Winter Break

Hello everyone,

So it’s pretty much been tumbleweeds here, so much for being back to blogging.

I mentioned in my last post that I was going back to school, so to catch everyone up I am in the Pharmacy program at UBC 🙂 🙂

So shortly after my last post I went on vacation, got back into school, and expected that the first few weeks would be chill. WRONG. I’ve probably never been so overwhelmed with things to do, like there was no chill “syllabus” week, you really dive head first and sorta stay diving the rest of the semester.

The blog went over my head, and I finally got into the swing of things school-wise probably end of October. You just get used to always having things to do. Because it is a professional program at UBC, we’ve all been heavily reminded to keep things professional, inside and outside the classroom. So I had to think about how I would manage the blog going forward, what I would say, etc. I’ll still be myself, but probably a little bit more censored.

I actually have a long Christmas break for once, so I’m trying to sort out web hosting so I can get my own domain, I just need to figure out a name. I looked at the hipstername generator, but I think mortarandpestle was taken :'( That would have been the best name to be honest. Now I’m thinking of the site being more of a college hub, where I could have friends do guest posts, and cover more general non school topics. Also want to add more personal things like photos, etc. If you have any ideas for names, let me know. That is sort of my first priority so I can add most my new content/news on there.

On my to do list. Some of the things I mentioned on my last post were

  • What I did since I graduated, what program I am going to, Post-graduation confusion, etc.
  • Post on ER Scribe FAQ (I will try and get in contact with the doctors so this one might take a while, there is no information out there for Canada jobs so I will try my best)
  • Notes/Any old midterms
  • Plans for a new domain – going to blog on here for a while, but should be switching over hopefully before new years just need to figure out a domain name.

So I accomplished one thing lol. I have a bunch of free time this break so I’m excited to really get into everything, and fingers crossed my new domain is set up for new years where I can share everything I’ve been up to. I still get emails about old midterms. I don’t know if I can publish it, so I may just have to set up a separate email and just send what I have in blasts, still working that out. Also don’t know how relevant my stuff from years ago is, but I know how prepared Science undergrads like to be 🙂

So will be back here once I have my domain name, and hope to build a site that can be my little passion project going forward in the way this blog was my passion project when I started undergrad.

Anyways, I know most people are currently cramming their lives away at Woodward or Irving. Good luck on finals! And Happy Holidays :):)

Back from Hiatus

Long time no blog 😀

I completely fell off from blogging during my last year at UBC, and didn’t even recap my graduation…sad!

I still get emails and Facebook messages from inquiring minds and I will definitely try and post something answering all the common emails I get.  Most questions seem to surround notes, midterm tips, my ER Scribe job, and miscellaneous course information.  Just so you guys know I unfortunately don’t have many notes/old midterms. My favourite part of a course ending was throwing everything away lol.  I’m going to re-organize all my school stuff and go through my emails to see if I find anything in particular and just post everything I have on here.  So if it’s not on the list, you can be assured that I don’t have anything.

Also in other news, I’m going back to school! Yikes, never thought I’d be back at UBC but here I am, getting ready for another degree to add to the list (FYI it’s not med school lol, I’ll go into that in my next post) 😀

I regret not blogging since graduation, because I think post-grad confusion is something MANY people face, and I could have shared some of the things I did during that time as they were happening.  Safe to say, I explored many routes, worked full-time and took some courses on the side, and tried to figure out what I’d do.  It’s also really interesting for me to look at old posts on here because it seems like a different person.  I don’t think I’m quite as immature and erratic now, maybe a bit, just not as much as I’m seeing in some old posts lol.  I contemplated deleting them, but YOLO, that was me at 18-22.

So I just wanted to throw a post on here. So for upcoming posts, my plan for the next month

  • What I did since I graduated, what program I am going to, Post-graduation confusion, etc.
  • Post on ER Scribe FAQ (I will try and get in contact with the doctors so this one might take a while, there is no information out there for Canada jobs so I will try my best)
  • Notes/Any old midterms
  • Plans for a new domain – going to blog on here for a while, but should be switching over hopefully before new years just need to figure out a domain name.

Anyways, thanks for reading.

Binta

MCAT Summer Update & Courses

Hello Everyone!

Hope everyone had a great summer, been super busy these last few weeks!  A large majority of my summer was dedicated to studying for the MCAT, which stressed me out so much and is honestly the biggest test I’ve taken in my life so I was definitely stressing.  I was initially suppose to take it August 27, decided I needed at least 2 more weeks since I wasn’t done content review, and really needed to have at the very least 2 or 3 weeks to just do problems/practice tests.  So I postponed it to September 18, which gave me enough time to iron out some details.  You will always feel unprepared because a week before September 18 I was wanting more time, glad I didn’t have the choice (missed the deadline to postpone), because I pretty much prepared the most I could.  Because I was preparing for the test for the first few weeks of school, school definitely took a backseat.  Missed classes because of studying/taking classes.  Now I am so so so behind on school and I am going to have to work really hard since I have a midterm in less than 2 weeks, along with quizzes, lab reports, etc.

