2nd Year Term 2 Review

CHEM 205 - Physical Chemistry
I personally don't like Physical Chemistry, especially the Thermodynamics part. At least for me, physical chemistry isn't as intuitive as other Chemistry courses. I really had difficult times trying to understand everything, but my tip is that you shouldn't. I wasted many hours reading textbooks and reading lecture notes, but honestly, if you are not a chem major, then knowing how to do the problem sets and quizzes will help you the most getting a decent mark. The midterm was easy, I think the avg was 87%. Final exam was a bit challenging, but I would say that the spectroscopy and kinetics part made the course more interesting towards the end. This course is divided into 3 portions - Thermodynamics, spectroscopy, and kinetics.

CHEM 235 - Organic Chemistry Laboratory
Because I struggled many hours in the first term with CHEM 211 labs, this lab was a joke. You learn about basic techniques like distillation, synthesis of organic chemicals, recrystallizations etc. It only took me 1-2 hours for the pre lab and what you do in class is pretty straight forward. Just make sure you obtain many practices during the class (what you do in first couple of weeks don't count as marks), do well on quizzes and assingments. I didn't pay much attention into this course because it's only worth 1 credit. The lab report was easy to do but the written final exam was very tricky. I blame myself for not studying the lab manual fully :(

BIOL 201 - Introduction to Biochemistry
Great course. Mastery of the problem set will guarantee you a good mark. Also, Dr.Chowrira is really passionate in teaching and I can say with confidence that she is one of the most effective instructors that I have met. The course material isn't too difficult and I enjoyed this course a lot. The course mostly deals with how proteins behave and a metabolism of Glucose. I think it's partly because I am interested in biochemistry or molecular biology in general. The only problem with this course is that there are a lot of course material to be covered and I really recommend that you pace yourself well with this course especially towards the end.

CHIN 103 - Basic Chinese I: Part 2 (Non-Heritage)
The course material wasn't hard (you only learn basic stuff), but there are many things to do such as weekly assignments, quizzes, oral presentations, recordings and skits. It's also held M/T/Th/F, so it is really hard to fit it into the schedule. It is very time consuming, but the course is pretty fun, I made many new friends through the small class environment.

MICB 202 - Introductory Medical Microbiology and Immunology 
This course has 3 parts - immunology, baterial disease, and viral disease. Immunology part was interesting, but the overall material was kind of dry. There are 2 courses that I couldn't help but to sleep in during the series of lectures are this one and CHEM 205. I would say that the exam was very detailed and it wasn't as manageable. After taking this course, I decided that I shouldn't be in MICB major. What made it harder is that not only you have to memorize the contents but also responsible for applying the concepts in Multiple Choice exam. (Each question worth 1%!)

PHYS 102 - Electricity, Light and Radiation
I took it because it was a requirement for the Physiology program. I took it with Dr.Bates and I would say she carried me through the course. I was busy and didn't have much time to prepare for all exams but ended up getting a good mark because I was at least paying attention in class. Most of the exam questions were derivative of what she went over in class and such. The lab portion can be a little time consuming but I really enjoyed this course even though I'm not a physics person. I would say that I enjoyed this course more than PHYS 101.

Overall comment: I applied for the physiology program at the end of the year but I was rejected because I was short 1 credit :( It is my bad for I didn't check fully beforehand but when I went to see Sally Osborne during the term, she really did say nothing about me being short of a credit. I didn't really want to stay in MICB either so I was hoping that I could get into the General Science program. However, after the course registration, I heard that the associate dean wouldn't let me in. I ended up going into the Biology major because I liked studying Genetics in first year, and also because they are quite flexible with the requirement credits.  However, because it was too late of a registration date when I made the decision, so I ended up with a very bad schedule for Year 3. 

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