Science: Is it really that hard?

<p>To anyone in the faculty of science...</p>

<p>I keep hearing about how impossible the science majors at McGill are. Is it just the volume of material to memorize for only a midterm and a final that makes it so bad, or are the tests just generally impossible/no amount of studying makes it possible to get an A? I'm in the Biology program, hoping to transfer into Microbiology/Immunology. I've finished all the intro sciences at UD (including both semesters of Organic). </p>

<p>I'm perfectly fine with studying insane amounts if it'll get me a decent grade. But if I'm going to work my ass off and still do bad/destroy chances at Grad School, I'd rather just transfer elsewhere (Tulane).</p>

<p>It's not impossible. Don't believe everything they say. In fact, a "high" gpa is relatively attainable and maintainable, depending on which program you're in.</p>

<p>/like, say, bio...</p>

<p>What about the Joint Honours Program in Mathematics and Physics?</p>

<p>Now, that is a though one. A joint anything is inherently difficult on multiple levels. It's not only about being smart/able to do both subjects well, it's about keeping the interest level in both high (especially because you practically double the numbered of not so interesting required lower level courses). And, in some cases, it's a hassle to schedule. So yeah, a joint honours in math and physics is a pretty tough program, and, as far as I know, at most a handful of people graduate from it every year. Most who attempt it will switch to a simpler program along the way, for various reasons.</p>

<p>To neutrino-it's not worth it. Your gonna do that much work, go to MIT or caltech.
McGill is for the girls, events, beer and learning some stuff along the way, maybe going to a better grad school.</p>

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<p>I'd love to go to MIT or CalTech, but there are no AP or IB opportunities in this area, and those seem to be pretty much pre-requisites for those schools.</p>

<p>yep, nobody at my public high school in Boston, a better public high school, mind you, has ever gone to MIT or Caltech. We send 1 to Harvard per year though. Reason-you have to take college level math/science to be considered.</p>

<p>wutang Are you an eco major? I'm just trying to get some opinions advice on Math eco selections for freshman year for my son. Anyone else have an opinion??</p>

<p>How is Biochem? People say its the hardest science major and a high GPA is practically impossible.</p>

<p>OK, let me put it this way. There is no such thing as a "hardest major". Some may be on average more demanding than others, but depending on one's individual strengths and what classes you pick, the difficulty can vary a lot from person to person, and most if not all majors can be made arbitrarily hard (by picking the hardest/most advanced courses available), or relatively easy (by taking all the easier classes aside from the required ones, and through clever scheduling to space out the tougher courses). </p>

<p>Now, a program like biochem may be similar to a double/joint major in terms of required courses and because, again, you sort of need talent and interest in two fields rather than just one. So that may put the "default" difficulty above, say, just a bio or a chemistry major. But a person who had fewer 200-300 level required courses has more room for 400 and 500 level ones. The math major who took "number theory" has a harder major than another student in the same program who took "history of math" instead. But you can't compare, for example, biochem to math-physics and say one is harder than the other. There, it really depends on one's talent.</p>

<p>^ I definitely have to disagree on that. While it's true that one's strength and weaknesses play a big part in their chosen major, many majors in terms of course load are worlds apart. Take Pre-Med or Engineering kids and compare them with, say... management students. From my experiences at least, management students have a ton of free time while Pre-Med and Engineering students are always studying their asses off. Hell, some business schools like Stern or even McGill's Bcom have Fridays completely off. If you're good at Science/Math, then Pre-Med and Engineering may not be a problem for you, but you will be spending a lot more time on your studies than management students.</p>

<p>Hey, we're talking about within the science faculty here. This may not apply to management or education...</p>