Advice for an exceptionally idiotic first-year student at UBC?

[Alcimede]

I've been quite a long-time thread lurker here at premed101 (although I only visit once in a while and never for long). This is my first time posting here and I would like to give my greetings to all the fellow aspiring doctors and surgeons and dentists and so on that frequent this board. It is my hope to contribute to the discussions and great atmosphere that characterize this forum.

 

First off, I'm not sure if this is the right section of the forum to post this so I would appreciate if someone could point me to the right section if I am indeed wrong. : )

 

With all of that out of the way, I think I need to provide some context as to the current difficult situation I have placed myself into (due completely in part to my laziness and idiocy).

 

I have just graduated high school and have been accepted to the Science program at UBC. I have indicated General Science as my tentative major (with the ultimate goal of applying and matriculating into medical school). Again, I must apologize for my language, but I decided through SHEER IDIOCY to wait until 10 days after registration (I have utterly no idea why I decided to do something so brainlessly stupid) opened up for first-year students to apply for courses. That would be yesterday. Out of the ten courses that I wanted to take (after doing ~3 hours of frantic and completely panicked research) I have only managed to secure 7 of them.

 

As a result, instead of having a balanced 5 courses for each of the two semesters of the Winter Session, I currently have 4 for the first and 3 for the second.

 

The courses that I would have liked to take were/are: Chem 121, Chem 123, Bio 121, Bio 140, Eng 110, Eng 112, Math 100, Math 101, Phys 107, and Phys 108. Out of those ten courses, I am on the waiting list for Chem 123, Bio 140, and Math 100.

 

From my currently extremely limited understanding of how university operates (just in general), the 3 courses that I do not have all happen to be critical courses. That is, I cannot move on to second year without them. If I'm not wrong, subjects such as Chemistry are studied in 'packages'. That is, if I want to finish basic chemistry that is expected of first year students, I would have to take both Chem 121 and Chem 123. If I do not do that, I am not qualified to take the Chem 200s (I'm assuming that 200s = 2nd year and 300s = 3rd year).

 

Needless to say, my parents are furious and incredibly disappointed. I would like to salvage the situation as much as possible, and I would greatly appreciate any advice given. That is, what options do I have and what I can do in the meantime. A friend of mine suggested getting my electives out of the way (I do not understand what constitutes as electives and what these 'breadth' courses he mentions are).

 

Right now, I'm having trouble sleeping and feel horrible. Reminds me of the first year of highschool (grade 8, or 2nd year of middle school) where I got, not 1, but 3 Is on my report card. Where I live, you can receive an I during the first or second term of a school year and it means that you have received less than 50% in that course for that particular term. If your grade still remains under 50% at the end of the year, that I changes into the more familiar F. At first, I found it to be quite funny and laughed, then I sobered up and faced the awesome fury of my parents.

[anon1234]

does UBC not have a waiting list system set up? if the classes are full, people drop out sometimes because they may be upper year students taking the class for pre-req purposes for med school, and they decide not to, or people may decide to not stay in those classes for other reasons, whatever the case may be, you need to go talk to a counsellor and find out if there is any way you can get a spot in the class if (more like 'when') someone drops it. talk to some senior UBC students and ask them how it works. hopefully some will see this and be able to help you out. but yeah, i would really try my best to somehow get those classes. if you can't get all of them, don't worry so much, you could just do them in the summer after first year and be set for 2nd year though, so don't freak out so much, your life is not over, lol. i would try to take some other classes in the meanwhile just to fill up my schedule so i am a 'full-time' student because med schools care about you being full-time (not all, but some do, so be careful with taking a less than full coure load). most importantly, find someone who can help you or do your research yourself, know exactly what you can and cannot do. some schools have mentorship programs someone like you could benefit from where some senior student could help you out. good luck!

[MarathonRunner]

I'm not exactly sure how things work at UBC, but two pieces of advice based on how things work at other universities:

 

1. Keep checking the course registration web site. Throughout the summer, people will continue to play with their schedules, drop courses, rearrange things, etc. So spots may open up in the courses you require. Also (although I don't know if this happens at UBC), universities sometimes add extra sections of a course if it is a required course for many students and all the sections are full.

 

2. Most universities also have a program counsellor or advisor for each and every program. Does your program have one? Do you know who it is? Can you find out? If so, get in touch with that person. He or she may not be able to do anything to help you, but, on the other hand, if you are unable to register in courses that are REQUIRED for your program, than he/she should be able to help you out.

