Hey Minnie! It's understandable that you're nervous! i'm going into my 5th year and course selection/ registration STILL makes me a little jittery

To answer your questions,

~first, the best way to pick your courses for first year is to take a look at the course lists for later years, find courses you think you will want to take and make sure you are taking the necessary first eyar prerequisites now. There are slightly different course lists if you are taking Honours Life Sci or jsut the regular B.Sc in Life Science program. You can find a fairly detailed course list for the Honours Life Sci program here and one for the regular B. Sc in Life Sciences program here.

~You can definately take electives from other programs, but if you like, you can take courses from your program as well. (On a personal note, I prefer taking electives from other faculties and programs because they serve as a nice 'break' from my Biology courses). You can find a list of all faculties here, and if you click on each individual one, it will lead you to a list of all programs they offer.

HOWEVER, for picking electives, I suggest you start with the course listing page, find a subject you are interested in, then find out if it offers courses for students in other programs.

For example, I am in Biology. I am interested in taking an Art course as an elective. But if you click on the 'Art' link under course listings, you will see that there is a note saying only students registered in an Art program can take Art courses. Boo. Ok, lets say I decide to take a Classics course as an elective instead. If you click on the 'Classics' link under Course Listings, you will see that they give you a whole list of courses open to students in other programs that they can take as electives. Yay!

It is a little bit time consuming, but it is worth it to find electives in subjects you are interested in.

~Finally, after looking around in the calendar a little bit, it appears to me that Life Science I does not fall into the Science I category, so SOLAR will probably not let you register for the course. I would call the registrar's office to be certain, or you can jsut wait till your registration date and see if SOLAR will let you register for it (although this is the stressful method of doing it).

Hope all this was clear! Let us know if you ahve more questions!

Um, the link to the worksheet is just redirecting me to the Mcmaster home page thing.

Originally Posted by FlyWithMac

Do we register our courses first through SOLAR then choose our timetables?? or is it the other way around??


From reading this article, what I understand is that you don't have to tell the university and register somewhere about your schedule (where you put ur courses on First term or second term). Is that correct?

Nobody answers my question

By picking your courses you inevitably make your timetable.

All of your courses are at specific days and times, thus depending on what section you pick you will have course at a certain time.

Originally Posted by FlyWithMac
Do we register our courses first through SOLAR then choose our timetables?? or is it the other way around??


From reading this article, what I understand is that you don't have to tell the university and register somewhere about your schedule (where you put ur courses on First term or second term). Is that correct?

This article explains a process that can help you prepare your timetable before going into SOLAR and doing the actual course selection.

To pick your courses you use SOLAR. Everyone has a certain date when they are able to begin selecting courses, based on which faculty/program they are in. Once you reach your date to pick courses you will want to rush onto SOLAR and make your selections quickly before they fill up. In order to save time and hassle you'll want to plan your selections before going into SOLAR. This article is what helps you do that.

Once you've selected your courses in SOLAR and you've confirmed your Payment Agreement then you are officially registered!

AFTER SOLAR you will have a timetable AUTOMATICALLY generated for you and available on MUGSI's main page (http://mugsi.mcmaster.ca) by clicking the Personal Timetable link. This will open a popup window with a CALENDAR that has your courses automatically filled into the days/times that you have them.

Does that answer your question? I'll update the article and post this answer in it for those who may be confused.

I've updated the article for 2008-09, be sure to read the updated version as I've added new important information!

when do we start paying our tuition fee?

is there a different value for the same course depending on WHEN you take it?
ie. during the school year or during the summer?

i don't mean as in UNIT value, but when calculating your GPA.

is it possible to switch tutorials? say if i have a tutorial at one time in first term, can i take a different one in second term if it conflicts with another class. (the class the tutorial is for is two terms)

Originally Posted by Quester

is there a different value for the same course depending on WHEN you take it?
ie. during the school year or during the summer?

i don't mean as in UNIT value, but when calculating your GPA.

If I understand you correctly, no. All courses are given the same value (of units) regardless of when you take them.

Courses taken in the summer only affect your cummulative average, and not your sessional average....so courses you take in the summer have no affect on your average for the previous academic session.

Originally Posted by hmac

is it possible to switch tutorials? say if i have a tutorial at one time in first term, can i take a different one in second term if it conflicts with another class. (the class the tutorial is for is two terms)

It depends on the kind of course...and the prof. Sometimes you are only able to do it through the prof, and sometimes they will not grant you permission.

