I'm going into second year engingeering physics and society, just wondering if there's any tip/tricks etc that any upper year would enjoy passing on about certain courses etc. Stuff that they found tricky, stuff to watch out for, all that jazz.

Originally Posted by erinn

I'm going into second year engingeering physics and society, just wondering if there's any tip/tricks etc that any upper year would enjoy passing on about certain courses etc. Stuff that they found tricky, stuff to watch out for, all that jazz.

Hi! Congrats on Eng Phys and Society!
Hmm... tips and tricks.. I'm trying to remember my second year. Well they might have changed stuff around since I took these course, but here's what I remember:

1st semester:
Eng 2P04: BORING. But easy to do well in, if you do all the tutorial questions (even though they take forever and are really tedious) and come to tutorials prepared for quizzes. Midterms will be a breeze if you understand the tutorial questions. This class is tricky because in my year they took off marks for each step that you carried a mistake through. Hopefully they've stopped doing that.

Phys 2D03: Hated this class, and I did pretty crappily in it, but from what I hear, everyone else seemed to like it. Do the assignments yourself and midterms will be a breeze. Our final exam was rough too. I had McKay, but I don't think he's teaching it anymore.

Math 2P04: Not a bad class, depending on who's teaching it. The midterms were REALLY long, but not that hard. I think they changed this class this year so that it has MatLab assignments, which will be useful in upper years. I don't know much else about this because they chnage the math classes every year.

Eng Phys 2A04: Dr. Knights is hilarious. His midterm/finals are EXACTLY like the assignments, so make sure you understand them. Lab reports are tedious and you have to write them every week/every other week.

2nd Semester:
Quantum: Interesting class, easy to do well in. I can't really think of any tips, because its pretty straightforward. Kleinman is good prof!

Thermo:The only thing I can think of to say about this course is that it has A LOT of material. Make sure you do the assignments and understand them even if theyre not worth much because the midterms/exam are basically exactly like them. Prepare for a lot of writing.

Math 2Q04: same as 2P04, they probably changed it for you guys though.

Eng Phys 2E04: Circuit analysis, useful in upper year courses. They changed the prof this year so I don`t know too much about it. The labs are similar to 2A04 labs, but they`re every week and the lab reports aren`t quite as extensive. You have surprise quizzes in lecture so make sure you go! easy enough to do well in, if you understand the material. Hopefully you guys dont end up teaching yourself the material like we had to :/

I can`t remember the other classes I took (it`s been a while) but if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

I'm not in Eng Phys myself but I did take two of the required courses: Eng Phys 2A04/2E04. Geek pretty much gave you a good description of those two courses already. Dr. Knight was an awesome prof for Eng Phys 2A04. Dr. Xu for Eng Phys 2E04 on the other hand was not a very good lecturer. It was sometimes very difficult to understand what he was saying but don't get me wrong he knows his stuff though.

Some tips: Keep your first year physics textbook. I found it useful for Eng Phys 2A04. Also definitely buy the Eng Phys 2E04 textbook your going to have to teach yourself the material and its useful for upper years as well.

Thanks so much for the info!!

Try looking for course reviews, maybe you can get a head start