Archive for November, 2008
How I Aced First Year University Science – Part 5: The Art of Test-Taking
Some students may think that you just study and go in and do the test. I don’t think it’s that simple.
While I have said that preparation is the hard part and taking the test is the relatively easy part, I would say that is true, but only if you have already mastered [...]
How I Aced First Year University Science – Part 4: Studying for Tests
In science, you’re generally going to come across tests that require either the knowledge of facts/material or the understanding of concepts/problem types (and sometimes a combination of both). Biology tests tend to be based more on facts, while chemistry/physics tests tend to be based more on concepts/problem types.
Facts/Material – Memorization
For knowledge-based tests like those [...]
How I Aced First Year University Science – Part 3: Lectures, Readings, Note Taking, and Forming Study Groups
I have been a fan of mixed martial arts for the past two years. I think it’s because I am competitive by nature, and nothing can compare to the raw physical competition between two individuals just duking it out in a ring.
There is one quote from mixed martial artist Tito Ortiz that I have [...]
How I Aced First Year University Science – Part 2: How to Think
As a chemistry peer tutor for my past two years in university, I have had the opportunity to not only meet and mentor some really interesting students, but I have also been able to hear about how the first year science classes have been going on a regular basis. For one of this semester’s [...]
How I Aced First Year University Science – Part 1: The Jump from High School to University
When it comes to the transition from high school to university, an oft-quoted line is that “student averages tend to drop about 10-15%”. Looking at the basic numbers, this initially seems to be a pretty fair statement. For example, at York University, you need at least a mid to high 70s average [...]
Video: Tips for the Scholarship Application – Millennium Excellence Awards
Series: Tips for the Scholarship Application
Name: Millennium Excellence Awards
Length: ~31 minutes
Requires: Adobe Flash Player
Important Links: Scholarship Website,
Strike Update
Well, I guess there’s not much to say about the teaching assistants strike at York University, except that it’s still going. The university administration and the union have met a few times this past week, but both meetings apparently were very short, and the two sides are quite far apart in their demands/proposals. [...]
Scholarship Interview Advice: Loran Award
A lot of people have been asking me about advice for the Loran Award regional interviews that are coming up in a few weeks. I decided to compile a lot of the things I have been telling students into an article here. Keep in mind that I did not move on to nationals [...]
What would you do if you were financially set for life?
I have been writing a lot recently on work, careers, and happiness, and I feel like I may have come off with sort of this noble attitude that people should not be working for money and that if you are working for money, you’re an awful person. I apologize if it came off that [...]
Why Medicine?
When I think about the word “career” nowadays, I try to stray away from associating it with the idea of a “job”. Because the word “job” is usually concerned with the idea of “working for money”, which is a concept I am slowly moving away from. In that sense, I don’t ever want [...]
