u/Routine_Current9721

Testing on Friday (like so many people it seems here on Reddit). Kinda wanted to see what to primarily focus on for the next two days. Here's what I've found to be high yield from AAMC stuff only but feel free to add to help others also (their guide is vague which makes sense because you don't know what will be tested). If anything, I think these concepts are GUARANTEED to show up in some way.

C/P:

* Acids/bases

* Thermodynamics (delta G)

* n = CV or m = nM because they LOVE those formulas

* Something on pH where they give ion concentration in a very weird indirect way

* Functional groups

* E = hf or E - hc/lambda

* HALF-LIFE!!!!!

B/B

* Amino acids (this one is obvious) but mainly properties; acidic, basic, what can be phosphorylated, hydrophobic etc

* Immune system!!! AAMC seems to love putting stuff on B/T cells or macrophages (I'm not complaining because I'm an immunology minor)

* Enzymes and inhibition (there's always an indirect question on kinases, hydrolases or phosphatases)

* Genetics (especially those punnett squares which thank goodness are simple compared to undergrad)

* Central dogma (DNA --> mRNA --> protein)

* Chromatography

* Organelles and their functions (especially the Golgi, ribosomes, plasma membrane and ER). Also remember rough ER to Golgi to vesicles because that always pops up somehow

P/S

* Sociological terms (conflict theory and symbolic interactionism are the most common two I've seen, functionalism also)

* Somethin on SES and health because they love passages on those

* This is moreso bio than psych but cortisol and stress. They disguise it either as skin conductivity or what happens in the SNS

* Piaget and/or Erikson (maybe Freud)

* Attitudes (the ABCs: affective, behavioral, cognitive)

* Those terms you easily mix up (role strain/role conflict, front stage/back stage, social capital/cultural capital, me/I, etc). Not saying it's those exactly but usually the ones that sound similar)

* Classical and especially operant conditioning (reinforcements and punishments) and/or something related like extinction, generalization, discrimination and shaping

* Memory (short-term/long-term)

* Senses but it's usually vision, hearing rarely pops up

* Something social (social stratification, social interactions, agents of socialization, social facilitation, social loafing, etc)

* Some sort of bias (confirmation seems to be the main one followed by selection and observer)

* Emotion theories (Cannon-Bard, Shatter-Singer, James-Lange)

What I've learned is AAMC can be predictable in a sense with what they put especially for B/B which is why they love graphs and figures that test those concepts with weird convoluted wording.

Testing on Friday (like so many people it seems here on Reddit). Kinda wanted to see what to primarily focus on for the next two days. Here's what I've found to be high yield from AAMC stuff only but feel free to add to help others also (their guide is vague which makes sense because you don't know what will be tested). If anything, I think these concepts are GUARANTEED to show up in some way.

C/P:

* Acids/bases

* Thermodynamics (delta G)

* n = CV or m = nM because they LOVE those formulas

* Something on pH where they give ion concentration in a very weird indirect way

* Functional groups

* E = hf or E - hc/lambda

* HALF-LIFE!!!!!

B/B

* Amino acids (this one is obvious) but mainly properties; acidic, basic, what can be phosphorylated, hydrophobic etc

* Immune system!!! AAMC seems to love putting stuff on B/T cells or macrophages (I'm not complaining because I'm an immunology minor)

* Enzymes and inhibition (there's always an indirect question on kinases, hydrolases or phosphatases)

* Genetics (especially those punnett squares which thank goodness are simple compared to undergrad)

* Central dogma (DNA --> mRNA --> protein)

* Chromatography

* Organelles and their functions (especially the Golgi, ribosomes, plasma membrane and ER). Also remember rough ER to Golgi to vesicles because that always pops up somehow

P/S

* Sociological terms (conflict theory and symbolic interactionism are the most common two I've seen, functionalism also)

* Somethin on SES and health because they love passages on those

* This is moreso bio than psych but cortisol and stress. They disguise it either as skin conductivity or what happens in the SNS

* Piaget and/or Erikson (maybe Freud)

* Attitudes (the ABCs: affective, behavioral, cognitive)

