Courses for UofT undergrad

[Guest UofTboy]

Hello

 

I am very condused as to what courses cover the requirements for most med schools and the MCAT material.

 

At UofT, we have a 1st yr organic chem course, a second year organic chem course, and a 3rd yr organic chem course all called intro to organic chem?????

 

There are also a bunch of chem courses, ie intro to Physical Chem, Intro to chem, etc.

 

I'm not sure which ones will cover the material on the MCAT and the requirements for some Medschools that require prereqs.

 

Secondly, Do the courses get more difficult or easier after second yr, for example do the class averages and people's grades drop after 2nd year,third year?

 

Thank you very much and have a fun and safe summer

 

UofTboy

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hi UofTboy,

 

With respect to chemistry for MCAT purposes at UT, CHM138/139--the two first year half courses--will cover a lot of what you need to know. CHM138 is basically the first half of what used to be the full-year orgo course, that is, covering alkyl chemistry, SN1/2, E1/2, etc, up to but not including carbonyl chemistry. The CHM139 syllabus, on the other hand, reads almost like an MCAT prep text in General Chemistry: you start with the basics of bonding, and move via thermodynamics, solutions, acids/bases, etc., through to electrochemistry. A bonus: if you do well on CHM139 chances are you should do well on MCAT General Chemistry as the level of detail required in CHM139 exceeds that found on the MCAT.

 

You will need to know more complex organic chemistry for the MCAT though and thus, may want to pick up the extra orgo half course. (Unless, when they reduce the percentage of organic chemistry questions next year, they slice out the carbonyl material.) Therefore, you may want to investigate part two of CHM138 to cover that chunk of orgo material (sorry, but I'm not sure which course that is, exactly, as I took its full-year predecessor last summer when it was last offered).

 

As to higher year chemistry courses, it's difficult to say how they rate compared to first and second year courses as there are a number of factors at work. For example, I took a third year environmental chem course this year. The class size (~70 students) was a fraction of that of first year chem classes so it was pleasingly more intimate; however a good chunk of the class were specializing in chemistry. Therefore, you'd think that they'd be pretty comfy with chemistry concepts--and they certainly seemed to be. Due to that alone, it's difficult to compare class averages (ours ended up being C+), although I know the average for our term tests was less than stellar as the second test was absolutely brutal (~65% then 57% or something along those lines). Also, the prof naturally assumes that you have most of the chemistry basics down pat, e.g., "Ah, so you all know pseudo-first order kinetics, so let's jump to using that in stratospheric ozone formation mechanisms...", or "Right, so just to refresh, this is the Nernst equation, now let's apply this to oxidation/reduction mechanisms in water chemistry...". If that sort of thing sounds comfortably up your alley and you really enjoy chemistry then you may want to take a closer look at higher year chem courses--they have a great menu to choose from. (By the way, I'd highly recommend CHM310--Environmental Chemistry!)

 

Cheers,

Kirsteen

[Guest UofTboy]

Thanks alot Kirsteen, I really appreciate the advice.

 

I think I'll stay away from envrionmental chemistry (as I enjoy my sanity )

 

Just wondering do the other science courses ie. Biology, physiology etc get easier as you go up in years. I'm expecting them to get harder, alot harder as everyone tells me the courses move from straight regurgitating to actually engaging in complex thinking. What have been your thoughts on the level of difficulty?

 

If they really do get harder , I better buckle down and try harder or try to implant a second brain because my first year marks may this garbage strike smell like a rose garden

[Guest Kirsteen]

Hey again UofTboy,

 

Geez, judging whether or not higher level courses are "hard" is tough as, in my experience, they have been completely different from first year courses--and challenging in their own, different ways.

 

Some first year courses, tend to be "harder" in that you may be required to complete courses that aren't always as interesting to you, for certain programs. Also, I'd agree with you that first year courses tend to focus on rote memorization learning and regurgitation. The exams tend to reflect that in that they are largely multiple-choice and can be tough due to the nit-picky little factoids that they require you to pull out from the wee nooks in the attic of your brain.

 

Regarding higher year courses, generally speaking, (and I'm going by higher science courses that I've taken, e.g., 4th year clinical biochem, 4th year reproductive physiology) the subject matter taught is a lot more in depth and focused. You still have to memorize and understand a lot of material; however, in both of these courses, exams were not structured around regurgitative answering processes and multiple-choice questions. Instead, they were more along the lines of application-type questions. Therefore, you really had to understand how systems were integrated and how they operated, and from there, you applied your knowledge to specific scenarios. An exam for reproductive physiology, for example, would consist of 8 essay question topics, from which you had to pick 5 to write essays on in 3 hours. The questions often centered around a clinical problem, and you had to describe, using your knowledge of reproductive processes, how that clinical problem could have come to manifest itself.

 

Perhaps one of the keys in doing well in higher education (aside from transplanting additional grey matter!) is taking courses in subject areas that you really enjoy. It's quite a different experience from taking courses that you are required to complete, as that level of depth and focus offered in higher courses may be quite interesting to you and as such, you may find that you will thrive. For breadth of course selection, UT is definitely one of the better places to be.

 

Cheers and good luck,

Kirsteen

[Guest UofTboy]

You're the best.

 

Good luck with your courses and endevours!!!!

 

I'll keep you posted as to how things go with these advanced courses

 

 

PS Stay out of the sun today, I just heard with the humidex the temp in Toronto is at 48 degrees!!!!!!! Majour warnings everywhere

 

 

Thanks Kirsteen