Jenny’s Microscope

The three most hated words by students everywhere

When I first realized I have less than a month of no homework and sleeping in left, my last three weeks of summer vacation instantly got sucked down that Back-to-School preparation drain.

I started playing a kind of switching game in my head.

Reading a good book. Switch that with a two-inch psychology textbook.

Sleeping in until 11 a.m. Switch that with standing at the city bus stop at 7 a.m.

Doing whatever I want, whenever I want. Switch that with a rigorous study schedule, attainable only through a strict eight coffees a day regimen.

I found it hard to enjoy anything I did because I couldn’t help seeing it through my I-won’t-be-able-to-do-this-once-I’m-back-in-school filter.

But yesterday I suddenly phased back into my summer vacation. And that’s because I really thought about what I was going back to this September.

University.

There are no bully students. There are no bully teachers. You’re in charge of your educational plan. You’re going to a place that’s built for you. University is an exciting place to be.

Maybe going back to school isn’t so bad after all.

How to survive your selfless act

I’ve done the unthinkable. Instead of doing what I usually do with my fantastically busy Saturdays (sleeping in is very important to me), I’ve gone and done something I knew I’d regret.

I’ve volunteered for Student Life 101 at uWaterloo.

Student Life 101 is an event hosted by students, for new students to help with the university transition. The event runs for the whole day with guided tours of the university campus, presentations about residence, living off campus, and tons of other events to help make the leap into university life as easy as possible.

Two students started Student Life 101 thirteen years ago. They felt that incoming students could really benefit from a tutorial day full of info about their new home. The event brought in 100 visitors its first year. This year? Over 6,000.

I went to SL 101 last year. It was definitely worth it. The place was swarming with upper-year student volunteers walking around campus in those yellow shirts, offering to answer any and all questions about the place that would become my second home. The day gave me a chance to get to know the campus before classes started.

So this year I wanted to return the favour.

The directors of SL 101 are smart. It was too easy to volunteer. All I had to do was fill out an online form with my name and student number, and feel good about myself. They even bragged up the free shirts you’d be wearing, in a very flattering shade of yellow, for the day.

But their greatest idea was to have the form available to fill out about two weeks before the actual volunteering event. It meant I had 14 days to forget about getting up early until I got an email about a training session. That’s when it all came rushing back.

Oh yeah. I volunteered. On a Saturday. And have to get up at 6:00am.

During the training session we got to meet the Student Life 101 directors, go through practice scenarios, and learn what team we would be on. There are over 20 teams, including a media and ASK-ME team. My team? Very glamourous. We’re crowd control, garbage patrol, and parking attendants.

What happened to the last two months?

I used to think university was the ultimate time eater. Attending lectures, taking notes, preparing for labs, tests, and quizzes. In the haze of grade anxiety and endless tutorials, you lose track of time. The eight months of a university year just vanish.

But those eight months are sneaky.

They fade away, exponentially dissipating, while you fret over this test or that mark. You don’t see the time flitting away. Instead, you think you’re perpetually stuck in a blech moment. Like trying to start a brain cell-syphoning paper for psychology. Or waiting in the lobby before a physics midterm.

It seems like the longest, saggiest moment of your entire academic career. Until the next one plods into your day.

And then it’s April. Exams are finished. The haze dissipates. Worry is obsolete. You’ve got a four-month holiday laying ahead of you.

But I was wrong about university. I’ve found the true gorger of time.

Summer vacation.

It’s the second week of July and summer vacation is more than half over. But what really makes summer vacation the true Glutton of the Clock is that you know what’s happening. You’re aware of every passing second of precious summer vacation.

And there’s nothing you can do about it.

Need some help finding a great (and easy) elective?

Trying to decide which electives to take to balance your course load for next term? Can’t choose between that psychology or philosophy course?

Just check out Birdcourses.com. It’s a website where Canadian university students can vote on their courses’ “birdiness.” Or in other words, how Mickey Mouse a course is.

My undergrad enrollment appointment is this week. Meaning, I need to know exactly what electives I want for next semester. Thanks to one of the best websites ever, I was able look for  the perfect electives that could complement my course load.

Yes, courses that sound easy and almost guarantee a good mark.

All of the most important intel about a course is listed on a single page. This includes which professors you should try to get, and whether tests and finals (if the course even has them) are essay-based or multiple choice.

Plus, there’s a section for comments where other students can share their impressions of the course.

Of course, some students want to take courses that also broaden their perspectives, enriching their lives with new ways of thinking, helping them discover a more profound sense of Self. Or something like that.

Just as long at the course has a perfect 5 on the birdiness scale.

Sometimes you’ll see a course with a mixed rating. Like Molecular Biology at Waterloo. Whoever posted this course thought they should spread the joy known as Molecular Biology, by claiming “This course is easy-fasheezy. You learn about cells and how they affect you and why you should care. Word! This course was so fun.”

I was thrilled when I read that. It’s a course I need to take in third year. Now instead of dreading it, I could actually look forward to it.

But then I read some of the comments posted from other students who had already lived through the course.

“No…this course is by far one of the hardest bio’s i’ve taken and is known to be a really hard biology…if ur looking for an easy bio try 439.”