 

As for the MCAT, I found that Physical Sciences and Verbal Section went really well, they were along the lines of the AAMC practice I took, and even though my Physical Sciences section seemed really unbalanced with Physics, it went well.  For the first time ever I actually had time left over for verbal reasoning, so I was feeling good after the second break.  Bio however, which was my strongest section on the practice tests, I was ranging 11-13 on the practice tests and somehow the first passage made no sense to me, super experimental, felt like there was some missing information.  I spent too much time on it causing me to really rush through the rest of the section, managed to have like 4 minutes left at the end and rather than go back and review questions I was unsure of, I went back to the first passage to try again, and still didn’t understand it, so I feel bad about this section.  Normally I would wait for scores to come out and decide what to do, but because January is literally the last time to take the MCAT before they change it (adding Psych/Biochem/Socio), I registered for the January date to have a peace of mind.  If my score isn’t what I want it to be, then I have another chance in January.  It sucks because its another 300 being spent, but if I waited for my score to come (about a month), then there might be no seats available then.  I gotta say, this is the most expensive test ever, not just the test, but the practice tests, self assessments, books.  If you are planning on taking the MCAT in the future and using their resources (practice tests, self assessments), definitely anticipate spending over 600.

 

Now this semester I am taking MICB 402, MICB 408, and Bio 153.  First time ever that I am taking only 3 courses at UBC, but Bio 153 is 7 credits, year-long, and literally the lab is a course itself.  I am only taking it because so many US schools are specific about their requirements and 1 year of Bio with lab is one.  Even though Bio 140 is a lab, it was done in one semester, and I don’t know how I would explain to them that the fact that it’s a course by itself makes it equivalent to a year of bio lab along with a course.  Figure I’d rather avoid complications and just take a year long Bio course with lab.  So far, the class seems like a lot of work, and the labs are 45%.  Regardless of the late start I really hope to get my highest average this year, and hopefully get more involved too on campus.

UPDATE

Hello everyone!  I haven’t posted in a while, been very busy these last few weeks.  Another year done, and I’m glad this past year was my highest average to date at UBC.  There was a lot that happened, including my first ever withdrawl at UBC, it was MICB 325 (probably one of my easier courses, I’ll go into why further in the post never thought the time would come, but it happens!)  First of all I get a lot of emails about the ER Scribe position, I don’t want to call it luck, I made it past the interview, but just finding the opportunity was luck.  I never heard of “ER Scribe” until I saw the email from Premed Society.  And now I hear there’s a program starting up at St. Johns Hospital, this is great that its spreading now.  Its an opportunity more available in the states, and there should be more programs available in Canada.

 

Now for the courses I took.  I took MICB 325 (W), MICB 308, FNH 351, ISCI 330B, PHYS 102

MICB 308

This course: ughhh.  That’s how I feel about it.  I knew it was going to be my hardest course from what I heard from people who took it.  I expected it to be my lowest grade, it was.  Whats strange about this course is that it kind of takes you by surprise, it does not feel hard throughout the whole course.  I did well on my pop quizzes, and if that’s not judging if your keeping up, what is?  I thought the material was fair, it wasn’t an obscene amount, it was a lot to memorize, but thats standard for most micb courses at UBC.  The midterm went well for me (the prof never told us the average -___- atleast I never heard it, and everyone I asked didn’t know, thats a first), so I just assumed/hoped that I did 5% better based on the general consensus that it was an easy midterm.  The fact that I had 3 other midterms less than 24 hours before this midterm didn’t affect my grade, I kept up the whole term.  Well anyways my final grade dropped like 10-15% than what I went into the final exam with.  Judging that the average for the class was in the 60’s, im guessing a majority of people had the same thing.  I knew the final went bad, it was just so weird because out of all my exams I was the most prepared for this one.  Multiple techniques were presented in class but I don’t know how to explain it, I felt like for an exam that tests details some questions felt ‘up in the air.’  The questions that were memorization based (eg. Pap pilus assembly) I did great on.  I think I gave solid answers on those technique based questions, but I know I didn’t do well on those.  I’ve debated going to see my exam, and decided not to because honestly I am lazy this summer and have way too much to do with MCAT prep and travelling plans as well.   And OMG i forgot something else… I honestly think this was a bit cruel.  Why emphasize to students that the final exam is cumulative?  I actually asked on the discussion board to make sure about a week before the exam, and was told once again that it was cumulative.  6 Questions on the final and not one question was premidterm.  WHY?  UGH.  I was so agitated walking out of the exam cause I thought I had it figured out that 1/6 would be a pre-midterm and something not tested on the midterm (likely complement pathway).  The fact that I spent half a day reviewing pre-midterm really frustrated me afterwards.  What is the point of saying the final is cumulative..like at least throw a 1 bonus question pre-midterm, all those 6 questions were post-midterm specific.  If next year is anything like this year, just know cumulative is code word for post midterm only.  Anyways, yeah I think its safe to say this is going on my “least favourite course experience list” which is unfortunate because I actually enjoyed the material.  I always enjoy MICB topics, but courses like this….Overall I am fine with the grade, I knew this class would be brutal for the final which is why I tried to do really really well on the midterm and pop quizzes to beef up my grade the most I could.

