3 programs, side by side

Rows marked with a dot are where these differ. Everything is each university’s own published wording; the “your average” row is yours, calculated the way each program does it.

	Western Media & Communications Studies OUAC EI Remove	Lakehead Interdisciplinary Studies (Orillia Campus) OUAC AZ Remove	McMaster Humanities I OUAC MH Remove
Your average, their wayrequired courses forced in
Published rangetheir exact wording	80–87%“Low to mid 80s”	70%	80–83%“Anticipated admission average of low-80s”
Required coursesforced into your top 6 — options are the row below	ENG4U	ENG4U	ENG4U
Choose one ofany of these satisfies it	—	—	—
Prerequisitesas published	English, ENG4U	ENG4U Alternative Offers If you do not meet the admission requirements for your program of choice but do meet the General Admission Requirements of Lakehead University, you will automatically be considered for an alternate program.	English 4U *Completion of Biology 4U is recommended for students who are interested in pursuing the Cognitive Science of Language program in Level II.
More than marks?supplementary application	Marks only	Marks only	Marks only
Co-op	Available	No	No
Degree	—	—	—
First-year intakewhere published	300	—	480
What you study	Information Systems Information Technology Media and Communication StudiesOthers in Technology	Anthropology Chemistry English Studies Entrepreneurship	African StudiesAncient Middle Eastern LanguagesClassical Studies Comparative Literary Studies
What it is	This program combines the study of media, communication, and information technology — learning how messages are created, shared, and understood across digital and traditional platforms alongside practical IT skills. The co-op requirement means you alternate between classroom terms and paid work placements in media, tech, or communications companies, giving you real industry experience alongside your degree. It suits students interested in how technology shapes storytelling and public conversation, who want hands-on workplace experience before graduating.	This program lets you design your own degree by combining courses from multiple fields — anthropology, chemistry, English, history, philosophy, law, media studies, and others — rather than following a single major. You choose which subjects to focus on and how much depth in each, creating a customized path that suits your interests. It works well if you're curious about several areas and want flexibility to explore across disciplines before committing to one specialization.	Humanities I is your first year of study in the liberal arts, where you explore human culture, language, history, and society through subjects like English, history, drama, and linguistics. You take a range of courses across these fields to discover what interests you before specializing in a particular discipline in later years. This suits students who are curious about how people think, communicate, and organize themselves, but aren't yet certain which humanities subject to focus on.
The door tomajors you reach through it	communications	Applied to directly	communications english history languages philosophy
Entrance awardsat this campus, by average	6 published, 5 with no applicationfrom 85%See them	6 published, 5 with no applicationfrom 80%See them	5 published, 3 with no applicationfrom 75%See them
Source	Western University on OUInfo	Lakehead University on OUInfo	McMaster University on OUInfo

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Same subject area and a similar published range, at a campus you have not got in the table yet.

Ranges are what each university publishes, not guaranteed cutoffs, and limited-enrolment programs often admit above them. Confirm anything you are about to act on with the university; each column links to its source.