And, “Without a doubt, the hardest bio course, and aside from org. chem, the hardest course ive taken yet! i took it DE…biggest mistake! assignments and quizzes are easy enough to make you think you can do ok…the final is BRUTAL!”

This is one of the small dangers of the site. Although most students simply want to share the triumph/euphoria of having found the perfect bobo class, there’s always someone with a sick sense of humour.

Turns out that Molecular Biology course might not be so birdy after all.

“I don’t know who put this course on this site. But it definitely licks balls.”

- Photo courtesy of klynslis

Pristine comes at a price

When I started my first year of university, it felt really weird to actually buy my own textbooks. After years of having them simply handed over to me in public school, I was almost afraid to open them. To be the first one to crack the spine.

I was used to high school textbooks. But with these, no one would be sneezing on them, or writing in the margins. I was guaranteed to have a textbook that still had page 342. I’d be the first and only owner of these textbooks.

But all that specialness would come back to haunt me.

Yeah, high school textbooks are sometimes ratty and stained. But they’re also free. My university textbooks were new and pristine. And not so free. I was definitely paying for page 342.

A couple of my first year textbooks will still be useful next year as reference books. Like my genetics and chemistry textbooks. But most of my textbooks are perfect candidates for resale. I’m not going to be keeping titles like “Introduction to Political Sciences” for leisure reading.

It’s been almost six weeks since my last exam, and my clean and (still fairly) pristine textbooks have become perpetual roommates.

But I don’t need my old textbooks anymore. I’d love to sell them, maybe even give them away. But I can’t get rid of them.

Because the most expensive books that I’ve ever bought are now absolutely and utterly worthless.

My physics textbook was a life-saver, helping me prepare for tests and quizzes throughout this past year. Now I’m finished taking physics courses, and I don’t need the textbook anymore.

But I can’t sell it, or even give it away because now it’s outdated. The average shelf life of a university textbook is something like two years. And mine is past its expiration date.

I think this is even worse than selling it for a fraction of its value. Once you breathe on a textbook, its value drops over 50 per cent. Open it, and it’s basically worthless.

But at least you’re getting something for it, if you can sell it. Even if it’s only a fraction of its original cost. And you know it’s got a good life somewhere, helping some other poor student prepare for an upcoming test or exam.

Instead, I’m now stuck with twelve pounds of paper that cost me over $500.

- Photo courtesy of basykes

Med school checklist: undergrad degree, prerequisites and a ridiculously high GPA

This time last year, I was playing the waiting game. I had chosen my top three programs. The applications were done, and it was all riding on one letter. The letter from the Registrar’s Office of McMaster.

Finally, it arrived.

I had applied to McMaster’s Health Sciences undergraduate program, and was hoping this was the letter. The one officially welcoming me into my top-choice undergraduate program.

Eventually, I want to apply to med school, so I needed a program that could bring me closer towards that goal. I had considered (and applied to) several other programs at U of T and the University of Waterloo, including biology and biomedical sciences.

But then I discovered Health Sciences at McMaster.

It instantly became my top choice. I wanted to be on the most efficient path to med school. An undergraduate program with all the prerequisites built-in, but also one that focused on a subject area I find fascinating: biology. The Health Sciences program seemed like a perfect fit.

By the end of the four-year program, I would have all of the prerequisites necessary for every med school across Canada. Acceptance into the program doesn’t come with any guarantees of a future spot in med school later, of course. But I knew it would be the perfect pre-med program for me. I wanted in.

But I knew getting in wouldn’t be easy.

The few select spots are reserved for students with GPAs of at least 90 per cent. In order to be competitive, however, McMaster makes it clear you need something in the low 90s. Minimum. My GPA was in the low 90s. Would it be enough? The lengthy application process also includes answering some really challenging personal questions.

Including, “Please describe a non-academic aspect of your life that you feel is important to your sense of self and explain why.”

So, was this where I could brag about building an 800 piece 3D puzzle in less than an hour? Maybe not. Instead, I explained how important my artwork is to me. How much I enjoy creating large works of art on canvas using oil paints. Of course, the minute I laid claim to considering art an important non-academic aspect of my life, one that is also important to my sense of self, I felt pretentious and somehow exposed. But since we can’t ever be certain about what the ‘right’ answer might be, or worse, the ‘wrong’ answer, all I could do was answer the questions as honestly as possible.

The next question was the one question I think should never be asked. “If there were one question that shouldn’t be asked, what would it be and why?” I’m not kidding. That really was one of the questions.

Despite my search for the perfect pre-med program, most Canadian med schools claim there is no ideal program, that they view all undergraduate degrees equally. Just as long as you also have the required prerequisites. Such as organic chemistry, physics, several specific biology courses, and lab experience. Oh, and also a ridiculously high GPA.

Of the 2008 accepted applicants to McMaster’s med school, for example, more than half are science or health sciences students. But law, divinity, and engineering students, just to name a few, also got in. Just not as many. And they still had to chase after those prerequisites, of course.

The thing is, not all undergraduate degrees help you get the best marks, and your GPA is one of the most important considerations when applying to med school. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should choose a program just because you think it will give you some advantage.