So yes, it is possible, but there are limits.

Originally Posted by Quester

when do we start paying our tuition fee?

If you're doing payment in full (which is the BEST option since you don't pay any interest). Then it is due September 1, 2008. You accept the payment agreement then have until that date to submit to the office a check in the full amount.

OTHER payment options I found in a PDF on the STUDENT ACCOUNTS AND CASHIERS WEBSITE HERE.

See it below:

Please read through all of the information on this page as you will need to indicate which one of the four payment plan options you prefer on your Payment Agreement.

PAYMENT IN FULL

:

• This is your NO INTEREST option!

• All of your fees outlined on your Payment Agreement will be due on September 1, 2008.

• If this deadline is not met, a $35.00 Payment Agreement Default Fee will be assessed to your Student Account

• If you add courses mid session, you will be responsible for paying for them upon registration, otherwise the charges will be subject to interest starting at the end of that month.

INSTALLMENT PLAN (Available to those taking 13 units or more only):

• OSAP friendly! • With the installment plan, a certain calculated amount (based on your total unit count, fee status, type of residence and meal plan– approximately 50% of your fees and indicated on your Payment Agreement when selected – to see how much your Installment amount would be please click on : Installment Amount) is due on or before September 1, 2008 ("initial payment"). If this deadline is not met, a $35.00 Payment Agreement Default Fee will be assessed to your Student Account. • The balance PLUS interest is due on or before January 15, 2009. Please note that your account balance can be paid at any time between September and January 15, 2009. If this deadline is not met, a $35.00 Late Payment Fee will be assessed to your Student Account.

MONTHLY PAYMENT PLAN (MPP) (Available for Fall/Winter Session only)

• The initial payment is a percentage of your fees plus the $35.00 Monthly Payment Plan Administrative Fee. This fee is due on or before September 1, 2008. The balance plus interest is rolled up together and split into equal payments. This exact amount will be calculated for you on your Payment Agreement Payment Schedule


• The payments are made through Post Dated Online Banking Transactions (where you set up McMaster University as a place to pay a bill, use your student id# as the account number) and you post date all six payments. The transactions will remain as "pending" until the date of the transaction and then be automatically sent to your student account on that date) • Upon indicating the MPP on your Payment Agreement you will get IMPORTANT messages outlining your payment schedule, due dates and instructions • A MPP Contract can be found in our "Forms" section of our website and MUST be filled out and mailed back to our office by August 15, 2008. You will also receive e-mail communication regarding this contract later in the summer. • If the contract and initial payment are not submitted to our office by their respective deadlines, a $35.00 Payment Agreement Default Fee will be assessed to your student account.

OTHER:

• If, after reading through all of our payment plan options, you still need more help and information about paying your account through the year, our credit counselors can help • Based on the financial requirements of the student weighed against the financial risk to the University, a deferment of fees agreement MAY be granted. • Indicating "Other" as payment plan on your Payment Agreement tells our office of your intent to come in and discuss your options with us but WILL NOT grant you automatic financial approval. • You must follow up by coming into our office and speaking to a counselor ASAP (but no later than September 1, 2008). A deferment of fees may be an option for you • A $35.00 Deferment fee may be applicable, along with interest if there is a balance at the end of the month, starting in September.

INTEREST:

Interest is charged at an Annual rate of 14.4% (1.2% per month subject to change). A full month's interest is calculated on any balance outstanding on the last day of each month, starting September 30, 2008.

Payment Plan Mini-Checklist

:

• I have read through this Payment Plan Information Sheet
• I have completed the academic registration portion in SOLAR and completed the Payment Agreement
• I have followed up with all Dates and Deadlines
• I have logged onto MUGSI and will continue to check my Student Account

Hi,

I was just wondering if SOLAR works on Macs? Because I wasn't able to complete my res app on my Mac, and instead had to use a PC...

Also, I'm going into social sciences...and SOLAR opens on July 4th for us. Does that mean I dont have to worry about applying until that date??

Okay, I'm super confused right now.
I'm taking commerce in the fall, and I know that one of the math courses had been changed this year. It was advanced functions/calc before, but this year it changed to calc/vectors. I took advanced functions/calc, but when choosing one of the maths it says if you haven't taken calc/vectors then you need to take a second math course during first year. Does advanced functions/calc not mean the same thing?