Guest Jose007 Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 Hello everyone, Has anyone taken courses through distance studies? I was looking into taking organic chemistry at Athabasca Uni. I don't know anyone who has taken it there but I was told they offer a lot of distance studies courses. Could someone tell me what it'll be like taking organic chemistry by this way. Is it a bad move, if I'm really good with time management and can self-study more efficiently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest celeria Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 i'm pretty sure that most (if not all) medical schools will require you to have a lab component for organic chem... furthermore, i found that my TAs were invaluable. i could never have understood the difficult organic concepts (and there are many) without being able to spend many hours outside of class talking to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest try2dstress Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 i agree that most schools will want an orgo lab. i have taken a course through athabasca - biochemistry. you need to be self-disciplined but it's not that bad, and it's nice that you can do the course at your own pace (as long as you finish within six months...but you can do it in three weeks if you're a superstar!). For biochem the content was pretty basic with a few more difficult concepts to read about, but you were only tested on the easy stuff (at least that's what I thought). A lot of the course was review from a mixture of other classes. If you do decide to do a course with Athabasca, use your tutor (that you call/e-mail). Mine was invaluable in helping with assignments and directing me in what to study for exams - I definitley wouldn't have done as well or studied very efficiently if it wasn't for him. I'm not sure how easy it would be to pick-up organic chemistry just from reading the study guide, maybe someone who has taken the course could comment on that. I would proabbly steer away from orgo by distance - i tried to learn it from a book for the mcat and just could not visualize - i really needed some one-on-one help. But, if you already have some background you might be alright. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted June 5, 2006 Report Share Posted June 5, 2006 You CAN do labs through Athabasca. I'm taking Orgo I and II and Physics III from them now. You just need to travel to Calgary, Athabasca, or Edmonton for a weekend to do the labs for the course. Also, you do have access to a tutor over e-mail if you need help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest muchdutch Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Jochi, you've been notably absent from the boards - I knew you were in school. How is that going? Started studying for the MCAT's too? Are you in Calgary yet? Hope you are surviving all of that stress!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jochi1543 Posted June 6, 2006 Report Share Posted June 6, 2006 Muchdutch, I've had a really rough time getting here. I was actually planning on gong to Lethbridge in the meantime, since housing in Calgary is so da,mn expensive, and I didn't have a job or any other particular reason why I had to be in Calgary and not some other city. So I figured I'd stop in Lethbridge since it's so cheap to live here and I love the outdoors/horseback riding/etc. Anyway, to provide a short summary, they wouldn't let my trailer with all my @#%$ across the border....I had to leave it in Montana, which stressed me out to death because my US visa had expired and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to return to the US without a new visa, which meant waiting a month if not more to get mt stuff (I only had 2 pairs of shorts and 2 shirts in my car, all my other clothes were in the trailer). So, I had to go through the border TWICE (4 hours total), then, as I crossed the border, I called my landlady to let her know I was gonna be in town in about an hour. She was like "Oh, didn't you get my message? I rented your place!!!I just wasn't sure you could afford it!" I was like, UHHHHH.....so, where am I supposed to stay? I met up with the wench to get my deposit back (I had paid her the deposit, but not first month's rent at that point, which is why she rented it). She seemed to be feeling pretty good about leaving a 21-yo woman coming from another country with all her possessions confiscated at the border alone on the street. Anyway, it was pretty late at that point...I called the Humane Society and left my 2 cats on their porch, and headed for the homeless shelter. I did have money for a motel, but the way things were going, I didn't feel like spending money unless I absolutely had to. So, I stayed in their women's sober section, that was tolerable, no one even tried to rob me. Next day I drove to Calgary to meet up with a friend who was collecting all my correspondence for me - I was especially eager to get my student loans. Upon arriving (had to wait 5 hours for her), all I found instead of my loan check was "We never received your confirmation letter, please send it ASAP" - I had sent it in early May for the June 1st deadline!:eek >: So, no money for me either.... Luckily, I was able to find a cheap place in Lethbridge which didn't require a deposit down, so now I'm staying with this girl who's a student here and owns this condo. It's reasonably priced, and my cats finally have a place to stay. So, I've been looking for jobs and I'm hoping to either buy a place (if I get a decent job) or rent one of my own for July 1st. I tried logging into the chat, but this is my roommate's computer, and I think it doesn't have Java on it, and since it's not mine, I don't wanna download anything on it. So, no chat for me for some time! Oh yeah, and I drove to Montana yesterday to get my stuff from the trailer...the US guys let me across the border. My trailer is still there though, I've been trying to sell it, but to no avail. It wasn't super-expensive and it doesn't have license plates or a serial number on it, so if all else fails, I could just leave it lying there and no one would be able to track it back to me, but of course I'd rather get $150 or so for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest muchdutch Posted June 7, 2006 Report Share Posted June 7, 2006 This is roughly what my face looked like reading your post: (welcome to canada!) :eek (no clothes or possessions!) (she rented your place and left you out in the cold) :\ (you left your kitties) 8o (this is what I imagine you looking like while you slept at the shelter, without the smile) >: (no money? boo) (found a place for you) :lol (abandoning your trailer - that sucks but it sounds funny, like you're totally 007'ing it and leaving it without a trace back to you like it's full of dangerous intelligence info or something!!) yikes! what a harrowing ordeal - no wonder you were absent! did you get the loans stuff in order? have you started classes yet? started studying for the mcat? glad to hear that things are sounding better for you!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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