I know this question has been raised multiple times, but Ive done my research and continue to see varying answers.
I know PHYS 1B03 isnt a required course by med schools, thus will I be okay if I dont take it?

Or if I do am I better off taking it near the end of my years at school so its fresh in my mind, or next year in second year?
Also, I happen to hate physics so it'd be cool to not have to do it.

What do you guys think?

quite a few science programs require you to take it by the end of level 2... so it really jus depends on what u plan on doing in level 2/beyond

If you know what you want to go into second year, check the undergrad calender and see if 1B03 is a requirement. if you dont know, take 1B03 to widen your options

im doing honours life sci and it isnt a requirement. thats why Im so unsure of whether i should bother taking it.

Well when I took physics there were A LOT of upper years in the course who ended up needing it either to fulfill their course requirements or for med schools (A lot of med schools requires 2 terms of physics so taking it would open a lot of different options). That being said, I thought 1B03 had the heaviest workload out of all the courses in first year, I had Hughes (I took math 1A03, 1AA3, physics 1B03, 1BB3, psych, 2 bio, 2 chem and Econ 1BB3). To get a good mark, not only do you need to stay on top of things, but review periodically.
GL

Edit: Oops forgot to mention, since you want it for med school presumably, you probably need a good mark in the course. I thought you might want to know that from first term 13/320 people finished with a 12 in the course. So although not impossible to get a great mark, it's not a bird course). The numbers were higher in second term since they gave 30 more minutes on midterms. *Cheers*

You mentioned that 13/320 kids got 12. What about 11s and 10s? Any info would be helpful. I just wanted to get a general idea of how marks tend to be in classes. I realize they will vary from class to class but I'm just trying to get a rough idea of how much work you have to put in to get these really high marks.

Originally Posted by RememberTwce

You mentioned that 13/320 kids got 12. What about 11s and 10s? Any info would be helpful. I just wanted to get a general idea of how marks tend to be in classes. I realize they will vary from class to class but I'm just trying to get a rough idea of how much work you have to put in to get these really high marks.

???????

There are no easy classes in UNI. You have to work hard in every class to get good grades.

Dont worry how others are doing in the class, its all subjective... just take the course and work hard in it.

Originally Posted by RememberTwce

You mentioned that 13/320 kids got 12. What about 11s and 10s? Any info would be helpful. I just wanted to get a general idea of how marks tend to be in classes. I realize they will vary from class to class but I'm just trying to get a rough idea of how much work you have to put in to get these really high marks.

Sorry, but I'm not exactly sure :S. I can give you some info about the midterm/exam averages though. First midterm class average was in the 60s. Hughes mentioned that this was the highest in years. Second midterm class average was 38 and final exam class average was 55. (the good news about the second midterm was that she bumped everyone's marks to match that of the exam, so I guess everyone got 17 more %).

Here's the good news. For labs, all you have to do is complete them to get perfect! Each capa is up for around 2 weeks and you can help each other (I did them by myself but it takes AGES). Most people get very high marks in CAPA and the labs (high 90s). The iclickers were tricky but you learn a lot and it wasn't worth a lot.

Originally Posted by RememberTwce

You mentioned that 13/320 kids got 12. What about 11s and 10s? Any info would be helpful. I just wanted to get a general idea of how marks tend to be in classes. I realize they will vary from class to class but I'm just trying to get a rough idea of how much work you have to put in to get these really high marks.

The amount of work you have to put into any course depends on an individual. Don't worry about how much work others are putting into the course. Don't half ass courses either because they will kick you in the ass, I speak from experience.

I highly recommend taking physics 1b03 and 1bb3. I'm taking the MCAT this summer and I'm regretting not having taken 1bb3. It may not be a pre-req for med schools but it will definitely help you for the MCAT.

Also, I agree with the above poster, some, though not many, schools do require 2 semesters of physics.

Finally - about taking it later on in your degree - the problem with this is that you want to try to have physics done before writing the MCAT, so this just really depends on you and when you plan on writing it.

Originally Posted by SciMania

I highly recommend taking physics 1b03 and 1bb3. I'm taking the MCAT this summer and I'm regretting not having taken 1bb3. It may not be a pre-req for med schools but it will definitely help you for the MCAT.

Also, I agree with the above poster, some, though not many, schools do require 2 semesters of physics.

Finally - about taking it later on in your degree - the problem with this is that you want to try to have physics done before writing the MCAT, so this just really depends on you and when you plan on writing it.

Yeah, we were shown a list of the topics grade 12 physics, 1b03 and 1bb3 cover for the MCAT and 1bb3 covered a significant portion, somewhere between a third and half the material.

dammnit.
Okay. thanks for the advice.
Ill just have to think about it more. Im considering taking it in 3rd year more and more, cuz I want it to be closer to the time I take the MCAT, so I remember stuff.

I was in first year Life Sci last year, and I took Physics 1B03. Now mind you, I had a strong physics background in high school. I put in a lot of work into high school physics and managed to get a 92.

Physics 1B03 covers dynamics (forces, kinematics, momentum), energy and work, waves (interference and travelling waves), and at the very, very end briefly touches on fluid dynamics. If you know your physics, and you keep on top of your work, the course is not that bad.

I found Dr. Hughes to be an amazing professor! She really knows her stuff. She makes a point to make sure everyone in the class knows the concepts before she moves on. She's always willing to stop and chat after class, and I found her to be quite nice. However, that said, she doesn't post any lecture notes, doesn't use any power-points. You have to take notes from the random scribbling and from what she says, 95% of the time. For this reason alone, some people write her off, but really it's a matter of learning styles.

By the end of the course, if you DO YOUR WORK (mostly CAPA assignments), you should be able to do dynamics, work and energy questions in your sleep. The textbook is probably not worth it, unless physics reaaalllly confuses you. I only opened my textbook twice the whole semester, but still got an 11 in the class.

So there you have it!

Edit- I'd also like to add that Physics 1B03 does not touch electricity or magnetism in any way, which I am sure is on the physical science portion of the MCAT. A follow-up physics course, 1BB3 or 1BA3, covers that, as well as rotational dynamics (torque, angular momentum etc.)