* Those terms you easily mix up (role strain/role conflict, front stage/back stage, social capital/cultural capital, me/I, etc). Not saying it's those exactly but usually the ones that sound similar)

* Classical and especially operant conditioning (reinforcements and punishments) and/or something related like extinction, generalization, discrimination and shaping

* Memory (short-term/long-term)

* Senses but it's usually vision, hearing rarely pops up

* Something social (social stratification, social interactions, agents of socialization, social facilitation, social loafing, etc)

* Some sort of bias (confirmation seems to be the main one followed by selection and observer)

* Emotion theories (Cannon-Bard, Shatter-Singer, James-Lange)

What I've learned is AAMC can be predictable in a sense with what they put especially for B/B which is why they love graphs and figures that test those concepts with weird convoluted wording.

I've seen a version of this before for P/S as it's definition heavy and I know B/B is passage heavy but I still think it's worth knowing.

Here's mine:

Phosphodiester bonds vs hydrogen bonds in DNA

For some reason, I always mix these up. Phosphodiester bonds connect nucleotides to the sugar-phosphate backbone while hydrogen bonds connect complementary nucleotides.

Transduction vs transformation

Not as high yield but how I remember is I call transduction transVuction to remember that a virus is involved. Transformation uses the environment to change because if something evolves, the environment is involved. That's just my weird way of knowing this stuff.

Conjugation I find easier because C for connect and bacteria connect using a plius

RT-PCR vs Northern blot

RT-PCR amplifies RNA and detects it (and tells you about transcription since that's DNA --> RNA) vs northern blot with detects RNA and tells you size.

Gel filtration (aka size exclusion since AAMC loves using those interchangeably) vs native PAGE vs SDS PAGE.

This one I don't struggle with as much but it's worth putting out there for someone who might.

SDS-PAGE: denatures and is reducing by breaking S-S to make SH-HS; separates solely on weight since everything has a negative charge

Native-PAGE: does NOT denature; keeps charge, size and shape

SEC: does NOT denature; separates based on size

Ping-pong vs Ordered vs Random Mechanisms

🏓 Ping-pong = take turns = no ternary (think of the game of ping pong)

Substrate A binds, leaves and then substrate B binds. They're never together

📋 Ordered = assigned order = ternary

Substrate A must bind THEN substrate B

🎲 Random = either first = ternary

Substrate A could bind before or after B, order doesn't matter

I think after learning these, ordered and random are self-explanatory but not ping pong. AAMC loves sneaking these in too :(

Planning on going to SmackDown next week in Toronto. Not too familiar with Scotiabank (only gone there once for AEW last year) but I was wondering what the best seats are for weekly TV. Thinking about the 300s. Is north side better than south and are the corner views good?

https://preview.redd.it/hgy8p5ovidjh1.png?width=761&format=png&auto=webp&s=c507d5514569de29ccbee0f1019547a0c76b2f70

What are your MCAT hot takes?

I'll start: C/P is significantly easier than B/B. C/P is mostly calculations and general period table stuff (ex: what's an alkaline earth metal, isotopes, etc). Physics, that's a different story..... B/B is mostly interpreting figures and seeing relationships (what happens to Y if we remove/add X)

B/B discretes are easier than P/S. P/S requires knowledge of many terms and I notice AAMC likes to throw in random terms sometimes (I'm looking at you dichotic listening task, shadowing, conflict of interest). I think with B/B you either know it or you don't, but with P/S you can reason through it with POE. P/S also loves their graphs whereas B/B discretes tend to be punnett squares or physiology.

Basically the title. Did anyone else find B/B in Fl5 to be difficult or just me? It felt really dense compared to the others or maybe idk how to properly examine passages. I personally found P/S easier than B/B but maybe that's because I like it more.

I'm kinda curious what other people think about JW's passages other than CARS. I know UWorld is the gold standard but I think JW is kinda underrated when it comes to passages (plus they're free). I found their P/S passages have helped me a lot with recongizing terms and doing lots of their B/B ones have helped me identify patterns and types of questions AAMC might ask (ex: stuff about amino acids, interpreting a graph/figure, etc). I don't think C/P is as good and their discretes are definitely hit-or-miss. What do you think?

