hey so im going to major in this program and i just had a few questions about the required courses, the years in which to take them, and i also have my course timetable if someone can look over it.

i attached a couple documents here... 2 of which are my timetables for first and second term just if anyone can go over them and if others are in the program to see what we have in common and see what else you guys are taking. - also ull notice i dont have bio 2b03 up there thats cus i already summer schooled it this year. - also i have to admit its not that great of a schedule, a lot of breaks and things all over the place, but it didn't seem like any of the courses fit well side by side or anything so nothing much can be done

i also attached a file called " my bio physio program plan" basically i sort of mapped out all the required courses i need to take each year, and put in some electives here and there which i am interested in.. <<< i have typed up my questions here beside the things i had questions about and highlighted them in yellow if someone who is in my program and in the upper years could go through this and answer some of the questions that would be awesome.

just an overview the 2 major questions i had concerned
- the quantity of 3rd year required courses, which there are a lot of, and i was just wondering if i could do some of them in 4th year and if so which ones would you recommend delaying till 4th (also would it be possible to do some in 2nd year and which ones if so?)
- for the 4th year thesis course, how exactly does this work, its a 9 credit course does that mean its the whole year, and one term it takes up 2 course spots? also how do you go about it and how do u get into a lab (i assume u need to get into a lab to do the thesis right?)

anyways thats all..... if there are others in bio physio and if you dont mind feel free to post your schedules i love to see who else is in my lectures,
also up upper year bio physio students have any tips or suggestions please feel free to post too

thanks a lot
~C

- You can take some 3rd year courses in 4th year. Watch for pre-reqs though. Some people did 3ZZ3 in 4th year, others deferred 3P03 but not advisable if you want to do your thesis in cell physiology. I didn't find 3P03 difficult at all. You don't have to take all the 3rd year courses in the physio list... I definitely didn't take histology, vertebrate anatomy, evolution or 3G03

4th year thesis is 1 year long. I wrote an article here: http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=3510 8

1. The majority of science students take STATS 2B03. Also, it is a requirement for your program, HTH SCI 2A03 is not (why take something that you do not need to take, unless you enjoy stats). STATS 2B03 is not a hard course and it is very possible to do well.

2. I would recommend taking 2nd year courses in 2nd year. You may not have all the prereqs to do 3rd year courses.

3. Your thesis will be very heavy, especially if it is lab based. My advice would be to get courses with labs out of the way in 3rd year. I would also like to point out that Histology and Bio 3F03 are no longer offered. They replaced both of these courses with Bio 3XL3. I would also recommend taking Bio 4T03 as your choice in 3rd year (it is offered every other year) as you plan on taking Bio 3P03.

4. In fourth year it will be your choice to decide how many courses you will take in either first or second term. I suggest doing four in first and three in the second, as the majority of your project will be completed during second term. Your thesis requires at least a minimum of 15 hrs per week. If you think about it, this is almost equivalent to the number of class hours you would spend doing 5 courses. You will want to go light in 4th year.

5. The key is to balance your course load.

I wanted to take both 3f03 and histology in 3rd year =(

EDIT:

Since those are no longer offered...will 3xl3 be apart of the physiology course list?

I would take STATS 2B03 instead of HTH SCI 2A03.

1) STATS 2B03 is required for your program.

2) You'll want to have the same classes as your Physiology peers, then you can all get together to work on STATS! If you take HTH SCI 2A03, you'll be with a group of people that you only share 1 (or possibly a few more) classes with.


H.L. pretty much explained everything I was thinking of.

Originally Posted by Mohit

I wanted to take both 3f03 and histology in 3rd year =(

EDIT:

Since those are no longer offered...will 3xl3 be apart of the physiology course list?

Bio 3F03 is the antirequisite for Bo 3XL3. This is the second year that they have not offered either Histology or Bio 3F03. My guess is that there is not enough funding to run labs for histology and that the course was not popular enough with students (it is a challenging subject).

thats so wierd that those 2 courses arent offered yet they are still on the physio list in the calender and i cant seem to find the new course 3xl3 on there either, but thanks for that ill have to take some course out and add that in.

also for stats 2b03, four physio yes its required but you can take hth sci 2a03 in its place too, itll still count towards that required credit (or so ive been told) though that point on being in the same stats with other physio ppl is a good one

also ..

umm i forgot but ill add on when i remember

Make sure you're looking at the new course calender. 3XL3 is on there.

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...12/pg1543.html

ahh i c.... for somereason when i type calender into the search on mcmasters website i always get into the 2010-2011 calender...thanks though

Originally Posted by H.L.

3........ I would also recommend taking Bio 4T03 as your choice in 3rd year (it is offered every other year) as you plan on taking Bio 3P03.
.

hey HL sorry but i dont get what you mean here can u explain

Originally Posted by Chevalier

hey HL sorry but i dont get what you mean here can u explain

On the physiology course list, you are required to take either Bio 4T03 (neurobiology) or Bio 4X03 (environmental physiology). If you take Bio 3P03, this is one of the pre-reqs for Bio 4T03.

If you enjoy Bio 3P03, I would highly recommend Bio 4T03 and it is only offered every other year, so you can take it in your 4th year. Last year, the course was divided between Dr. Fahnestock and Dr. Nurse (he also teaches 3P03 ) who are both very good professors albeit with different teaching styles.

Originally Posted by R.L.

On the physiology course list, you are required to take either Bio 4T03 (neurobiology) or Bio 4X03 (environmental physiology). If you take Bio 3P03, this is one of the pre-reqs for Bio 4T03.

If you enjoy Bio 3P03, I would highly recommend Bio 4T03 and it is only offered every other year, so you can take it in your 4th year. Last year, the course was divided between Dr. Fahnestock and Dr. Nurse (he also teaches 3P03 ) who are both very good professors albeit with different teaching styles.

Regarding Bio 4T03, it's not offered this year, so it'll be offered in 2012/2013 but not the following year, so plan it well if you intend to take the course

re: sara haha yea i saw that fortunately itll be offered again when im in 4th year which is pretty convineiant

also regarding the 3zz3, that is only worth 3 credits but its both terms if im not mistaken right? y is that is it cus maybe there isnt that much of a work load in it or something, cus i dont see why they would have a 2 term course with lots of stuff in it only be worth 3 credits

Originally Posted by Chevalier

re: sara haha yea i saw that fortunately itll be offered again when im in 4th year which is pretty convineiant

also regarding the 3zz3, that is only worth 3 credits but its both terms if im not mistaken right? y is that is it cus maybe there isnt that much of a work load in it or something, cus i dont see why they would have a 2 term course with lots of stuff in it only be worth 3 credits

Great, just making sure. Also, I thought you were in third year as it says on your account. My bad!

As for Bio 3ZZ3, I assume they want it both terms for consistency and to be able to build up the skills over a longer time period. But I also thought of the fact that it my have a lower workload, especially since it's 2 hrs/week (with 2 hours sort of "extra" or used for the midterm and such). I really hope that's the reason why it's only 3 units! Otherwise, the semester with 6 courses might be a little brutal DX

haha woops i didnt really put in my actual year, i should chage that...maybe later, and yea i hope the bio 3zz3 is just cus its a lighter workload (though on the discription it says lots of guest speakers and stuff) so yea... too bad there arent any 4th years on MI or 3rd that are in physio and would have to take this