Hi, I'm entering the Hons B.Sc Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour program this fall and I have a few questions regarding course selection. I'm hoping that someone who has taken these courses and/or is in the program can share some insight. Here's the schedule I'm planning so far:

TERM ONE: Linguistics 3I03, Psych 2AP3, Psych 2F03, Psych 2H03, Psych 2RA3
TERM TWO: Biology 2B03, Linguistics 3II3, Psych 2E03, Psych 2RB3, Psych 2TT3

My main questions are:
1. Is this a manageable workload? I definitely have a lot less class time compared to when I was in Life Science I and had lots of labs and tutorials, but a couple of the classes (Psych 2E03 and 2F03) look extremely interesting, yet a bit intimidating.

2. Will I be at a disadvantage taking 2 3rd-year linguistics courses (syntax and semantics) in my 2nd year? I had planned on taking phonetics and phonology; however, phonology conflicts with Psych 2E03. I got 12s in both Linguistics 1A03 and 1AA3 and I'm hoping to do a minor in linguistics, but I'm still worried about whether I'll be able to handle courses at a 3rd-year level.

3. I read previously that it is not wise to take more than 3 courses in your field of concentration each semester because midterms and assignment/essay due dates will always overlap. I really want to take Psych 2AP3 because this is the aspect of psychology that I find the most interesting, so would it be okay to take the class this year or should I wait until 3rd or 4th year?


I know that it's hard to give me advice considering only I know my strengths/weaknesses, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

Psych 2F03 and 2E03 overlap a lot so if you wanted to just take one, you wouldn't be missing out on too much. I preferred 2F03 even though it was tougher

Unfortunately I have to take both 2E03 and either 2F03 or 2N03 to fulfill my course requirements:


6 units PSYCH 2RA3, 2RB3
3 units from PSYCH 2D03, 2F03, 2N03
9 units PSYCH 2E03, 2H03, 2TT3
0-3 units from CHEM 1A03, PHYSICS 1B03 or 1L03 if not completed in Level I
9-12 units Electives

In my experience of being in second year and taking 3rd year Linguistics courses, it's really not that bad. In fact, I was taking first year psych at the same time, and psych had a bigger workload (We know that's because Dr. Kim's a little crazy). However, I took phonology and child language acquisition. I hear the prof for syntax is not all that great, and that it isn't that easy of a class. Semantics will be taught by Dr. Anderson who is a good prof so it should be okay. It's upto you honestly, but I think you'll be fine. I know a lot of people who take psych & upper year linguistics courses and do fine.

Ohh okay, didn't know that. Well anyway, after you take 2F03, 2E03 is a lot of recap and a pretty easy course.

Originally Posted by Harlequin

Ohh okay, didn't know that. Well anyway, after you take 2F03, 2E03 is a lot of recap and a pretty easy course.

That takes a bit of the pressure off then! Both courses seem really fascinating but I can tell that the content might be a bit difficult, so I'm glad there's some overlap.

Originally Posted by feonateresa

In my experience of being in second year and taking 3rd year Linguistics courses, it's really not that bad. In fact, I was taking first year psych at the same time, and psych had a bigger workload (We know that's because Dr. Kim's a little crazy). However, I took phonology and child language acquisition. I hear the prof for syntax is not all that great, and that it isn't that easy of a class. Semantics will be taught by Dr. Anderson who is a good prof so it should be okay. It's upto you honestly, but I think you'll be fine. I know a lot of people who take psych & upper year linguistics courses and do fine.

I think Dr. Kucerova is teaching syntax; I actually had her for 1AA3 last semester. It seemed that everyone disliked her as a prof but I thought she was fine, so hopefully syntax won't be too bad if I choose to take it. How was child language acquisition? I was contemplating taking that too.

Originally Posted by _Mike

I think Dr. Kucerova is teaching syntax; I actually had her for 1AA3 last semester. It seemed that everyone disliked her as a prof but I thought she was fine, so hopefully syntax won't be too bad if I choose to take it. How was child language acquisition? I was contemplating taking that too.

Whoa, Kucerova taught 1AA3 last year? -- Oh wait, I did hear about that. Apparently she taught you guys stuff that is normally taught in 3rd year, but anyway.

Child Language Acquisition is a pretty interesting class. Here's a review I wrote for it a few months back: http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...6.html?t=25266

The major theme throughout it, is if being able to communicate in the languages that we do is innate or learned (i.e. nature vs. nurture). You learn about the stages children go through, from when they are born until they reach 'adult'-like speaking and language skills.

Dr. Anderson is a great lecturer, I'll give you that. We had two projects, that dealt with analyzing data sets and writing short papers about them - as well as a midterm and a final. The midterm was mostly short answer and m/c and was easy, I aced that one. The final is a different story, same format but the TA (there's one TA for the entire class) tended to mark things really hard (hence why people didn't do all that well on the projects either). You were also assigned a group, and a date where you had to collaborate and write a lecture summary - then the prof would release these summaries and you could study off of them.

You learn about children's phonetics, morphology, syntax, phonology and semantics - I think pragmatics was thrown in there too. Oh, and some psycholinguistics also plays a role. Overall it's great, just go to class - it helps a lot. :]

Originally Posted by feonateresa

Whoa, Kucerova taught 1AA3 last year? -- Oh wait, I did hear about that. Apparently she taught you guys stuff that is normally taught in 3rd year, but anyway.

Child Language Acquisition is a pretty interesting class. Here's a review I wrote for it a few months back: http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...6.html?t=25266

The major theme throughout it, is if being able to communicate in the languages that we do is innate or learned (i.e. nature vs. nurture). You learn about the stages children go through, from when they are born until they reach 'adult'-like speaking and language skills.

Dr. Anderson is a great lecturer, I'll give you that. We had two projects, that dealt with analyzing data sets and writing short papers about them - as well as a midterm and a final. The midterm was mostly short answer and m/c and was easy, I aced that one. The final is a different story, same format but the TA (there's one TA for the entire class) tended to mark things really hard (hence why people didn't do all that well on the projects either). You were also assigned a group, and a date where you had to collaborate and write a lecture summary - then the prof would release these summaries and you could study off of them.

You learn about children's phonetics, morphology, syntax, phonology and semantics - I think pragmatics was thrown in there too. Oh, and some psycholinguistics also plays a role. Overall it's great, just go to class - it helps a lot. :]

Thanks a ton! It doesn't surprise me that she taught us 3rd-year stuff, seeing as we spent so long on the syntax unit and it got more complicated than I expected for a 1st-year course haha. Dr. Anderson actually gave us a guest lecture about child language acquisition and she did seem pretty good. Hmm...seems like I have some decision-making to do, but at least I have until the 14th!