I'm going to be enrolled in the Life Science program in September and I haven't completed my course selection yet. I just have a few questions. So far, I have selected BIOLOGY 1A03, BIOLOGY 1M03, CHEM 1A03, CHEM 1AA3, PSYCH 1X03 and PSYCH 1XX3. I wanted to take PHYSICS 1B03 and MATH 1A03 but both courses are full so does that mean I have to take PHYSICS 1L03 and MATH 1LS3? I'm worried because I do not have much information about those two courses. My second question is what are some good electives I can take that would not require a lot of essay writing(courses that would not consume too much time) because I do not want a heavy course load for first year. I'm planning on applying for McMaster's med school after fourth year. Thank you...

Hey nino!

Originally Posted by nino

I'm going to be enrolled in the Life Science program in September and I haven't completed my course selection yet. I just have a few questions. So far, I have selected BIOLOGY 1A03, BIOLOGY 1M03, CHEM 1A03, CHEM 1AA3, PSYCH 1X03 and PSYCH 1XX3. I wanted to take PHYSICS 1B03 and MATH 1A03 but both courses are full so does that mean I have to take PHYSICS 1L03 and MATH 1LS3? I'm worried because I do not have much information about those two courses.

I think you should keep checking SOLAR for openings in PHYSICS 1L03 and MATH 1LS3. There's always students dropping courses, so don't lose hope! If you don't want to wait, you can e-mail the profs that are teaching both courses to discuss your situation. They may be able to release a seat for you! I did take PHYSICS 1B03 and MATH 1A03 this past year, so if you needed any information on those two courses, I should be able to help you out. I think the other two courses that you mentioned are new this (please correct me if I'm wrong), so I can't comment on those.

Originally Posted by nino

My second question is what are some good electives I can take that would not require a lot of essay writing(courses that would not consume too much time) because I do not want a heavy course load for first year. I'm planning on applying for McMaster's med school after fourth year. Thank you...

One class that I took was INQUIRY 1SC3. My facilitator was Dr. Luc Bernier (of the School of Geography and Earth Sciences). Now, this course really depends on the professor that you end up with! I had assignments every week (Dr. Bernier warned us of this during the week of class), so it did take up a considerable amount of my time. However, Dr. Bernier is a very lenient professor, and was very generous during the end-of-school-year interviews (there are no exams in this course). Overall this course is a good elective because there are no tests to study for. The goal of this course is to work on research skills, such as formulating a good question, writing reports, etc. The final mark is based on an interview at the end (with Dr. Bernier) during which you have to show evidence of your work during the year (I made a binder which had all my assignments and group work). As long as you show consistency or improvement throughout this course, you should be able to end up with a high mark (atleast a 10). Now, I cannot comment on the other Inquiry classes, but I had friends who took this course with other professors, and they found it very easy and not very time-consuming!

Good luck!

Thanks. Inquiry sounds like a great course. That's basically what I'm looking for...Elective courses which will not have too many evaluations because I am trying to balance out my work load for the year. Any other options?

Originally Posted by nino

Thanks. Inquiry sounds like a great course. That's basically what I'm looking for...Elective courses which will not have too many evaluations because I am trying to balance out my work load for the year. Any other options?

Yep, Inquiry is really a good course. Another advantage of the course is that you get to know your facilitator/professor on a personal level, rather than just one of 400 students (like in Biology or Chemistry). In terms of other electives, it depends on what you enjoy. Here's a thread on MacInsiders that discusses easy first year electives, so you should definitely check it out:

http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=1711 1

Good luck!

It seems like I can't select Inquiry because it's full and it's actually a term 3 course, which means it's a summer course, correct? Looks like I still need to find two electives...I was told that the workload in Environmental Science and Geography isn't too much but I'm not too sure. I selected environmental science but I'm not too sure about Geography. I'm still trying to decide between Geography, philosophy or anthropology/sociology for the last elective.

Hey Nino,

Math 1LS3 is geared towards life science so the office recommends you take that anyway. However, spots for 1A03 may open up (I have seen it open a few times already) after SOLAR re-opens. As for physics, it is one of the hardest first year courses so there is always people dropping it. Due to this, you are more than certain to find a spot somewhere before the school year begins.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by nino

It seems like I can't select Inquiry because it's full and it's actually a term 3 course, which means it's a summer course, correct? Looks like I still need to find two electives...I was told that the workload in Environmental Science and Geography isn't too much but I'm not too sure. I selected environmental science but I'm not too sure about Geography. I'm still trying to decide between Geography, philosophy or anthropology/sociology for the last elective.

A term 3 course does not mean that its a summer school course; it means that the course will run both terms (term 1 and term 2). So if a spot opens up, you can still take it during the school year.