How is my course load for UBC First Year Applied Sciences? 5 courses first sem, 7 cou

[JustinLiang]

Here is my timetable:

[PLAIN]http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/5438/ubc.png

I have 25 hours or classes for my first term and 26 hours for my second term. HOWEVER the biggest problem with this is that I have 5 courses for my first term and 7 for my second. Do you think I can handle 7 courses for my second term? I just noticed that I screwed up the balance of courses between my terms... :S

Here are the specific courses for each term:
TERM 1:
APSC 150 [Lecture/Laboratory]
APSC 160 [Lecture/Laboratory]
CHEM 154 [Lecture/Laboratory]
MATH 100 [Lecture]
PHYS 153 [Lecture/Tutorial]

TERM 2:
ECON 101 [Lecture/Discussion]
ENGL 112 [Lecture]
PHYS 153 [Lecture/Tutorial/Laboratory]
APSC 122 [Lecture]
MATH 101 [Lecture]
MATH 152 [Lecture/Laboratory]
PHYS 170 [Lecture/Tutorial]

Thanks

 

[micromass]

Yeah, could you please list the names of the courses you want to take?? Something like MATH 324 doesn't mean much to me...

Anyway, 7 courses really is a lot! Perhaps you should cut it down a little bit. Maybe you can handle 7 courses, but it's best not to take such a huge load in your first year...

 

[JustinLiang]

Yeah, could you please list the names of the courses you want to take?? Something like MATH 324 doesn't mean much to me...

Anyway, 7 courses really is a lot! Perhaps you should cut it down a little bit. Maybe you can handle 7 courses, but it's best not to take such a huge load in your first year...

TERM 1:
APSC 150
Engineering Case Studies
Application of scientific principles and technical knowledge to practical problems. Introduction to the engineering design process and to engineering graphics.

APSC 160
Introduction to Computation in Engineering Design
Analysis and simulation, laboratory data acquisition and processing, measurement interfaces, engineering tools, computer systems organization, programming languages.

CHEM 154
Chemistry for Engineering
Chemical bonding, properties of matter. Chemical thermodynamics with applications to phase equilibria, aqueous equilibria and electrochemistry. Processes at surfaces.

MATH 100
Differential Calculus with Applications to Physical Sciences and Engineering
Derivatives of elementary functions. Applications and modeling: graphing, optimization.

PHYS 153
Elements of Physics
Thermometry, thermal properties of matter, heat, oscillations, waves, sound, wave optics; geometrical optics, elementary electricity and magnetism, simple DC and AC circuits.

TERM 2:
ECON 101
Principles of Microeconomics
Elements of theory and of Canadian policy and institutions concerning the economics of markets and market behaviour, prices and costs, exchange and trade, competition and monopoly, distribution of income.

ENGL 112
Strategies for University Writing
Study and practice of the principles of university-level discourse, with multidisciplinary readings and emphasis on processes of research-based writing. Essays required.

PHYS 153
Elements of Physics
Thermometry, thermal properties of matter, heat, oscillations, waves, sound, wave optics; geometrical optics, elementary electricity and magnetism, simple DC and AC circuits.

APSC 122
Introduction to Engineering
Non-credit course designed to introduce students to Engineering. Information on the Faculty, the profession and the particular skills and type of work done by practising engineers in different disciplines.

MATH 101
Integral Calculus with Applications to Physical Sciences and Engineering
The definite integral, integration techniques, applications, modeling, linear ODE's.

MATH 152
Linear Systems
2D and 3D geometry, vectors and matrices, eigenvalues and vibration, physical applications. Laboratories demonstrate computer solutions of large systems.

PHYS 170
Mechanics I
Statics of particles, equilibrium or rigid bodies, rigid body statics and internal forces, trusses; kinematics: rectilinear motion; dynamics: Newton's second law, friction, impulse, momentum, work and energy.

 

[micromass]

Your second term is far too heavy! Certainly with the university writing thingy. I suggest you drop that one. And then you'll have 6 courses, which is still heavy...

Maybe check out how your first term goes, and if you had it too easy, then you could do 6 courses. If not, then you will need to reduce the course load...

