I had a very standard first year schedule, with no rooms for electives. One course that I did not take was Biol 140, as I had my heart set on Pharmacology and did not want anything dragging down my GPA. If you have the credits for Biol 140, take the credits. If you don’t, almost all bio majors require Biol 140 as a prerequisite (besides Pharmacology and Microbiology). I heard that Biol 140 is easier in second term. In addition, it is essential that you get a good group as the whole course revolves around group projects and lab write-ups.

I will be reviewing the following courses: Biol 121, Chem 121, Phys 101, Math 104, Engl 110.

1. BIOL 121:

I would say that this course is a GPA booster (relatively easy to achieve 80%+ with little effort). It is however, my lowest Science grade, due to the subjectiveness of word answers. The TAs have a list that they check off when they mark your answers, but they are very meticulous in their marking. For each point that you miss, you are docked 0.5-1 marks, and because these tests are only out of ~ 40 or so marks, you are literally going down in percentage steps for every mark you lose.

I liked the genetics and evolution components, but hated the ecology part. Overall, it was an enjoyable course, and I had a great teacher. Take it with Pamela if you can! 🙂

Final grade: A+

Verdict: Little workload, GPA booster (80+). Not my favourite course, if it were me, I would have taken the credits for it if I had them.

2. CHEM 121:

Easily my favourite course! Because this is a standardized course across ~ 3000 students, the profs tell you just exactly what you need to know what the midterms / finals. In the beginning, the course was just review (bonds, electronegativity etc)… But it became very interesting when we moved onto quantum physics and orbitals. Beware, however, that this section weeds out the lackadaisical students, as the concepts are completely new, and can be daunting at first. The exams were fair, and very mind stimulating. There were a thousand road map questions (you will know what I am talking about as you get to chapter 6 or so… in the ChiRP book) that were worth a good chunk of your mark.

Final grade: A+

One must PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE. Don’t skip this even if you have credits for it, as a good understanding of orbital theories is necessary for Chem 123.

Verdict: Take it.

3. PHYS 101:

Throw away any preconceptions you might have about the difficulty of physic courses. This is, surprisingly, a GPA booster. The class average was ~ 80%, that tells you just how easy this course is. We learned about fluid dynamics, waves, and optics. I took it with Javed Iqbal, and he is, imo, the clearest lecturer I have ever had. All the concepts became extremely easy after he had explained it. But he only teaches during the first semester though. SO SNAG HIM IF YOU CAN.

There is also a 20% lab component to this course. The labs were very stressful, and I hated them. Especially the lab exam. I would buy annotated lab books off those who had previously taken the course as the labs don’t change much.

Final grade: A+

Verdict: GPA booster. Take it.

4. MATH 104:

Unsure of which stream of math you should take? Mix it. I took math 104 and then switched over to math 103 during second semester as I heard that math 105 is harder. Boy, did I make the right choice!

Math 104 is the easiest differential calculus course out of three streams. Because it has a commerce component to it, that’s right off the bat, an easy long word problem for the final. There are only so many ways you can twist a question dealing with elasticity and changing rates…. Let’s just say that this was the only stream that was not scaled this year. That was how good the marks were!

Final grade: A+

Verdict: If you have credits for this, take it anyways. Definitely a GPA booster if you have taken AP calc before.

5. ENGL 110:

Hated this course. HATED IT. I took it with Sian Echard, and I have to admit. She is a very joyous lecturer and is nice enough to give you the in-class essay topics ahead of time. It was also very easy to predict her final exam essay topics. If you must take the course, take it with her (she teaches first semester only). I mean, who else allows you to read GRAPHIC novels and write essays on them? (And you can also contact me if you need the books, as I have her entire book list that I need to sell…. I can also throw in my notes haha).

Two in-class essays, each worth 20% of your grade, 10% participation, 30% final exam, and 25% research essay. (<- oh wait, this doesn’t add up.) I would get her books, and read them ahead of time. It is also not necessary to read ALL of her books, as her final exam questions were very varied. For instance, I did not read the Hobbit and still scored decently.

She has a course pack online, and I would recommend you to read it during the summer. THAT THING IS LONNNGGGG.

Final grade: A

Verdict: Take the credits for this course if you can. A very annoying course