PHYS 102

On a lighter note, I didn’t mind Physics at all.  I was definitely the most scared about this course which is why it took me till 4th year to take it!  I ended up doing well, and it’s one of my higher grades which is a shocker for me.  Did better in PHYS 102 than PHYS 101 and it’s because I fixed a lot of bad habits.  Number 1: ask for help, thats what the TA’s are there for.  First year I foolishly did everything by myself, even when I didn’t understand like i wouldn’t ask for much guidance.  During tutorials/labs this time around I would always get clarification when necessary, and trust me its the difference between getting a high A in lab/tutorial/homeworkassignments and getting a B.  I also used Physics for Dummies for topics where I just needed a simple introduction and understanding.  Like I did not learn one thing about capacitors or resistors from that textbook… The new textbook confused me for the first 2 weeks, and when I stopped following it super close, I started understanding everything a lot more.  I’m also really glad i took it because Physics is on MCAT and I think this will help me have a better understanding of things I could not grasp last time I studied for MCAT.  Also, for many med schools in the states 6 credits of Physics is necessary, so I had to get it out of the way.  My final exam did bring my grade down a bit, but not much, I really need to figure out a better final exam strategy.

 

MICB 325

This course was great while it lasted.  I honestly knew knew knew I should not have taken this course.  I am doing a 5th year which is very empty in terms of courses, and it would’ve been smarter to take it then, and spread out my courses.  Instead I took it this year crammed with working part-time and my horrible, horrible midterm schedule I just knew it was a disaster so I had to withdraw.  I felt bad that I’d now have a W on my transcript, but I know that I’ll take it next year when I have time in my schedule.  Now my time in the course wasn’t great.  I would rather have dropped MICB 308, but I need MICB 308 for MICB 408 next year.  The lectures are VERY important, because all you do is solve problems which is my kind of class!  Little memorization, and lots of problem solving.  I really liked the topics, and the courses I took in the summer set me up perfectly for this course: BIOC 302 and BIOL 234.  The problem with the course is that the prof is very ambiguous a lot of the time.  A lot of his problems have multiple answers, or unclear answers, and whenever someone corrects him, I get the feeling that someone probably made the same correction last year and that it was never fixed… I don’t know theres just a lot of ambiguity, which in real-life I find interesting to find flaws in science and whatnot, but when it might affect my grade, then I start feeling some kind of way.  Now last year the midterm average was like mid 80s and this year it was low 72, which he said was high.  Overall it was one of my favorite courses, just because of the structure, also liked how the class was dimly lit (random).  I’ll be taking it next year as soon as registration opens, hopefully goes better then!

FNH 351

So this class is A LOT OF MEMORIZATION.  I would say on a higher level than Anat, MICB and Physio courses.  Seriously and this is WITH a cheat sheet.  Even with a cheat sheet, its so much to memorize I think I nearly got carpal tunnel writing out my cheat sheet.  Preparing for this midterm was hell, but I felt prepared, and was glad I would be getting my pre-midterm 6 hours of sleep, but then I randomly decide to look at the syllabus..and found out that for the midterm the cheat sheet is to be ONE SIDED.  You can imagine the panic that went through me.  WHY ME?  Literally, the cheat sheet was microscopic, both sides, now I had to give one side up.  I chose a side and frantically found a big eraser and started going ham on that side of the paper.  Realized there were parts(headers) in pen, and I had no white out, so I was just brainstorming ideas like gluing a white paper to one side.  Foolishly didn’t think scanning one side and printing it wouldn’t work because the writing was soo small, but it did, and after running to chapman learning commons the next morning and struggling to scan the page for 30 minutes (chapman scanner wasn’t working with the printer), I scanned it and sent it to the computers on the floor below, and it worked.  I then crammed for the life of me the material on that one side that I got rid of.  If I didn’t have my Physics exam later that night I probably wouldn’t have slept but I knew I had to, and I’m glad I did, because the midterm went really well (my best midterm out of the whole bunch) and so did Physics so it worked out. I wouldn’t take this course unless it was a requirement.  I am integrating nutrition, and there are only a few FNH courses that count as Science, so that’s why I had to take it.  And also if you have a gut feeling something is a bit off, go and check, because I did and the prof submitted a grade change document and my final grade went up 2%.  This isn’t the first time this has happened to me at UBC, so now I am a lot more precautious every time I see a grade, I try and double check some every now and then.  The final felt like twice the information of the midterm with a one sided cheat sheet, it was pretty rough but it could have went worse, overall the course was OK.

ISCI 330B Science and Culture

This is one of the required courses I have to take in ISCI, well theres a bunch of courses to choose from, I just chose this one based on the title/description.  It was interesting, ISCI courses usually are, and ISCI profs tend to be my favourites as well.  During the course there were many presentations, and it centered on a book wrote by an author that was actually teaching with our main prof.  Overall I enjoyed it, anything would be great when you compare it to the other 4 really.