I love mnemonics and Reddit has helped me learn some especially for P/S which is definition heavy. I like to try and paint a story while I learn terms so some of these might have analogies.

Types of Capital

Social capital = who you know (ex: you got an internship because of your mom’s friend)

Cultural capital = what you know (ex: accent, behaviors, education)

Types of Stressors

Acute stressors are short-term just like the word acute (ex: an exam)

Chronic stressors are long-term just like the word chronic (ex: unemployment or chronic condition)

Ambient stressors are environmental; think ambient meaning environment (ex: you live downtown where there is lots of noise)

Important People (Piaget, Freud and Erikson)

Silly people chase frogs

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

For Freud’s stages, I sound out OAPLG (sounds like OAP LIG)

I don’t have one for Erikson as I think of his stages as a story rather than a mnemonic.

More Terms

Ethnocentrism = my way is the right way

Cultural relativism = let’s understand their way (think of relativism as meaning relating to others)

Parasomnia = Peculiar events during sleep (ex: sleep walking)

Dyssomnia = Duration (as well as quality and quantity) of sleep is affected (ex: insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea)

Nightmares occur during REM and are REMembered while night terror occur during NREM and are NOT remembered 

Class consciousness: people see and question power and inequality 

False consciousness: people Fail to see power and inequality 

Hindsight bias: I knew it all along

Confirmation bias: I want evidence that supports my belief

Social desirability bias: I want to be liked; that’s why people give socially acceptable answers rather than how they actually feel to impress other (hence desirability)

Socioeconomic gradient in health: SES is directly proportional to health (high SES = better health and vice-versa)

Morpheme: M for meaning 

Phoneme sounds like the word phone which is Latin for sound

Absolute poverty: you absolutely cannot meet basic needs

Relative poverty: you’re poor COMPARED to others

Absolute threshold: A for “is there Any stimulus that can be detected”

Difference threshold: D for delta which means change

Parvocellular: P for precise

Magnocellular: M for motion

Middle ear pathway (malleus, incus, stapes)

• MISsion Impossible
• MISs (as in the title for a female teacher)

Brain waves for slowest to fastest: Don’t touch any bad gas

• Delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma

The central executive = CEO: the boss who coordinates the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad

Sternberg’s Triarchic theory is CAP (creative, analytical and practical)

Broca’s aphasia: I always think speak Broca (but he can’t so that how I remember Broca’s area is for speech)

Central route: C for concrete (evidence based)

Peripheral route: P for pretty (appearance, emotion, status, celebrities, ads)

Mores = Moral norms 

Role strain = ONE role 

Role conflict = 2+ roles

Strain has 6 letters while conflict as 8 so since strain has less letters, it has fewer roles attached to it

For sociology, I think most of the terms are fairly straightforward. 

This doesn't apply to CARS as it's just passages. I would say discretes are easier for C/P and definitely B/B and P/S maybe passages. What do you think?

C/P is a strength of mine but only because of my strong chemistry/biochemistry background. Physics is lacking and I have trouble with equations and stuff like fluids and electrostatics.

Basically the title. I find the P/S to be pretty good. The discretes for P/S actually helped me a lot even though there's a lot of random terms. I think the bio discretes are too niche at times and C/P isn't as representative. The C/P isn't as good as the AAMC one is biochem heavy. B/B is fine though.

I love mnemonics and Reddit has helped me learn some especially for P/S which is definition heavy. I like to try and paint a story while I learn terms so some of these might have analogies.

Types of Capital

Social capital = who you know (ex: you got an internship because of your mom’s friend)

Cultural capital = what you know (ex: accent, behaviors, education)

Types of Stressors

Acute stressors are short-term just like the word acute (ex: an exam)

Chronic stressors are long-term just like the word chronic (ex: unemployment or chronic condition)

Ambient stressors are environmental; think ambient meaning environment (ex: you live downtown where there is lots of noise)

Important People (Piaget, Freud and Erikson)

Silly people chase frogs

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

For Freud’s stages, I sound out OAPLG (sounds like OAP LIG)

I don’t have one for Erikson as I think of his stages as a story rather than a mnemonic.

