feversugar Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 Hey everyone, course registration is tomorrow and I'm freaking out Here's the thing, I want to take the computer science track with the following classes: COMP 202, MATH 223, COMP 206 and COMP 273. With the prerequisites and whatnot, there is no other option but to have COMP 202 and MATH 223 in the fall, as well as COMP 206 and COMP 273 in the winter. For the fall, the schedule works out perfect, I don't even have classes on tuesdays and thursdays. However, in the winter, there is NO possibility of making a schedule, because COMP 206 and BIOL 201 (mandatory) start at the same time on the same days -- monday and wednesdays at 11:35. Both those classes have only that one spot for lectures. I was told I could register for both, go to COMP 206 every week and do BIOL 201 online. Note that I can attend 1/3 lectures because there is one on friday as well that I can actually go to (COMP 206 is only twice a week, 1:30). What do you think about it? Is it too risky? I've also been told there has been problems in the past where recordings weren't even posted. Would I be shooting myself in the foot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellorie Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 I did my undergrad at McGill and this happened to me once. I did just fine in both classes. If one course is recorded, it's generally okay. The recordings tend to be good quality, and it's very rare for there to be a glitch with them, in my experience. If something does happen, it shouldn't be a big deal to get someone's notes for one lecture. If you know that you will keep up and actually watch the lectures, I'd go for it. It's definitely possible, and for me it wasn't a big deal at all, but I know other people who have really gotten screwed because they didn't put in the work without the pressure of attending lecture in person. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpaofap Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 I think you should still go for it! Even it you do end up missing a lecture, you will ideally have made tons of friends in Med-P and can probably borrow the notes from them that you missed. Or you can purchase NTC's. I say you shouldn't let one tiny thing like a schedule conflict to change what you want to study in your first year of university, especially if there are ways around it. Plus, I've been reading these forums for a while and you seemed SO excited to be able to take Computer Science courses. After all, the 2015 class has constantly been telling us that this year's the year to do what you've always wanted to try, so why not? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feversugar Posted June 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 Wow thanks for the encouraging words everyone I really appreciate it. Sorry for the stupid question, but what are NTCs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpaofap Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 I don't remember the exact words, but it's something like Note Taking Club or something. And by NTC's, it would probably mean the notes that the Note Taking Club take down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
over9000 Posted June 8, 2011 Report Share Posted June 8, 2011 Correct. NTCs stand for Note Taking Club. Basically, it's written notes for every lecture of large courses, such as BIOL. It's explained in the medguide somewhere. You should go for it; BIOL 201 is a really straightforward course with a lot of stuff you already saw (cellular respiration, TCA cycle) plus the profs are really great this year. Just try to keep up with the lectures! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feversugar Posted June 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2011 Thank you! I feel much better about everything now. I think I will take the risk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preppy038 Posted June 9, 2011 Report Share Posted June 9, 2011 Correct. NTCs stand for Note Taking Club. Basically, it's written notes for every lecture of large courses, such as BIOL. It's explained in the medguide somewhere. You should go for it; BIOL 201 is a really straightforward course with a lot of stuff you already saw (cellular respiration, TCA cycle) plus the profs are really great this year. Just try to keep up with the lectures! Concordia med :O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samy Posted June 9, 2011 Report Share Posted June 9, 2011 Concordia med :O It's brand new !! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FinalShowtime Posted June 9, 2011 Report Share Posted June 9, 2011 It's brand new !! :-) Wait what the...is this true or are you guys trolling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feversugar Posted June 9, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2011 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjsdefz Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 Sorry, not to discourage you, but I don't think many computer courses and math courses actually have recordings available. Further, NTCs for those courses may not be available; NTCs are mainly made for biological science courses, or for courses that are popular among biological science students. At least that was when I was an undergraduate student which was ages ago. But things might have changed. Depends on your background, you may find most MATH 200s and 300s courses for non-math/physics/engineers are easy As. If you are educated in China, Russia, India, or whatever places that bring you strong physical science background, you have the As already. Also, most of the time the class averages for those courses are terrible, and strange curve up often occur to bring up significantly the grades. