Which required courses were the hardest for you during First-Year Engineering? By that I mean, which courses had the biggest work load, which courses are toughest to get good grades, etc.? Thanks!

Also, I'm doing a Headstart course this summer, but I don't know if I should do 1C03 or 1P03. I'd like to do the one that will be the hardest during the actual school year.

Finally, I'm not quite sure on what exactly a tutorial is. Thank you in advance.

prolly math 1zc3, mainly coz of the profs, and physics e03 and d03.

And in my case 1d04. Never liked programming.

A tutorial is typically where the TA will sorta go over the main ideas taught in lecture and prolly do a few questions as examples. They "may" even ask u to do a question n hand it in at the end of class for mark. Its a good idea to go, keeps the concept fresh in your mind, and overall helps you to get it better.

I wouldn't advise doing the headstart program because you are just putting yourself at risk when it comes to getting into some 2nd year programs like civil and mechanical.
This is the case because at mac it's competitive to get into some second year programs and you need certain points to get into some programs.

Student A:
6*34 units = 204 points
Student B:
6*37 units = 222 points

As you can see student B who did not drop/fail anything will get into civil/mechanical (if the required points are 222 that year) and student A will not because he didn't have a full course load.
In first year engineering your gonna take 37 units (including the electives) so I highly advise you to not drop/fail anything because your just putting yourself at risk. That's why I am against the headstart program, because your just making it harder for yourself to get into some programs. I am not saying that all people who drop/fail/do the headtsrat program can't get into their preferable engineering program, they can, it is just gonna be harder for them and they have to try harder than their peers.
By the way 1 course is 3 units so 12 courses in first year engineering would be:
12*3 = 36 units, but because programming (1d04) is a 4 unit course its a total of 37 units in first year.
After first year some courses are 4/5 units...its normal !

If you have a free choice then you don't have to worry about what I just wrote and you can go ahead with the headstart program ! But make sure you don't fail anything because then you will lose that free choice:/
_____________________ ___
Difficulty:

Difficulty depends on the person and his abilities, a lot of my friends dropped programming but I kept it and found it enjoyable and not that hard. I would say physics 1e03 (the eliminator!) is gonna be a challenge, I found it kind of difficult and that was the case with a lot of other students. The exam is 50% so make sure you try really hard during the term, because a lot of people dropped like crazy after the exam !
Physics 1d03 & 1e03 have capa and capa takes too much time to complete, but i would recommend doing it because some test questions are just pulled from there !
Engineer 1c03-- practice a lot with inventor and free hand sketching.
Engineer 1d04-- just keep programming until you get the hang of it.
Math-- just do your homework and the sample tests that are provided.
Chem 1e03-- just do the tutorial assignments and the old tests that he posts. Feel free to refer to the book if you come across difficult concepts.
Matls 1m03-- same as chem 1e03..ohh and if you have Dr.Zurob make sure you go to class !
Engineer 1p03-- work hard on the project.

Profs:
math: Dr. Childs or Dr.McLean
Physics: Dr. Okon is good
Matls: Dr. Zurob is good

___________________
Tutorials:

Math: a ta will just explain some concepts and take up some hard problems from the homework.
Physics: You work in groups on some assignments..they also give you a quiz (the question is pulled from the capa problems).
Chem: for us we didn't have any, but the prof posted "tutorial" assignments just for practise.
Engineer 1co3: They changed it after my year so now you have tests in the tutorials. The ta in the tutorial usually explains some concepts.
Engineer 1d04: the ta explains some programming concepts.
Engineer 1p03: The ta will talk for a bit and then you get with your group to work on the project.

Welcome to the family All the best !

You can still do headstart and just take more electives to make up 37 units

Originally Posted by MacPack

You can still do headstart and just take more electives to make up 37 units

I am not sure if you can do that...because the 31 units that will be counted towards your second year admissions average are the normal first year engineering courses, so I don't think you can take electives to make up for the lost ones that you did in the headstart program.

You must have completed 31 units of the following required courses:
Chem 1E03
Engineer 1A00, 1C03, 1D04, 1P03
Matls 1M03
Math 1ZA3, 1ZB3, 1ZC3
Physics 1D03, 1E03
http://www.eng.mcmaster.ca/eng1/requirements.html

Materials and Chemistry are the hardest ones. I think everyone will agree with me on that one. As a proof you might wanna check the averages. But materials is harder.

Math was alright, if you do your homework.

Physics is alright too, easier than math actually because of all the extra practice provided.

1P03 requires a lot of reading. Otherwise it easy.
1D04 is easy for some, hard for others. I personally liked it.
1C03 is easy.

