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Program Overview This page was last reviewed on August 30, 2011   

Independent Studies is an innovative self-directed learning program that allows you to take charge of your own education. In Canada it's unique - the only undergraduate program leading to a Bachelor of Independent Studies (BIS). If you're interested in a field so new, specialized, or interdisciplinary that there's no existing program for it, or if you want to spend more time on one topic than conventional courses allow, Independent Studies could be the right choice for you.

Independent Studies provides you with the opportunity to:

  • delve deeply into a subject of intense personal interest
  • explore a wide range of subjects which have attracted your attention
  • pursue new lines of interest different from those you've previously followed
  • prepare for professional accreditation by some external body, or
  • enhance a career you're already in.

It is a rigorous and demanding approach to university level studies, usually reserved for graduate studies.

Independent Studies is both a three-year General degree program and a four-year Honours program. Many in-coming students are awarded advanced standing based on their successful prior academic work.

Both programs are divided into two phases. During pre-thesis phase, and with guidance from Independent Studies academic advisors, you can explore a variety of subjects and research methods to develop a perspective beyond a single discipline and then focus on particular topics of interest as these relate to your academic goals and objectives. In thesis phase, you'll carry out a major piece of work under the direction of at least two thesis project supervisors who have been chosen because their expertise involves your area(s) of interest.

You can pursue studies in any of the areas where the University of Waterloo has professors with academic expertise: the humanities, fine and performing arts, social sciences, environmental studies, applied health studies, natural sciences, and mathematics. In some cases you may be able to work with professors in the professional schools, such as engineering or architecture.

You can graduate with a Bachelor of Independent Studies (BIS) degree in two to four years, depending on the educational and work experience you start with and the three or four year plan you select.

Degree Requirements

 

One of the goals of the program is to help you develop and refine skills in analysis, research, organization, and communication. Equipped with these skills, our grads have a high rate of success in earning graduate-level scholarships, entering graduate and professional schools, establishing their own companies, and moving into their chosen careers.

 

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