Hey there!
I'm going to be starting my first year at mac this September and have been stressing out for a week now (all ive done so far this summer ><) about my courses.

So this is what i have FOR NOW:

1 Semester:
Chem 1A03 (3hr lab)
Kin 1Y03 (2hr lab)
Math 1LS3
Bio 1M03 (2hr lab...i think)
Psych 1X03

Second Term:
Enviro 1A03 (1hr lab) (thinking of changing to Microecon)
Chem 1AA3 (3hr lab)
Bio 1A03 (3hr lab)
Psych 1XX3
Physics 1L03 (thinking of changing to 1B03)

Okay so basically the first question:

Enviro or Microecon?
Which one do you think is better to take? Is enviro useful in upper years? (in taking easier electives?) Im confused because i remember taking Economics in grade 10 (price, demand, elasticity; this was in another country) and getting a high 90 but that is that was ALL MEMORIZATION so yeah i'm thinking Microecon would be a risk to take; however, it does seem easy :S. Similarly ,I heard Enviro can get extremely boring at times ("unmotivating") and the thing is it has a lab component which Microecon doesn't. So thats a benefit i guess. Which one do you think ill be able to get a higher grade in? is 12 doable in Enviro? Is Enviro a lot more work than Microecon? :S What do you suggest? (maybe by looking at the courses i will be having the same semester?)

Okay now secondly, Is it better to take Bio 1M03 or 1A03 in first term? Because i've been reading that 1M03 is easier than 1A03 however it does have PBL and a presentation which i dont think im confident in, because PBL will be a new experience which can go well or not :/ so should i take 1M03 second term? since by then ill be more adjusted to university or should i put it in 1st term since or if it is easy to "ease my experience" first semester. What do you suggest about that, which one should i put first term? (again maybe looking at my other courses can help?)

And lastly, The thing thats been stressing me out THE MOST is if i should take Physics 1L03 or 1B03 first year?
This is because a mac graduate advised me take the courses i CURRENTLY have *shown above* and she said NOT to take 1B03 first year as it is difficult and i have to protect my GPA and keep it high but then i found out that ALL of my friends are taking it first year :S (1 of them over summer( and it made me feel like i'm behind. Oh and i have done physics 12 and ended up with an 88....by studying for every test/quiz, and the final the night before without paying attention EVER in class ( i know bad habits, but the teachers notes were also very bad they didnt make any sense and i was going through a weird phase as well ><).

Anyways, AND i studied like that for ALL my grade 12 courses (Except for Calculus, i started starting my hw a week ahead of tests ) so yeah CLEARLY my study habits are HORRIBLE even though i pulled a 90+ with my top 6 but there is a reason why i'm good at cramming which doesnt matter.

So yeah since my study habit aren't very well developed do you think i should take physics 1B03 over summer (heard med schools dont accept that) OR during 1st year instead of 1L03 OR should i follow the advice of the family friend graduate and take it second year?

Cuz im thinking if i take it second year wont i have other "HARD" subjects to be focusing on?

Simply, should i take physics 1L03 or 1B03 first year? (again please look above for other courses ill have second term, as i dont wanna screw up and lower my GPA)

Oh and another thing im not sure if im going to going to Med School or dental school, ive been saying i want to be a dentist for years but then realized i have no idea why.... so yeah i think i should keep my options open.

Sorry for ALL that writing :S its a lot >< but thanks in advance!
(maybe i should make a different thread for each question....)

Originally Posted by lalalola2011

Hey there!
I'm going to be starting my first year at mac this September and have been stressing out for a week now (all ive done so far this summer ><) about my courses.

So this is what i have FOR NOW:

1 Semester:
Chem 1A03 (3hr lab)
Kin 1Y03 (2hr lab)
Math 1LS3
Bio 1M03 (2hr lab...i think)
Psych 1X03

Second Term:
Enviro 1A03 (1hr lab) (thinking of changing to Microecon)
Chem 1AA3 (3hr lab)
Bio 1A03 (3hr lab)
Psych 1XX3
Physics 1L03 (thinking of changing to 1B03)

Okay so basically the first question:

Enviro or Microecon?
Which one do you think is better to take? Is enviro useful in upper years? (in taking easier electives?) Im confused because i remember taking Economics in grade 10 (price, demand, elasticity; this was in another country) and getting a high 90 but that is that was ALL MEMORIZATION so yeah i'm thinking Microecon would be a risk to take; however, it does seem easy :S. Similarly ,I heard Enviro can get extremely boring at times ("unmotivating") and the thing is it has a lab component which Microecon doesn't. So thats a benefit i guess. Which one do you think ill be able to get a higher grade in? is 12 doable in Enviro? Is Enviro a lot more work than Microecon? :S What do you suggest? (maybe by looking at the courses i will be having the same semester?)

