rookie Posted August 24, 2012 Report Share Posted August 24, 2012 I was just wondering if anyone here has taken Organic Chemistry (CHEM2020) or Animals (BIOL2030) and could tell me what the courses are like in terms of workload, difficulty, exams and especially what the labs are like. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingston Posted August 24, 2012 Report Share Posted August 24, 2012 I was just wondering if anyone here has taken Organic Chemistry (CHEM2020) or Animals (BIOL2030) and could tell me what the courses are like in terms of workload, difficulty, exams and especially what the labs are like. Thanks Orgo labs are 3 hours long, some short and some take the full 3 hours. Labs require a write-up, very time consuming. Workload of orgo chem is very demanding, a lot of material to cover, there are about 21 chapters you will be covering. You must be able to manage your time or else you'll find it very difficult. If you can, try and get a head start as of right now, buy the textbook and start covering from chapter 1, the more you cover the better, also check the syllabus to make sure that you only cover the chapters you need too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmemedstudents Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 I was just wondering if anyone here has taken Organic Chemistry (CHEM2020) or Animals (BIOL2030) and could tell me what the courses are like in terms of workload, difficulty, exams and especially what the labs are like. Thanks For orgo make sure you do all the in chapter problems and review notes RIGHT after class. May be the hardest course you take as a Bio major. Animals is fairly straight forward multiple choice based on slides BUT pay attention in labs, most people do terrible on the lab exam. Study hard for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rookie Posted August 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 Thanks for your help. I was also just wondering if the labs are done individually or in partners/groups? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kingston Posted August 26, 2012 Report Share Posted August 26, 2012 The labs are conducted in groups of 2, but each individual will have to submit a separate report. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elarXi Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Well, I took both last year, and I can tell you that Animals is a s**t-ton of work for a 4-credit course... It's mostly memorization, lectures can be somewhat dull early on, but get better later on in the course (yeah, you start off with stuff like protozoa = unicellular animals, but end in chordates). The labs are 3-hours long (often spilling over), if you do them properly; most people, I find, simply found the picture of what they "should" see beforehand and drew it out and come to the lab already "finished"... just remember that there's a lab exam at the end, and nothing beats hands-on drawing in terms of memorizing what something looks like Also, every lab there is a lab quiz, worth 50% of the lab (yeah, it's out of 5 marks), and don't listen to whoever tells you it's not about detail. IT IS ABOUT DETAIL (like the littlest thing, for example what are the three layers (scientifically) called in the shell of a clam) The course isn't hard, and the exams are fair, but make sure you don't slack off or fall behind As for Orgo, first month is a headache with all the MO stuff we should've learned in 1st year anyway... but then, when you get to reactions, if you do the assigned problems, you're good to go. Orgo, imho, you can somewhat afford to fall behind and just work from the book, but, even if you don't plan on taking notes which are all book-based anyway, I would still drop by because (at least my) orgo teacher dropped hints on what will be on the exam, and the questions he did in tutorial were very, very similar (like, the molecule would havea different R group, but functional groups the same) Taking both is very doable, you can get an A+ in both if you work hard and don't fall (too far) behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charmer08 Posted August 27, 2012 Report Share Posted August 27, 2012 Well, I took both last year, and I can tell you that Animals is a s**t-ton of work for a 4-credit course... It's mostly memorization, lectures can be somewhat dull early on, but get better later on in the course (yeah, you start off with stuff like protozoa = unicellular animals, but end in chordates). The labs are 3-hours long (often spilling over), if you do them properly; most people, I find, simply found the picture of what they "should" see beforehand and drew it out and come to the lab already "finished"... just remember that there's a lab exam at the end, and nothing beats hands-on drawing in terms of memorizing what something looks like Also, every lab there is a lab quiz, worth 50% of the lab (yeah, it's out of 5 marks), and don't listen to whoever tells you it's not about detail. IT IS ABOUT DETAIL (like the littlest thing, for example what are the three layers (scientifically) called in the shell of a clam) The course isn't hard, and the exams are fair, but make sure you don't slack off or fall behind As for Orgo, first month is a headache with all the MO stuff we should've learned in 1st year anyway... but then, when you get to reactions, if you do the assigned problems, you're good to go. Orgo, imho, you can somewhat afford to fall behind and just work from the book, but, even if you don't plan on taking notes which are all book-based anyway, I would still drop by because (at least my) orgo teacher dropped hints on what will be on the exam, and the questions he did in tutorial were very, very similar (like, the molecule would havea different R group, but functional groups the same) Taking both is very doable, you can get an A+ in both if you work hard and don't fall (too far) behind. Yeah for animals, I didn't mind the lecture component but the lab component can get really annoying especially when you spend hours studying for those lab quizzes (yes, you do have to spend 2-3 hours preparing for each lab) and end up getting a 3/5 (60%) on the lab quizzes because you didn't remember some random details. But there is also participation which is an easy 5/5... So getting an 80% on labs isn't hard but anything above that can be a pain. Also, the lab exam is brutal. Overall, its an easy A if you put in the time. Its all just memorization. Orgo is orgo... not gonna say anything else about it lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elarXi Posted August 29, 2012 Report Share Posted August 29, 2012 Biochem (2020) really depends on your prof. Like any bio course, it involves a fair bit of memorization, but with biochem you must also be comfortable doing some analysis and modest extrapolation when it comes to tests (which, btw, are typically 2 midterms & a final). Material includes a discussion on sugars & proteins, and a (much more extensive) discussion of DNA. The course is a MUST if you want to take any of the (subjectively, but the opinion seems to be unanimous) "fun" courses in the upper years (this INCLUDES animal physiology, not just biochem courses) 2021 is where you would be using most of your memory power... the book for it is "Cell Biology" by Alberts (dunno if there will be a newer edition this year), and typically you would cover about one chapter/lecture, except for the really-long chapter on signalling (for which there are separate courses in upper years), and cell-cycle which take up a bulk of the curriculum. If your memory is good, you would do fine... at least I didn't have many problems on the midterms or the final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xavilla Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 Animal lab exam is intense, its memory against time kind a thing. Its pure memorization course, if you are good at it, then you'll do good. Labs are fun but constant work load gets on your head after a while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KINEderi Posted September 18, 2012 Report Share Posted September 18, 2012 Does anyone have any information on Biol 2020 (Biochemistry) and Biol 2021 (Cell Biology)? I took it last year in Winter semester with Keith Wheaton. I stopped going to lectures after the first week cause it was my only class those days so I wanted to save money and be lazy and plus the lectures are recorded. Anyways, I never stayed on top of work and did cramming for both midterms 2 days before the test. For the exam I put a little more effort in. I ended up with an A but with some effort its not a hard course to get an A+ in. Wheaton is a pretty good prof in my opinion, he doesn't make hard tests and is really cool and open to students asking questions, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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