Which one is better, in terms of easiness and overall course experience??? I'm trying to choose which one to take...

If you need Bio 2b03 as a pre req then take it, other wise i wouldn't recommend it!
Bio 2a03 has labs but the are easy and bio 2b03 doesn't, but the content of bio 2b03 gets difficult after the first midterm!

Yeah bio 2b03 gets really hard by the middle of the semester, but the course isn't too bad.

The good thing is tutorials are optional so it's really just 3 hrs of lecture/week, occasional online quizzes which are generally a good mark booster, and a term paper.

They're totally different in terms of content. I would advise you to choose which one sounds more interesting to you. But either way they're neither considered "easy" Bio 2B03 has 2 midterms, cancer essay, and a final all within the subject of cell biology, so proteins..their trafficking, signal transduction, etc. Bio 2A03 has 3 in-lecture quizzes, 3 formal lab reports, and a final and it's about circulation, respiration, neurophysiology, etc. Here are the course outlines if you need mroe information: http://www.biology.mcmaster. ca/cou...02009 -10.pdf (from last year) and http://www.biology.mcmaster. ca/cou...02010 -11.pdf (this year).

Originally Posted by Anna M

If you need Bio 2b03 as a pre req then take it, other wise i wouldn't recommend it!
Bio 2a03 has labs but the are easy and bio 2b03 doesn't, but the content of bio 2b03 gets difficult after the first midterm!

I had the exact opposite experience- almost everyone I took Bio 2B03 with considered it to be the easiest Bio course by a long shot. I personally found Genetics easier, but I was in the minority on that one. I know for second semester of last year they messed up the format and made it much harder, but they moved it back to the old structure now- (the two midterms, and the cancer essay).

On the other hand, everyone found Bio 2A03 to be difficult, not because of the content- which was for the most part interesting and understandable- but because of the testing structure. A lot of people also found the marking for the labs to be really inconsistent, which was another challenge to deal with.

Overall both are decent courses, but if you're just looking for the grade I'd definitely recommend Cell Bio. Also be sure to check out our course review section for more detailed descriptions of both courses!

take the bio u love rather than the easy grade

Originally Posted by Marlowe

I had the exact opposite experience- almost everyone I took Bio 2B03 with considered it to be the easiest Bio course by a long shot. I personally found Genetics easier, but I was in the minority on that one. I know for second semester of last year they messed up the format and made it much harder, but they moved it back to the old structure now- (the two midterms, and the cancer essay).

On the other hand, everyone found Bio 2A03 to be difficult, not because of the content- which was for the most part interesting and understandable- but because of the testing structure. A lot of people also found the marking for the labs to be really inconsistent, which was another challenge to deal with.

Overall both are decent courses, but if you're just looking for the grade I'd definitely recommend Cell Bio. Also be sure to check out our course review section for more detailed descriptions of both courses!

It's hard to say, originally I thought 2B03 was my easiest course (around all of September/most of October) - but then in the last two weeks it's like it totally changed and it seems like EVERYONE is lost right now in class..no one has any idea what's going on.

if you have dr. dej for bio 2b03, it's an easy 10.

Loved both courses. Of course, I would recommend taking both, since they are both pre-reqs for upper year bio courses but if that's not as issue for you. I had 2B03 with Dej who made it a very user friendly course, lots of pathways to memorize. I enjoyed the content of 2A03 with Dr.McClelland more because it was more interesting material and there were some cool labs. In terms of easiness, I did better in 2B03- but that depends on the prof again.

One thing I learned, never listen to anyone when they tell you a course is bird or not. Everyone learns differently and the mind is a quite complicated thing. Once I knew a course would be bird, I spent less time studying for it, when in reality if I put in the extra effort, I could have easily went up one grade. Just study to your own ability, don't listen to others telling you when a course is bird and you don't have to study.

been trying to get into 2b03 for a while now, anyone planning on dropping it?

Are the tests in Bio 2b03 cumulative, including the exam??

It was non cumulative when I took it, although there's always a possibility of that changing.

It's non cumulative. There's too much info for it to be cumulative and in class midterms and stuff.

Originally Posted by Alchemist11

It's hard to say, originally I thought 2B03 was my easiest course (around all of September/most of October) - but then in the last two weeks it's like it totally changed and it seems like EVERYONE is lost right now in class..no one has any idea what's going on.

I stopped going to lecture (5:30pm EFFF THAAATTT) but I've been keeping up with the content. It isn't THAT bad, I have the pdf of the textbook to help and whatnot so I just read the textbook if a pathway is confusing me.

But the general idea is that its a bunch of pathways and cascades and transduction. A bunch.

Originally Posted by Alchemist11

It's non cumulative. There's too much info for it to be cumulative and in class midterms and stuff.

ACTUALLY?!?!?!?!

Whyyy was I in the one class that was messed up?
We had a cumulative 60% exam...Fail
It was also the first and only time we were ever actually tested on course material.

If you're good at memorizing, you should do fine in either course. If you hate labs, I heard a lot of people complaining about the 2A03 labs.