By the way. Make sure your math prof speaks English. That makes things a lot easier.

It depends on your strengths and weaknesses.

I was terrible at art and visualization, c03 was hard for me. I was also terrible at physics. Programming will give you some trouble if you aren't good at logic but with time you can pick it up easily. Many people have trouble with math (I didn't for first year)

Originally Posted by Twinkle

Garbage

Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. I thought materials and chemistry were a joke, and was dying at 1E03 and the hand drawing of 1C03. Don't take advice from others for difficulty, since it is individual.

Either way, do what you want. The loss of one course in your semester, especially one with a group project will save you loads of hassle and stress. I'd say go for it.

Thanks for the replies! By the way I have free choice so from what I understand it doesn't really matter what my gpa is as long as I don't fail any courses. Or do I still need to maintain a certain gpa to keep free choice??

Originally Posted by lkaemmer20

Thanks for the replies! By the way I have free choice so from what I understand it doesn't really matter what my gpa is as long as I don't fail any courses. Or do I still need to maintain a certain gpa to keep free choice??

You need to maintain a 4.00 (60%) in first year engineering to remain in the program. If you have the free choice feel free to do the headstart program and lighten up your course load in first year !

Forgot to mention this about the free choice:

Please note: “Free Choice” does not apply to our Electrical and Biomedical Engineering, Management, Society or International Studies programs.
http://future.mcmaster.ca/programs/engineering/

@Jimmy,

Im pretty sure u can make up for the lost courses from headstart with electives to reach 37 units. All courses u take as a fully registered student count towards ur GPA. They will most definitely count towards ur first year avg.

Don't trust me on this but, if u take more electives now (3 or 4, as opposed to just 2), u don't have to worry about the ones that arise later in ur program. At least that what I think and I'm doing now in summer school.

Originally Posted by jon.john23

@Jimmy,

Im pretty sure u can make up for the lost courses from headstart with electives to reach 37 units. All course u take as a fully registered student count towards ur GPA. They will most definitely count towards ur first year avg.

Not according to this:

Requirements for entry into Engineering II Programs

You must have completed 31 units of the following required courses:
Chem 1E03
Engineer 1A00, 1C03, 1D04, 1P03
Matls 1M03
Math 1ZA3, 1ZB3, 1ZC3
Physics 1D03, 1E03

*The completion of your complementary studies electives (6 units) are not required for admission into Engineering II. However they must be completed prior your final year to be eligible for graduation.

A minimum Cumulative Average (C.A.) of 4.0 is required for entry into all level II Engineering programs.
_____________________ ______

If I understand correctly, what your saying is, if someone took up the headstart and did lets say 1p03 and 1c03 then he/she can take 2 electives (other than the 2 normal electives) to raise his total units to 37 ? but that would not be fair for the other students who worked hard for 1c03 and 1p03. It just doesn't make sense to me.

I should note that the electives can be taken any time before you graduate , but if you don't take them you are at 31 units and will need to work extra hard in first year engineering to get into a competitive program !

Originally Posted by jon.john23

Don't trust me on this but, if u take more electives now (3 or 4, as opposed to just 2), u don't have to worry about the ones that arise later in ur program. At least that what I think and I'm doing now in summer school.

I agree with this, but these other electives will not count towards getting into some second year engineering programs like civil and mechanical.
The only electives that will count towards your second year admissions will be the 6 unit electives (only 2 electives).

Yup u got it, and I agree with u, it doesn't fair. But its not like he hasn't taken the course. It even more strenuous in Headstart. U have ur assignments and drawing due in a matter of hours. (At least when i took it)

Undoubtedly Lukas will complete the 31 mandatory course, the certificates from Headstart are proof that he as taken P0 and C0.

From what i understand by the condition *, u dont have to have completed ur 6 units of electives in first year, as long as u do them at some point of time. There is nothing that says he can't make 37 with 6 more units of electives.

Lukas should prolly email Ms. Sally Williams about this [email protected]
She amazing! Great academic adviser, talk to her about anything school related, especially if things are not going as planned.

Ask if u can take if u can make up for the 37 units which you lost from headstart with 2 more electives and whether they will count towards ur GPA.

Originally Posted by jim1

I agree with this, but these other electives will not count towards getting into some second year engineering programs like civil and mechanical.
The only electives that will count towards your second year admissions will be the 6 unit electives (only 2 electives).

I guess your right That makes sense, the only electives that count will be the 6 units.

Either way, it doesn't hurt to email Sally.

**I read ur post after i posted the last one**