Hey, so im entering the Life Sciences I program starting Sept. 2011 and was wondering if anyone had any tips on the courses i am going to take:
Bio 1AO3 and 1MO3
Physics 1BO3 and 1LO3
Chem 1AO3 and 1AA3
Kin 1YO3
Math ILS3
And any suggestions on the other 2 courses i still need. Psych 1XX3 for example, is it worth taking this course, or is it a GPA killer? I was thinking of taking Earth Sci 1GO3 and Stats 2BO3 (mainly because i hear it is very similar to Data Management in Grade 12), but it is probably best to just save that course for second year. Provided i do take it second year, any suggestion for another "easier" course to take during first year. Thanks alot!

Originally Posted by philkolb31

Hey, so im entering the Life Sciences I program starting Sept. 2011 and was wondering if anyone had any tips on the courses i am going to take:
Bio 1AO3 and 1MO3
Physics 1BO3 and 1LO3
Chem 1AO3 and 1AA3
Kin 1YO3
Math ILS3
And any suggestions on the other 2 courses i still need. Psych 1XX3 for example, is it worth taking this course, or is it a GPA killer? I was thinking of taking Earth Sci 1GO3 and Stats 2BO3 (mainly because i hear it is very similar to Data Management in Grade 12), but it is probably best to just save that course for second year. Provided i do take it second year, any suggestion for another "easier" course to take during first year. Thanks alot!

You probably will not get into 1Y03, everyone wants to take that course. You should look into second year programs, I don't remember but I think Psych 1X03 is required for some of them. Stats 2B03 will also be hard for a first year to get into, it's even hard for second years to get into.

Most people do well in Econ 1B03 and 1BB3.

Also, difficulty is subjective. So take others advice with a grain of salt.

Edit: Also look in the course reviews. There should be tons of information for first year courses.

Thanks alot, the course reviews are very good! Also I know its not required, but if you take 1 econ course, is it best to take the other? And if I just wanted to take one, i would be taking Macro (1BB3), is that a bad decision?

A lot of us have taken these courses, so definitely check out the course reviews here under "1st year courses" and feel free to ask if you have any specific questions about any of these courses.

Originally Posted by philkolb31

Thanks alot, the course reviews are very good! Also I know its not required, but if you take 1 econ course, is it best to take the other? And if I just wanted to take one, i would be taking Macro (1BB3), is that a bad decision?

From what I've heard, Micro (1B03) is easier, although I heard 1BB3 isn't much harder provided you have some interest in it and do the work of course

Very good! Micro seems to be a bit easier according to most of the other reviews, looks to be a better option for me, i have no huge interest in business and all that, but i would defiantly like to atleast understand whats going on

Originally Posted by philkolb31

Very good! Micro seems to be a bit easier according to most of the other reviews, looks to be a better option for me, i have no huge interest in business and all that, but i would defiantly like to atleast understand whats going on

Honestly when it comes to first year electives, you can take pretty much anything! From languages, philosophy, geography, health and aging, anthropology, and the list goes on, so I'm sure you can definitely find something you like if Econ isn't exactly your #1 choice. But of course, anything is do-able and from the people I know who took it with no interest in the subject matter, some of them ended up with really good marks and others who just found it boring/didn't do the work weren't so lucky.. Oh, look up under "Forums" the course outlines to try and get a better idea of the courses! And be sure to have a back-up just in case your first choice ends up as full on SOLAR!

I'm not sure if you've overlooked this or not, but the undergraduate calendar shows you courses you must take. For example, in Life Science one you need "9 units from BIOLOGY 1A03, 1M03, PSYCH 1X03, 1XX3". As you can see, each of those 4 courses are worth 3 units, denoted by the 3 at the end of the course code. 9 units means you must take 3 of those courses. You've chosen to take Bio 1A03, Bio 1M03, but not psych 1X03 (psych 1XX3's prerequisite is psych 1X03), so you've got one more compulsory course to choose to take.

As for the other courses you've chosen, they seem sound to me. It's probably going to be the same for a lot of people, so you can get study groups together and what not easily. If you're at lost at what to pick next, choose the ones that you are even remotely interested in. Or consider what might be useful for the second year program you are deciding to apply to. I remember for the chemistry program, they recommended that you take math 1B03.

Yes, I wanted to add that Psych 1X03 is compulsory. It's also the prerequisite for Psych 1XX3, which many Life Scis took in first year, but it can be avoided (unless you want to go into psychology or take more psychology courses). Psych 1XX3 is 'harder' than 1X03 in the sense that you have the web lectures and tutorials that were part of 1X03, with an added live lecture with the prof (it's once every week). It's also more science-based, getting into neuroscience, evolution, and development. It does require more work than 1X03, but it isn't incredibly complex.

A lot of people also took micro and macro econ. Macro is considered the harder one, because it requires more work and involves an understanding of concepts (banking system, stock market etc). You don't necessarily need micro to do macro, but the first part of macro is a quick run-through of micro concepts. When I took micro in first term, it was reallly easy, but pretty boring (I have no business background). In second term, the prof made it harder. But taking micro and macro was useful for me because I finally understood how the banking system/stock market worked etc. (And they weren't as heavy as some other courses).

Originally Posted by rkb12

Yes, I wanted to add that Psych 1X03 is compulsory. It's also the prerequisite for Psych 1XX3, which many Life Scis took in first year, but it can be avoided (unless you want to go into psychology or take more psychology courses). Psych 1XX3 is 'harder' than 1X03 in the sense that you have the web lectures and tutorials that were part of 1X03, with an added live lecture with the prof (it's once every week). It's also more science-based, getting into neuroscience, evolution, and development. It does require more work than 1X03, but it isn't incredibly complex.

A lot of people also took micro and macro econ. Macro is considered the harder one, because it requires more work and involves an understanding of concepts (banking system, stock market etc). You don't necessarily need micro to do macro, but the first part of macro is a quick run-through of micro concepts. When I took micro in first term, it was reallly easy, but pretty boring (I have no business background). In second term, the prof made it harder. But taking micro and macro was useful for me because I finally understood how the banking system/stock market worked etc. (And they weren't as heavy as some other courses).

The first four (I think) chapters of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics are the same, so that sentence works the other way around as well. Macroeconomics is slightly more difficult, I'd agree. O'Shaughnessy writes a much harder test compared to Holmes - if Holmes is teaching Microeconomics next year still, I'd recommend it.