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Course Selection In 2Nd Year (Med Sci) Questions :)


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Hey everyone, I was looking for some help with course selection in 2nd year. Does anyone have any recommendations for second year electives? I have 1.0 credits to fulfil and would appreciate any advice :)

 

Im pretty set on taking Micro & Imm 2500 already (unless many suggest otherwise), I just need another 1.0 credit. Im really interested in Physiology 2130 and I feel if I have the time available I can do well in it, but Im not sure if the course load would be too much as I will be a Bio mentor, try to be on Science Student Council, be a club executive, etc. Im also interested in Psych 2075 (sexual psych) or Classics 2200. These are all 1.0 courses. 

My schedule would be as follows;

 

1st Sem:

Chemistry 2213 (Orgo I)

Biochemistry 2280

Micro & Imm 2500

Stats 2244

Physiology 2130 or Classics 2200 (or 2300) or Psych 2075 

 

2nd Sem:

Biology 2282 (Cell bio)

Biology 2581 (Genetics)

Biology 2290 (Methods)

Chemistry 2223 (Orgo II)

Physiology 2130 or Classics 2200 (or 2300) or Psych 2075 

 

Classics would be great because I could fulfil my degree requirement as well, and I've heard good things. I've also heard bad things as the 2200 final is a full-year cumulative exam while the 2300 final is not. I've also heard they sometimes ask random questions about irrelevant pictures for example.

 

Psychology would also be interesting as I did really well in first year Psych, and all of the exams are non-cumulative. However, I've also heard that sometimes in this course they ask about random statistics and minor details. I've also heard classes can be boring because the slides are mainly graphs and data. 

 

Lastly, I've heard that Math 1229 is ridiculously easy and a likely 90+ but I really do not want to have to deal with matrices and vectors again, as well as having to do those tedious weekly assignments and quizzes that take up so much time. Also, if I were to take this course, I'd need to look for another 0.5 credit. Sorry about the long post, but your advice is GREATLY appreciated!

 

 

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Classics 2200 was great. I preferred it to 2300, but I also took 2200 after 2300 so I probably retained a lot of the info and that's why it was so much easier (both are easy 90+ if you're good at memorization and don't leave things until the last minute). 1229 was probably the easiest course I've taken at western. I literally got 100% on the final. Would definitely recommend that course if you need another .5 math.

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Psych 2070, Classics 2300, Comp Sci 1033 and Math 1229 (especially Math 1229 lol) are all really great courses. It's definitely possible to get 90+ if you put the work in (in my opinion).

 

Physiology 2130 was personally my favourite course of 2nd year - try looking into it more (maybe instead of micro)

 

Good luck!

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Psych 2070, Classics 2300, Comp Sci 1033 and Math 1229 (especially Math 1229 lol) are all really great courses. It's definitely possible to get 90+ if you put the work in (in my opinion).

 

Physiology 2130 was personally my favourite course of 2nd year - try looking into it more (maybe instead of micro)

 

Good luck!

So out of the following which would you recommend the most;

 

Math 1229 & Classics 2200/23000 - (fulfill degree requirement)

Math 1229 & Physiology 2130 - (which you did)

Micro 2500 & Classics 2200/2300 - (fulfill degree requirement)

Micro 2500 & Physiology 2130 - (which would have the greatest workload, but overall the most interesting content)

 

Also, would you recommend Stats 1st semester with Methods 2nd semester, or vice versa?

 

Thanks in advance for your advice :) 

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In my opinion, I think taking Math 1229 and Classics 2300 would free up a lot of your time - I've taken both of these courses and found the workload much less than Physiology 2130.

 

However, 2130 is very interesting and is what got me to choose Physiology as my Honors specialization. So maybe also consider module choices and what interests you.

 

I can't say anything about Micro, except that my friends enjoyed the content but not so much the exams.

 

Good luck :)

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People keep thinking Classics 2200 and 2300 are the easiest when in fact Classics 2908A/B and 2500A/B are probably better. A lot less workload, and if you're interested in Ancient Egypt and Rome/Greece/Mediterranean, it's actually really fun to learn about too. It's just that 2200/2300 have huge classes while the half courses are smaller so you won't get as many people offering their opinions on them. Math 1229 is the easiest course at Western even if you're horrible at math. If you ask me I'd take two half courses over the full year Classics/Psych/Phys, because even if you screw up one course you still get a chance to 4.0 the next course, which is better than screwing up one full year course.

EDIT: Sorry, I just checked next year's offerings and I guess Classics 2500 isn't offered. 2908 is still amazing though.

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Ok so I think I'll end up taking Math 1229 and Classics 2300. 

 

Does anyone have any advice about how to do well in Genetics 2581? Pretty much everyone I've spoken to says the course was a disaster. Also, is Chem 2223 needed? I don't see it as a requirement for many modules, but is it helpful for the MCAT? 

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I think Chem 2223 was helpful for the MCAT and I didn't find it more challenging than 2213. Genetics was a really weird course... I suggest trying to get all your marks from tutorials/quizzes b/c the tests can be quite random. If you study hard though, it's not that bad.

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How about Methods 2290? Is there any way to have someone like a TA revise your work ex. the poster, essay, etc.

 

Also, can anyone recommend when to take which rotations of methods? The exams for the following classes are usually around these dates;

 

Cell Bio 2382 - January 30th, March 5th

Genetics 2581 - February 27th

Orgo 2223 - February 27th

Physiology 2130 - February 27th

 

 
I've been told that its tough to have the Gray unit near midterm season, so could anyone recommend which section I should take? From what I see, sections 001,002, and 003 would probably be best because its after midterms, right? 
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