Originally Posted by patriots4eva

The last part of your comment is very admirable. So many people these days are caught up in trying to find an occupation that will earn them lots of money.

I had lots of trouble first year as well. I didn't fail any courses, but I came pretty close (Physics 1B03 and Chem 1A03 :@). But, now in second year, my average has drastically increased! I'm very serious when I say your average can go up! You just have to work really hard.

I also had absolutely no idea what I wanted to be first year, but had the same mind set: I wanted to be happy. Last term, I figured out what I want to be. It will come to you eventually, you just need to keep your mind open.

I have noticed too that when I post threads people tend to be condescending, but it's awesome that your standing up for yourself! Best of luck!

Thank you for the encouraging words, I have learned my mistakes and will definitely learn from them. Positivity has never killed anyone and hearing your story really does encourage and motivate me. Confucius did say "He who says he can and he who says he can't are both usually right".

I could be wrong, since i am first year as well, but many people i've talked to, including my father who went to university, often say the first year of university is the hardest as they try and weed people out. Even if that is not true, he always told me the first year was the hardest due to the course load, because as he continued on he was able to take subjects he enjoyed, and not the mandatory general courses everyone takes first year. It's also a big change from high school to university, so some people take longer to adjust.

so ignore that condescending point that "2killdreams" made and focus on getting through first year and raising your GPA. if you finish with good grades for the rest of your university program, i'm sure everything will work out. if you struggle, move a couple courses to the summer, so that you can focus more on the difficult ones. It's going to be tough, but if you are willing to put in the effort you can make it.

You need to figure out why you did poorly. First year is the foundation year; math and physics is only going to get more difficult. Do you wish to keep struggling in a program that will offer you little rewards in the end? This has nothing to do with med school or graduate school, which is 4+ years away in the future. Assess the present. You fail courses because you don't enjoy them and you lack the knowledge to succeed in them. Your cGPA will forever be negatively marked by the failures and low grades. No matter how many more A+'s you get, balancing out D's and F's is insanely difficult. The best you can hope to do is improve in your following semesters. Only you can know whether or not you have the determination and skillset to achieve this improvement or whether you believe that the program that you are currently in is not the one for you.

Originally Posted by JamesK

I could be wrong, since i am first year as well, but many people i've talked to, including my father who went to university, often say the first year of university is the hardest as they try and weed people out. Even if that is not true, he always told me the first year was the hardest due to the course load, because as he continued on he was able to take subjects he enjoyed, and not the mandatory general courses everyone takes first year. It's also a big change from high school to university, so some people take longer to adjust.

This is completely dependent on your program (and probably also you as a person). If you take a general program that allows lots of electives then sure, first year you might have the least interest in your courses and do poorly in them, but for me, my first year was the easiest, without question. The course material is very basic, and there are so many more supports available for first year courses.
You should never assume that you do poorly in first year just because some people say first year is the hardest. That's setting yourself up for failure.

Talk to an academic adviser. Don't email, go in and make an appt to see him/her.
Also, if you're struggling with the workload, consider taking summer school to ease your load.
lot's of students do it; either to catch up or get ahead of their schedule.
Also, i don't know a lot about grad school but for engineering i think they only consider the last two years of your degree. two failed courses in first year are not going to ruin your future, if you learn from your mistakes. all the best

Please remember the MacInsiders Code Of Conduct guys, there is no need to be posting vulgar remarks yelling at the original poster. We have a rule of treat all users with respect, no matter the situation. Be constructive without the bashing please.

That said, Ngluding thanks for posting about your situation and sharing with the MacInsiders community, turning to us for advice and help. As you mentioned, you already booked to see an advisor. Glad you did that, they will help for sure.

My personal advice, without knowing your exact situation or details, would be to look into summer school options for those 2 failed classes. If you can take them over the summer it will solve the biggest factor here which is making up those courses you need, without overwhelming you since they are over summer break. I wouldn't recommend re-taking one of the courses while taking your second semester courses and overloading your work load. Overloading more courses at once will stress you out.

You may be able to take one of those second semester courses over summer school instead, and retake the math in replace of that course you'll do in summer. So don't just check for the 2 you failed if they are offered over summer, check all your others in semester 2 as well. You never know.

The advisor will be able to tell you.

Lastly with regards to Level 2, check the program requirements page on the mcmaster website. Most likely you need the full unit count to proceed to level 2. That means taking required and electives to get the full amount of units for level 2. So you can't just take the required ones and move onto second year without completing all units for level 1.

Finally, ask for ongoing help and reach out to all resources you have in order to help you learn the material. Just taking the class again, may not change the end result. You need to maybe look at how you studied the material and make changes to help you understand the material better. That could mean for example..

- talking to the professor after class for extra study sheets or resources
- reading the textbook chapters early before tutorial and asking the T.A. questions you have prepared already for sections you didn't understand
- going to your T.A office hours for more 1 on 1 help with sections you didn't understand.
- Looking for past exams or tests to study from.
- Reviewing your notes each week to refresh your brain on the material.
- Making study notes after each class to help you prep quicker for tests.
- Partnering up with a classmate to study together once a week.
- Hiring a math tutor to help review the material once a week from your home or maybe finding an upper year 4th year student to tutor you who is in your program and took the class.

Many options.

Hope that helps.

One of the posts above also reiterated the same issue we are bringing up.

