Okay, I intend on attending McMaster for Life Sciences next year(I have a 92 average, and have already applied, so I don't see why there would be an issue in being accepted). However, I'm finishing high school fairly late because of past familial issues, and will be 21 this march. So I have a few questions.

1. Is 21 too late to be living on res as a freshman? A friend of mine told me that most people don't stay in res past their first year(and the only people on res are 18), but I've had a few other people tell me otherwise. I plan to live on res as long as it's not extremely weird for a 21 year old to be there.

2. A question to people in life-sci, how much free time do you guys have? Do you manage to have a social life while maintaining good marks? And how much time do you think you have to study on average every week?

3. How is the party scene at mac? Are there parties in every res building? Also, what would I have to do within the first few weeks to get involved in the whole social scene?

4. Kind of an different question for those of you who work out, do you tend to have enough money to afford the food you need to bulk/cut/etc? If so, what do you do to earn the money to keep up a constant supply of calories(job, student line of credit, osap?)

Yeah, sorry that the questions are somewhat unrelated to each other, but any input would be great.

1) 18-year olds in rez will love you for being able to buy alcohol legally, haha. Most people in residence are in first-year but the CAs (community advisors) are at least in 2nd year. From my personal experience the age gap shouldn't really matter, as long as you make an effort to get to know people.

2) Not in life sci.

3) Party scene is there if you can look for it. Also you are of age so you can go to 1280 (the campus night club) / or Hess Village, an area not too far that is full of clubs, pubs and bars. I'm not 19 (yet) so I can't speak on the scene there. Residence parties are there if you look hard enough. Just go out and meet people during frosh week and the few weeks afterward. After that things being to start settling into place.

4. I do workout. If you want the most control of your diet (i.e. bulk/cut) get the smallest meal plan so you can go off-campus to buy groceries / eat at restaurants as there are a lot more options off campus. Food on-campus is VERY expensive ($4+ for 1 litre of milk), and if you live in residence meal plan is mandatory. Also the school gym is pretty decent for the price, except for the peak hours. Some days you might wait 20 minutes for a bench. I don't currently have a job.

I was in life science for first year. Tbh your schedule will be a lot more packed than people in business or arts degrees, just because you'll have so many labs + tutorials on top of class time. With labs it's not so bad because you can have them in alternating weeks (probably don't want to put your chem+bio+physics lab in the same week). If you manage your time well, you can still have time for a social life I suppose (I'm a procrastinator + I lived off campus, so I didn't have much of a social life at all lol). But there are a couple nights that are pretty much out of the question for going out because midterms are basically always on them. I remember being on campus for 7PM friday midterms for basically the whole year.

There is students of all ages in residence, and as stated the Community Advisors. Mary Keyes is where most of the older students are and if you are applying as a mature student you may have more of a chance of getting there. You are guaranteed to have at least some upper years in the building though. I am a Community Advisor and 22 in residence.

You know I never understood people who come to university to party. That's some really expensive ticket to party, 10 thousand bucks a year and a debt that you will won't pay for another 10 years.

You think that's why our economy is still in recession?

Originally Posted by rorowawo

1. Is 21 too late to be living on res as a freshman? A friend of mine told me that most people don't stay in res past their first year(and the only people on res are 18), but I've had a few other people tell me otherwise. I plan to live on res as long as it's not extremely weird for a 21 year old to be there.
No it is not late at all. The first thing you have to learn in university is to ignore all sorts of bs that your friends tell you. They are misleading most of the time.

2. A question to people in life-sci, how much free time do you guys have? Do you manage to have a social life while maintaining good marks? And how much time do you think you have to study on average every week?
You have to learn to study smart. It's not about the time you spend on studying but it's more about how you spend your time studying. I normally start studying 1-2 weeks before midterms and I do just fine. I don't really keep track of how many hours I spend studying, but near midterms (~1 week before) I spend the full day studying.

3. How is the party scene at mac? Are there parties in every res building? Also, what would I have to do within the first few weeks to get involved in the whole social scene?
There are parties everywhere you go, but no one can ever force you to get involved. Parties are not worth it if you are planning to go to med schools

4. Kind of an different question for those of you who work out, do you tend to have enough money to afford the food you need to bulk/cut/etc? If so, what do you do to earn the money to keep up a constant supply of calories(job, student line of credit, osap?)
If I need extra cash, I get support from my parents. In my opinion, you never have enough time to study and work at the same time if your goal is to maintain >3.9 GPA

good luck

Plinkett, people dont really come to uni to party most people come to get an education and have fun at the same time. Also, most people that would come just to party probably have their parents covering the costs.

1. I don't think so. Of course, the majority of those in residence will be 18/19 years old, but there are a few older students around. I hear that a lot of them are in Mary Keyes (the suite style residence) but I haven't confirmed this with my own eyes.

2. As a first year life sci, my schedule involves an average of about 3-5 hours in class every day. Sometimes longer if you have a lab. In addition to this, I'd say I spend around the 3-4 hours each day doing work or studying. Again, sometimes longer depending on what I need to get done. I suppose it comes down to time management, although time management is not my forte.

3. I'm not a party goer, so this isn't my area of expertise. I hear that the most parties are in Brandon and Bates. The amount of parties definitely dies down after welcome week though.

4. Can't help you there haha

Originally Posted by BilluRises

Plinkett, people dont really come to uni to party most people come to get an education and have fun at the same time. Also, most people that would come just to party probably have their parents covering the costs.

He asks about going to university and partying, so what you say is no different from what he's talking about, therefore my last post can apply to you as well.

Also congrads with getting your previous account banned.

lol thanks

Originally Posted by MrPlinkett

You know I never understood people who come to university to party. That's some really expensive ticket to party, 10 thousand bucks a year and a debt that you will won't pay for another 10 years.

You think that's why our economy is still in recession?

upset theres people who get good grades and actually go out?

double po

upset theres people who get good grades and actually go out?

Ain't hard to do so in Life Science.

Zing !

Life Sci is what you make it, since it's an incredibly flexible program. First year you will be fairly busy with all the required courses, but after that you can choose what stream you want to go into.

If you're going to be specializing in areas like biochemistry or genetics, then yes, you will most likely be very busy. But if you choose to study just "life sciences" (as I did myself), you can make it a joke to be honest. You have a good variety of courses to choose from that will count towards your degree, and can have a lot of free time to socialize and take up hobbies etc.

That being said, really depends on what you want to do after your undergrad. Professional school or graduate program, you'll have to keep your grades up obviously.

On the topic of partying, there is always something to be found. I didn't party too much in res, but you can find the right people and places and have blast.

I'm of the opinion that you should definitely do your best to let loose once in a while/somewhat often. So long as you keep it balanced with school and whatever other priorities you may have. You only have a few years of a university career like this with "campus life", so make the best of it. I feel sorry for everyone who keeps their noses in books virtually 24/7 and misses out on some key years of fun.