Hey guys,

I'm really confused about what to do. I took chem 1A03 and it's already really screwing me over (have no idea what the prof is saying). The reason for that is because in grade 12 I took chem as an online course (which is obviously a piece of cake with your books open).. If I wanted too, I can actually work hard and do good in chem at university, but then that would just waste my time for other courses.

So, I was wondering whether or not I can still drop chem 1A03. And if I can, what is the percentage that they take from my tuition for that course. I've already passed the deadline for add/drop but for canceling it's November 12th. Thanks!

Mohammad Younas
Social Sciences
!st Year

Keep the course, work hard and prove that you can do it and trust me You can do it ... its not that hard !

but if you really want to drop it get an appointment with your academic advisor and ask about the procedure.

Since the deadline is Nov 12, wait until Nov then decide if its really worth canceling. Might end up with a good mark that you wanna keep.

Well, CHEM 1A03 is a prerequisite for a lot of second year programs. I would say keep the course unless you're ABSOLUTELY sure you won't need it.
Here is what I found on the students accounts and cashiers website:

"CANCELLED COURSES – Any course cancelled AFTER the last day to register within a term. Cancelled courses remain on your student record and are indicated as “cancelled”. Cancelled courses are subject to cancellation fees, and may have other financial consequences (i.e. Reduced OSAP entitlement, loss of Entrance Scholarship or MSU Supplementary Fees)."
http://www.mcmaster.ca/bms/student/pdf/SAC_glossary.pdf

So, you're better off taking the course. If you don't understand what the prof is saying, you're not alone! Read the textbook, I found it really helpful. Read the text before coming to class, and I assure you, you will understand everything much better. Read your notes before coming to class as well. It's easy to do well in this course if you keep up with everything.

DON'T CANCEL IT!

Why? Because I did and I'm pretty much messed up.

1) Go talk to an academic advisor in your faculty (I'm guessing it's Science). See if it will affect your OSAP, and what else you could add instead to make up for the 3 credits this term (ask if it's possible to add it on a PAPER FORM << exact words, k?).

2) Ask the advisor how you would find out how much of your tuition for the course you'd get back.

3) Check your desired (and even UNdesired but related) second-year program requirements and make sure none of them are Chem 1AA3. Then check that none of the courses WITHIN THAT PROGRAM require Chem 1AA3 (because you need 1A03 to take 1AA3 right...).

***That's what I didn't do, and now I'm stuck taking the "ecology" type biology courses instead of anything else (because without 1AA3 I CAN'T) to meet my required number of courses for bio. No one told me this, but if I looked hard enough I would have found that out.

4) Even if it's okay to drop the course with all of that, get a second opinion. Go to the academic office AGAIN (Rita Campbell, she gives you the shit straight-up, no two ways about it. Some other ladies there are like "It's okay if you think it's okay because it doesn't affect your enrollment/eligibility/OSAP etc" and that's not what I was looking for). Drop-in hours (Science) are from 1:00pm-3:30pm every day, and you can make appointments if you call/walk in.

5) If it's not okay to drop it for whatever reason, continue. Study with others, make a smart friend in the class that will help you, call other older students that you might now, or get together with a bunch of friends and have a group study session (really helpful!). Visit the prof's office hours and email TAs for help.

* If all of that doesn't work by the first midterm, and you fail it, get a tutor (http://careers.mcmaster.ca/tutors) if you can afford it, maybe for some cram sessions before exams and help on assignments or even regular lesson-like sessions.

6) If you fail the second midterm, I suggest you drop ONLY then.


You're right, it sapped up my energy and time and that's why I dropped it (pretty late too), but it does have it's consequences, which you should look at first. Try hard, REALLY hard, and if that fails try again. Only after that, when you are pretty sure that you would fail the course (like me), then drop it.


Hope that helps

It's your 2-3 week of school.. you're probably just feeling overwhelmed.

Don't give up on things so easily. >_<

why did you take chemistry in the first place, do you see yourself going into a program that needs chemistry, i dont know maybe you do but i doubt a second year social sciences program needs chemistry, its your education find out where you what you wanna do in life and how

I personally think that you should cancel it, and take in the summer.. Doing both chems in the summer will allow you to focus on both those subjects. Trust me I wish I had done that. Because I had kept them during the school year and they always seems to be the last subject on my list, so I never ended up doing well in it.

But if you wanted to stick it out until the first midterm, see how you are doing so far, if you don't think you can handle the stress then don't do it. Do it in the summer.

This is just my opinion