More Terms

Ethnocentrism = my way is the right way

Cultural relativism = let’s understand their way (think of relativism as meaning relating to others)

Parasomnia = Peculiar events during sleep (ex: sleep walking)

Dyssomnia = Duration (as well as quality and quantity) of sleep is affected (ex: insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea)

Nightmares occur during REM and are REMembered while night terror occur during NREM and are NOT remembered 

Class consciousness: people see and question power and inequality 

False consciousness: people Fail to see power and inequality 

Hindsight bias: I knew it all along

Confirmation bias: I want evidence that supports my belief

Social desirability bias: I want to be liked; that’s why people give socially acceptable answers rather than how they actually feel to impress other (hence desirability)

Socioeconomic gradient in health: SES is directly proportional to health (high SES = better health and vice-versa)

Morpheme: M for meaning 

Phoneme sounds like the word phone which is Latin for sound

Absolute poverty: you absolutely cannot meet basic needs

Relative poverty: you’re poor COMPARED to others

Absolute threshold: A for “is there Any stimulus that can be detected”

Difference threshold: D for delta which means change

Parvocellular: P for precise

Magnocellular: M for motion

Middle ear pathway (malleus, incus, stapes)

• MISsion Impossible
• MISs (as in the title for a female teacher)

Brain waves for slowest to fastest: Don’t touch any bad gas

• Delta, theta, alpha, beta, gamma

The central executive = CEO: the boss who coordinates the phonological loop and visuospatial sketchpad

Sternberg’s Triarchic theory is CAP (creative, analytical and practical)

Broca’s aphasia: I always think speak Broca (but he can’t so that how I remember Broca’s area is for speech)

Central route: C for concrete (evidence based)

Peripheral route: P for pretty (appearance, emotion, status, celebrities, ads)

Mores = Moral norms 

Role strain = ONE role 

Role conflict = 2+ roles

Strain has 6 letters while conflict as 8 so since strain has less letters, it has fewer roles attached to it

For sociology, I think most of the terms are fairly straightforward. 

Basically the title. It's ludicrous how expensive the MCAT is. I have the AAMC packages but plan on saving that until next month and I've done lots of the Jack Westin QBanks which are kinda underrated.

Every Course I Took as a First Year Life Sci Student

Made this post as inspired by others and thought it would be fun to make my own. As you’ll see by reading, first semester wasn’t the best but things did get better second semester. I did better in second year compared to first despite what most people on Reddit might think about the two years (check out that post too).

Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/UofT/comments/1tlvg9i/every_course_i_took_as_a_second_year_life_science/

Fall 2024

CHM135 (A. Sakaya, J. Murphy, G. Walker)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Above

Fairly straightforward course and high school chem was one of my strengths. Most of the course was grade 12 review so it wasn’t too bad and the tests/exam were fair. Admittedly could’ve done better on labs to get a higher marks and profs were a mixed bag. Sakaya was really goated tho!

BIO120 (L. Mahler, M. Frederickson)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Below

Hated this course so much. Mahler’s section was straightforward albeit boring - I couldn’t tell you the amount of times I almost fell asleep in his lectures. Frederickson’s section was a nightmare and her test was one of the hardest tests I’ve ever written in first year(ymmv tho). Labs were chill but kinda boring and exam was average.

PHY131 (J. Harlow)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Below

Took this course because of Harlow. Didn’t take physics in high school so it was slightly harder for me compared to most people. I did fail one of his tests but mostly because I second guessed myself, not necessarily because the tests were hard. Labs were admittedly useless (free marks) though and way too much TopHat.

MAT135 (Montoya)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Above

The worst course ever and I thought people were exaggerating. Montoya’s lectures were confusing but that class was so bad it was good. Midterm was fine but the exam was disastrous (iykyk). You know a course is bad when the math department has to boost marks. Ironically enough, I did the best in calc out of all my fall classes so I can’t complain too much. And don’t get me started on the useless tutorials and the stupid ACTs…. Apparently MAT135 in Fall 2025 was much better than fall 2024.

