MathewsMD Posted December 5, 2013 Report Share Posted December 5, 2013 I'm looking at taking these courses next year: Intermediate Electromagnetism Modern Physics Oscillations & Waves Biochemistry Cell Biology Statistics for Science Organic Chemistry I and II Genetics Introduction to Medical Physics (Physics 2600) Computer Science 2035 Second year Calculus I and II Any comments on their difficulty, content and workload would be very helpful! Thank you in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silenceofthelambs Posted December 6, 2013 Report Share Posted December 6, 2013 I'm looking at taking these courses next year: Intermediate Electromagnetism Modern Physics Oscillations & Waves Biochemistry Cell Biology Statistics for Science Organic Chemistry I and II Genetics Introduction to Medical Physics (Physics 2600) Computer Science 2035 Second year Calculus I and II Any comments on their difficulty, content and workload would be very helpful! Thank you in advance! Stats is tough for most, a few 90s and a lot of low 80s. The problem is the questions are really ambiguous and midterms are out of 25 so it comes down to guessing the correct interpretation. If you're a calc guy second year calc is definitely doable 90+ Genetics is easy with the 4% bonus from tutorials. The exam is a repeat of the practice problems. Cell bio is the easiest, straight regurgitation. Biochem final is hard, get the past exam from someone because 70% of the questions are repeated. Orgo at western isn't bad. I got 90s but the averages were in the 60s. YMMV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silenceofthelambs Posted December 6, 2013 Report Share Posted December 6, 2013 Fair enough, I took that course back in '11 I didn't think he'd muster the energy to change it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathewsMD Posted December 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2013 Biochemistry - 90++ the midterm because the final is hell according to my colleagues, but I can come back and let you know in 15 days lol. If you want to succeed during the 3rd prof (Brandl), he doesn't post slides, so what I did with 2 other friends is we took pictures of every slide, made a slide show, and then transcribed the recording to each slide and studied off those. Cell bio - I hear its a relatively straight forward course, but I haven't taken it yet, I can let you know next sem. Stats - why are you doing stats during the year? get rid of it imo and take it sometime during one of your summers. out of all the people in my year that I know, I know 2-3** person who is getting an 85+ in it. Orgo 1/2 - Orgo 1 was really fun (with Prof. Workentin) and wasn't nearly as bad as anyone made it seem... do work and your mark will reflect it. Same goes if you get Prof. Lee. Orgo 2 - havent done yet. I don't know the others. When do you plan to take 2290? Hope this helps! *EDITED: Was 1, now 2-3. This is the module I'm considering at the moment: http://westerncalendar.uwo.ca/2013/pg1753.html All the other Medical Biophysics modules with different concentrations don't require Biology 2290 and other courses like Cell Biology/Genetics can be taken in lieu of it. Just wondering, why do you mention this course? Is it a good course to take or is it a prerequisite for anything else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathewsMD Posted December 6, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 6, 2013 Thank you for the replies so far! They've definitely been helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obi Posted December 7, 2013 Report Share Posted December 7, 2013 he doesn't post slides, so what I did with 2 other friends is we took pictures of every slide, made a slide show, and then transcribed the recording to each slide and studied off those. This is where networking with upper years comes in handy. There are copies of his powerpoint slides circling around Western campus somewhere. I had them myself and gave them to a bunch of 2013's when they were in 2nd year. Oh well too late now Also.. that's an insane amount of effort for 1/3rd of 1/10th of 1/4th of your cGPA As far as the courses you are looking into... all I can say is... where is the fun That looks like a brutal list to fill up your entire year with. Take a course that you're just genuinely interested in that isn't really a science course. It'll give your brain a rest and add some spice to your life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathewsMD Posted December 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2013 This is where networking with upper years comes in handy. There are copies of his powerpoint slides circling around Western campus somewhere. I had them myself and gave them to a bunch of 2013's when they were in 2nd year. Oh well too late now Also.. that's an insane amount of effort for 1/3rd of 1/10th of 1/4th of your cGPA As far as the courses you are looking into... all I can say is... where is the fun That looks like a brutal list to fill up your entire year with. Take a course that you're just genuinely interested in that isn't really a science course. It'll give your brain a rest and add some spice to your life. As of now, the courses I'll be taking next year during the regular academic year are: Full year of regular second year Calculus (A and (1.0) - required Full year of Human Physiology (1.0) - optional Half year Biochemistry (0.5) Half year Cell Biology (0.5) Waves and Oscillations (0.5) Modern Physics (0.5) - optional Intermediate Electromagnetism (0.5) Computer Science 2035 (0.5) - required Biostatistics (0.5) - given the above advice, I'll probably look into taking this course and possibly English in the summer between 2nd and 3rd year. Organic Chemistry I and II - I plan on completing this upcoming summer while working. Linear Algebra - I may just try to learn it myself this summer as well, but not formally through any courses (trying to save money this summer haha). I actually