Difference in undergrad difficulties?

[Guest Skiwalka]

Hi guys,

 

I was just wondering if there was a significant difference in difficulty between universities. Would Ottawa U biochem be easier than Queen's biochem, and would that provide an advantage for Med School in terms of marks?

 

your help is greatly appreciated.

[Guest HenryTheBig]

Hey,

I can tell you that there likely is a difference in undergrad difficulties. I go to Ottawa U and the science courses are very difficult but at nearby Carleton U many of the courses are far easier. I would say going to Carleton U would provide an advantage because ones gpa will definitely be higher. The difficulty at Ottawa U is such that I doubt that it gets much harder at another university. As for comparing Ottawa U to Queen's or McGill I would say the difference is not that great. All 3 universities have top science programs at the undergrad level. Neither of them is better than the other for undergrad work. I found that the best way to do well in undergrad is to stay at home since that saves enormous amounts of time. However, some people don't want to do this and they bust their butts off throughout undergrad.

Henry

[Guest peachy]

Out of curiosity, Henry, have you actually taken courses at Carleton or do you just assume they are easier than the courses at Ottawa?

[Guest HenryTheBig]

Hey Peachy,

I've taken almost all my courses at U of O. However, I've taken some at Carleton as well and I can tell you that they are far easier. I have friends who have changed from U of O and went to Carleton because of this (they have no regrets lets just say). However, my engineering friends say that Carleton is more difficult for their courses. So, I would say Carleton's courses are easier for the sciences. I can't say that this would be for all the science courses. But, I've talked to a considerable number of people who go to U of O or Carleton or both and none have said the sciences are harder at Carleton. At first I didn't believe this since I thought it would be greatly unfair...but I tried a couple of courses and was pleasantly surprised.

Henry

[Guest marbledust]

The difficulty at Ottawa U is such that I doubt that it gets much harder at another university.

 

This is quite the statement :rollin

[Guest Ronin]

For the most part, undergrad is undergrad. It's what you make of it.

 

People always just like to thing that their school is slightly tougher than others. Obviously, Acadia is the best school in Canada.

[Guest Skiwalka]

thanks for the replies.

 

So bearing this imbalance in mind, Ontario Medical Schools assume there's no difference in difficulty between universities? They wouldn't sway for one university or another then?

[Guest physiology06]

I wouldn't say that there are no differences in any given two programs. But I dont' think it is as easy as saying one is easier than the other.

 

Programs might have different focuses, and depending on what you're interested in (or what you're good at), you might like one program more than another.

 

That said, I don't think med schools care about which program you did - unless it is something really interesting (like Art History) and then it becomes an asset.

[Guest WoollySheep]

I am here to defend Carleton's honour! Yay Carleton!! Carleton is great!!!!

 

What courses did you take at Carleton? Were they easier because our profs are so clear, so fun and so willing to help their students succeed? :rollin

 

Just joking (sort of)... can you tell I was on the undergrad recruitment team this year?

[Guest QuestionMan23213]

I also graduated from Carleton science this year. The difficulty of classes depends on the program. As someone mentioned Engineering was just brutal which is what i started in. The science courses are also difficult to also get extremely high marks in and the only difference is there are far fewer people that want to do medicine at carleton so the climate is far less competitive than an ottawa u sci program. I definitely worked like crazy to pull off good marks at Carleton for my last few years and by no means was it "easy."

 

Btw, for the person looking for bird courses in another thread, take any of those first year science elective classes like Natural history, chem of food health drugs etc. theyre very straightforward. In terms of distance education, Athabasca has some pretty good psychology courses but theres a tone of reading involved.

[Guest kaymcee]

Surely we can keep the @#%$-slapping and whatnot under control, but physiology06 brought up a good point: the same program at different schools are different.

 

I kept hearing about how organic chemistry in undergrad is supposed to be one of the most brutal courses ever. At UVic, this was not the case; it was relatively easy. My third year biochemistry course, however, was a brutal course. Yet, people from other universities speak very fondly of their biochemistry experience. Many people from UVic bypass our biochemistry course by going to UBC and taking the easier course there.

 

Each university is different; each student is different; each teacher is different; each course is different; each program is different.

 

You know that first year biology prof you hated? Well, some people liked him, and others did very well in his class. The same goes for that second year chemistry prof that you enjoyed. Some people egged his car after that brutal first midterm that you aced. No one can make any blanket statements about how one university is more challenging than another, as there are so many factors, especially personal ones, that make a course or program "easy" or not.

 

As for your question, Skiwalka, just pick a university, any university, and work hard to get the marks you want.

[Guest kupo]

hehe, i think you guys are reading into your university future WAY TOO MUCH. Not that there's anything wrong with that, its just an opinion of mine.

 

Man, when my advisor suggested UBC, I simply said OK - end of story. Was I winging it? Absolutely! Had no clue what I was getting into. Did I enjoy my experience? You bet. The primary reason why I enjoyed my undergrad is I did what it took to get the most out of my entire undergrad experience. Not just the program, but everything else associated with university life (sports, clubs, new friends, etc).

 

as for the difficulty of my program (MICB UBC). I can't really say if it was hard or easy. Some courses were ridulously easy (stat200), some where ridiculously hard (micb421 - for my own reasons, I found this course tough, but enjoyable).

 

I think I am saying this is because there's so much you can research into your university programs. There's a point where you just need to have some faith. Take the program and then take the pro-active approach to enjoy it as much as you can.

 

kaymcee said it best. you work for your marks. im saying you also work for the experience you want. the difficulty of the program can be overcome with hard work.

[Guest Skiwalka]

okee doke. i'll be taking your advice with me to Queen's lol.