 

So while it was a whirlwind semester, I’m still happy how I left it, I am a far better studier today than I have ever been.  How much would you guys pay to have a conversation with your first year self?  Seriously!   Anyways as for my plans, I am doing another year, next year will be my last!  Finally!  This summer is based on one thing and one thing only which is the MCAT.  No summer school courses to distract me this time around, I have all my focus on MCAT.  I’m following a pretty structured schedule right now and its tough but very necessary, I have high aims for this MCAT.  I’m literally giving myself ~3months to focus on solely this.  I have had many people tell me all I need is a month.   FALSE.  Definitely need more time than that, I have already found so many weaknesses, little things I need to work on, and I’m just starting.  And I want to get through more than half of the AAMC Practice Finals, and to do 2 a week would already take 2 weeks (i think doing more than 2 a week might be a bit much) and thats already half a month…  Unless your a walking Greys Anatomy textbook, I recommend you give yourself some time.  For example, judging from SAT’s, I’m not great at Verbal Reasoning, and those kind of techniques take time.  I am aiming for a 33+, and it’s a big goal I’ll be very disappointed if I don’t get it, but if I don’t I’ll sign up for the exam 1 month following it.  I am using The Berkeley Review Books/ an AAMC Official Guide Book/ EK 1001 at the moment.  I’ll make sure to update in a month or so how MCAT studying is going.

New Semester Update

Hey everyone, hope everyones semester is going well.  This is probably my busiest semester since 1st year, in terms of workload alone.  I am taking 5 courses and a lab.  Why?? Because I am here next year and cant even risk something going wrong next year.  I have to take FNH 451, MICB 407/408 next year and I could push my MICB 325 to next year but what happens if FNH 451 and MICB 325 are on the same time, or something else like that going wrong.  Being my 5th year I cant take any chances, and my ISCI mentor advised me to do MICB 325 this year..so I am taking 5 courses, and a lab, to make matters worse, my midterm schedule is something else!

Midterm dates:

February 13, 2014 11am – 12:30pm FNH 351 Midterm

February 13, 2014 6pm – 7:30pm PHYS 102 Midterm

February 14, 2014 10am – 11am MICB 325 Midterm

February 14, 2014 12pm – 1pm MICB 308 Midterm

I have no words lol.  I have emailed my FNH 351 prof to postpone my FNH midterm, that class is an incredduloous amount of memorization, Bioc302x2 to me. And MICB 308 is memorization based as well. I just think its the most reasonable to postpone, there should be midterm hardship like exam hardship.  PHYS 102 isnt worth too much, but the others are 20-30%.  If the prof denies my request I will ask if I can take FNH 351 earlier, i’d prefer taking it a few days earlier to this situation.

Anyways a summary of how my classes are going at the moment.  I am taking MICB 325, MICB 308, PHYS 102, FNH 351, AND ISCI 330B

MICB 325

Love the style of this course, class goes by quickly because your actually thinking/problem solving the entire class.  Class is mostly based on clickers, and I don’t think studying for the midterm will be too bad, because going to class is the same as studying/learning.  Theres homework 2 times a week, and its super doable, quick, simple and to the point.  And even better this class i’snt really memorization based. Taking BIOL 234 in the summer definitely helped me reinforce some of the more difficult topics.

MICB 308

On the other hand, this class is memorization based.  Taking MICB 302 beforehand is a good idea.  I’m not a fan of the pop quizzes, it prevents a situation of cramming near the midterm but I like to learn on my own time, but I always feel like I have to be completely up to date because of the pop quizzes.  So far material seems interesting, but still just a lot of memorization.  I do like how her notes are organized though, very clear and concise, but still a lot to take in.

PHYS 102

Really dreaded taking this class. WISH i did Phys 100/101 because I could have!  I never took Grade 12 Physics I don’t know how I even got into Phys 101 to begin with.  Took Phys 101 2010W..so pretty much forgot everything lol.  Whats worse is its been so long since math that a lot of the basic math is gone as well.  The new textbook isn’t great, I got Physics for Dummies just to dumb it down for myself lol, and I was able to do the problems, and understood everything a lot more after reading the Physics for Dummies.  Also because they switched textbooks, no more mastering physics, also means never finding solutions online, which may be a good thing cause then I’m forced to try everything myself.

FNH 351

TOO much memorization.  We had one quiz, and the multiple choice options were soo similar literally one word differentiates them all out of a list of vitamins.  Its just ridiculous, and whenever I find myself in a class like this, I kind of detach myself.  Because I remember Biol 204 where it was a lot of memorization, and I tried the whole understanding thing, didnt work, with these courses better off just memorizing everything.  I cant fall behind, I didn’t think it could get worse than FNH 350, but 351 is worse.  I try taking minimal minimal notes in class because the content is overwhelming enough without adding a lot.

ISCI 330B – Science and Culture

This is one of the ISCI courses, and I was a little worried because the prof said this was the first time them trying this particular course, but I like the structure, and the class is definitely more engaging than most of my other courses.  I have a group, and our presentation falls on “my hellweek” lol so its the tuesday before my midterms.  That week is going to be crazy stressful.

First Semester Done!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, I happened to get super sick, so I’ve been sleeping a lot and studying for my L test (I know I am late!  I’ll have that done before the break ends, and should have my N by the time I graduate)

So I’ve gotten most of my grades back (MICB 306 still hasn’t come..their notoriously late in terms of handing things back for this course, same with MICB 302).  I am glad I didn’t have one standout bad grade, like usually one course throws things off, but I did well on everything, I discovered a lot of things I was doing wrong in terms of studying, and I am so glad I changed them.