Okay now secondly, Is it better to take Bio 1M03 or 1A03 in first term? Because i've been reading that 1M03 is easier than 1A03 however it does have PBL and a presentation which i dont think im confident in, because PBL will be a new experience which can go well or not :/ so should i take 1M03 second term? since by then ill be more adjusted to university or should i put it in 1st term since or if it is easy to "ease my experience" first semester. What do you suggest about that, which one should i put first term? (again maybe looking at my other courses can help?)

And lastly, The thing thats been stressing me out THE MOST is if i should take Physics 1L03 or 1B03 first year?
This is because a mac graduate advised me take the courses i CURRENTLY have *shown above* and she said NOT to take 1B03 first year as it is difficult and i have to protect my GPA and keep it high but then i found out that ALL of my friends are taking it first year :S (1 of them over summer( and it made me feel like i'm behind. Oh and i have done physics 12 and ended up with an 88....by studying for every test/quiz, and the final the night before without paying attention EVER in class ( i know bad habits, but the teachers notes were also very bad they didnt make any sense and i was going through a weird phase as well ><).

Anyways, AND i studied like that for ALL my grade 12 courses (Except for Calculus, i started starting my hw a week ahead of tests ) so yeah CLEARLY my study habits are HORRIBLE even though i pulled a 90+ with my top 6 but there is a reason why i'm good at cramming which doesnt matter.

So yeah since my study habit aren't very well developed do you think i should take physics 1B03 over summer (heard med schools dont accept that) OR during 1st year instead of 1L03 OR should i follow the advice of the family friend graduate and take it second year?

Cuz im thinking if i take it second year wont i have other "HARD" subjects to be focusing on?

Simply, should i take physics 1L03 or 1B03 first year? (again please look above for other courses ill have second term, as i dont wanna screw up and lower my GPA)

Oh and another thing im not sure if im going to going to Med School or dental school, ive been saying i want to be a dentist for years but then realized i have no idea why.... so yeah i think i should keep my options open.

Sorry for ALL that writing :S its a lot >< but thanks in advance!
(maybe i should make a different thread for each question....)

I did not take environmental sci first year, but I heard it wasn't that difficult and I am sure u can pull off a 12 if you work hard. I took econ as a bird course 1st year and it was a huge mistake in the sense that I had no interest in it at all. Econ in my opinion IS NOT a bird course. The exam is difficult and contrary to mainstream beliefs, you do have to study to get a good mark. However, I do recommend you to take the course that you are more interested in because honestly, they are similar in difficulty ever since Dr. Holmes made econ 1b03 harder.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter which term you take 1m03 or 1a03 in, just make sure you dont take both in one term since it will be very difficult for you to manage. Since you are aiming for dent or med, I recommend you to research about the professors in each term and see which one would get you a higher GPA. ("Easy" profs in my opinion include Kajuira, Zhu, and Stone)

Just take physics 1b03 cause physics 1L03 is a waste of your money and time. Physics 1L03 does NOT have a lab portion (cannot be used for med) and it is a super easy course that does not rly prepare you well for 1b03, which is a much harder course. Since you took physics 12, then you have the background knowledge to succeed in 1b03. Physics 1b03 starts from scratch anyways and it is better to just get it over with first year. You have to take physics 1b03 anyways if you want to get into literally most of the second year life sci related programs and since you have to take it anyways, your GPA will be affected either way and it is better to screw up first year than upper years. If your study habits are not great, I recommend you to improve them since unlike high school, you need to keep up with your work constantly and if you fall behind in physics, it would be difficult to study 3 chapters right before your exams.

Since Physics 1L is an easy course and will be very easy for me as i did it in grade 12, do you think i should take it as an elective to boost my GPA? kind of a guaranteed high mark which can balance out my GPA if its negatively affected by Physics 1B (which i hope it doesn't)

Physics 1L03 is basically a grade 12 repeat. If you want to get something out of the course, then go for 1B03. If you want a mark booster, take 1L03. Look at the classes you've posted, it should be very "do-able" to to get 10+ in all your classes given that you improve your work ethics. Simply put, cramming is not a very useful technique for individuals at the university level; but some do find it effective for them.

Both enviro and micro-econ have been taken by people as easy electives. I took micro and found it to be easy, although this was before Holmes made it more difficult. Also, I had never taken an econ/business course before so I took a lot out of it. I know people who did enviro and loved it because it was easy, but the material can also become very dry and boring for others. Both courses are 12able if you put effort in, but I think you should choose a course based on your interest level and what you'll get out of it. (Would you like to learn more about enviro or econ? They will end up being prereqs for other courses in that field).