 

Good luck! Again, I'm not familiar with UBC (hopefully some of the UBC students here can help you out), but those are two pieces of advice that I have for you based on my experiences at other universities.

[Mithril]

UBC does have a waiting list system for courses, so make use of it.

 

Also, see the science advising office in the case that you don't get the courses you need by the time September rolls around. There's still quite a bit of time between now and the first day of school.

 

http://www.students.ubc.ca/coursesreg/academic-planning/academic-advising/

[hking03]

if you are on the waitlist for those courses that's pretty much all you can do.

 

however, you can also contact the science advising office and the prof of the section you would like to take and indicate that you are on the waitlist... you have a plan and would really like to take this course.

 

in most cases the prof can give you a forced registration when classes start.

 

also, like others have said- a lot of movement occurs during the registration period and the first week or two of classes so you can always attend and then sign up after if you can't get in before school starts or get permission from the prof.

 

good luck.

 

you'll also want to verify that you are permitted to take that course load with science advising as i was under the impression that if you took more than 30 credits in a year you needed special permission... since chem is 4 credits and biol 140 is 2 you might be sitting at 31 or 32 credits with that tentative schedule.

[Alcimede]

Thanks guys, for your timely advice!

 

Based on the recommendations you have given me (and the fact that I'm now calm enough to breathe), the first course of action would be for me to find at least 3 more courses in order to be considered a full-time student.

 

I am currently hovering at 22 credits based on the 7 courses that I am guaranteed to have. If I am able to attain all 10 courses, I will have 31 credits.

 

I believe I need 24 credits to be considered eligible to be promoted to second year (along with some other requirements). However, I do not know how many credits I need to attain a 'full-course load'. I have tried searching, but the best result I can get is that taking 9 credits per semester in my program will qualify me to be a full-time student (which doesn't answer the question).

 

My question is, can I take some additional courses in the summer in order to bring my total courses taken up to around ~10 and have that count, still, as a full-course load?

 

My next step will be to phone the advisor for my program and ask if the courses I am still on the waiting list for are critical and required. If not, then I am fine with taking them in the summer (though, preferably I want to take them during the school year).

 

@hking03

 

I'm a little hesitant to contact the professors in order to try an appeal because, to be honest, I do not think it will succeed. I have absolutely no basis or proof for thinking so; however, I can't imagine that a professor will attempt to squeeze another student into an already packed course simply because that idiot of a student decided to pick his courses late.

 

However, if it does have a legitimate chance for success, I would be more than willing to try.

[technicity]

@hking03

 

I'm a little hesitant to contact the professors in order to try an appeal because, to be honest, I do not think it will succeed. I have absolutely no basis or proof for thinking so; however, I can't imagine that a professor will attempt to squeeze another student into an already packed course simply because that idiot of a student decided to pick his courses late.

 

However, if it does have a legitimate chance for success, I would be more than willing to try.

 

Do it... The worst thing they can say to you is "no." Explain that you made a mistake, explain why you want to be in their course, and see if they respond... What do you have to lose?

[Cleah]

Check with your Program Advisor- they may have reserved sets set aside for students specifically registered in your program. Usually, Advisors are really helpful and may have suggestions on what you should do.

[andy_un19920608]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think the whole full course load thing is specified as within Winter session i.e. Term 1 and term 2. Taking it in the summer won't qualify.

 

As what the others have said, I agree with taking some electives for now; you don't want to have a full course load of first year science courses. Many students have claimed that it is very tough to do so. Having some electives can make it easy for you to adjust to how university operates.

 

Make sure to check on the waitlist to see if there are any movements; if all else fails, just take it in the summer. There's always another option

[Destiny Gundam]

Check with your Program Advisor- they may have reserved sets set aside for students specifically registered in your program. Usually, Advisors are really helpful and may have suggestions on what you should do.

 

out of all the responses i like this the most your circumstances are quite bad in a way, but not unfixable. chat with an advisor is the best option, instead of taking random advice from the likes of us.

 

best of luck.

[hking03]

Thanks guys, for your timely advice!

 

Based on the recommendations you have given me (and the fact that I'm now calm enough to breathe), the first course of action would be for me to find at least 3 more courses in order to be considered a full-time student.

 

I am currently hovering at 22 credits based on the 7 courses that I am guaranteed to have. If I am able to attain all 10 courses, I will have 31 credits.