FNH 350

This course is pretty much a biochemistry course, and I actually found it more difficult than Bioc 302, because there were a lot of details to memorize, there was too much to memorize, and atleast Bioc 302 final is not cumulative of the entire semester.  So its an 8 am course and you have to be there for every lecture mwf, because the prof deletes parts of the slides, so you must show up to fill them in.  Now I missed 2 classes this semester due to being either ill, or having way too much to do with other courses.  I realized how bad that was for me studying for finals, cause I could only imagine what I missed on the slides, another thing, is I have no friends in this class lol.  The class is half full every class so I know people trade off lectures, and dont care to show up knowing their friends there will give them the notes.  I’m a little hesitant asking strangers for the last lectures notes (I wouldn’t be 1st year at UBC, I am now, once you’ve been here long enough, you understand how some people are! ;))  Regardless of that, the midterm was 30%, quizzes 10%, and that component I had a really high A, close to an A+.  Now the variables for me were the group project, I overestimated how well my group did (not really i assumed we got 75) so didn’t devote as much time to the final exam as I should have.  I did well but definitely got lower than I expected 🙁  I wish I knew my group project grade before studying for the final, would have made a difference.  Regardless I did well, and it was definitely an interesting course, I learned a lot.  And this course would be torture if you had never taken Bioc 302, I don’t recommend taking this without taking Bioc 302 beforehand.

MICB 306

So I had heard this was one of the more lightweight Microbio courses, in terms of 3rd year level, so I wasn’t too worried.  But the course changed a lot this year, and Kion was the prof for the first 2 midterms.  The first midterm was 30% and I did really well, the class had an average of 81% which is great for a MICB course 3rd year level.  The second midterm also 30% was too long, and it seemed methodically done, because I only knew a few people who finished.  I didn’t finish, and I wish I knew beforehand it’d be obscenely long, I’d go through the exam and do the problems I knew I could get full marks on right away.  There were a lot of questions at the end I wish were in the beginning.  Regardless the class average for the second midterm was 64, and I was around there 🙁  She said there was a possibility of scaling, so honestly I wouldn’t mind a 5% scale up, that’d be perfect lol.  I dont know if they will scale, because the final was pretty easy.  Pretty straight forward, and to the point, nearly half the class left the exam early, and I know the average has to be in the high 80s (im guessing) for the final, so we will see.  It’d be a shame if the second midterm is what prevents me from getting an A, hoping I did well enough on the final.

GERM 200

So I love studying for German opposed to my other science courses, its more relaxing, not just memorize, memorize, memorize.  However, things have changed from 100 level to 200 level.  They don’t give practice midterms anymore, and honestly that was the best part.  I knew if I did the practice midterm/final 2 times I’d guarantee an A on the exam.  I got an A in the course, but nothing close to my Germ 100 grade, because there were less resources, and obviously because its more difficult, its intermediate.  I really wanted to finish Germ all the way to 210 level, but I think I’m going to stop now.  It’s not necessary for my degree, and Germ 210 is apparently a lot of speaking, which is my weakest point.  Times like this you have to choose grades over interest.  I figure I can continue learning one summer on my own.

ECON 310

This class, I took it because I wanted to take at least one Econ class before leaving UBC, my friend recommended it, and was taking it, so I took it.  MICB 306 exam was at 7pm, and this exam was at 12 pm the next day, so I already knew sacrifices had to be made.  Definitely hope it was worth it because I am still waiting for my MICB grade to come out.  This class is pretty straight forward, read the book, do the Aplia, do the problems, and it should be fine.

——

Overall biggest change I made this semester was for the science courses.  The change was to completely ignore the textbook, why didn’t someone tell me this earlier? I wish someone told me this earlier..honestly!  My average would be atleast 5-10% higher if I knew this earlier.  So for MICB courses especially I find, ignore the textbook, and focus on the slides.  I used to focus on the textbook and use the slides for review, and its way more work, way more to memorize, and less time to review.  I think I had high school mentality which is, if you see assigned readings, I read, and thats my main focus.  I don’t know why it took me so long to figure it out, and the time of studying for midterms decreased substantially.  Way more time to re-read, and review when your focusing on one thing, not two.  I still have MICB 407,408, and 308 to go so luckily I wont make the same mistakes!  Still makes me sick that I figured it out this late though.  So essentially unless they say reading is mandatory, its not.  Regardless my GPA so far is looking better than before, and this is putting in less work, looking back I wish I did this for classes like Biol 200, and Biol 204!  Better late than never!

Hope everyone is enjoying their break! 🙂

 

Midterms Nearly Over

Hello everyone,

 

Hope everyone’s midterms have been going well, I actually just completed my second German one, and only have 1 to go next week, until I can relax a bit before finals.  This has actually been my best semester to date at UBC so far! Hope I’m not jinxing myself.  Because I’m doing 5 years at UBC, its really important I have a high A average this semester and next semester, I thought I was reaching, but it seems doable so far.