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeping_sickness Posted June 10, 2011 Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 ^ I would agree with most of this. The math department at McGill is not very strong. That's not to mean that the students aren't strong, but most of the professors are terrible. I took calculus 3 and the class average was a C. if you're a strong math student and can tackle the course outside of lecture time then you'll be fine. If you need a good prof to understand the material then it may be a poor option. Math courses at McGill are known GPA busters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feversugar Posted June 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2011 its ok, im not missing math/comp, im missing bio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MonsieurB Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Math courses at McGill are known GPA busters. Hahaha not really no! The calculus classes, analysis 1 and algebra 1 are there to weed out people from the math programs., but after the first semester it's not uncommon at all to see class averages of B+,A- or A. Granted there aren't a lot of people in some of those classes so the prof doesn't care about maintaining a C average. And people work hard too. There's an old joke in the math department: Once there was a math professor who was teaching some math class. At the final exam he says: "Look, the exam is really hard, so I'm prepared to give a C to anyone who leaves right now." A few students leave, happy to get their guaranteed C. Then the professor says: "The exam is REALLY hard, so if you guys leave right now I'll give you a B". More people leave thinking they made a good deal. Then the professor is left with a few students and says: "Well you guys that stayed would probably had an A anyway, so to those remaining, you get an A!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychoswim Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Hahaha not really no! The calculus classes, analysis 1 and algebra 1 are there to weed out people from the math programs., but after the first semester it's not uncommon at all to see class averages of B+,A- or A. Granted there aren't a lot of people in some of those classes so the prof doesn't care about maintaining a C average. And people work hard too. There's an old joke in the math department: Once there was a math professor who was teaching some math class. At the final exam he says: "Look, the exam is really hard, so I'm prepared to give a C to anyone who leaves right now." A few students leave, happy to get their guaranteed C. Then the professor says: "The exam is REALLY hard, so if you guys leave right now I'll give you a B". More people leave thinking they made a good deal. Then the professor is left with a few students and says: "Well you guys that stayed would probably had an A anyway, so to those remaining, you get an A!" lol!! I heard that joke when I was there years ago. I disagree with the math courses being GPA killers as well. Worst one was the complex variable course with Roth (ugh!) where the final was brutal with a 35 point question about material we saw very quickly (and never understood) in the last class. Class average (after it was curved) was a D. Besides that one, I never got anything but As. I thought the profs were alright too, besides Roth of course. I'd missed the first 2 weeks of class for a training camp in Barbados, and when I showed up and asked him for a course plan he basically told me I should drop out because I would never be able to catch up. Ended up scoring 100s on all the midterms and shut him up. I had a prof in Cal 3 that for some reason everybody hated. Old guy that taught in his socks. Almost everyone went to the other section, we were about 5-6 students left with him. I liked him though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeping_sickness Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 lol!! I heard that joke when I was there years ago. I had a prof in Cal 3 that for some reason everybody hated. Old guy that taught in his socks. Almost everyone went to the other section, we were about 5-6 students left with him. I liked him though. That's who I had! He would walk in, pick up a piece of chalk, and just start writing on the board. Thank god I had a good textbook and friends who had a better grasp on calc than i did. In the end I thought the course was easy, but the class average was still a C and I know people who have had to take it 2, or even 3 times! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feversugar Posted June 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 Thanks guys! I don't consider myself bad at math, but the ratemyprofs ratings really freaked me out. I'm hoping with perseverance I can overcome that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychoswim Posted June 11, 2011 Report Share Posted June 11, 2011 That's who I had! He would walk in, pick up a piece of chalk, and just start writing on the board. Thank god I had a good textbook and friends who had a better grasp on calc than i did. In the end I thought the course was easy, but the class average was still a C and I know people who have had to take it 2, or even 3 times! Jonsson was it? Seems to ring a bell. How funny, he turned out to be one of my favorite profs in my 4 years! Maybe it was because calc was easy for me, got an easy A in that class. I've never really checked ratemyprofs because you'll often find that (like many review sites on the web) people that have something to complain about are more likely to take the time to rate negatively their profs, than others that were happy to rate positively. I've never rated a prof before, whoops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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