I was not trying to be offensive, I was trying to keep your feet back to the ground. If you have two fails in a year, you will need eight 12's to even get a 9.6 average for that year. It is extremely hard to balance low grades. Let's be realistic, YOU WILL NOT GET eight 12's in a year. A perspective is that it takes nine 11's to balance a 1 to a 10 grade. Given track record, you will need to be godly good with time management and have lady luck on your side.

The OP needs to understand that you need a back up plan... The main question is, what can you do with just a Honors Degree in your field. I know CGPA is mainly used for most law schools however.

Originally Posted by patriots4eva

I also had absolutely no idea what I wanted to be first year, but had the same mind set: I wanted to be happy. Last term, I figured out what I want to be. It will come to you eventually, you just need to keep your mind open.

Just out of curiosity, as someone in the science department, what did you figure out you wanted to be? Just want to get some ideas flowing about possible career opportunities when I'm done myself. Thanks!

Originally Posted by MovingTarget

Just out of curiosity, as someone in the science department, what did you figure out you wanted to be? Just want to get some ideas flowing about possible career opportunities when I'm done myself. Thanks!

Hey MovingTarget, I discovered that I want to be a Pharmacist after doing a job shadow back in November 2014.

PS. The job shadows are very helpful for those who don't know what they want to be. They are available through oscarplus, but only at select times throughout the year.

Best of luck for finding what you want to be!

Originally Posted by allanandthera

One of the posts above also reiterated the same issue we are bringing up.

I was not trying to be offensive, I was trying to keep your feet back to the ground. If you have two fails in a year, you will need eight 12's to even get a 9.6 average for that year. It is extremely hard to balance low grades. Let's be realistic, YOU WILL NOT GET eight 12's in a year. A perspective is that it takes nine 11's to balance a 1 to a 10 grade. Given track record, you will need to be godly good with time management and have lady luck on your side.

The OP needs to understand that you need a back up plan... The main question is, what can you do with just a Honors Degree in your field. I know CGPA is mainly used for most law schools however.

Please keep in mind that allanandthera is in commerce. Not science.

Here is what you should think about:

- Taking 3-4 courses this term (I'm not sure if 3 would make you part time...do you care if you are part time?). I would suggest 1 hard course, this would probably be your Chem 1AA3. And 3 easier/managable ones like Psych 1XX3, Bio 1M03 and pick another.

- Take 2 courses over summer (1 course per term, everyone that I have talked to that have taken more than 1 course per term find it extremely hard)

- You will have 1 course to make up for. I think that should get you into second year? I'm not sure. But if you need that extra course, take a super easy one (this could be your enviro in the summer or this term). if you can get away with it, just take it next year.

And to Lawstudent. There are many people in Life Science who hate physics and math, and it is a challenge for them. Ngulding is not the first to encounter this problem. If you are interested in biology, don't worry about it. You need to look at your prereqs, but you usually only need one math and physics.

Here's what I think your next few years may look like:

You will have to go to Life Science 2nd Year - 2nd year get your average past a 6
Get into Honours Life Science for 3rd year - and bring your average up as much as possible

I have been where you are at. I know it seems like everyone is doing better than you. But, there are lots of other people in the same situation, you just haven't meet them (you will meet them in summer school)

I have met so many people that take courses just to raise their average. You are NOT alone!

Thanks everyone for their advice, I have taken them down for consideration. Also to double check, you need 30 credits to pass life science 1 right and you need to pass life science 1 in order to get into honours life science? Like is it ok if I get the credits from the required courses to get into honours life science and not have 30 credits this year but work towards 120 credits by the end of my 4rd year?

Originally Posted by Ngluding

Thanks everyone for their advice, I have taken them down for consideration. Also to double check, you need 30 credits to pass life science 1 right and you need to pass life science 1 in order to get into honours life science? Like is it ok if I get the credits from the required courses to get into honours life science and not have 30 credits this year but work towards 120 credits by the end of my 4rd year?

Do a simple google search to find the requirements for entry into honours life science. Also, these questions are best directed at the AA as anyone on here could be giving you false information that they believe to be correct. Just my opinion, but if it were my education i wouldnt be risking my academic career on the opinions of fellow students. The staff are there to help you, they are best suited to address your concerns. Trying to make this as neutral as possible as it seems any post against the OP in this thread is mysteriously being downvoted every time

Originally Posted by 2Dream

Do a simple google search to find the requirements for entry into honours life science. Also, these questions are best directed at the AA as anyone on here could be giving you false information that they believe to be correct. Just my opinion, but if it were my education i wouldnt be risking my academic career on the opinions of fellow students. The staff are there to help you, they are best suited to address your concerns. Trying to make this as neutral as possible as it seems any post against the OP in this thread is mysteriously being downvoted every time

I wouldn't say mysteriously, there definitely is a reason. But thanks for your input.
Also as a tip, putting emoticons at the end of you're posts doesn't make it any better.

Originally Posted by Ngluding

I wouldn't say mysteriously, there definitely is a reason. But thanks for your input.
Also as a tip, putting emoticons at the end of you're posts doesn't make it any better.

I make a post with useful information and a friendly joke, and you still feel the need to be condescending lol. Should i downvote this post for hurting my feelings? (not really that hurt haha)
*note the absence of the emoticon!*

"Like fuck no wonder you failed to classes, your problem solving skills are subpar at best"
This is your idea of a friendly joke, and useful... well that can be debatable and please do not bring up condescending with me, you should be the last person to make that statement.