I would choose the terms based on the profs teaching... they can make or break a course. There have been several recent threads on Bio 1M03 profs that you could look at

You should take physics 1B03. Physics 1L03 is useless for med and dental school. You technically could still take it in first year if you're confident and take physics 1B03 in second, but I found 1L03 didn't help to prepare for 1B03.. you're just delaying what you'll have to take eventually. Instead of taking 1L03, take a course which is easy and something you're actually interested in. You'll be much happier about that mark.

Originally Posted by lalalola2011

Since Physics 1L is an easy course and will be very easy for me as i did it in grade 12, do you think i should take it as an elective to boost my GPA? kind of a guaranteed high mark which can balance out my GPA if its negatively affected by Physics 1B (which i hope it doesn't)

Okay, physics 1L03 is indeed a mark booster, and if you choose it based solely on the fact that it balances out physics 1b03, you basically have to take physics 1b03 in the summer after 1st year. Here are some of the disadvantages for doing summer physics:
-you probably want to take orgo instead.
- some medical schools like U of T give people who didn't take summer courses an advantage. For example, they will drop your lowest 3 or 4 FULL YEAR courses or a total of 18 units or 24 units (depending on how many years you have finished) when they calculate your OSMAS GPA.

If you don't decide to take it in the summer and take it during the year instead, then it really makes no differences, since physics 1b03 will screw up your second year. Plus math 1ls3 and environment/econ will definitely boost your marks up!

1. I took micro
2. It doesn't matter when you take them. They're both incredibly stupid courses that will have to be taken eventually so just suck it up take put them into your schedule where they fit best. I took them both at the same time and survived to tell it. You will to.
3. 1LS3 is a waste of time. Take 1B03.

^am i the only one who enjoyed bio 1m03 >_>

Originally Posted by Silver

^am i the only one who enjoyed bio 1m03 >_>

I enjoyed it! I liked 1A03 too (I had Boreham).

Okay i thought about it even more and since i still need to work on my study habits and i dont want to risk wasting my money and affecting my GPA negatively. I'm not going to be taking Physics 1B03 first year cuz its all gonna be a whole new experience and ill need time to adjust and all.

But now the thing is since Physics 1L03 is a waste of money but will increase my GPA, should i just take microecon instead? problem is i hope i like it...
So basically should i use my money to boost my GPA (by taking physics 1L) or should i use my money and take microecon cuz then that would open up more bird course "doors" in the future. Which one do you think would be a better "risk" to take.

Also, Are there any other good/easy elective courses i can take that you know of?

And i can always change my courses before term 2, right?

Thanks Guys for all your replies!

Oh wait ....in the requirements section it says :
Requirements 30 units:

9 from BIO and Psych
3 from Math 1A03, 1LS3
9 from Life Sciences Course List
3 from physics 1B03, 1L03 ---> DOES THIS MEAN i HAVE to take one of them in my first year?? O_O
6 from Electives



Thanks!

As long as you complete one of the level I programs (even though you are in Life Science), and have the requirements for entry into a Level II program (Which also includes completion of a level I program) then you'll be fine. Whether the programs you want to apply to next year require Physics is your responsibility to find out.

Also, 1B03 isn't all new material. Depending on your school, you may have already learned a lot of the material. First year in general is a lot of review for most students. You should have already learned things like kinematics and dynamics in high school.

As for your study habits, if you just memorized equations then 1B03 will be a bit tougher as it's not just plugging in numbers. A good portion of questions rely on theory as well (Atleast when I took it).

All second year programs say its recommended to have it completed by the end of year one but you'll still be considered for admission without it. However, PHYSICS 1B03 is a prereq for one of the Bio's in level two, which should be that big of a problem since i could have Physics 1B03 in first term second year and that Bio second term second year

Umm i have another question. How hard or how much harder is Physics 1BB3 then Physics 1B03?
Cuz i keep hearing negative things about 1B03 but havnt heard/read anything about Physics 1BB3

Originally Posted by lalalola2011

Umm i have another question. How hard or how much harder is Physics 1BB3 then Physics 1B03?
Cuz i keep hearing negative things about 1B03 but havnt heard/read anything about Physics 1BB3

You learn different material in 1BB3 so you can't directly compare the two.

1B03 should be mostly review for you. Topics are:
Kinematics, newton's laws, momentum, energy (You should have learned all this), then waves, interference, fluids (Which you may or may not have touched upon in high school).

1BB3 is
Circular motion, rotation motion (torque, conservation laws), electric force/field/potential, magnetic field, quantization, atomic physics, nuclear physics. You should have learned some of these in high shcool as well.