xkittens Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Hey guys, any input would be greatly appreciated on the following courses, as well as preferred profs: - Organic Chem - Biochemistry - Physics (Which one, I believe there is two) - English course for a Science student Appreciate any feedback, Thank you! Biochem with wheaton was easy, also he chuckles at everything like dr. hibbert from the simpsons it's phenomenal. Orgo: raji iyer is the best. Potvin's pretty decent too. Physics: take 1420, it's a joke. Although anna matvienko will give you the ... most unintelligible tests (3 written answer questions, one of which will have nothing to do with physics and be impossible to solve in the 2 minutes that have been allotted for it, and then 15 MC in 30 minutes). Try to avoid her if possible. English: anything with dana patrascu-kingsley, she's an amazing prof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goku Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 also he chuckles at everything like dr. hibbert from the simpsons it's phenomenal. Lmao this is so accurate. Too bad he moved to McMaster now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aang Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Hey guys is there any way to drop a course off my transcript? I fucked up and ended up getting a B as a final grade is there any way I can get this removed? Unless you have a valid medical reason or death in the family, don't bother petitioning. What you can do however is change the grade to a pass/ fail. I did this through academic advising. Say you would like to maintain a higher GPA for professional school and awards purposes. Especially now with the strike, use it to your advantage. The grade can be removed or changed to pass/ fail option. There are different avenues at York to do this. Talk to different people and seek a way. But in the end if nothing happens, just leave it alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruhh Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Can't you drop a course after the "drop date" and just end up with a W? it's nothing amazing, but better than a B at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
011235813 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 That depends on whether or not it's worth it to lose full time status for 1 mark. For UofT, if all of your other grades are decent, it may be worth it to take the B to not lose the 30 credits/year status. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxwe11 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Orgo is easy, take it with Jackson if possible. Take Biochem with Kubieski. Appreciate the feedback, do you know if the chem department has past tests? Biochem with wheaton was easy, also he chuckles at everything like dr. hibbert from the simpsons it's phenomenal. Orgo: raji iyer is the best. Potvin's pretty decent too. Physics: take 1420, it's a joke. Although anna matvienko will give you the ... most unintelligible tests (3 written answer questions, one of which will have nothing to do with physics and be impossible to solve in the 2 minutes that have been allotted for it, and then 15 MC in 30 minutes). Try to avoid her if possible. English: anything with dana patrascu-kingsley, she's an amazing prof. Thank you for the feedback, will definitely avoid Matvienko like the plague. Do you know where I can get past tests for Physics/Orgo/Biochem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falling Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Appreciate the feedback, do you know if the chem department has past tests? Kijiji has past tests Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
011235813 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 PHYS1420 may only be available with Matvienko, depending on if she's teaching this year. As of today, there is only one section for PHYS1420. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarloStanfield Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Unless you have a valid medical reason or death in the family, don't bother petitioning. What you can do however is change the grade to a pass/ fail. I did this through academic advising. Say you would like to maintain a higher GPA for professional school and awards purposes. Especially now with the strike, use it to your advantage. The grade can be removed or changed to pass/ fail option. There are different avenues at York to do this. Talk to different people and seek a way. But in the end if nothing happens, just leave it alone. Thanks for the respone and my excuse can be considered valid because an uncle of mine passed away but I for some idiotic reason felt the need to remain tough to support my mother and aunts and ended up just fucking up on my exam when I should've deferred (I didn't want to ask the deceased's wife for proof and shit for the deferral cause she was taking it really hard) now my dilemna is that if I do drop the course I'll end up with 27 credit completed and straight A's/A+ and I have no idea if sacrificing a full course load for my final year is worth getting rid of a B. All my other years I took 33 credits but I doubt that's relevant unless they roll over credits or something. I'm honestly thinking of just living with the B and hoping for the best and taking a 5th year as backup but can anyone offer insight or pros/cons B vs full course load haha. I'm looking around and it's hard to tell what schools consider full course loads mandatory, weigh or don't care at all. Is GPA more important than a full course load? Thanks in advanced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