PSY100 (A. Denton)

Course Average: C+, My Grade: Above

People on Reddit seem to either like or dislike Denton. I personally didn’t mind her. The course was kinda boring in the beginning but it got more interesting towards the end. Also, her playing Taylor Swift before lectures while fun, did get a bit annoying. Denton also tends to yap but she explains concepts pretty well. Tests and exam were fair but largely application based.

————————————————————————

Winter 2025

CHM136 (B. Morra, S. Rousseaux, M. Nitz)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Same

Organic chem is not as bad as people make it. Slightly harder than CHM135 but I personally enjoyed this more despite doing worse compared to CHM135. Unlike CHM135 where the profs were a mixed bag, CHM136 had consistently good profs with engaging lectures which isn’t something I can say for most classes. Labs were super enjoyable and “lab reports” were kinda weird. Tests were not too bad though it’s easy to make mistakes which unfortunately happened to me.. 😔 

SIDE NOTE: CHM247 is 136 on steroids but I personally enjoyed it more than 136.

BIO130 (M. Neumann, D. Goring)

Course Average: B, My Grade: Above

First half with Neumann was straightforward. Basically grade 12 bio in more detail. Her lectures were a bit boring at times but she was good at explaining concepts. Midterm and exam were also not too bad. Goring’s section is admittedly more dense and she does go really fast. She does however do a recall at the beginning of lectures which does help. Labs were more enjoyable than BIO120 but not too exciting overall. It also helps that the BIO130 department is very organized with past midterms and exams which helped a lot.

FSL102 (L. Mulat)

Course Average: C+, My Grade: Above

The most chill class out of my first year courses and a nice change from more hectic classes like CHM136 and BIO130. This was mainly done for breadth but I ended up enjoying the class a lot. This almost felt like high school again and the Mulat was really good at explaining concepts. Tests were easy and pretty straightforward. Tutorials were also useful which I can’t say about most classes.

PCL102 (R. Laposa)

Course Average: C+, My Grade: Above

Lectures are really boring but content is common sense. The last third of the course does get interesting especially with the science of drugs. Fairly easy as a life sci student and there are so many free marks. Tests and exam were application-thinking based but were also are based on lectures and readings so they weren’t too bad. Video assignment was also light but strict on marking.

IMM250 (J. Singh, R. Amith)

Course Average: B, My Grade: Above

Took this class for two reasons: 1) It seemed very interesting 2) I planned on doing immunology as a major (now it’s a minor). With that being said, the content is quite dense albeit interesting for first year (especially the second half) but not overwhelming. The asynchronous nature of it is really nice and flexible. Dr. Singh was really good in the first half but things went downhill once Amith became the coordinator. The midterm and exam were fairly straightforward though the exam was much easier (probably since it wasn’t cumulative and content was interesting)

————————————————————————

Summer 2025

ENG100 (A. Long)

Course Average: B, My Grade: Above

I never thought English would be one of my favourite classes at U of T. I took this class for breadth but I really did not expect to enjoy this class so much. Lectures were 3 hours long (twice a week) so it did get tiring but Austin was very entertaining. In fact, the lectures didn’t feel like “lectures”, it felt like a class with lots of conversations about interesting topics. Lectures about the Hobbit, AI and slang and relating those to everyday life made English engaging and relatable. It also made me realize how useless English was in high school. In terms of useful courses, this was definitely up there and made me change the way I write and think about English. The class had a unique “charm” to it because of Mr. Long. Though assignments were weekly, English was manageable alongside BIO230.

BIO230 (K. Yip)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Above

I originally was not planning on doing this in the summer but I’m glad I’m did because it lightened my course load for second year. The content does build on BIO130 and I would say it’s more dense but also interesting. Every lecture, there is new information that don’t really build off each other. It was also worse in the summer because it is x2 the speed - a big pro was that I could solely focus on bio while studying. Despite that, Yip is a great professor and clearly goes over concepts with his sometimes silly preambles and analogies. Midterm was straightforward and labs were fun (another nice pro is that labs were every week so there was continuity). I remember finding the exam really easy also.