Because chances are, you might not even get in.

So that morning last May, when I held the letter in my hand, I was afraid to open it. So much was riding on that first sentence. What if they said no? I ripped open the envelope and began to read. Then I read it again. And again.

“Unfortunately, after careful consideration, we are not able to offer you admission at this time. ”

I hadn’t made it in.

I’d been accepted into the biology programs at McMaster and U of T, and the Health studies, biology, and Biomedical Sciences programs at Waterloo. But that didn’t matter. I hadn’t been accepted into my top choice. I was devastated.

Well, for about 10 minutes. Then I felt relieved that I’d been accepted into my second-choice, the Biomedical Sciences honours program at the University of Waterloo. The core classes built into the biomedical sciences program are prerequisites common to almost every med school in North America. Exactly what I need for my goal of one day attending med school. Somewhere. Anywhere. Please.

Plus, Waterloo has the added bonus of being just a 45-minute bus ride from my home in Kitchener. It even makes me centrally located for about a dozen friends from high school who are going to Guelph, Brock and McMaster. And although none of my old friends from high school are in Biomedical Science with me at Waterloo, three are in other programs at the school so I still get to see them for coffee and study breaks.

I’ve now completed my first year of the biomedical sciences program. I’m learning about genes and mutations, cells and cancer. And that’s only first year.

Biomedical sciences at Waterloo allows students to tailor their program using lots of electives to meet the admission requirements for many different graduate programs. Or I can just take more biology courses.

Versatile, but structured. Perfect.

But if you don’t eventually make it into the professional program of your dreams, like med school, doesn’t that make your undergraduate degree useless?

Absolutely not. Most programs list what past grads are doing now, so you can get a sense of what you could be doing later. For my program, it lists possible careers such as respiratory therapist, dentist, forensic scientist and speech pathologist. And yes, physician. Yay.

So even if I don’t get into med school one day, my degree will not have been for nothing.

My program works for me. And it’s not just a means to an end.

If high school had the same pace, you’d finish grade 12 in two weeks

My secret fear before I went to university was that I wouldn’t make the cut. That I wouldn’t be able to handle the academic overload of university. I knew first year wouldn’t be like the average high-school grade transition, where the material is a little more difficult, but doable. University is a total revamp of what you’re used to in high school.

The rules change.

Everything you learned in high school physics, biology ― everything ― is condensed into a perfect little packet of 12 weeks. Like astronaut food.

If high school had the pace of university, where you have five courses instead of four, not to mention some labs and tutorials, you’d finish grade 12 in about two weeks. I can’t believe I didn’t have perfect 100′s in all my courses. What was I doing with all that time?

I felt a little out of control during my first semester of university, that at any moment my fine balance of keeping up with the readings and completing assignments could crumple.

Then it happened. I fell behind.

My worst fear had been realized. I wasn’t keeping up. And it made me feel stupid. It seemed impossible that I would ever be able to juggle everything. How could I possibly be able to read four chapters of my chemistry and biology textbooks, while simultaneously completing my physics assignment and political science essay, all due next class?

Then I realized my problem. University isn’t 10 times harder than high school. It’s 10 times faster. It’s the pace that’s a killer in university.

I wasn’t being stupid. I was being inefficient. I needed a plan.

Using study habits from high school to prepare for tests and quizzes wasn’t working. Even how I approached the readings was all wrong.

I learned how to prioritize, university style. I started the readings right away, instead of procrastinating about it. I learned how to really focus. In high school, you can often get away with studying at the last minute and still pull off a pretty good mark. It doesn’t work that way in university. It’s not always how smart you are in university that determines your marks, it’s how disciplined you are.

My second semester was much better. You really do adapt to the pace and learn how to get so much more done than you ever did with that sloth pace back in high school.

Now the pace of university doesn’t scare me. I prefer it.

- photo courtesy of michellekopczyk

If you don’t get into your first-choice school, what should you do next?

Right now, thousands of grade 12 students are making one of their biggest academic decisions so far. Most prospective university students have received all the offers of admission they’re going to get. And it’s decision time.

“Where am I going to go?”

Some students receive offers from everywhere, including their first, second, and third-choice universities.  This means they’ll have to agonize over which school to choose. Poor them.

Of course, some haven’t been accepted anywhere. But other students have an arguably tougher decision to make. The most important offer is missing: their top choice. Suddenly the program, which seemed liked a perfect fit,  isn’t possible anymore. They don’t want you.

“Now what?”

I was really upset when I didn’t get accepted into my first-choice program.

Being accepted into my second, third, and fourth choice-schools was poor consolation. It felt as if some huge dream had been shattered, that I would be settling for my second choice. The program I got into wasn’t even at the “right” university.

But as I quickly learned, the reality of university is far different from the dream.

I’ve just completed my first year at the University of Waterloo. I couldn’t be happier with my compromise. My program is a perfect fit, and it now seems obvious that Waterloo is exactly where I was meant to be. How could I have ever had a doubt?

Of course, that’s what’s great about hindsight. But I’ll just chalk it up to second-year wisdom.