really like Physics courses and am taking them as electives (ex. Modern Physics is not required anywhere for the program). It's more for curiosity and I'd like to take courses in Philosophy and Astronomy as well, but I doubt I'll have room (maybe in upper years?). The courses not labelled as required or optional are courses that I may transfer for other courses, but I prefer this one. Are there any courses you would recommend from experience? Knowing about the difficulty and workload of the courses I mentioned above but have yet to receive comments about would be great since marks are very important and I'm sure I could still learn about the topics at hand outside of school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obi Posted December 8, 2013 Report Share Posted December 8, 2013 This is the best advice I can give you for marks. Go to this website and search the profs teaching the courses you're interested in. Look at their evaluations and find courses where a relatively large proportion of people expect to get A's. For me personally if a large number (~20-40% of the class) expected to get A's it indicated that I would have a fairly easy time getting a 90+ https://www.ipb.uwo.ca/evaluation/search.php If physics is your thing then by all means go for it! You seem to be getting your prereq's in which is good. Make sure you don't forget any of them! Start checking out the schools now and seeing which courses they require. G'luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Looktoabove Posted December 9, 2013 Report Share Posted December 9, 2013 I did have the past powerpoints, but he changes images, order, etc and I wanted 100% accuracy. Orgo is straightforward, it's a GPA booster imo, it's just time-consuming. Stats+ english in summer school is a good idea though! Do you know who are good profs to take Orgo with at Western? Also does anyone know who's teaching Orgo this summer? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MathewsMD Posted December 13, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2013 This is the best advice I can give you for marks. Go to this website and search the profs teaching the courses you're interested in. Look at their evaluations and find courses where a relatively large proportion of people expect to get A's. For me personally if a large number (~20-40% of the class) expected to get A's it indicated that I would have a fairly easy time getting a 90+ https://www.ipb.uwo.ca/evaluation/search.php If physics is your thing then by all means go for it! You seem to be getting your prereq's in which is good. Make sure you don't forget any of them! Start checking out the schools now and seeing which courses they require. G'luck! Haha thank you. I've actually been looking at that link for a while now, but I'll definitely consider what you've said and look at it a little differently next time. In terms of all prerequisites for professional schools (for both medical and vet schools--i'm considering both): First year Biology w/ lab (will complete by the end of this academic year) First year Calculus (will complete by the end of this academic year) First year Chemistry w/ lab (will complete by the end of this academic year) First year Physics (will complete by the end of this academic year) Full year of Social Science courses (will complete by the end of this academic year) Full year of English (plan to do in summer school b/w year 2 and 3) Full year of Psychology w/ lab Full year Organic Chemistry w/ lab (plan to do in summer b/w year 1 and 2) Half year Biochemistry Half year Cell Biology Half year Genetics Full year Human Physiology Full year Animal Physiology In general, for professional schools, this is a full list of courses I've come up with thus far from a bit of research that are required by essentially every school in North America. This is not each school, as there are some with very little academic requirements, but in general, this encompasses everything. I'm planning on writing the MCAT in the summer between second and third year, and will have taken all the courses named above except for Genetics and Animal Physiology (I plan to do these in third year and don't believe it will have any major affect on me studying for the MCAT, from what I've read) by then. Sorry for the constant posting. It just really helps getting everything written and having people who've gone through the process provide their feedback. EDIT: Also, I've been searching but it's a little too early to tell. Does anyone know if there are any institutions in the GTA that offer Organic Chemistry I and II w/ a lab component in the evenings during the summer? I plan on working and have started looking at applications already, but don't want to make any commitments I can't keep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Green Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 Do you know who are good profs to take Orgo with at Western? Also does anyone know who's teaching Orgo this summer? Thanks! I took both orgo I and II at western this past summer, taught by Lee. The schedule for summer intersession courses won't be up yet, but I assume it would be Lee again who'd be teaching it. He's a great prof and is super/ultra/extremely pumped up about organic chemistry, so he's definitely not boring, which helps you get interested in the material because some of it can be a little dry (mostly orgo I, in my personal opinion) The only real con about summer orgo @ western (although I viewed it as a positive) was that both half courses were only 3 weeks long each, meaning doing both I and II took only 6 weeks. I liked this because it meant I dedicated less of my summer to school, but a lot of people initially enrolled in the course ended up dropping out because they simply couldn't handle doing so much orgo @ such a fast pace. So that's definitely something to consider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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