011235813 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 UofT requires Full Course Load to use their weighting formula. If you have a full course load in each year, they will drop your 18 lowest credits if you've completed 3 years, 24 if you've completed 4 years. Western only requires full course load in your top 2 years (with 60% of your courses at your year of study. i.e. if you are a 3rd year student, you need to take 18/30 credits at 3rd year or higher) Queen's, Not a factor. However, they do say that a CGPA will be calculated only if you're not full time. But their full time is 3 full courses per semester, so you're good. Ottawa: A year with less than 5 full courses per year is not counted as part of the WGPA. But if you make up for it with a summer course or during another year, you're good. Seeing as you did 33 credits in other years, you may be OK. You should probably ask admin. Mac: Not a factor. These are the Ontario schools - Northern. In summary, Full course load is related to GPA, in response to your question. If your GPA is affected drastically by the B, and Weighting formulas do not offset the problem, petition to try to get the grade removed. You appear to have a valid reason. However, if weighting formulas are really necessary in your case, I would advise against trying to remove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
011235813 Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 Anybody who sees anything I've written that they think is incorrect please point it out. I can cite where I found the information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vsdbja95 Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 Appreciate the feedback, do you know if the chem department has past tests? Thank you for the feedback, will definitely avoid Matvienko like the plague. Do you know where I can get past tests for Physics/Orgo/Biochem? I have never seen a professor that cares and is as nice as Anna. She changed her test format after many requests ; 45 minutes with 10-15 MC and 2 SA. She also dropped our lowest test. Yes lectures are not always informative, but that is the case for many professors. Physics is not a an easy A+, but the class average believe it or not (after labs and free 5% online hw) is around 70. Hopefully I was able to convince you that Anna is not a plague Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Posted May 6, 2015 Report Share Posted May 6, 2015 I have never seen a professor that cares and is as nice as Anna. She changed her test format after many requests ; 45 minutes with 10-15 MC and 2 SA. She also dropped our lowest test. Yes lectures are not always informative, but that is the case for many professors. Physics is not a an easy A+, but the class average believe it or not (after labs and free 5% online hw) is around 70. Hopefully I was able to convince you that Anna is not a plague I agree. I had her the first year she taught and I never even took physics in high school but she was so sweet and it made the course worth it. Yes, you'll have to work hard on your own time and will feel unguided but if you do the work, there's no reason you can't do well. Her tests should be reasonable now since we were used as guinea pigs and she's learned from it. She wants everyone to succeed. I sorta felt bad because it felt like people were taking advantage of her and were kind of rude lol. vsdbja95 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falling Posted May 7, 2015 Report Share Posted May 7, 2015 Cannot get another lab position. I get a bunch of responses like "Our lab is full, but please consider us for your honours thesis". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9jaPreMed Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 Organic Chem: Try to take it with Jackson if you can! I had two other professors and ended up with B+ Biochemistry: I honestly felt I learnt a lot with Kubeiski and ended up liking the course. try to find test banks to work with etc. (got an A) Physics: Apparently if you took Grade 12 Physics, you can't take the easier of the 2 (1420). I will be taking 1410 this summer; LOL I've been avoiding it my whole university career. English: I took English (Drama). We read a lot of Shakespeare and it reminded me a lot of Grade 11 English! Have to say it was a bit of a breeze (A+) In terms of research and volunteering. I emailed over 35 profs for an NSERC position (They'll want a copy of your transcript). I did get a prof who helped submit my application, however, I guess my GPA didn't make the cut (darn those B+'s). I was still able to however get involved in a Research Practicum this summer with one of the best profs at York Just make sure to apply early! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 Organic Chem: Try to take it with Jackson if you can! I had two other professors and ended up with B+ Biochemistry: I honestly felt I learnt a lot with Kubeiski and ended up liking the course. try to find test banks to work with etc. (got an A) Physics: Apparently if you took Grade 12 Physics, you can't take the easier of the 2 (1420). I will be taking 1410 this summer; LOL I've been avoiding it my whole university career. English: I took English (Drama). We read a lot of Shakespeare and it reminded me a lot of Grade 11 English! Have to say it was a bit of a breeze (A+) In terms of research and volunteering. I emailed over 35 profs for an NSERC position (They'll want a copy of your transcript). I did get a prof who helped submit my application, however, I guess my GPA didn't make the cut (darn those B+'s). I was still able to however get involved in a Research Practicum this summer with one of the best profs at York Just make sure to apply early! Which English course/prof did you take if you don't mind me asking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