 

Micb 306

I was dreading this course, I dread anything MICB related but I did really well, definitely the highest in any MICB course I have taken.  The course is quite different from last year though, because I had a practice midterm and the topics didnt completely match up.  In terms of MICB courses, I definitely recommend MICB 306.  302 was a nightmare.

FNH 350

I am integrating nutrition, so this is a mandatory course, and I really enjoy it.  Thats saying a lot considering its at 8am in the morning mwf, and there are parts missing in the slide that you only get if you come to class so its not the kind of class to skip.  I look crazy and exhausted every class but I’m glad I have only missed one lecture so far this semester.  There is definitely a lot of memorization in this course, and its pretty much feels like a biochemistry course.  We’ve done digestion/absorption, lipids, and now proteins.  I had this midterm the day before MICB, and got the exact same grade on the midterm than I did on MICB.  I am shocked at myself that no all nighter has been pulled this year, this is a first for me, smh!

Germ 200

So I loved Germ 100, it was my first A+ at UBC, and I did great in it, still did good in Germ 110.  Germ 200 is great, but I get the feeling that theres a lot of people who have a “more than intermediate” background in German.  I definitely feel like the worst speaker in class, but putting myself at a lower level makes me work harder, so i’m still glad I took it.  Studying for German is way more chill than studying for a Science course.  Theres instant gratification when you can understand passages and write out 200 words in German, where as with Science I feel like gratification comes after you’ve graduated and entered this workforce/grad school

Econ 310

I feel like this course is 40% common sense and 60% keeping up.  The material makes sense, its not something you gotta read a bunch of times to understand, its pretty straight forward.  Shockingly though so far in terms of midterms its been hardest one, just because I felt like I was being rushed.  The midterm is 30% and in class and 50minutes.  I just felt like as a more conceptual/mathematical less memorization course there wasnt enough time.  I will see how it goes!

 

So its been a pretty chill semester for me, my finals schedule is out and I finish on the very last day!  I have no complaints!  I’d rather a short break than a crammed finals schedule.  Happy Halloween Everybody!

Summer School Review & New School Year!

Hello Everyone!  Hope everyone had a good summer, this was probably the worst summer I’ve had in a while because I was studying the whole time, more than I do during the school year actually.  I took Biol 234 and then Bioc 302 and both were quite intense, or maybe I still wasn’t really used to the fast paced summer format.

 

Before I get into that, I want to talk about my ER Scribe job because I get a lot of emails about it!  Sorry if I haven’t responded to some, my inbox is kind of crazy right now.  So the biggest question I get is how did I find out about this job.  I found out about it through Pre-Med Society at UBC.  When you are in the club you get a lot of volunteer opportunities and I saw this in my email and it caught my eye.  Now there are no other real ER Scribe programs in Canada, it’s more big in the States, thats why no one really knows about it here.  As far as undergraduate students, there are only 2 of us at the hospital, and that is mostly because as an undergraduate student, your schedule is very limited, so someone with a medical office assistant degree would be ideal.  But I luckily obtained the position, and I get the opportunity to see a lot. The ER is filled with a variety of cases, acute cases and more simple cases, it’s definitely a fast paced job.  I think ideally a student who may not have gotten into medical school their first try, and have a year off before re-applying this job would be perfect, and the person would be free to work as well as get recommendation letters and experience.

 

Now as for summer school, I took Biol 234, and I was really worried because I don’t know anyone who has taken the course and liked it.  I really do bad with genetics, never quite learned it in Biol 121, but surprisingly I didn’t mind the course.  It was heavily based on problem solving and the 3 online quizzes and 3 tutorial quizzes a week made it hard to fall behind.  Overall I did better than I expected, still a tricky course, don’t take it unless you have to.

Bioc 302 was a very dense course, its like 2 courses in 1.  I was worried because I knew taking it in the summer could go really bad or really good.  The first half was with Dr. Maurus, and had like..Nucleic Acids, DNA Replication/Transcription, etc, etc.  First lecture was shocking because of all the detail, I used the textbook to just follow along with the diagrams, because most of the slides are figures, so going in the book to read the details on the figure was the most useful part of the book.  For this part of the course, tutorials are more important than lecture, to me atleast.  Alym was the TA and he was really good, best TA I have had at UBC, doing all the tutorials is great practice for the midterm, as some questions from it or similar questions show up on the midterm.  I didn’t do as well as I wanted on the midterm because of stupid mistakes 🙁  Like literally over-thinking and because it was out of 50 one bad question really brought down my grade.  The second section was taught by Dr. Krisinger, and he taught Fatty Acids and Amino Acids.  This part of the course is sooo dense, like so much information, the first part doesnt seem so bad when your studying this.  He posted all his lectures online, so I noticed the class started to dwindle in size a bit.  For his part of the course, I kept up, it was summer and I wasn’t working at the hospital that much, so I had nothing else to do but keep up.  By the time the final came, I just re-read, re-wrote, and did the practice exams, and I did much better, probably one of my highest grades on a final exam at UBC.  Do not bother with the textbook for this portion, except for doing problem set questions, which I think are overly challenging, but if you have extra time it cant hurt.

