Courses for Science U1s

[Guest vickyMD]

Hi, what courses did you spend more time on to do well in? and which courses were more easygoing? Any tips for getting through my first year in general? lol

[Guest richmond604]

study hard? , enjoy U1....b/c it only gets harder

 

the physiology classes (209/210 i believe) are very interesting, and with a bit of cramming, it's very easygoing (so i thought)...but retaining the information learnt after exams is another story

[Guest hoomsy]

if you want some easy courses at mcgill....

 

"The Art of Listening"

 

"Anthro 201 - Arch."

 

"World of Chemistry"

 

"Drug Design and Development 1 and 2" (500 level course but very very easy...but interesting)

 

"Astrobiology"

 

Oceanograph

 

and ne other Space courses...

 

 

Hope that helps....

 

 

PS...make sure u ace every one of your "premed" courses....like gen chem, bio, org, phys.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

Hoomsy

[Guest richmond604]

world of chem wasn't that easy.....we had questions that weren't even mentioned in the lectures....maybe b/c I took it in U0

[Guest vickyMD]

thanks guys, what do you think about phgy 209, biol 200, and mimm 211? what are your experiences with these courses?

[Guest Spencer]

PHGY209: Fun and interesting...lots of students will take these courses....they're not considered difficult as PHGY courses don't become uber hard until U2 when you have the 3 integrative PHGY courses.

 

BIOL200: Used to be easy...now it's a killer course. Heard there is a big difference b/w morning and afternoon sections...the professors are different. They've capped the morning section cause everyone wants to get into it. This year, the morning section had multiple choice exams, the afternoon got essays 0_o!

 

MIMM211: Haven't heard too much about it but I know lots of ppl in micro...I guess it's just one of those courses that everyone just manages to pull through in. The complimentary lab component MIMM212 is apparently really easy as well...as it's designed as an intro course to micro labs.

 

HOOMSY: Just wondering...did you do a Pharm minor? I'm contemplating between doing a minor in Pharm, History or Anthro...

 

As for World of Chem...I'd take them if you consider yourself a good memorizer...all exams are MC and are based on trivial facts mentioned in lecture. Take Foods or Drugs...they're the larger classes which have NTCs (note-taking course study packages) which are a great help when it comes to studying for midterms and finals. I took World of Chem food...and I managed to do really well but only because I'm good at memorizing facts...I don't know that many people who managed to pull an A in that class.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Spencer

[Guest richmond604]

Used to be easy...now it's a killer course

 

agreed.....morning section was harder though....at least in my opinion

[Guest vickyMD]

hey spencer, which of those three courses did you spend more time on in order to do well?

[Guest 1984MD]

Hey,

 

I took all those courses (3 years ago....). BIOL 200 back then was a complete JOKE. I remember that we used to get weekly online practice quizzes (didnt count for marks) and the midterm exam was exactly the same questions as the practice quizzes. It was also extremely disorganized (there was over 1000 people registered but only seating for like 700 or so) but a total joke. It's been completely changed so that now apparently it is quite challenging, so I would say that you should focus most of your time on this course.

 

For the other two, phgy 209 hasn't changed very much since I took it. It is interesting (although not as interesting as PHGY 210) and easy to do well in, if you put effort in. There is ALOT of memorization here.

 

MIMM 211 is a great course, probably the best of all of these in my opinion. Last year was the first year without Dr. Chan as the coordinator (he passed away last year) and although the class will never be as good without Dr. Chan (and he taught a huge chunk of the material), it is still a great class. It is split into a few sections: intro/history of microbio, bacteriology, virology, study of fungi and yeast and finally immunology (the hardest part of the course, taught by Dr. Baines who LOVES to ask tricky questions).

anyways, to answer your question, the best thing to do is to go over your notes either weekly or a bit after each lecture and then take the midterms as they come. They are all 200 level courses, therefore have the same credit hours but I would watch out for biol 200, from what I've heard about ht echanges in the course...

[Guest Spencer]

Hey vickyMD,

 

I actually haven't taken any of the courses mentioned...with the exception of World of Chem. I just finished my freshman U0 year. The anecdotal advice I was sharing only came from my U1+ friends who had done all of these courses.

 

I really don't know what the breakdown would be in terms of the workload...but I would imagine it would be a good idea to spend a fair amount on BIOL200 since it's known as the killer course!

 

I take it you will be entering U1 in September? Are you from QC heading in straight from CEGEP or have you already spent a year at McGill?

 

- Spencer

[Guest vickyMD]

hey Spencer, i'm entering U1 biochem from cegep, what about you?

 

that's craziness...how could biol 200 be harder than the one a few years ago? how would they change what's taught? bio 200 is biol 200 right? lol

[Guest 1984MD]

about biol 200, although I presume the content of the course is still the same, the level of knowledge/memorization of the material was changed and the testing was totally changed around. Biol 200 used to be known as a "bird course" and I guess the faculty and bio department caught on to this and decided to change things around. I don't know if the course is really THAT much harder but I think a lot of people who registered for the course last year heard all the rumors about BIOL 200 being a joke and therefore probably didnt take the course all that seriously and were caught off guard. Study well for it and I'm sure an A is attainable (you'll have WAYY harder classes to look forward to, especially if you are in biochem )

[Guest richmond604]

the midterm was ridiculously hard because the midterm in the previous year was too easy (avg of 80+) so I heard....

 

but yes, there will always be people getting A's (those med-P's :rolleyes )

[Guest Spencer]

Hey Vicky,

 

I'm actually unofficially in Physiology...because I want to complete an honours degree in Immunology and entrance into Immuno is at the end of U1. I'm also planning to pursue a minor in Anthropology. We'll see how everything works out!

 

Enjoy the remaining weeks of summer...school will be rolling around before you know it :\ !

 

Regards,

Spencer

[z_mcgill]

Hi Hoomsy,

 

the prereqs for these courses are org 3...but when you say it's "very easy", is org 3 really required? I want to avoid taking org 3 if i can!

 

thanks.

Z

[dynamicmutation]

popular music since 1945 (if it is still offered, taught by craig morrison, perhaps now DR. craig) is a great bird course. highly recommended.

 

if you studied music theory in conjuction with study of an instrument, then basic materials of western music is a breeze and a good choice for the semester when you have a brutal course (ie. bio 301 lab).

 

i took bio 200 in 1999, and i dont remember it being such a bird course. it was one of my lowest marks overall during my undergrad, but maybe it's because i despised the trivial facts that i had to memorize and hated obscure MC questions. i am thrilled to hear that they are switching to essays. that is the way to go!!! mcgill is actually evolving in their assessment methods!

 

DM

[3.1415]

are there any easy econ / management courses?