Advice For First Year Science Students
By NISHA DE SILVA, MACINSIDERS
One word of advice I’d like to share with all first years is to be sure to seek out good professors when choosing your courses. This isn’t to say that not all professors are highly qualified or are unable to teach, but some professors definitely have more potential than others, and are talented when it comes to getting their thoughts across to the audience. One website I highly recommend is
www.rateyourprofessor s.com. This site will enable you to hear from students who have taken the course in previous years. Ratings may not only pertain to the professor, but it will also cover course content, level of ease, professor approachability etc. allowing you to get a sense of the course. Professors DO make a DIFFERENCE. Personally, having done first year university, this is one experience I shall take with me to upper years. Here are a few of my recommendations to incoming science students:
For Chemistry 1AA3, I’d recommend Dr. Pippa Lock; She’s truly interested about the student’s well-being, and she simplifies content. She is very approachable, and is compassionate to her students. During lectures, she slows down to ensure everyone is on the same page.
For stats 1CC3- Dr. Childes; He is the department head for stats, and he writes all the tests. His lectures are to the point, and while it is necessary to do all the assigned work, if you are able to follow his lectures, you will be comfortable with the material.
For Bio 1A03 & 1AA3- This course works differently, as four professors teach the course throughout the semester.
Another suggestion is to choose courses that are easy and that you will enjoy as your electives. University is hard enough, and it’s nice to have one or two courses where you can lay back and take it easy.
In my first year, I took environmental science 1A03 and psychology (1A03 & 1AA3) as my electives. Having never taken environmental science in my high school career, and not having that much of an interest for the course, I soon realized that it wasn’t the best decision I had made. I later realized I should have done more research prior to choosing the specific course. Psychology on the other hand, despite matching my interests happened to be a lot of work, especially as the course had been changed my year. However, for students entering this year, Psychology 1A03 and 1AA3 will go back to it’s original, fairly easy structure that was used before, so, don’t worry.
Another comment I’d like to add is that when choosing your courses on solar, try to sequence your courses one after another, so that you will be going from one class to another. I found that this personally forced me to attend every lecture. On the contrary, if I had huge 6 hour gaps between classes, I would find myself being unproductive. My last piece of advice is to sign onto solar as soon as the link is launched, as you may find the longer you wait, the lower the chances of getting into your desired courses, or course sections. Please feel free to ask any course-related questions before solar opens. Good luck to you all!
