choosing courses

[Guest nick]

Hi,

I just finished my first year at Erindale College u of t.My gpa is 3.35.I am also taking anthro in summer

as a 5th course which may bring my gpa higher.First year I took bio,chem,calc,history.My question is to someone who is in med school but from Erindale College.Can you help in selecting courses for 2nd year and beyond which are easier and improve gpa.

[Guest Akane200]

Sorry, I'm not from erindale. Maybe you should check the anti calendar, or ask classmates. Symbolic logic and semiotics are always a favourite bird course on teh st. george campus.

[Guest Ian Wong]

I'm not trying to sound like a prick or anything, but also remember that university isn't just about getting into med school. I have lots of friends that I met from the first couple years of university, and probably only 2-3 are currently in med school. Many others have found other jobs that interested them more, and still others are turned off by the intense time committment that is necessary not only while you are in med school, but also during residency, and then while you are in practice.

 

Don't forget to take the time to check out classes that you might enjoy. There are very few classes out there where not even a few people in the class receive A's. Therefore, the high marks are out there if you want them. If you are interested in a subject, you'll probably find it easier to study for it, which (for me anyways) really helps with the motivation. I actually find motivating myself to study much harder than learning the material itself. If you aren't afraid to take interesting stuff, you might even do better in it, while possibly discovering a subject area that fascinates you even more than medicine.

 

Ian

UBC, Med 3

[Guest Akane200]

What Ian says is true. Very often, you have to like the subject to do well I think (well maybe except for MGT 120F from my own experience).

 

I took this really really easy classics course once, and did really really well. But it was really easy for me because I liked it, plus I had read the original translated versions of the Illiad, the Oddysey, and Oedipus Rex prior to taking the course. Then, the following term, everyone I knew who was looking for bird courses took it, and did only average.

 

But I disagree with Ian that the high marks are out there if you look for them in most courses. That really depends on the university you go to. May be most courses are easier, or you're really really smart. Whatever.

 

For most courses in U of T st. george campus, I am willing to say that it is very easy to do average (in the c to b range), but to get that A, you have to work extra hard for it in the majority of courses excluding the bird courses. That being said, I still think it is good advice to try to look for one or two easier courses to take to balance out your heavy courses that you take during the year (assuming you take 5 or 6 full credits). You should like them (which helps a lot), but that isn't always the case either (it may be a bit tedious, but for the marks it may be worth while).

 

Especially for courses at U of T where in some courses, marks are just plain harder to get (like in BIO 260S for example, you must work very hard), and you have to decide whether it's really worth it for you to take the easy one (keeping in mind that everyone, probably even the admissions committee, knows that symbolic logic is easy, for example) or the challenging one and get lower marks. It's a trade off.

 

I think if you study at U of T, you have to be a little strategic in the courses that you take so that you do not become disadvantaged (in downtown campus anyways).

 

For missisauga campus, however, my impression was that the courses there were already much easier than the downtown campus. Plus, you've taken only 4 courses during fall/winter session. What should you take?? First year physics, since you don't have it, orgo, second year bio, and two other courses that you like.