I know Lauren and Sarrah and a few other regular posters have been quite helpful assisting the 2013 Chem Bio class but I have another series of questions

I know the CSD is helpful in time management and I do intend to speak with them this year because I've noticed that:

• My hours in class (lab inclusive) have gone up from 18 and 12 (term 1 and term 2) to 21 and 24 respectively.
• I understand part of this is because I'm taking Bio 2A03 which has a pretty long lab but since it's not offered in the summer and the course material seems truly fascinating, I'm deciding to stick with it.
• Classes are spaced quite awkwardly with a good amount of random breaks at times.

So my questions pertain to time management advice.
I'll be CA-ing next year, volunteering and going to class and I was wondering if I should leave it at that or take a dance class I'm interested in (1 hour per week) or ease into my schedule instead.
As well, I may have the opportunity to pursue a research position in a lab (time commitment unknown yet) and I was wondering if I could get any feedback about that if possible.

Another thing that's concerning me is social time and just time to take a break.
I used to commute from Mississauga and I'll be on res this year which frees up 2 to 3 hours per day. I suppose 2.5 x 5 = 12.5 + 12.5 = 25 which is more hours of time "used" up last year than any of my terms this year.

While I know that a bit of it is schedule fright because it just looks a bit intense and things will get more familiar as school begins, the lab, dance class and social times (with non Chem Bios) are the things I'm more worried about, though advice about any aspect is greatly appreciated.

My last question is about CB 2L03 and CB 2Q03; while I never timed it, assuming the 3 hour a week per course rule holds true, I was wondering whether inquiry and labs had the same kind of work required of them as Organic Chem for instance. I've never taken an inquiry course and I was wondering if they both had exams or whether the work was assessed throughout the year

I know it's survivable (Schedules of pain: see iSci and Engineering) but again any and all help is greatly welcome

Thank you

1 hour a week isn't much. You'll probably need to practice outside of that 1hr/week. I would take the dance class if it's something that you're interested in. You need to take breaks from work and school.

What type of research position is it? Wet labs tend to be more demanding if you're running experiments and you have to coordinate the start times with the duration if your class. If it's data analyzing or general up-keep for the lab it won't be as difficult time-wise. More information about the type of research would help.

I find that keeping busy helps to keep myself on track. So, if you're the type of person who works well under a lot of time-pressure you should do fine.

Your schedule will certainly take some time to get used to. Being a CA means you can be busy even if you aren't on shift: e.g. emergencies, weekly meetings, paperwork, students come to you seeking advice, illness, etc. That being said it can be a rewarding experience, but you need to learn to manage your time (as you've noted).

The beauty of living in res is that if you have random blocks of time that you're off, you can go back home, make/grab food, re-pack your bag, get a little bit of homework (or in your case, since you're a CA) or building programming done. I found that one hour blocks off are the most useless, but once you get over two hours you can still be productive (or nap!).

As Lij mentioned, I would take the dance class; the exercise will be good to relieve stress and it will also be something fun for you to look forward to every week...and a good way to meet other people!

Everyone tends to manage their time in different ways. For me, I'd often get side-tracked and forget about making dinner...something I should have probably scheduled in every day.

I had a two-tiered time management strategy, that sometimes went over into three tiers.

I primarily used an agenda, but sometimes used Google Calender.

I used a monthly calender, which I'd put in all of my due dates, meetings, appointments and work hours. I'd colour code everything to distinguish between each task: yellow highlighter was school, pink = personal, purple = grad school, blue = work, orange = extra curricular, green = medical etc.

Then every week I'd write down all of the pages I needed to read for each class, as well as any due dates for assignments. Then throughout the week I'd add any things that came up that I had to do, and then cross them off as I went along.

I'd use the Google calender to input events etc for things I could do in my free time: concerts, when movies came out etc. I'd also use it to remind me of really important things, since there is an email notification feature.

When I had time off between classes (which was usually only 1-3 hours, at most) I'd spend that time having lunch/dinner, maybe meeting someone for coffee, or doing some reading.

One thing I never did (but works for some people) is to schedule every single hour of their day: e.g. when they will do homework, when they will study, when they will have dinner, when they will go to the gym etc. I found that didn't work well for me, because sometimes things would just come up, so I found I'd have to be a bit more flexible.

Hey!
I posted a reply to your question in the Chem Bio Q&A.
Sarrah

I think working in a lab would definitely help you with the lab courses. The biggest pain in terms of labs isn't so much the time it takes to actually DO the labs, it's the prelabs and postlabs...orgo for both terms isn't bad at all, but **** is brutal for that--i swear, it's the most exciting thing in the world when you're given two weeks to do a postlab instead of one, or when you have a 2-week lab so there's no postlab to do at all for that week. it's the same with the lab course, although the postlabs arent as bad--it's just the major lab reports.

from what i heard people in my cell bio class say, the bio 2A03 labs are a major pain in the ass, but i don't have personal experience with those

neither 2Q03 or 2L03 have exams you have 4 exams first term and 3 exams 2nd term

for inquiry, we're usually given a 15min break halfway through (during which we end up taking a class trip to get coffee ), and often we ended an hour early, because the last hour was for meeting with the peer mentor or with your group, but it wouldn't take the full hour. once you start doing group projects, you can expect to go home early most classes the group assignments can take up a lot of time though, in terms of scheduling meetings with your group/peer mentor and actually doing the work. I had a group meeting from 7pm to 3am the night before our project was due once...that's an 8-hour group meeting! and then had to get up for an 830 class, and then work on the project from 930-2, then print it and present at 230 so within 24hrs i spent about 13 hours on that one course.

the labs for 2L03 are pretty time consuming though. i swear i was in there for 5 hours one day...several of them ran long. and then, the ONE lab i ended early, it felt so strange that i lingered, because it felt like i shouldn't be leaving early, especially since everyone else was still running around the entire building hectically. if at all possible, don't schedule a class right after the lab! as sarrah can verify, it really sucks when you're in the lab working, and your inclass midterm for your next class started 10 mins ago the course on the whole required about 2 hours per week outside of class/lab time.

if you make use of your hour breaks (use them to do prelabs, assignments, etc), you should be okay for time management. i'm not sure if you're a morning person, but if you wake up later since you don't have to commute, then you're not actually getting those extra hours to do work. so, if you wake up at the same time you would if you're commuting, but do work instead, that will help a lot. personally, i can't wake up early and do work, but it mgiht work for you!

for the dance class, my housemate took one last term, and she found it was a pain in the ass to come home, grab dinner really quickly, then go back to dance class, and even though her class ended at 530 and class was at 7, she wasted all that time from 530 to 830. since you're in res it won't be as bad though! it's good to have a break from all the science to keep you sane!

YES! IT SUCKS HAVING A MIDTERM RIGHT AFTER A LAB!!! ESPECIALLY if the prof says that you won't be given any extra time just because you're late.. even though he KNOWS what the labs are like!!!!