Hi, I recently enrolled into the life sci program and course selection is approaching soon. Can someone please guide me to choosing the proper courses and electives for the life sci program? For example, which electives (with what proffs) are grade boosters or what is the ideal schedule one could take to avoid too much stress?
Thanks!

Hm I feel like your question is very broad. It's important to see what classes interest you because there are many options to choose from for electives. You'd probably be better off choosing some classes and asking specific questions for those classes. If you check the master time table http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /scheduling/coursett.html it will show you which profs teach what, and ratemyprofessors.com is very helpful for prof reviews.

That being said, some of the most common courses students take in first year Life Sci are : Bio 1A03, 1M03 Psych 1X03, 1XX3, Chem 1A03, 1AA3, Math 1LS3 or 1A03 and Physics 1B03 or 1L03

Also if you search past threads here you may find useful information. Also check out the course reviews on here too.

mandatory for graduation/upper year courses:
chem 1x03 and 1xx3
bio 1m03 and 1a03
one of: physics 1L03, physics 1B03 (l03 is into physics, if you just need a physics uni credit, b03 is wicked hard)
math 1ls3/a03 (ls3 is easier, a03=harder)

and 4 electives
psych is very common, I personally loved it.
also popular: health/aging, micro/macro econ

Originally Posted by drpatel

mandatory for graduation/upper year courses:
chem 1x03 and 1xx3
bio 1m03 and 1a03
one of: physics 1L03, physics 1B03 (l03 is into physics, if you just need a physics uni credit, b03 is wicked hard)
math 1ls3/a03 (ls3 is easier, a03=harder)

and 4 electives
psych is very common, I personally loved it.
also popular: health/aging, micro/macro econ

It's chem 1A03 and 1AA3, not X03 and XX3

Physics 1B03 isn't that difficult, if you already took grade 12 physics then don't waste your time or money with 1L03. Many second year programs require that you take 1B03 by the end of second year, anyways.

At least one psych is listed as a mandatory course for first year life sci--pick three from bio 1A03, 1M03, psych 1X03, 1XX3. And you should really take both bios for upper year programs

My main problem is choosing courses that do not interfere with other ones in a term as well as choosing electives that will bring up my GPA. My goal is to get to med school or vet school, and I am very strong in bio and chem, but not the best in physics (mainly because I never did the work in high school). Is there an ideal template schedule for first year life sci courses shows which courses life sci kids should aim for in order to get into med or vet school? Also, is summer school mandatory and why do people take some courses in summer school?

Originally Posted by sadeghi94

My main problem is choosing courses that do not interfere with other ones in a term as well as choosing electives that will bring up my GPA. My goal is to get to med school or vet school, and I am very strong in bio and chem, but not the best in physics (mainly because I never did the work in high school). Is there an ideal template schedule for first year life sci courses shows which courses life sci kids should aim for in order to get into med or vet school? Also, is summer school mandatory and why do people take some courses in summer school?

No, there is no template schedule to get into med or vet school. You look at what your plans are, and your back-up plans, and what they require, and choose your courses accordingly. For electives, once you've taken care of requirements for med or vet school, choose what you're interested in. You haven't even started yet, don't assume you won't do well in the required courses and will need something to "bring up" your GPA.

Summer school is only mandatory in a few programs (such as med rad). Some people take summer courses because there isn't room to take the course during the year or it conflicts with something, or they want to lighten their load during the year, or graduate faster, or because they failed a course and need to make it up, or because they decided to transfer programs and need required courses to do so, or a million other reasons. Some people do it to boost their GPA, but many professional schools won't use summer school marks to calculate your GPA, so it depends what you want to do. You need to do the research to figure out what the consequences of your decisions are. There's no harm in taking a full courseload every year and taking summer school courses on top of that. But if you take a lighter load during the year, there could be consequences and you're responsible for knowing what they are and if they would even affect you at all.

^^For vet/med school you can google that stuff find topics here since many have discussed it. For first term life sci i recommend Bio 1A03, Chem 1A03, Psych 1X03, Math 1LS3/1A03, Physics 1B03/1L03/elective. you could just not do any physics in first term and just take it in second term if you want. Many life scis do struggle with physics 1B03 here at Mac. If you don't think you're ready for it, take 1L03. This will boost your GPA too and then you could do Physics 1B03 in second term if you think you're ready. First term is taught by Hughes only and she is tough and has no notes while in second term a handful of profs teach 1B03 and have their own notes and lecture styles that may suit you. If you enjoy physics then do 1B03 in first term so you can have the option of doing another physics in second term. Math 1LS3 is also a joke course from what I hear and you should just do 1A03 if you want to go into math/physics heavy program or are interested in math.
so yea first term take a bio, chem, psych, math, physics or something else. these are what most science kids take first term and it keeps many options open for second term and second year programs.

For second term you need chem 1AA3 and Bio 1M03 for a majority of second year programs/courses so take those for sure. If you wish to continue with psych, math, physics, or whatever then take the continuations of them also. once first term is done though, you will have a much better idea of what to take and do not worry about courses interfering with one another. First year science/math courses have multiple cores so you will be fine for the most part in that regard.

For professional schools, you would need to check the schools but most courses for one school work for another school too, but once again, once first term is done you will have a better idea of what to take and what to aim for.

i want to do anthropology as an elective, but how come there are no anthropology courses on the undergraduate master course timetable?

Originally Posted by rsakura

i want to do anthropology as an elective, but how come there are no anthropology courses on the undergraduate master course timetable?

There are...I'm not sure what you're doing wrong, but they're definitely there.

not anthropology 1Z03... :(

does that mean its not offered?

yeah...i checked again...its only offered in the summer.... thanks anyway

I think I heard something about first year anthro courses being changed up or something...don't quote me on this.

Yeah, anthro 1Z03 doesn't exist anymore...they restructured first year anthro. Now there's 1AA3 and 1AB3 or something like that.
If a course exists in the course calendar but isn't offered, it's listed in the timetable and it says "not offered". This summer term is the last term the course will exist before switching over to the new system of first-year anthros. You will notice that it's not listed in the course calendar either.

Also, you said "no anthro courses"...one course not being there doesn't mean "no courses" are.

sorry...i wanted to say "none of the level 1 anthropology elective courses"