Hi I was wondering why I can pick 24-27 Elective units in Level II-III B.Sc. Life Sciences but only 6 Elective units in Level I B.Sc. Life Science? Could this possibly make Level II-III more enjoyable than level I?

Originally Posted by Energy44

Hi I was wondering why I can pick 24-27 Elective units in Level II-III B.Sc. Life Sciences but only 6 Elective units in Level I B.Sc. Life Science? Could this possibly make Level II-III more enjoyable than level I?

That's 24-27 elective units spread over the two years. as for more enjoyable, that depends on how much you like first year and what courses you pick in your later years. It's a personal thing.

It's because university is like a tree. You build a good foundation in first year (a solid 'trunk'), then branch out in upper years.

In first year, you have to take a broader range of courses, so that you'll be prepared for a wide variety of disciplines in 2nd year and beyond.

And as for being enjoyable...if you find electives more enjoyable than your core courses, you're in the wrong program. Your mandatory courses are what you are in university to learn right? The rest is just filler.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

And as for being enjoyable...if you find electives more enjoyable than your core courses, you're in the wrong program. Your mandatory courses are what you are in university to learn right? The rest is just filler.

I agree with this completely. If you hate what you are learning then why are you in that program? You will basically be learning the material for 4 (or more) years and on top of that you career will be centred around that material. So if you don't like the material then chances are you won't like your career.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

And as for being enjoyable...if you find electives more enjoyable than your core courses, you're in the wrong program. Your mandatory courses are what you are in university to learn right? The rest is just filler.

I agree to some extent, but also disagree.

If you find you enjoy your elective much more than your core program courses, then you may be in the wrong program, but at the same time, you might be taking electives towards a minor, or just taking courses that you're interested in but don't want a career in... know what I mean?

Example: I took music electives in my third year, and I really enjoyed them quite a bit. I'm highly interested in music, and I play a few instruments and enjoy critically listening to music... is it a bad thing that I really enjoyed my electives? No... it wasn't. Should I change my degree to music? No way... I'm not interested in making a career of music.

Electives are there for you to bring some variety to your education and enrich your university experience. They can also offer a lot of practice or new skills which you may not get in your core program. Electives should be fun, and you should look forward to the opportunity to experience courses in other faculties.

Originally Posted by Mowicz

And as for being enjoyable...if you find electives more enjoyable than your core courses, you're in the wrong program. Your mandatory courses are what you are in university to learn right? The rest is just filler.

Originally Posted by Taunton

I agree to some extent, but also disagree.

If you find you enjoy your elective much more than your core program courses, then you may be in the wrong program, but at the same time, you might be taking electives towards a minor, or just taking courses that you're interested in but don't want a career in... know what I mean?

Example: I took music electives in my third year, and I really enjoyed them quite a bit. I'm highly interested in music, and I play a few instruments and enjoy critically listening to music... is it a bad thing that I really enjoyed my electives? No... it wasn't. Should I change my degree to music? No way... I'm not interested in making a career of music.

Did you enjoy music more than your specific Life Sci relevant aspirations? (Forgive me for not knowing your specific direction, Life Sci's rather open-ended) If you did, then maybe you should be interested in making a career out of music...because gut feelings and preferences say a lot about who we are.

I'd rather not dance around my specific wording or interpretations or whatnot...but I think ('hope') the message was loud and clear...you should enjoy your core courses...a lot.

There's nothing wrong with enjoying your elective courses...I mean heck, if you chose wisely (your program as well as electives) you'll have a blast in every single course you take... but if you had the option of taking 15 units of (relevant) core material, or 15 units of (unrelated) elective material, then you should, assuming you've made the right decision, prefer the 15 units of core material. (I said relevant because one may dislike one or two required courses in their program, but they should enjoy most of the courses being offered).

To put it succinctly: Suppose I'm majoring in Subject A and minoring in Subject B...but I enjoy Subject B more than Subject A...

Am I making a wise decision? I mean sure, there's more to it than that, such as financial motivations for a specific career...but you really need to ask yourself these questions...they're not all encompassing, but they can help you criticize/appraise you decisions. You may wish to considering switching to major in Subject B, and minor (if possible) in Subject A.

Electives are there for you to bring some variety to your education and enrich your university experience. They can also offer a lot of practice or new skills which you may not get in your core program. Electives should be fun, and you should look forward to the opportunity to experience courses in other faculties.

I'm sure you've heard the story like 800 times, but I'm a big math nerd...so my electives (and core) were all math. So I'm an avid believer in my philosophy...and it agrees with yours, in my case at least (except for the other faculties bit). The benefit of taking all math is that I have one of the largest knowledge bases of any of the incoming grad students (who likely didn't make the same choice), which not only lets me have 'more fun' with my subject and make more connections, but also gives me an edge on the competition.