Hi I'm going into life sciences for my 1st year and I need some feedback with my courses

So the courses I choose are
Bio 1A03, 1M03
Chem 1A03, 1AA3
Physic 1B03, 1BB3
Math 1LS3, 1B03
Phych 1X03, 1XX3

Does this look fine or would it be too much to handle in first year.
Should I take some bird courses instead?

The list looks good but it depends on what your strengths are and what you like.
I think an extra physics might be too much, unless you want to go into physics in second year (but i think for med schools you need a year of physics).

Its good that you took Psych 1XX3, this will allow you to take more upper year psych courses.

Why not take some nonscience/math electives? Like Economics, Anthropology?

If you want science electives I would recommend Kin 1Y03/1YY3. I enjoyed these courses a lot. Or what about Earth Sci 1G03 - this will allow you to take many upper year earth science/enviromental science courses. Or Astro 1F03.

Also take courses that will satify the program you want to do next year. For example, for the Math Bio Program you need Math 1A03/1LS3, 1AA3/1LT3, 1B03.

Check this out for upper year program requirements.
http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /CALEN...nt/pg1466.html

Well I took most of those courses when I was in first year and it wasn't too bad. but I only took the life sci math and physics so I can't give advice on the other 2. as to bird courses, it would be nice to take some but if you're ok handling the workload, then you can save those electives for upper year. I must say though that chem does require some time as well as bio 1a03....psych is ok and so is math and bio 1m03. good luck!

Your schedule is very similar to a lot of people in life science first year. With proper time management, I definitely think it's possible. But it will definitely require a little extra effort.

Mine was similar to yours, except I took kin 1Y03/1YY3 instead of math 1B03 and physics 1BB3.

If you're really interested in math (which seems likely, since you're taking linear algebra), I'd recommend 1A03 instead of 1LS3. I found 1LS3 to be very dry and boring, starting off with gr9 math and ending with gr12 math. My high school covered integration in a couple of classes, just for fun, and so we weren't taught anything in 1LS3 that I hadn't learned in high school. I found the course to be a waste of time and super-easy. I fell asleep during one of the tests, and still managed to pull off a 95 on it...

Also, stick with what you have for now, unless there are other electives you want to take (if there are, then go for it!) and if you take the first part of any of these courses and decide you hate it, you can always drop the second half and take something else. Right now though, you've covered the prereqs for almost everything (except for anything requiring math1AA3), so you're in a pretty good situation from that perspective.

The thing is I plan on going into Honours Biochem specialize Biomed
and it said on the undergraduate calender that
Math 1B03 and Physics 1BB3 are strongly recommended
That's why I'm taking those courses

Originally Posted by cjdzl

The thing is I plan on going into Honours Biochem specialize Biomed
and it said on the undergraduate calender that
Math 1B03 and Physics 1BB3 are strongly recommended
That's why I'm taking those courses

You don't have to take all of them in first year, you could complete some of them in second year.
Some people take Physics 1B03 in second year or in summer school.

Originally Posted by cjdzl

The thing is I plan on going into Honours Biochem specialize Biomed
and it said on the undergraduate calender that
Math 1B03 and Physics 1BB3 are strongly recommended
That's why I'm taking those courses

They're definitely not necessary, though I haven't talked to anyone in biochem who's said that taking either of those courses is really helping them--that doesn't mean EVERYONE finds them useless, just that everyone I've talked to does

I took a lot of the same courses as the biochem kids in second year, and there's really only one course where it *might* help you (biophysical chem--ChemBio 2P03, and even for that course, math 1AA3 would be more useful than 1B03).

If you're interested in the subjects, then by all means take the courses, but if you're only doing it because it's recommended, and the courses are likely to bring your average down, don't bother--take something that really interests you, that you will do well in. At the end of the day, they only look at marks and REQUIRED courses to see if you get into the program--having the 'recommended' courses but a lower average won't beat someone without the 'recommended' courses who has a higher average. And then, if you really feel the need to take either/both of those courses, you can take them in upper years as well.

Lauren's right. Your GPA is more important than the recommended courses. You should take courses you can do well in to increase your overall average.

Are Math 1B03, and Physics 1BB3 tough courses?
I'm good with math and physics but I find physics boring and I always dozed off in class.

I had those exact courses last year and I didn't find it incredibly challenging, just be prepared to time-manage lab and tutorial work with lecture material.

If math 1LS3 and 1B03 are taught in the same style as they were last year, they will serve as "semi-bird" courses. For Math 1B03 we were given the most detailed derivations for formulas, and I was sure they'd ask us to apply our derivation experience to new examples on the mid-terms/exams. It turned out that the tests were simply a collection of "use this formula to solve this problem" questions, which was a pleasant surprise. I would estimate that maybe 10 % of the tests consisted of application problems, but they were no where near as complex as they could have been.

So yeah, if you're taking Math 1B03 2nd semester, use the spare time you'll have to focus a little bit more on Chem 1AA3, and you'll do fine.

Unlike you, I took non-science courses for my electives. I took French and English, and it was nice to have classes that were smaller and different from the science courses. Added variety to my timetable/ kept me a sane. But, if you really enjoy your courses, then keep them, and you will do well.

Haven't taken Math 1B03 and Physics 1BB3, but here is the course review for Math 1B03:

http://www.macinsiders.com/showthrea...ight=math+1b03

Physics... well, it's PHYSICS so it won't be easy, but I don't think it should be TOO bad, as 1B03 wasn't bad at all.

I don't think anyone can give you applicable Physics 1BB3 info, since the professor who structured the course is retiring, and will not be teaching it for 2010-2011 year. If the new professor decides to teach the course in a similar fashion, however, then 1BB3 won't be that difficult of a course (last year, 18 % of the class got 12 in 1BB3).

As far as physics 1B03 goes, it all depends on which professor is teaching the course. For example, I know someone who took 1B03 first semester with Hughes and got in the high 50's-low 60's. She decided to redo it in summer school with Sills, and she's currently sitting at 85 %. Even if you take into account the fact that she's already run through the course, that's still a pretty big jump.

Does anybody know why Sills is retiring? He doesn't seem to be retirement age.

I had a similar courseload, except I took two Econs. If you're intersted in the material and just keep up with the readings you'll do absolutely fine. Its just like high school, you'll learn to adapt and after a while the "load" will no longer be so intense. It simply depends where your strengths lie. I struggle with math so I find math intensive semesters very difficult but you may really really enjoy them.

Originally Posted by goodnews.inc

Does anybody know why Sills is retiring? He doesn't seem to be retirement age.

I had a similar courseload, except I took two Econs. If you're intersted in the material and just keep up with the readings you'll do absolutely fine. Its just like high school, you'll learn to adapt and after a while the "load" will no longer be so intense. It simply depends where your strengths lie. I struggle with math so I find math intensive semesters very difficult but you may really really enjoy them.

Well he did start up Intelliscience Instrumentation Inc., so maybe he's going to focus more on the company, but that's just a guess.