[Chad]

Tips for Back To School
By Chad Fullerton

With school starting, I've noticed 6 things that have caused long lineups or problems, and have simple solutions that can save you a lot of time. These include HSR pass, registrar/OSAP lineups, used books, food lineups, and computers on campus. See some tips below to help!

1) Using Student Card as a Bus Pass without a sticker
Your McMaster Student Card acts as a free HSR bus pass, but only if you have an official sticker that says 2007-2008 with HSR on it. These stickers were mailed out earlier this month. Stickers from last year don't work anymore. I saw two students get yelled at on my bus to Mac today by the driver who said he would confiscate her id card... one girl didn't even have the money to pay since they thought the card would work. Don't get stuck in that situation! If you haven't received your sticker for the year and are a full-time student, then contact McMaster to get your sticker. Bus fair is $2.25 otherwise.

2) Lineups for Food
The line-ups for food right now are very long as students all cram into the Student Centre to buy lunch. But remember... the Student Centre is only one of MANY OTHER PLACES to buy food! So go and look at the other places on campus where they sell exactly the same thing as in the Student Centre. Pizza Pizza, Mr. Sub, Tim Hortons, Pasta/burgers, are available at other locations. Come on guys, a 2 minute walk can save you an hour in line! See a map of the locations here. Don't forget, you can go to QUARTERS to lunch as well!

3) Everyone is at the Registrar's Office
Have you seen the line? Yes, it is very very long. Unfortunately there are people who wait in the line for hours, only to find out that the Registrar isn't the office they were looking for. If you have problems with your Payment Agreement or any financial issues, you need to go to the Student Accounts & Cashiers Office, which is in a different location. See Registrar's site here. See Student Accounts site here. If you are unsure where to go, phone them first, both offices have a phone number you can call to confirm before going there to wait in long lines. OSAP PICK-UP IS LOCATED IN THE STUDENT CENTER... NOT at the Registrar. So if you are looking to pickup OSAP, go to the third floor of the Student Centre.

Here is the info found on the Student Financial Aid & Scholarships website:

Fall/Winter OSAP release for fully registered students begins on Tuesday, September 4, 2007 from 9:00am to 4:00pm in MUSC-314/315 and will continue weekdays until Friday September 14, 2007. In order to pick-up your loan, please bring the following:

4) Used books
A reminder that the UNDERCOVERS used bookstore is open and now has a large selection of books as upper-year students bring in their books to sell. This is a very valuable resource! So be sure to check them out... located in the Student Centre basement. Follow the signs.

5) Computers Are All Over Campus
While the library, especially MILLS library is a great place to find a computer. It is usually very full. University Technology Services runs Student Computing Centres all across campus which are computer labs filled with computers as well as a printer. Where are they located? See the lab listings here and visit one today!

I hope that helps people, be sure to post a comment if you have them. Goodluck! And welcome back to Mac

[lorend]

Don't spend so much time getting ready in the morning.

I don't understand why you think spending an hour straightening your hair, and wearing heels is going to help you academically.

[Chad]

Theres a 'social' side to life as well you know lol

[lorend]

There is a difference between social and slutty.

[Dolce]

how is wearing heels slutty??

[~*Sara*~]

Originally Posted by lorend

Don't spend so much time getting ready in the morning.

I don't understand why you think spending an hour straightening your hair, and wearing heels is going to help you academically.

I agree! 150%. In highschool it was terrible, I don't know what to expect next year. And if it's not a friday night or saturday, etc.. WHat's the point of getting ready =F..

[macsci]

To any of you first years: buy used books! will save you tons of money!

[AnguishedEnd]

Originally Posted by macsci

To any of you first years: buy used books! will save you tons of money!

I agree. For my first year of engineering I spent about $600+ on textbooks only to find out some could be easily found on DC++ or other torrent sites...

So to all you first year engineers coming in Sept. 2009 dont go out and buy every single textbook listed on Titles website. It's better to wait a few days to get a feel of what the prof is actually using but things like Lab notebooks, Safety Glasses etc you will definitiely use. Its just the textbooks you have to look out for. Good luck!

[~*Sara*~]

Originally Posted by macsci

To any of you first years: buy used books! will save you tons of money!

I hope so! By the time we go to the first classes and get the course outlines and such.. I hope they won't be gone by then, since I've heard they get sold fast!

[~*Sara*~]

Originally Posted by Bender

I agree. For my first year of engineering I spent about $600+ on textbooks only to find out some could be easily found on DC++ or other torrent sites...

So to all you first year engineers coming in Sept. 2009 dont go out and buy every single textbook listed on Titles website. It's better to wait a few days to get a feel of what the prof is actually using but things like Lab notebooks, Safety Glasses etc you will definitiely use. Its just the textbooks you have to look out for. Good luck!

Isn't it usually listed as Required and Optional.. or are some of the optional materials actually required?! (I looked at samples from the Titles website =))

[feonateresa]

Originally Posted by lorend

Don't spend so much time getting ready in the morning.

I don't understand why you think spending an hour straightening your hair, and wearing heels is going to help you academically.

LOL. So true. I'm in my damn sweatpants and sweater when I'm at school, especially for those dreaded 8:30 classes when I'm too tired to give a rats ass what I look like.

Sigh. I once waited in the Registrar line for like 20 minutes to realize it wasn't the OSAP line. The joys of being a first year...

-_____- ...

[jhan523]

Originally Posted by sara_h216

Isn't it usually listed as Required and Optional.. or are some of the optional materials actually required?! (I looked at samples from the Titles website =))

Yeah, but sometimes you don't need the textbook. Like in Chemistry, I never opened my textbook.

[Kareko]

Yeah, but sometimes you don't need the textbook. Like in Chemistry, I never opened my textbook.

it depends on the person though, I found the chem and bio texts really helpful. Chem had good examples for problems and reading the chapters really helped for both.
on the other hand I found math and physics texts to be total wastes so your millage may vary..

[jhan523]

Originally Posted by Kareko

it depends on the person though, I found the chem and bio texts really helpful. Chem had good examples for problems and reading the chapters really helped for both.
on the other hand I found math and physics texts to be total wastes so your millage may vary..

Definitively depends on the person. I found the bio textbook was written very well and it's actually a good read.

I depending on my math textbook. It was my only way of learning math since the professor wasn't really good.

But yes, it depends on the person. It better to buy the book just to be safe, purchase them used if possible.

[~*Sara*~]

I'm hoping to get the books as soon as possible.. Maybe in the next month or so.. or something.