 

I believe I need 24 credits to be considered eligible to be promoted to second year (along with some other requirements). However, I do not know how many credits I need to attain a 'full-course load'. I have tried searching, but the best result I can get is that taking 9 credits per semester in my program will qualify me to be a full-time student (which doesn't answer the question).

 

My question is, can I take some additional courses in the summer in order to bring my total courses taken up to around ~10 and have that count, still, as a full-course load?

 

My next step will be to phone the advisor for my program and ask if the courses I am still on the waiting list for are critical and required. If not, then I am fine with taking them in the summer (though, preferably I want to take them during the school year).

 

@hking03

 

I'm a little hesitant to contact the professors in order to try an appeal because, to be honest, I do not think it will succeed. I have absolutely no basis or proof for thinking so; however, I can't imagine that a professor will attempt to squeeze another student into an already packed course simply because that idiot of a student decided to pick his courses late.

 

However, if it does have a legitimate chance for success, I would be more than willing to try.

 

Contacting the prof directly will not impact you negatively. They will either respond or not.

 

You can either send them an email or call them. If they don't respond then they don't respond. What I would do is say I missed my registration time and would like to take this course. I'm hoping that it might be possible to speak with you closer to the start date if no movement has occurred and to also see if you offer any opportunities to register students during the first week of class... they will either say yes, we offer that or no we don't.

 

No skin off your back.

 

As for a full course load- you'll want to try and take 10 courses to qualify for weighting formulas at certain schools. UBC has a new formula that allows you to drop your worst year as long as you have at least 90 credits after the drop... So, take four years of full time courses then you can drop your worst year. The other formulas are different though and if you don't take 10 courses per year you will not qualify for them.

 

Anyways, it may seem like a crummy situation to be in, but it is not that uncommon. You just need to contact the advisor, put yourself on the waitlist and contact the prof to see if they offer any sort of forced entry.

 

You'll get into the course if you really want to, but it might not be until the first or second week of classes.

[UBCStudent128]

You will most definitely get in CHEM 123 as long as you pass CHEM 121.

There will probably be plenty students who fail CHEM121, freeing up some room for ya.

 

Also you can take a different 1st year MATH courses, unless you must take 100 for whatever program you want.

 

Alternative is to take an elective that you like and fill up the 10 courses for full year. Then take whatever you need to math 100 or biol 140 during summer if they provide it. I know a friend whos taking biol 140 in second year, so it's no big deal

 

But like everyone says, once the school starts, people will change their schedules a lot so just check frequently.

[ubcMDhopeful]

You will most definitely get in CHEM 123 as long as you pass CHEM 121.

There will probably be plenty students who fail CHEM121, freeing up some room for ya.

 

Also you can take a different 1st year MATH courses, unless you must take 100 for whatever program you want.

 

Alternative is to take an elective that you like and fill up the 10 courses for full year. Then take whatever you need to math 100 or biol 140 during summer if they provide it. I know a friend whos taking biol 140 in second year, so it's no big deal

 

But like everyone says, once the school starts, people will change their schedules a lot so just check frequently.

 

I 100% agree with what was said here.

 

Do not worry about 123 alot of people fail 121 leaving space for you.

 

Regarding bio 140 I think you can still take it in second year without major complications.

 

You can also take the math in the summer.

 

But of course this is not ideal, the best thing to do is to talk to profs/advisers as others have mentioned.

 

Good luck

[Alcimede]

Again, thanks a lot guys. Your support is chawesome, as my french teacher would say (a combination of choice [as in, that is SO CHOICE] and awesome).

 

You guys are right, there is nothing to lose. Time to fire up my e-mail writing skills, annoy a few profs, and pity the Science adviser who is going to have to deal with one more idiot.

 

In the meantime, I'll take some electives. French comes to mind as an elective I can do (although I am somewhat crummy at it and have no idea how I did so well in HS). Must be because the class she taught before mine were the spawn of hell, as she would lightly put it.

[notmeadoc]

Big picture - not a big deal. If you don't get all your courses - fill in with an elective. Make it something fun.

 

For all of us on the med journey - we are always so serious about our course selection, volunteer work etc. I have finally come to realize in my application year - that a little bit of enjoyment along the way makes the journey great. Take a course in psych(or two)...or poli sci, or history, or something interesting.

 

Your situation will not make or break you.