Every Course I took as a Second Year Human Bio Student

Fall 2025

AST101 (B. Netterfield)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Above

Recommended to me by a friend, AST101 was a fun course and the prof is a big part in that. It’s no wonder Con Hall was often packed. Lectures don’t feel like lectures - they feel like a TV show and the best part is, they don’t overstay their welcome. Sure, there’s participation marks involved but who would want to skip an astronomy lecture with one of the funniest profs? The tests and exam were fine not super easy, but also pretty fair if you know your stuff. This and PCL200 helped me manage my heavy course load as I spent less time on those two classes.

BCH210 (S. Patterson and J. De Melo)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Above

People seem to really hate Patterson and De Melo but I thought they were fine. The lectures were engaging and De Melo often did demonstrations (in Con Hall of all places). The content was decent for the most part but the first half was boring with proteins and got more interesting with sugars and lipids. Admittedly, it’s a bit strange learning mostly lab content in a course with no labs. Tutorials were fine but they dragged. The midterm and exam were also not too bad. The assignment isn’t too bad but pretty TA dependent; luckily I got 80+ on the draft and final assignment.

HMB265 (A. Malowinski and B. Chang)

Course Average: C+, My Grade: Below

This was a course I thought I would hate, but ended up liking it more than I thought (at least until the midterm….). Malinowski was a great prof and explained concepts clearly. Chang’s not the best but she was pretty nice also. The first half was mainly calculations and probability which wasn’t too bad and somewhat enjoyable especially when you notice patterns in the problems. Second half is your typical memorization course and I found easier than the first, but Chang was boring. TA review sessions are a must especially for the second half. Tutorial quizzes were stressful but not hard to do well on. Midterm was also fine but 90 minutes was not enough time and I remember not being able to complete two questions. Textbook problems weren’t too useful for the second half especially after the midterm. Exam was really weird but not as bad as the midterm. I will never forget the exam having Stranger Things characters.....

PCL200 (A. Ramsey)

Course Average: B+, My Grade: Above

The one “bird” course I agree with people on. This was a light, easy and really interesting class. Ramsey is amazing at explaining concepts in a simplistic way that everyone understands. There were quizzes at the end of classes for participation (open book) and Q&A sessions on Thursdays. The midterm took me not even 10 minutes to do; it was that easy and I got a 94! The exam was easy also and was more or less like the midterm (both 35% and 35 questions).

PSL300 (N. Kee, H. Milliotis, C. Vaswani)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Above

Out of all my fall courses, PSL300 was the most interesting. Kee’s portion was fine but Milliotis is one of my favourite profs in U of T. Was her section dense and detailed? Yes, but it was so interesting to learn the endocrine and reproductive systems and she explains them well. Vaswani was great also but the eye section was more dense than endocrine with lots of little information. First test was straightforward, second was a little harder but not too bad (got a 96% on the first one). Tutorials were pointless. Even though PSL300 didn’t give past tests, Sidney Smith’s tests really helped with studying. The exam was harder than the term tests but not too bad. Vaswani’s parts were undoubtedly the hardest while Milliotis’ was the easiest.

Winter 2026

CHM247 (B. Morra, M. Winnik)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Same

Many people seem to be scared of this course but in terms of difficulty, it’s similar to 136. Morra is a great prof which is nothing new but it’s harder in the sense that they expect you to know first year material. There are more new reactions too like substitutions and eliminations but these are fun. The content gradually gets harder mainly because there are so many reactions. Winnik is one of the funniest profs I’ve ever had but he goes a bit too fast and doesn’t really go through the material in detail. Tutorials aren’t mandatory but were useful and there are online quizzes a week before the test. I personally found the quizzes to be much harder than the actual tests maybe because it was multiple choice and theory. The tests and exam weren’t too hard but you have to know your stuff to do good because there’s few questions and many marks**.**

HMB200 (B. Ju)

Course Average: A-, My Grade: Above

The course started a bit slow but after the first test, this becomes really interesting. Bill Ju is great, he explains concepts well and we get snacks before lectures. The tests are online and they weren’t too bad either. Tutorials are free marks and actually helped me code for STA288. The content wasn’t what I was expecting - I thought it would be more physiology but it’s similar to BIO230 which isn’t a bad thing. Viruses and Alzheimer’s were by far the best parts about this course. The exam was straightforward and he gives lots of review questions and hints beforehand.

