Like everyone here has already stated, it isn't hard to do well in university, as long as you keep on top of your work!

Sometimes it does get tiring to come back home or to your res room and get straight to work.. and sometimes the amount of work that can pile up in a week can be pretty daunting!

but the important thing is to avoid procrastination (or at least too much of it), and try to get things done early, manage your time well, and this leaves you with time for extracurriculars and socializing. life at mac can and will be fun and very balanced, as long as you can manage your time decently.

about med school, dont stress too much about it now. its great that you know that this is what you want, but focus on going into first year and starting off strong with the academics. get involved in extracurriculars- in clubs you are interested in. in the course of the year, there are many speakers/resources that can guide you in terms of med school prep, and you can use these resources to learn more and align your next four years at mac with med school in mind!

Originally Posted by stja1

So I have been accepted to Life Science and I have a 87 average on the low end of students I know, but I'm really scared that I'll go into this program and everyone else in the program with higher averages than me and will do better. (Since many students are 95+) I'm just afraid that I wont be able to do as well as everyone else especially because I do hope to go to med school either here or the united states but I'm extremely afraid I wont be able to keep up with all the 90+ students. Does the playing field level out or is it that the 90+ students generally will continue to do better than students like me?

Your marks in highschool mean absolutely nothing in terms of your marks in university. They are so different, it's almost impossible to compare. Students with 60% average in HS can do amazing in university. And students with 90% average in HS can fail out of university. It all depends on your study habits, your work ethic and your determination.

I personally don't think high school marks are indicative of what you will or can get in university. If you really put your mind to it, you CAN achieve high marks! Never mind that other students going into life sci may be walking in with a high average. As mentioned before, this just means they've developed some sort of studying technique to achieve those marks in high school. The reality is though, those techniques will drastically change once you enter university. I almost feel like everyone gets a fresh new start in university. You have to tweak your studying habits and techniques because what may have worked in high school may not work in university (which is exactly what happened to me).

Honestly, keep up with the readings and the work load. Don't fall behind. Of course, make sure to take some time for yourself but make sure to utilize all the resources university offers! Go to office hours if you need help - don't wait till a week before the midterm to get your questions asked. Ask questions in class, get to know other peers in your classes/tutorials/labs so you can form study groups and help each other out!

I just want to re-iterate that everyone pretty much starts on a new playing field when getting into university (in my opinion). I've seen people do complete 180's - in high school someone i knew was pulling off really low marks but got relatively high marks in university once they buckled down and realized they wanted to change.

You can do it!! breathe and enjoy your university experiences! Hope this helped