Originally Posted by Jay

U Calgary only recommends it, it's not an official requirement. But the more you take, the better...

Oh okay, thanks for the clarification! I only scanned the admission req's page =/.

I just finished 1B03 in summer school. Honestly, it's not bad. I do believe you can easily get a 10 or above if you do your work. I do not recommend taking 1L03. Though I haven't taken it, I know of a person who did and found it to be a pointless course. If medical school is on your mind, take it and perhaps 1BB3 as well. You need to challenge yourself if you want to be doctor. Also, as mentioned before, 1B03 is requirement for many upper year science courses.

To be fair, we had Sills who was a great prof. I hear 1B03 is harder in the year but I would recommend taking it during the summer unless you only take 1 course. The reason I say this is because though I'm a die hard Sills enthusiast, we definitely rushed the last material. There were 7 questions on a 32 question exam, so 22% that we learned on the Tuesday before our Thursday exam. That's not a situation you want to be in. I found that doing tons and tons of problems wasn't really how I learned the subject material, even though most people do tend to gravitate toward that approach. As others before me have mentioned, physics is something that will come intuitively if you take the time to digest it.

Free body diagrams now provide a sense of calm and peace very much like a Corrinne Bailey Rae song. No I'm kidding but it's much easier to chew on if you think about what you're learning, ask questions, try to learn from multiple sources and for God's sake:

You must learn how to draw the pictures.

The profs say it, the TA's say it, the textbook says it and nobody listens and then you end up trying to memorize a bunch of wave frequency equations. Draw the picture and you won't have to memorize even one because for both 1L03 and 1B03 you get a formula sheet.

I hear Nejat is teaching 1B03 next term but the Master Timetable does tend to change. If so, I would recommend getting physics notes here:

http://physwww.physics.mcmas ter.ca...03s/1b03s.html
http://www.physics.mcmaster. ca/~ksills/Phys1B03/pdfs/

I hear Okon is also a fantastic professor.
Sills has a very minimalist approach to Physics. very "You can do it; don't memorize things - understand them" but apparently he's no longer teaching so I'm sorry that your year lucked out.

And if you're planning to head onward to med school, do keep in mind that these courses are required by some universities because they want you to understand what you're being taught. The simplest application of physics that I can think of is the sinus. heart rhythm which is represented by this wave like function, with the heart itself working like a simple machine.

I understand courses you don't enjoy can be a pain but they're integral to better grasping things like Bio and Chem and physiology which you may really be passionate about.

PLUS Bio 2A03, the animal physio course, requires 1B03 (physics) as of 2011-2012. Take 1B03 and 1BB3 if you feel it necessary to learn the material, not just gain the med school entrance requirements.

They have those to shape potential applicants, not as some arbitrary checklist.

I love physics and I really want to take 1b03, but I hate Calc with a passion and refuse to take/pay for a class I don't want or need just to take physics. Is there anyway around the math prereq for 1b03?

You really should take in in 1st year. As numerous others have said, it will help you on the MCAT. Please don't be under the impression that the prep books will suffice, because although they are great, it really helps to have the background.

Also, it may be a GPA killer for you if you are not good at it but it's better to have a bad mark in first year than to have it in later years. For example, UWO looks only at your 2 best years. For most people first year is a major adjustment so this will be the year with their lowest marks. For Western then, your entire first year will just be void, (i.e. not incl in the GPA calculation).

Also for UofT, they drop a certain number of courses depending on how much univ you've completed. For ex. if you finish 3 years at the time of application, 3 full course equivalents (i.e. 6 courses at Mac) will not be included in your GPA.

I'd say, just suck it up and take it. It won't hurt to take it, but it may hurt you later on if you don't take it.

Also, if its something you just really don't understand, then don't let this be a deterrent. Find someone who can tutor you, or go for extra help. I know that the physics tutorial rooms are available very often, and are essentially empty (except close to test times).

Good luck!!

Originally Posted by crazyfree

I love physics and I really want to take 1b03, but I hate Calc with a passion and refuse to take/pay for a class I don't want or need just to take physics. Is there anyway around the math prereq for 1b03?

You can try emailing them to ask, but really, you're not gonna get very far in physics without calc. Not when everything is an integral or a derivative, even the uncertainties (which you learn in the very first lab) draw on multivariable calculus that isn't taught until the end of 1AA3. There were some people in my physics class taking 1A03 or 1LS3 at the same time as 1B03 physics, and they really struggled. If you just don't want to take calc and don't have a legit reason for not doing the prereq for physics, I doubt they'll let you, especially because you're not likely to take upper year physics courses with a hatred for calc.

Goodnews.inc,

I agree, the material was definitely rushed in the end, which did NOT help on the final exam. But, as you said, if one follows along in class and makes lots of diagrams, then it shouldn't be hard to do well in this course. Not the best course, but found it to be better than CHEM 1A03 and 1AA3 and BIO 1A03.

Originally Posted by nerual

You can try emailing them to ask, but really, you're not gonna get very far in physics without calc. Not when everything is an integral or a derivative, even the uncertainties (which you learn in the very first lab) draw on multivariable calculus that isn't taught until the end of 1AA3. There were some people in my physics class taking 1A03 or 1LS3 at the same time as 1B03 physics, and they really struggled. If you just don't want to take calc and don't have a legit reason for not doing the prereq for physics, I doubt they'll let you, especially because you're not likely to take upper year physics courses with a hatred for calc.

It's not that I hate doing the stuff... I find math fun. I just like it better when I'm using it for something that feels useful (ie physics lol). That and calc takes up precious space in my timetable and precious money in my wallet lol. But difficulty noted, thank you for the advice!