experimental routes, general chemistry through CHEM121 and CHEM122, and studio physics in PHYS140 and PHYS141. Life science students add BISC101 and BISC102, while the Mathematics pathway brings in CMPT130, CMPT135 and MACM101.

SFU shapes each FIC course and approves its instructors. When you have completed ten courses and 30 units with a cumulative GPA of 2.75 and no pathway grade below C-, you progress into the SFU Bachelor of Science as a second-year student. Majors range from Mathematics and Actuarial Science to Earth Sciences and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. You may use SFU Sci-Space while at FIC, and co-op is offered in SFU Science for students who want paid experience in their field.

Graduates may become environmental lab technicians, biology research assistants, junior actuaries, chemical process technicians, science educators or health data analysts. Cornerstone suits applicants arriving at FIC’s minimum English level who want an added term of skills preparation before calculus, chemistry and physics. The extra semester builds the study routines that a heavy science timetable demands.