Hi, I want to take some courses in the spring/summer so I wanted to ask what you would recommend. I am thinking about going into Life Sciences with Origins Specialization. Any ideas?

1. Should I take hard courses?
2. How many would you recommend per term?

I want to have it easy next year so I am thinking about taking a math or maybe a chem..But would that be a good idea? Would taking 2 courses be too rough? How about taking courses in both spring and summer?

Please post anything you know or have heard about spring/summer courses.

Thanks!

im not sure if origins need this, but most other bio specs do, but take orgo in the summer, it will be 100x easier, trust me you dont want it in the regular year. (that is if you need to and want to take it)

hard courses would be a good idea. that way you can balance out your year with some easy electives ones which will give you time to focus on your main courses during the actual year.

also i think at most your allowed to take 2 per semester (not sure) but i dont recommend taking more than that. but then you might not have all that much time on your hands for things other than school work. you could always just take one courses per term. that way half the time your doing school stuff and the other half you can goof off as much as you want.

last year what i did was i took one hard course, or well relatively average i wouldnt really call hard, and then i also took one easy elective..media 1b03? or something like that. that was over the first term alone and it worked out well.

hope that helps

Originally Posted by Chevalier

im not sure if origins need this, but most other bio specs do, but take orgo in the summer, it will be 100x easier, trust me you dont want it in the regular year. (that is if you need to and want to take it)

hard courses would be a good idea. that way you can balance out your year with some easy electives ones which will give you time to focus on your main courses during the actual year.

also i think at most your allowed to take 2 per semester (not sure) but i dont recommend taking more than that. but then you might not have all that much time on your hands for things other than school work. you could always just take one courses per term. that way half the time your doing school stuff and the other half you can goof off as much as you want.

last year what i did was i took one hard course, or well relatively average i wouldnt really call hard, and then i also took one easy elective..media 1b03? or something like that. that was over the first term alone and it worked out well.

hope that helps

So you took both media 1b03 and the hard course together in one term (2 months) in the spring/summer? I was thinking of doing that too.

And which orgo? Do you mean organic chem 1? 2OA3?

I'm not in science, so I can't give you my opinion regarding that. However, I've taken summer classes for the past two summers. Last year I took 4 classes so I was i school 4 nights a week from 7-10. I also didn't work so that wasn't an issue for me, but I recommend not to take 4 classes (the max that you are allowed) if you're also working full-time! I actually like taking summer courses. I like that the classes are smaller so you get to know your peers better, and also the more intimate environment. However, if you take 4 classes like me, you have to realize that you have to change your entire schedule. Being in class till 10pm can be a struggle, especially if you're taking a boring class, so take something interesting that will help you stay awake! If you know professors, pick an interesting one!

I took 1 peace studies and 1 English class for the spring semester, and 1 history and 1 English class for the summer semester. It's definitely a lot of reading and you need to keep up with it otherwise you will quickly be left behind! Remember, classes are very fast paced because you cover what you normally would learn in 3 lectures in 1 lecture instead! I had 2 essays for each class; they give you a shorter amount of time to do it because semesters are only 8(?) weeks long. If you miss a lecture, you miss A LOT.

Also, I found it sort of depressing when the semesters are done. You only have 2-3 weeks off being the new school year starts so you don't really have that time to recharge for the new year. Summer school isn't for everyone and I highly recommend that if you have a class that you hate, drop it! It will just be a drag and you won't do well. You also only have one week (ie. 2 classes) to drop a class in order for a full refund.

I hope this helps! Good luck.

I think I'm going to take linguistics 1A03 and 1AA3.
For the past two years either they conflicted with my schedule or they were f***ing full!

Originally Posted by AnimeGamer31

So you took both media 1b03 and the hard course together in one term (2 months) in the spring/summer? I was thinking of doing that too.

And which orgo? Do you mean organic chem 1? 2OA3?

yep i took both in one term (so 2months)... also if you take orgo 1 (chem 2OA3) first summer term you might as well finish the second orgo in the summer as well. it will clear up your year a lot and you will have more time to focus on other subjects.

if you do end up taking the orgos in the summer you may want to take just one (+ 1 easy course if you want). this is because you will have a lab every week on top of the 3hr lectures. and orgo takes a lot of practise.

if you want to take 2 courses in one term then i suggest doing one of the media courses, or something fun like astronomy first year. these courses (and there are probably others out there too) are easy and fun, plus media is something which you can apply later on so they are useful too. ^^^ linguistics is also a cool subject too, and its fun using phonetics and such to create your sentences.

Hi, I'm also planning on taking orgo in the summer. Is it recommended to take both orgos at once? I was planning on only taking 2OA3 so that I have the rest of my summer to work/volunteer, then take the 2nd part of orgo during the school year. Oh, and how long is 1 term for the summer?

Originally Posted by winter02

Hi, I'm also planning on taking orgo in the summer. Is it recommended to take both orgos at once? I was planning on only taking 2OA3 so that I have the rest of my summer to work/volunteer, then take the 2nd part of orgo during the school year. Oh, and how long is 1 term for the summer?

http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...-12/pg195.html

Originally Posted by winter02

Hi, I'm also planning on taking orgo in the summer. Is it recommended to take both orgos at once? I was planning on only taking 2OA3 so that I have the rest of my summer to work/volunteer, then take the 2nd part of orgo during the school year. Oh, and how long is 1 term for the summer?

term 1 - april 30 to june 15
term 2 - june 18 to aug 3

also you dont have to take both in the summer. it would be a good idea too cus then youll have everything fresh from orgo 1 and you wont have to re learn it for orgo 2. also i know that this year in the actual year stover taught the first orgo and then capretta is teaching the second orgo. stover imo is not a great prof and well i cant say i learned much from him. but capretta on the other hand is an amazing prof so i think that if you took orgo 1 in summer and orgo 2 in the year you should be fine.

just do both in the summer and use the extra time you'll have during the year to volunteer. or to study. 2nd year has tons of new content whereas 1st year is a lot of review.

Originally Posted by Chevalier

yep i took both in one term (so 2months)... also if you take orgo 1 (chem 2OA3) first summer term you might as well finish the second orgo in the summer as well. it will clear up your year a lot and you will have more time to focus on other subjects.

if you do end up taking the orgos in the summer you may want to take just one (+ 1 easy course if you want). this is because you will have a lab every week on top of the 3hr lectures. and orgo takes a lot of practise.

if you want to take 2 courses in one term then i suggest doing one of the media courses, or something fun like astronomy first year. these courses (and there are probably others out there too) are easy and fun, plus media is something which you can apply later on so they are useful too. ^^^ linguistics is also a cool subject too, and its fun using phonetics and such to create your sentences.

I was thinking of taking Math 1AA3 while taking Organic Chem I/II. I like math and I really enjoyed Math 1A03 so I think I will be okay. I won't be working but prob some volunteering so I do have some time to study still.

Are there no third year courses offered in the summer? I'm going into level 3 biopsych, and i can't seem to find any third year bio or psych courses offered in the summer!

Hey does anyone know who the profs are for summer school orgo (2A03 and 2B03)?

Originally Posted by moekaz8

Hey does anyone know who the profs are for summer school orgo (2A03 and 2B03)?

If the profs aren't currently listed in the timetable now, they should be listed on the Titles website along with the course books. They will be posted on April 9th.

Originally Posted by Tharshni.V

Are there no third year courses offered in the summer? I'm going into level 3 biopsych, and i can't seem to find any third year bio or psych courses offered in the summer!

There are! At least, definitely a few psych ones. I'm not too sure about Bio, though. You'll need to dig around a bit, but not too far.