 

[Jokerhelper]

Your list of classes looks like the standard first-year general engineering program in Canada. If not for a few differences, that was basically my first-year program at UofC. The only differences from what I can tell are that your year-long PHYS 153 combines two of my first year courses (properties of matter and e&m), and that we had to take a circuits course instead of technical writing in first year.

To be honest, I don't think APSC 122 really counts as a course, or at least as a course that requires any work. It's non-credit, and if it's anything like what I had to take at my school, it will probably be something like a weekly hour-long presentation where someone from the faculty or the industry gives you an overview of a certain program or career. At most you'll probably have to write a one page essay or take a 10 minute quiz at the end of the course to make sure you didn't just fall asleep or never show up.

So really your schedule is probably more like a 5-6 year which is (sadly) normal in engineering, though depending on how demanding your design course is, it just might feel more like a 6-6 year. Still, I think it's good that you're getting a taste of a heavy course load, since you'll have to get used to them eventually. For example, for my upcoming winter term (2nd yr mech.) I have 6 mandatory courses that can add up to 37 hr/week depending on when I have my labs.

Another good thing is that you're taking a complementary studies option (or whatever you call them at UBC) now rather than later. Personally, I wouldn't want to have those things bugging me in 2nd or 3rd year while I'm busy juggling between midterms and 40-page lab reports.

 

[Bourbaki1123]

That looks fine to me.

 

[JNBirDy]

This looks standard for first year engineering in Canada (at Western it's 6 courses a semester). If anything you might want to drop ENG 112 or move it to the fall semester so that you have 6 courses a semester instead of 5 then 7. But it shouldn't really matter since you are taking APSC 122 which won't be much work at all.

Good luck.

 

[JustinLiang]

Thanks for the expert responses guys! I think I will take the advice and just leave it as it is. Or... If it is possible to move my ENGL to first term would that be a good option?

 

[Jokerhelper]

Be careful about dropping any courses, especially if you're expected to complete them in first year. At my school they penalize students that don't take all of their first year courses when they do admissions into the programs from 2nd year. Find out how the admission process works at UBC, or even better speak to a counsellor before making a decision you might regret.

Plus, if you think about it, hundreds of other students will be taking the exact same courses with you, so it really can't be that impossible. :)

 

[js123]

This is the standard for first year applied science students at UBC, its the exact schedule I had in my first year. Don't drop any courses or you will run into trouble in your second year. You can choose to take ECON 101 later on but it's in your best interest to fullfil that credit now. APSC 122 requires no work, it is meant to help you decide what field of engineering to go into.

 

[JustinLiang]

This is the standard for first year applied science students at UBC, its the exact schedule I had in my first year. Don't drop any courses or you will run into trouble in your second year. You can choose to take ECON 101 later on but it's in your best interest to fullfil that credit now. APSC 122 requires no work, it is meant to help you decide what field of engineering to go into.

What if I swapped ECON or ENGL to first term, would this balance my schedule a bit more or would it just cause my first term to be as hard as the present second term, so in reality no difference.

 

[js123]

that would work to your advantage. If I remember correctly the majority of people seemed to struggle most with math 101 and math 152.

 

[yvonnars]

I just got thru my first year at UBC and trust me this is just perfect!
The only challenging course (to get a high mark) is prob only math 101, I'm not sure about math 100 because I skipped it. In math 101 the materials are super easy as long as you study but they tend to give super hard finals to pull down everyone's grades at the end.
And please don't take apsc 150 as a joke like what I did. This course is super easy you can definitely get a 95 if you stay awake in lectures and do all the assignments. I found it helpful to always check the answers with the tutorial instructors before submitting your assignments (what I did and always got good marks).
Really everything else is easy and I wish I picked a timetable that didn't have 8am everyday LOL

 

[yvonnars]

I took Econ 101 and english (yes same elective lol) first term last year and I wish I took Eng112 and Econ101 in second term.
First term there was just too much going on that I felt like I never had time to study and in second term you are pretty much used to university life by then and taking more courses will be comparatively easier than first term.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

How many credits are all these courses worth?

I found that a good estimation of the time required on my part, at least at my university.