So, this school year I have probably the easiest semester I’ve ever had at UBC.  I think summer school taught me to be a better student because I learned to use my time very efficiently, I hope I can keep doing that.  I am taking:

FNH 350, MICB 306, GERM 200, ECON 310.

Honestly don’t know what to do with myself because this workload seems so chill compared to what I’ve had in the past…but I’m most worried about MICB 306. I noticed with some MICB courses, keeping up is sometimes not enough because of the grading.  For FNH 350, the course outline is looking verryyy similar to BIOC 302.  So that can’t hurt me, the part I hate is that its an 8am class, only ONE section of this course.  Luckily I am on campus this year, but this is primarily a commuter school, some people commute from Surrey, or Richmond.  UBC.. leave at least 2 sections available if one is an 8am so there is at least an opportunity to not be stuck with an 8am course.  I am not a morning person at all..

 

Semester 2 Review & Update

Hey everyone!  It’s been a long time since I blogged, second semester just seemed to fly by really quickly.  I am trying to enjoy these few weeks I have of peace before summer school starts.  This is actually the first time I have ever done summer school, so I am a little worried about how crammed everything is.  I am taking Biol 234, and Bioc 302 this summer.  This past semester I took Phyl 301, Anat 391, Germ 110, Isci 350, and Fnh 250.

Phyl 301

I didn’t really enjoy this class, I feel like regardless of whether or not you keep up, by final time a lot of that information is gone, the small details at least, and in a course where the small details matter, then you might as well start from scratch when your studying, not really reviewing.  The things I studied really well still felt brand new when I was studying for the final.  Luckily for the second final I had more time to study, than for the first.  I had less than 2 days for that final, and I felt like thats what messed me up the most for the first half of the course.  The second final I had 3 days + 1 night.  It was also a less stressful exam season so I had a clearer head when I was studying for this final.  I gave up on writing EVERYTHING which is what I do to memorize, and what I did for the last final, and just read and read and highlighted.  Overall, I didn’t like this course :/  I think its more about the structure (no midterms/quizzes) and less about the material.  It made me have second thoughts about medicine, but I enjoyed Anat 391 which is under Faculty of Medicine, so I wont let this class derail me too much.

Anat 391

In retrospect I wish I took Anat 390 instead, everyone says its easier, regardless I really enjoyed this class.  Its taught by Dr. A, and he is probably the best professor I have had at UBC.  He just teaches the material very well, and I actually feel like I am learning in class.  I feel like majority of classes at UBC, atleast science, you don’t learn that much in class, atleast for me.  But I felt like he really made things clearer in class, and also made it enjoyable.  Funny professor!  The material on the other hand, you are pretty much memorizing the entire textbook, like literally, there is so much to memorize it can be overwhelming, but its doable, and its strictly memorization, which is great because during the exam you should be able to feel out what you got.  On the midterms I knew my grade exactly when I left by just counting up how many I guessed on, and my guesses are never right, its a either you know it or you don’t class.  I wish the structure of Phyl 301 was modeled after Anat 391, with 2 midterms and a final.  Or in Phyl 301’s case as yearlong, 4 midterms, 2 finals.

 

Fnh 250

So as some of you know I am integrating nutrition in my integrated sciences major, and I really wish I didn’t take my first nutrition course ONLINE.  I got a little lazy this semester and I feel like online courses take another level of determination.  I left a lot of things to last minute, I could have done amazingggg in this class if I didn’t let things pile up.  Regardless, I enjoyed the material, and everytime I’d read the book, I’d wonder why I didn’t start reading earlier.  Compared to Micb books, its such a easy smooth read.  And did I mention the final was open book (online only).  Regardless I enjoyed the material, I am looking forward to the lectures I will attend for the next nutrition courses I’m taking.

Isci 350

In integrated sciences you have to take 7 credits of ISCI courses, so this was one of the courses I chose, “Darwinian Medicine.”  I really enjoyed the class, think I missed one lecture the entire semester and its because my body was too weak for a commute to UBC (any commuters out there, you know what I’m talking about!  Thankfully I will be on campus next year).  The class was small, and there were assignments every weak, and there are group activities, and a presentation, overall I’d say its one of the more interactive courses I have taken at UBC.  I really liked it, I feel like even moreso than Anat 391, I learned a lot just by doing activities, and going to class.  One of my favorite classes this semester.

Germ 110

I had a great prof for this course, seems like this was the semester of great profs.  She was great (Adelheid O’Brien) and the class was very interactive.  I got sick and missed more lectures than I wanted to, but overall it was a good class.  I want to leave UBC with a language, so I’m sticking it out and continuing onto the intermediate level (200’s).  If the next class is hard, in that case I’m moving onto swedish!  🙂

——————————————–

So this summer I am taking Biol 234, Bioc 302, and on top of that studying for the MCATS! 🙁  I really postponed this because I’m scared to not do amazing like I need to.  I wish wish wish I just studied last summer when I wasn’t taking summer school.  I am working, taking summer school, and studying for MCATS so this summer is going to be rough!  I want to be on a schedule by Mid May, and right now I’m just getting my study materials together, choosing which books to get, etc.  I will blog about how MCAT studying is going, and summer school is going.  Biol 234 scared me because I tend to do badly in courses that start with a “Biol.” So thats why I left it to the summer, dont want a Biol 204 nightmare.  And Bioc 302 I am also scared of, because a lot of people seem to fail this course, apparently its worse than Ochem, but Ochem wasnt that bad when you look back so I don’t know what to expect.  I have a few friends in Bioc 302, so hopefully that helps.  Going to be a busy summer, hope everyone is enjoying their break so far 🙂

