Hi everyone!

I just finished my first year in Life Science and I am currently deciding on a second year program. I am very interest in the Chemical Biology Specialization. I've done some research (mostly looking at old posts on Macinsiders) and found that students criticized the program because Analytical Chemistry (2AA3), Inquiry and 2L03 all had to be taken in the same term, which they say was very difficult. Another criticism was that lab's often didn't work and generally ran late. However, these posts were from 2007/2008/2009 and I'm wondering if these issues are still prevalent in the program or if the Department has modified things. Thank you for your help!!

Also, I heard that people took the Genetics course in second year, rather than leaving it for third year. Would you recommend this?

Genetics isn't a required course for chem bio anymore apparently.
Source: http://registrar.mcmaster.ca /calen...13/pg1553.html


Though I'm not in chembio, the people I know who are in it seem to really enjoy it. Since it's small, you'll end up knowing your classmates really well which is usually a good thing.

Analytical Chemistry and Inquiry were in the same semester but 2L03 was in a separate term. I'd definitely say that these were some of the tougher courses, but they were very valuable and, at times, enjoyable.

Inquiry was very useful because it was a different style of learning and all the projects worked on developing research and presentation skills. It was also the only class where it was just the chembios together so it was a lot of fun.

Analytical was hard, but not as hard as most people make it out to be (at least I think so). The lab course was enjoyable and it helped to improve lab skills (I didn't realize how lacking my skills were until this class). The material was very interesting for me too so it wasn't that hard to study for the tests, although that didn't make them any less difficult. The main problem with the tests this year though was the time constraints.

The lab course was interesting to say the least. It is true, most experiments don't work, and you'll have to spend hours trying to interpret the data. However, I found that I learned so much more this way because you're trying to explain and understand why the experiment went wrong. It is easy to interpret good data because they show you in class, but when you get unexpected results it's a lot more challenging.

Analytical is going to be taught by a new prof this coming year, so it might be different. Likely not completely restructured, but different. The prof just started a year ago and I believe this is the first course he's teaching, so no one can really comment on that. You will probably get the same FUN lab experience, though.
I hated those labs....but they were VERY good for me.

Yeah, as Joanne mentioned, 2L03 is in second term. You need the skills from analytical in order to do the 2L labs. I really liked the second year lab course, though.
Also...you haven't seen your experiments NOT work until you take 3L03 Keep in mind there is more to the program than just second year. The second year courses are pretty general, stuff starts getting pretty interesting in third and fourth year.

I really like the program, but be prepared to work. A lot.

I still haven't taken genetics yet lol. But its no longer required, just any 2nd year bio course. Although many people still choose to take genetics because there are no good bio courses.

Labs will run late. It's a fact. Stop complaining.

Lab and Analytical are in the same semester. Both are difficult, time consuming, and make you want to hate your life. Stop complaining.

With a new program, all the labs were developed to match with what is being taught. The experiments are still being troubleshooted and are not perfect. Deal with it. Stop complaining.

Moral of the story: if you really enjoy chemistry and the chem bio program, you'll know as soon as you start. If you have any hesitations, its probably not for you. Nobody ever said chem bio was easy (if anybody does, they're lying). But the learning experience is unparalleled to anything you've ever experienced. In order to succeed in the program, you really have to love it and believe in it.
Those of us in it love to ***** and complain about it. But at the end of the day, we're not in chem bio because its easy.

For analytical last year, we had Dr. Britz teach 3/4 of the course and the new prof, Dr. Jose, teach the last quarter. I did find that Dr. Jose's section was more difficult, but I think it was mainly because the topic was harder for me to understand (fluorescence...ughhh ). The exam was very hard as well and I know they had to bell curve it, but I heard that the exam was written or partially written by Dr. Brennan, who previously taught the course (this could just be a false rumour though).

It's not likely that Dr. Brennan actively participated in the writing of the exam. However Dr. Moran-Mirabal (Jose is his first name) and Dr. Britz likely had access to Dr. Brennan's exam.

Originally Posted by joanne507

For analytical last year, we had Dr. Britz teach 3/4 of the course and the new prof, Dr. Jose, teach the last quarter. I did find that Dr. Jose's section was more difficult, but I think it was mainly because the topic was harder for me to understand (fluorescence...ughhh ). The exam was very hard as well and I know they had to bell curve it, but I heard that the exam was written or partially written by Dr. Brennan, who previously taught the course (this could just be a false rumour though).

When Brennan teaches the course, the average on the exam is a perfect bell curve, with the average at 50.0, and if you add the highest mark and the lowest mark together it equals 100%. It doesn't happen by accident. The TAs mark it that way.
At least, they did a few years ago