INCOMING FIRST YEARS What are your biggest concerns/worries for first year? About school life, academics, residence, tests, anything. Let us know!

Hakuna matata - it means no worries

Getting low marks of course!

dont be scared of ur profs, go ask em for help. they wont eat u

Originally Posted by philkolb31

Getting low marks of course!

Try not to worry about that too much! If you do the work that you are required to, actually attended all lectures/tutorials/labs (that you are able to go to of course), do the assigned readings and what not, and, last but not least, study.. you will be fine.

Originally Posted by philkolb31

Getting low marks of course!

Aha, Life Sciences, I see! Welcome!

As someone said up there, if you stay on top of your work, you should be good. BUT DO NOT SLACK OFF. Complete your assignments on time, study for midterms more than two days before they take place, and if you don't know anything, ASK THE PROFESSOR! They are available during their office hours, and it's not true that they don't care about their students (as I was told during my final high school year).

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Faer

Aha, Life Sciences, I see! Welcome!

As someone said up there, if you stay on top of your work, you should be good. BUT DO NOT SLACK OFF. Complete your assignments on time, study for midterms more than two days before they take place, and if you don't know anything, ASK THE PROFESSOR! They are available during their office hours, and it's not true that they don't care about their students (as I was told during my final high school year).

Good luck!

I've always had the impression that life science is one of those programs that is constantly trying to cut numbers :/.

For any future engineering students out there, if you just do your work (like all the assigned crap including suggested problems) it's not difficult to maintain a 9+ average. Being over the top isn't as highly regarded and just getting it done and understanding it.

scared of getting low marks ( i work hard) but i have heard some horror stories mann :(

Originally Posted by Buddastotle

scared of getting low marks ( i work hard) but i have heard some horror stories mann :(

If you continue to work hard you should be alright. But you actually have to work hard, I know countless numbers of student who say they are going to work super hard but then end up wasting their time or partying. But as long as you have your priorities straight you'll be alright. Also don't forget about the TONS of help you can get from help centers, professors, TAs, and even classmates.

Originally Posted by Buddastotle

scared of getting low marks ( i work hard) but i have heard some horror stories mann :(

Everyone's different, so basically all those horror stories become hard to apply to you. How I ended up not worrying about this kind of stuff was just being open-minded to the whole new university experience. I went to class, kept up with the material and just overall had a good time learning.

Though I will say this... when the excitement ended, everything in second semester became tedious but you will have already have had a good grip on what you need to do to get good marks.

is there bell curving at mac?

Originally Posted by Buddastotle

is there bell curving at mac?

Bell curving doesn't exist in any universities in Canada (at least to my knowledge). Bell curving doesn't even make sense in my opinion.

Some professors do however try to raise the class average if it's too low by either making the test out of less marks (lowering the denominator while keeping the numerator) or by writing an easier second midterm or exam. They also try to lower the class average if it's too high by making a harder second test or exam (but they can't change the test that has already been written).

Originally Posted by Buddastotle

scared of getting low marks ( i work hard) but i have heard some horror stories mann :(

Odds are your first marks won't be what you're used to (for instance, I graduated HS with a 94.6 average, but my first essay I got back was a C-). However, in most of my classes, the first marks were generally worth less than the later assignments, and were meant to be used as a guide to help you get through the rest of the assignments. For example, my first mark in my history class was a C-. By the third essay, I had improved my overall mark to an A- by listening to their tips and going to talk to them about the work. So, in short, don't expect way too much out of yourself because you will be trying way too hard. Also, if a mark comes back that's lower than you're used to, don't worry about it. There is always time to improve.

Originally Posted by jhan523

Bell curving doesn't exist in any universities in Canada (at least to my knowledge). Bell curving doesn't even make sense in my opinion.

Some professors do however try to raise the class average if it's too low by either making the test out of less marks (lowering the denominator while keeping the numerator) or by writing an easier second midterm or exam. They also try to lower the class average if it's too high by making a harder second test or exam (but they can't change the test that has already been written).

Bellcurves exist in a couple of universities, I think. I know for sure about UofT, and I think OttawaU as well.

Originally Posted by musicislife

Bellcurves exist in a couple of universities, I think. I know for sure about UofT, and I think OttawaU as well.

Really in UofT? I don't think my brother ever got bell curved, he always got his marks back. Usually when you bellcurve you don't give back the marks because they don't mean anything, it's how you perform according to your classmates.

The problems I see with the bell curve is that it doesn't show how much information a student has learned, rewards the smartest in the class and penalizes the less intelligent. No to mention that if everyone is doing well, some of them will have their grades lowered, which completely sucks.