Hey, I'm going into Mcmaster this September for Social Science. I'm planning on going into Journalism or Teaching in the future. So the courses I picked are:

Sociology (SOCIOOL 1A06)
Socio Work (SOC WORK 1A06)
Political Science (POL SCI 1G06)
English (ENG 1A03)
Inquiry (1SS3)
Media (CMST 1A03)

Does anyone have any recommendations concerning these courses like how hard they will be or what to expect from them? Or how the professors are, and how many textbooks and stuff I need; it would be very helpful

My Soc Work class is in the evening, is it a lot different compared to days?

Thanks!

You can look up course reviews for each one here: http://www.macinsiders.com/forumdisplay.php?f=98
Also, you can look up course outlines from previous years here: http://www.macinsiders.com/forumdisplay.php?f=15 2

Originally Posted by lin_aj

Hey, I'm going into Mcmaster this September for Social Science. I'm planning on going into Journalism or Teaching in the future. So the courses I picked are:

Sociology (SOCIOOL 1A06)
Socio Work (SOC WORK 1A06)
Political Science (POL SCI 1G06)
English (ENG 1A03)
Inquiry (1SS3)
Media (CMST 1A03)

Does anyone have any recommendations concerning these courses like how hard they will be or what to expect from them? Or how the professors are, and how many textbooks and stuff I need; it would be very helpful

My Soc Work class is in the evening, is it a lot different compared to days?

Thanks!

evening classes are 3 hours long compared to 1 hour day classes
you basically learn the material you would in 3 days in 1 day

I've taken sociology, social work, poli sci and inquiry. My sociology prof is no longer at mac, but it's a really interesting class because a lot of things you learn are related to the things you experience in daily life. Social work is amazing, Sandra is probably my favourite prof at mac, you'll learn how personal problems are caused by society (racism, classism, sexism etc) and what social workers do. She was telling my seminar this summer she's revamping the course and steering it away from traditional lectures. There's going to be a lot more interactive type learning like guest speakers, movies, discussion, etc. I don't remember much about poli sci other than that Alway is crazy. Inquiry all depends on the prof teaching, but it's pretty useful, you'll learn how to write papers, do research all that jazz.

evening classes are different than day classes, like bart said theyre 3 hours, but you usually get a 10 minute break in the middle. i took social work last year, and it was supposed to be a 3 hour class from 7-10 but it ended up being from 7-830/845, then we would go to a quick tutorial for like half an hour (sometimes less).. and the tutorials werent mandatory either. she did this because feedback from the previous year was that there wasnt enough hands on material/ discussion, so she added in the tutorials. id imagine she would do something similar this year because it worked out well last year
make sure you check out the course reviews/outlines though! theyre really helpful and give you a good idea of what youll be learning

Most of the stuff course info needed will be in the course review. I found it really helpful. in terms of preparing for the classes. One thing i will tell you, is that IMO poli sci was the best course i took all year. It was really interesting, and i had a a really great T.A. Not guaranteed to be your experience, but still, overall i think you'll like it. Alway is a great teacher. Also, just so you know. NEVER buy the newest editions of the text books. I made that mistake and ended up paying way more then i should have. There is literally like 2 to 3 sentences of difference between the 3rd edition and the 4th, or the 2 edition and the 3rd. Always look around on MI for a bit first, and you'll find plenty of students willing to sell you old editions for way less then the regular pricing. Anyways, cheers, and have a good first year!

Thank you so much, all this information is super helpful

Try and get an awesome and "easy marker" looking TA for English 1A03, I got a 76% on my first exam, spent literally weeks on my next one, got the prof to read over it, gf to proofread the SHIAT outta it and everything, get it back... 78%... I submitted it back for remarking, got an easy TA and received a 98%... Literally to avoid a lot of stress make sure you get a nice TA!

Oh and 1A03 is long genres? I found short genres (1AA3) soooo much easier... your exam is multiple choice and short answer like "what is a hyperbole?" No essay whatsoever.

Originally Posted by lin_aj

Hey, I'm going into Mcmaster this September for Social Science. I'm planning on going into Journalism or Teaching in the future. So the courses I picked are:

Sociology (SOCIOOL 1A06)
Socio Work (SOC WORK 1A06)
Political Science (POL SCI 1G06)
English (ENG 1A03)
Inquiry (1SS3)
Media (CMST 1A03)

Does anyone have any recommendations concerning these courses like how hard they will be or what to expect from them? Or how the professors are, and how many textbooks and stuff I need; it would be very helpful

My Soc Work class is in the evening, is it a lot different compared to days?

Thanks!

I just took Sociology and Inquiry this past year.

Sociology is a large, full year course, you'll have a midterm during the December exam period and your final during the April exams. The rest of your grade comes from tutorial attendance/participation, an annotated bibliography in first term and your major paper due in second term. I had Colavecchia as my prof, she's pretty good and she seemed to enjoy what she does and is willing to answer questions or just hear about your experiences that relate to the course through email. I did well in the course, came out with a 10, as long as you study for the exams and put time and effort into your assignments you should have no problem doing well.

As for Inquiry, it is a small course of about 30 students, much like a tutorial. Its main goal is to develop skills you'll need throughout university (researching, planning and writing papers, group work, making and reaching goals, etc.). I had professor Swanson, she was really nice and very helpful, she seemed to really care about her students and wanted them to do well. The class is 3 hours once a week, which I personally wasn't fond of since I had it 8:30-11:30 am. The great part about this course is that there is no midterm or exam, the whole course is based on assignments. I came out with a 10 in this course as well, as long as you understand what is expected in your assignments and complete them you should do well

Originally Posted by lin_aj

Hey, I'm going into Mcmaster this September for Social Science. I'm planning on going into Journalism or Teaching in the future. So the courses I picked are:

Sociology (SOCIOOL 1A06)
Socio Work (SOC WORK 1A06)
Political Science (POL SCI 1G06)
English (ENG 1A03)
Inquiry (1SS3)
Media (CMST 1A03)

Does anyone have any recommendations concerning these courses like how hard they will be or what to expect from them? Or how the professors are, and how many textbooks and stuff I need; it would be very helpful

My Soc Work class is in the evening, is it a lot different compared to days?

Thanks!

Hey, I'm taking Social Work, English 1A03 and Communication Studies 1A03 too What terms are these courses for you? (besides social work obviously xP)