011235813 Posted May 8, 2015 Report Share Posted May 8, 2015 Organic Chem: Try to take it with Jackson if you can! I had two other professors and ended up with B+ Biochemistry: I honestly felt I learnt a lot with Kubeiski and ended up liking the course. try to find test banks to work with etc. (got an A) Physics: Apparently if you took Grade 12 Physics, you can't take the easier of the 2 (1420). I will be taking 1410 this summer; LOL I've been avoiding it my whole university career. English: I took English (Drama). We read a lot of Shakespeare and it reminded me a lot of Grade 11 English! Have to say it was a bit of a breeze (A+) In terms of research and volunteering. I emailed over 35 profs for an NSERC position (They'll want a copy of your transcript). I did get a prof who helped submit my application, however, I guess my GPA didn't make the cut (darn those B+'s). I was still able to however get involved in a Research Practicum this summer with one of the best profs at York Just make sure to apply early! Are you sure about not being able to take PHYS1420 if you take Grade 12 Physics? SC/PHYS 1420 6.00 Physics with Applications to Life Sciences A survey of physics in which many fundamental concepts are emphasized through applications to the life sciences. Topics include kinematics, dynamics, momentum and energy for linear and rotational motion; elementary kinetic theory and thermodynamics; static and current electricity; waves and physical and geometrical optics; elements of modern physics. This is a calculus-based course recommended for students unlikely to take 2000-level Physics courses. It includes a three-hour laboratory component, normally in alternating weeks. Prerequisites: 12U Physics or OAC Physics vsdbja95 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Winchester Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 The first year chem department at York is a joke. Now that I have finished both CHEM 1000 and CHEM 1001 I can wholeheartedly say that they are ridiculously unfair in their marking, more so for CHEM 1001 I found. I submitted 2 out of my 3 quizzes for remarking and I was still not completely satisfied with the remarking. Some might say it is simply my opinion that the marking is unfair, so I'd like some support of any one else has encountered similar problems. Also, one question on my exam was given 1.5/6 FOR NO REASON. I got it changed and that boosted my final grade by one letter. Yes, I am glad that they changed it. No, I am not glad that I had to actively complain to get them to give me the mark that I worked for. That is all for my rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falling Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 The TAs for every chem class that I've taken mark poorly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruhh Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Every department at york is a joke tbh. I've been unfairly graded in Math, Chem, HUMA, Film, Psyc courses since first year. I got an A in a course once even though my final grade was 95. The TA thought an A is between 90-99 and A+ is 100 only lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xkittens Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 How do you guys write your answers? I've never had a problem with marking in any of these departments, probably because of my anal retentive thorough nature. I always write answers as if I'm explaining it to a child and cover everything I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falling Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 For me it has been really bad errors like I've put down the correct answer, word for word from the prof's solutions and still get 0 marks for some reason. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruhh Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 My writing is fine, in fact SA's are my expertise because I tend to memorize all the info and I'm able to regurgitate as much info as possible on the questions. The problem for me is the errors (as falling has been experiencing) and the inconsistency between TA's marking schemes. I've had TA's not recognizing a 95 being equal to an A+ to TA's who give absolutely no A+ (a film course I took had 0 A+s), to TA's who failed every single person on their first chem lab because he wanted us to "grasp how hard university is". I've probably just been very unlucky with TA's, or I've been taking too many HUMA, THEATER, and BS courses. But either way, the inconsistency is present and I've experienced it first hand. Bio and psyc have been pretty good departments for me so far though, not much problems there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruhh Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Btw, does anyone know when the OMSAS applications open? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xkittens Posted May 10, 2015 Report Share Posted May 10, 2015 Hm maybe I dodged bad TAs. OMSAS opens in the middle of July if I recall correctly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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