Author: Shanna

Tips for success

Take notes by hand, especially for Organic chemistry.

• don’t do all the questions in the problem sets. They’re not worth your time.

• Of the practice problems that you do, walk yourself through them step by step.

• Do the practice midterms.

• Don’t do the extremely old practice exams because the exam format has changed.

• If your learning style doesn’t click with your professor, stop going to class. I respected Dr Chou for telling us on the first day that he will not punish us for our different learning styles and will not deduct marks if we do not come to class.

• Do not stress too much about getting clicker questions wrong. Clicker questions are worth little in the grand scheme of things.

• Buy the Organic chemistry Workbook. It’s helpful though you likely will not have time to do all the problems.

• Do not buy the Physical Chemistry workbook. I barely used it because lecture notes were enough.

• You have to buy the Sharp EL-510RNB Engineering/Scientific Calculator because you’re not allowed to use any other calculator on the midterms or final.

Chem 123 Lab:

• Do your pre lab at least the night before. The stress of doing the pre lab a hour before it is due is not fun

• Take pre lab quizzes seriously.

• Listen carefully to your TA’s suggestions on how to do your lab report

• PRO TIP: ERASABLE PENS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND. I wish someone told me to use them so I didn’t have to awkwardly cross things out. Chem labs are pen only so if you make mistakes, you’re not allowed to use whiteout. Game over friends.

• On that note, you must use black or blue pen. I love colourful pens but pink or orange or purple pens do not belong here.
I personnally used Pilot 0.5 mm but any erasable pens will do

 

Suggested professors: for Physical Chemistry, Dr Keng Chou, Dr Glen Sammis. For Organic

Chemistry Dr Jason Hein.

How to get an A+ in this class:

• utilize the help of your peers on the Piazza website and give help in return

• Make friends that also take MATH 103 and meet to work on OSH together

• Review your old assignments and quizzes to see what you did wrong.

• Get your homework done at reasonable time before it’s due but not too early when you haven’t learned the concepts yet. Do not do next week’s assignment as soon as it comes out.

• The paper version of the textbook is a waste of money.

• Even though this is math class, take notes.

• Always come to class on quiz days. If you can’t come to class on an OSH day, make sure you have a trusted friend hand in your assignments for you.

• Keep copying notes down even if you get totally lost during a lecture.

• Compile a list of formula that you refer often to so you don’t have to flip through your note every time to find what you need.

• Be psychologically prepared to feel pressed for time during math exams.

• Pick up your old exams and review them to see what you did wrong

Suggested professor: Dr Edwin Perkins. Dr Perkins is super friendly and generous about helping his students to work through what they don’t understand.

How to get a good grade:

• Actually do the assigned reading before class

• Take notes while you read.

• Buy a physical copy of the books you’re assigned. They typically cost less than $10

• Bring the book or print out the reading to bring to class so you can refer to it during discussion. You can bring a digital version.

• Do the extra reading on the genre, the author, what society was like and what world events were occurring when the piece was written.

• Speak in your discussion section 1) you get participation marks. 2) you force yourself to organize and vocalize your thoughts. 3) your TA will learn that you’re alive.

• Your professor will often not write or present any notes but you should take notes on what is being discussed.

• Take notes on good points that your classmates bring up.

• Start working on your final paper early

• Spend time working on a good thesis

• Choose a final paper topic that looks least boring to you. I know you think all the topics are awful but it gets better once you start refining your idea.

• Talk to your professor at office hours if you have questions.

 

Suggested professor: Dr Gisele Baxter, especially if you’re into Gothic!