Hi

I will be coming to McMaster this fall for life science and I was hoping I can get some notes/tests/lectures or anything that can be of some help so I can prepare in the summer. I want to go to medical school and I know grades are important. With that said I hear lots of tragic stories about kids who have 90+ average in high school who fail things in first year. I don't want this to happen to me as this will ruin my average so I want to prepare ahead of time if possible. I already got some material from my cousin but his stuff is 6 years old and I assume a lot has changed. So if anyone has any material they are willing to share or know where I can get very similar things it will be appreciated.

Thanks for your time

Andrew

you dont need anyones notes. pretty much all first year classes provide you with the notes. it is a big change but you will be provided lots of support to help you succeed. it will come down to you and just you. other peoples notes will not help you. believe me.

Enjoy your summer and don't spend most of your time studying in the summer. When I was coming to McMaster last fall, I wanted to get ahead and study in the summer as well. I got lazy and didn't which was a good thing, since most of stuff during the first term was review. Also, I agree with Jason, other people's notes will not help you since it is better to make your notes. Also, most first year notes are "skeleton" notes and you just go to lecture and fill in the blanks.

yea, and the only people who i saw failing were ones who didnt study. pretty much all first year assignments and labs are easy to do well in and are generally mark boosters. every course i had didn't require much time into these labs/assignments/presentations. midterms and finals are what i saw myself and others struggle with. you just need to study ahead. you cant wait until a day before a test to study anymore if you wish to do well. the ones who studied a night, or not at all, were the ones who had the poor grades.

Originally Posted by AndrewKim94

Hi

I will be coming to McMaster this fall for life science and I was hoping I can get some notes/tests/lectures or anything that can be of some help so I can prepare in the summer. I want to go to medical school and I know grades are important. With that said I hear lots of tragic stories about kids who have 90+ average in high school who fail things in first year. I don't want this to happen to me as this will ruin my average so I want to prepare ahead of time if possible. I already got some material from my cousin but his stuff is 6 years old and I assume a lot has changed. So if anyone has any material they are willing to share or know where I can get very similar things it will be appreciated.

Thanks for your time

Andrew

Relax, and keep an open mind. Med school isn't the only thing out there--most life sci students enter thinking they want to do med school, but by the end most of them won't even apply. If you do still want do go into med school after 3rd or 4th year, grades aren't everything. I've seen people with 12 averages (a 4.0) get rejected. They're looking for well-rounded people. You're much better off spending the summer doing something else rather than studying.

if u realy want, review grade 12 chem. tahts most of 1st sem chem for eng/lifesci

I just finished first year and honestly, it's not that bad
I spent more time on youtube than reading the textbooks and still did well
don't stress yourself lol

maybe some advice? Enjoy the sleep this summer! God knows I could've used some more this year.

but seriously, first year isn't hard & it's mainly just review of grade 12 chem and physics, and the bios/calc aren't that hard but definitely challenging. Don't stress this summer, enjoy the weather!

Learn to study during the summer, just pick anything, and get into the habit of spending a set amount of time doing it.. it doesnt matter what, just make sure you train to resist getting distracted (internet, movies, games, blah blah).

when i got to university, i started to procrastinate a lot (i think partially due to independence and my roommate with bad habits), so i suffered by gaming a lot, which resulted in cramming all the material before my exam (i'm actually doing it as i type this haha). if anything, you could have a look at bio 1m03. but you'll probably fall asleep reading the textbook courses in first year weren't as bad... to an extent i thought the content that was tested in high school was a bit more difficult. Don't make the mistake of becoming distracted by your peers and be able to discipline yourself. you'll tend to fall behind if you 'let things slide'. If you can get over this bad habit. you'll have enough time to get involved with clubs/social life fine.

It's all about balance. Just do your work, study ahead of time, focus in lecture, eat stuff that isnt crap on occasion, play some sports, and most importantly relax. If you manage your time well University honestly doesn't seem that difficult but when you think back to all the stuff you learned you will realize that there's a reason some people don't make it.

Also, as said above you will get all you need to succeed!

Originally Posted by RyanC

Learn to study during the summer, just pick anything, and get into the habit of spending a set amount of time doing it.. it doesnt matter what, just make sure you train to resist getting distracted (internet, movies, games, blah blah).

this is pretty key. i always got distracted every 5 minutes, after every question, after every sentence, very many times. if you can learn to study effectively, you will be very well off.

^LOL same here
10 mins break on youtube always end up being a 2 hr break...
stupid recommendation list

Opencourseware always works well: http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm or http://www.ocwconsortium.org /