Hi Aska, I am a going to be a second year student in life sciences hoping to get into Med School in the future. I am interested in taking ENG100H1. Do you have any information on this course, in terms of difficulty and workload? How is Prof. Flynn (the prof. that will be teaching most of the sections). Also, for a person interested in med school would it be alright for me to take a 100-level course in my second year?
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I am not in English, nor have I ever taken an English course (despite the fact that I am able to use fancy words like ?nor?). So, I am going to base all of my judgements on the scraps of dirt I can find on the world wide web. Here goes??
a) According to the Calendar, ?ENG100H Effective Writing? sounds? um?. useful? I cannot promise that it will be inspiring. It teaches you how to write?effectively. If success in undergrad is no more than learning how to crack the university system, then this course should get you one step closer. Seriously though, it should be mandatory for everyone. There is a common belief across UofT administration that writing skills are low? especially with science students (no?ffence!). So, make the admin happy and do it.?
b) The meeting sections are limited to 40 students. That?s a better ratio than you?re likely to find in your Sciences of Life. Then again, if you enjoy the isolation afforded to you by Con Hall, you might squirm at the prospect of making eye-contact with a Prof.??
c) The prof?s name is ?Deirdre?: That?s fun. It?s one of those aged names that are suddenly in vogue these days (like Esther or Prudence). I think she sounds cute.??
d) Deirdre has taught for 15 years and has worked on ?historicizing the figure of the fashionable woman as emblematic of many modernists’ ambivalent relationship to mass-produced fiction?. What does this mean? I don?t know? you?re the one who wants to take an English course.??
e) The Anti-Calendar has rave reviews about the course and our beloved Deirdre. Although, I will point out that apparently D performs better in the fall than in the winter (?who doesn?t? I say).?????
f) According to ratemyprofessor.com, Deirdre is a caring, robotic woman who is chatty, but cannot finish a sentence. (*note: the source of this review was skewed by bitter engineering students who were forced to take her ENG course). Illiterate engineers aside, she sounds like a great Prof who will take time for her students.????
From a Med School admissions committee perspective (keeping in mind I am NOT part of one? yet). It is just fine to take a 100-level course in an upper year. Just don?t exceed your 6.0 limit. Considering the subject matter, and that you?re only in second year, this will not appear as an unwanted scar on your transcript. Really, do not worry.??
Take the course, but then don?t try to take my job.
Love always, ?Aska
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One Comment
Englishfan
May I suggest that taking a second year English course is probably a better idea. First year English classes are completely disturbing and soul crushing… please don’t do it, for your own sake!