 

Binta

Semester 1 Review

Hey Everyone, Hope you all had a great break.  I never did a review of courses I took last sen so here: 🙂

Stats 200

Probably my favourite course this semester, and I was expecting it to be the worse.  I had Yew Lim, and I really liked him as a prof.  Even though it seemed like he went fast he explained things really clearly to me.  I went to about 95% of lectures and for a 9AM class I didn’t think that’d be possible for me.  The labs were straight forward too, and between clickers, lab, and online quizzes there are a lot of free points.  The first midterm was hard, it was in the morning so I pulled an allnighter (smh) but I got an A so it was worth it.  The only thing thats annoying is that the other section has a midterm different than ours, and much easier, our class average was like 64, and the other class average was 78.  Apparently they scale our class up and the other class would get scaled down.  All I know is that with my final mark in the class I didn’t see any scaling…makes me wish I stayed in the later section that I was in initially, but then again I liked the teaching style of Professor Lim better.  All in all a good class, I tend to get sidetracked midway and the online quizzes forced you to keep up.

 

Phyl 301

This course is supposed to be really interesting but I haven’t been interested during any lectures.  During the first 4 weeks I was really into everything, and keeping up, and then I kind of just fell off the material if that makes sense.  I think its the fact that theres no midterm, no quizzes (no that one 2.5% quiz doesn’t count really..), no clickers.  I didn’t realize there was solo much memorization until the final, and I was pretty behind.  A lot of people spent the full 5 days after the last day of classes and the Phyl Final to study, but I didn’t.  I used the last week of classes to study Phyl, and then started studying for Stats since it was my first final.  I regret this because I know Stats, and worst case scenario I can BS and still do well because its math at the end of the day.  Spent so much time making a cheat sheet for Stats that I didn’t use on the final.  So anyways I was done Stats and used the day to review Phyl, but the stuff I’d reviewed the week before (Neurophysio mostly) was all gone, it was pretty bad.  I’m glad its a year long course otherwise I’d be really sad about my grade.  Especially since the final was really easy, just had no time.  As of this semester it is my first priority course, going to do a study group thing to help keep up.

 

Micb 302

This course I found really interesting, and its a lot of memorization, but its interesting so it sticks easier.  My favourite part of the course was the material, since I work at a hospital a lot of the case studies were things I’d seen so it was cool to see the relevance of what I’m studying in real life.  Now heres what I didn’t like..  So I feel like this course is a third year level course, but that its desperately trying to be a weeder course.  If I keep up with a course and study like crazy and don’t do phenomenal on a midterm i don’t give up but i do start slacking a bit.  The first midterm grading I was like wow they are grading really harsh, damn.  Like I answered all the questions confidently, but the smallest things you lose marks.  I feel like this class is part memorization/learning and part luck.  Your lucky if you wrote what they wanted, your unlucky if you answered differently.  My first midterm went way better than my second, which I expected since I didn’t keep up as much.  Regardless this is the type of stuff that just isn’t right, Micb 302 needs to be multiple choice, even if its tricky multiple choice I prefer that to writing everything I know and losing marks over random irrelevant stuff like this

eg.

aren’t organs made of tissues though….  like I said I would have loved this course if it was multiple choice, or even mc and short answer alternating.

Regardless of the technical issues, in terms of material I liked it wayyyyyy better than Phyl 301, and would actually recommend it, go to the tutorials, keep up, and go to class, the clickers are 10%!  So there are some free marks to get.

 

Germ 100

Actually this was my true favourite class.  It’s my first time taking a language since French in high school, and I was nervous because of the kids in the class who knew more than Beginners German.  Regardless the pace of the class was really good, I actually learned from the teacher more than the textbook [this has never happened at UBC for me…], and it’s also fun to know a language.  I already planned on taking it till the 300 level, and I definitely will after this class.  There are  a lot of free marks to get from German if you try: attendance, quizzes, online quizzes.  I really loved our teacher too her name is Eszter Lazlo, she was really good and fair.  The practice midterms were literally another form of the real midterm.  It wasn’t a million times easier than the real midterm [unlike some other courses eg. stats 200, micb302, the list goes on]  It was my highest grade at UBC ever, safe to say I don’t think I’ll ever see another A+ on my transcript till I graduate, unless Germ 110 goes well, fingers crossed!

And what am I taking next semester?  Germ 110, Phyl 301, Anat 391, Fnh 250, Isci 350

ALSO I get a lot of emails from people to send them practice midterms, finals, etc.  I got a new laptop this year so all that stuff is in my old laptop thats turned to crap.  It’ll take me a while to get all the files out but I will have a post with everything I have on there.

ALSO  I am selling my Stats 200 textbook if anyone is interested, bought it last semester.  And I am interested in buying FNH 250 if anyone has it. 🙂

 

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