PCL201 (M. Arnot, M. Chemoweth)

Course Average: B, My Grade: Same

PCL201 is a bit weird because while the content is super interesting, I didn’t like how it was organized. Tutorials are fine but the TAs are very picky about marks. The assignment was fine but studying for tests was hard since no practice questions were given other than ones made by past students and not the profs. The tests aren’t bad but when every question is “Which of the following is MOST true or false”, it gets a bit repetitive and hard at times. The first test was disastrous (62) but the second test was much better and easier (81). You have to know every single detail from the lectures which does make it hard to study. There are lots of drugs but it’s fun studying those and usually drugs are given with a context (ex: drug-drug interactions) Arnot wasn’t that great but she’s not the worst prof I’ve had. Her content I enjoyed the least out of all the profs but it does get repeated throughout. Chenoweth was a lot better because she engages the class more and content wise, was my favorite. The best prof was Woodland and she went at an appropriate pace. She’s humorous and had really interesting content and some of the best lectures were with her. I’ll never forget examples she said with loperamine or penicillin. Content wise, Chenoweth had the most interesting (ex: street drugs, substance use disorder, biotransformation). The exam was memorization heavy like the course as it’s mostly niche details but overall not too bad.

PCL218 (R. Ruth)

Course Average: B+, My Grade: Same

This was probably the class that disappointed me the most. PCL218 is easy but the content felt all of the place. Maybe it’s because I was expecting more pharmacology instead of laws and politics but it didn’t click with me. There are quizzes each week that are open book and I never watched the lectures because the content gets repetitive really fast. Towards the end of the semester, I payed less attention to it. The critical analysis assignment was kinda weird because you have to look at a website and then critique it but was MCQ. The other assignment was easier since you’re given misconceptions about cannabis and you have use your lecture notes to explain. This assignment I enjoyed. The exam was fairly easy despite being 100 MCQ and 50% of the grade but my pharmacology background helped a lot.

PSL301 (M. French, S. Heximer, C. Vaswani, J. Scholey)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Above

In terms of difficulty, PSL301 and PSL300 are similar but I enjoyed PSL301’s content more. I also found 301 easier than 300 (especially the exam which I finished in less than an hour). French’s stuff was easy since I have a background in immunology and Heximer’s stuff on the circulatory system wasn’t too bad either. The first test was straightforward and I got my first 100% in U of T. Vaswani’s stuff wasn’t as hard as PSL300 (nothing can compare to the eye). The second test was fair and Vaswani’s questions weren’t as long or wacky like 300. Scholey was definitely the best prof but none of the PSL301 profs were bad. In terms of content, I enjoyed the renal and digestive systems (I would say the immune but it was a watered-down version of IMM250). 301 is definitely one of my favorite U of T courses I’ve ever taken.

STA288 (B. White and G. Dong)

Course Average: B-, My Grade: Below

I never planned on taking this course second year but I did so I did six courses. The course is pretty boring but wasn’t too hard overall. It’s very different from most of the courses I took as it is assignment heavy as opposed to test heavy (midterm was 15%, exam 25%). The profs are ok but I think ChatGPT taught me more about stats than the profs. Dong was better than White who sounded confused most of the time. The midterm and exam were ok but the midterm had a really low average. Labs while fine really depend on the TA grading as they can be really nice or really mean. The main thing I didn’t like about this course was the coding since the profs have you copy and paste code instead of learning what it means. The lab assignments do get easier but it’s not because of the profs rather because there is less code. TAs are pretty nit-picky and there’s also a group project which luckily I had a good group. The exam I found easier than the midterm and overall wasn’t awful.