UoO Graduate Entry Chat/Enquiry

[MEDPLS]

i feel like most the assignments can be done without watching the videos cause they are so boring lmao but i feel like i should watch them anyways.

 

[yoshiyoshi]

Can I get some recommendations for easy 300 level papers (sem 1 or sem 2)?

I was going to take MANT337 for semester 1 and just found out that I have a lab clash with my major paper (ANAT331) that can't be restreamed so I need to look for a different 300 level paper.

I am a 3rd yr BSc student majoring in Anatomy and these are the papers I took so far (just in case this can be helpful for some people!)

2nd year sem 1:
EDUC252 - very easy, got an A+ without watching any of the lectures, just went to all the tutorials
NEUR201 - new paper so there were no past papers for exam revision, but other than that it was okay
ANAT241 - pretty chill, lots to memorise

2nd year sem 2:
ANAT243 - there were lab quizzes each week right after the lab (closed book, 10min time limit) each worth 1% summing up to a total 10%. other than this the contents were very interesting and pretty chill if you are all caught up with the lectures. missed a lot of points from the lab quiz because i was always behind with the lectures but still got A+
BTNY202 - very easy paper, the labs can be very boring but other than that it was pretty chill. paper is separated into 2 parts (each taught and marked by different lecturers). Didn't go to any of the lectures and only watched some of the recordings, but still got A+
MAOR110 - well known HSFY paper but took it because of anatomy major requirements. Easy A+
ZOOL314 - mid-term exam was almost exactly the same as past papers. lots of questions recycled every year BUT i think the lecturers were now aware of this and changed the final exam questions (especially Bart's section). One of the lecturer's (Bart) lectures were very boring and content heavy and not relevant to exam questions at all, but still manageable overall. Was lucky and still got an A+

2nd year PXSS:
RELS344 - you can choose between RELS244 / 344 but definitely recommend taking 344 because they are exactly the same papers (same lecture content, same assessments) except theres an extra section about hieroglyphs in 344. i feel like 344 is easier than 244 because the extra hieroglyphs section reduces the weighting of quizzes/assignments so theres less pressure. everything was open book and online so it was a pretty easy paper. Easy A+ def recommend

3rd year summer school - still taking these papers but this is how i feel so far
MATS204 - 100% online, very chill so far. haven't got any marks yet but i think it should be fine

FINC204 - on campus BUT no attendance for both lectures and tutorials. the new lecturer is a chinese guy and his accent is hard to understand but hes pretty much just reading from the lecture slides so i dont think its a big deal. pretty chill paper and apparently 40% got A+ last year

 

[MEDPLS]

Can I get some recommendations for easy 300 level papers (sem 1 or sem 2)?

I was going to take MANT337 for semester 1 and just found out that I have a lab clash with my major paper (ANAT331) that can't be restreamed so I need to look for a different 300 level paper.

I am a 3rd yr BSc student majoring in Anatomy and these are the papers I took so far (just in case this can be helpful for some people!)

2nd year sem 1:
EDUC252 - very easy, got an A+ without watching any of the lectures, just went to all the tutorials
NEUR201 - new paper so there were no past papers for exam revision, but other than that it was okay
ANAT241 - pretty chill, lots to memorise

2nd year sem 2:
ANAT243 - there were lab quizzes each week right after the lab (closed book, 10min time limit) each worth 1% summing up to a total 10%. other than this the contents were very interesting and pretty chill if you are all caught up with the lectures. missed a lot of points from the lab quiz because i was always behind with the lectures but still got A+
BTNY202 - very easy paper, the labs can be very boring but other than that it was pretty chill. paper is separated into 2 parts (each taught and marked by different lecturers). Didn't go to any of the lectures and only watched some of the recordings, but still got A+
MAOR110 - well known HSFY paper but took it because of anatomy major requirements. Easy A+
ZOOL314 - mid-term exam was almost exactly the same as past papers. lots of questions recycled every year BUT i think the lecturers were now aware of this and changed the final exam questions (especially Bart's section). One of the lecturer's (Bart) lectures were very boring and content heavy and not relevant to exam questions at all, but still manageable overall. Was lucky and still got an A+

2nd year PXSS:
RELS344 - you can choose between RELS244 / 344 but definitely recommend taking 344 because they are exactly the same papers (same lecture content, same assessments) except theres an extra section about hieroglyphs in 344. i feel like 344 is easier than 244 because the extra hieroglyphs section reduces the weighting of quizzes/assignments so theres less pressure. everything was open book and online so it was a pretty easy paper. Easy A+ def recommend

3rd year summer school - still taking these papers but this is how i feel so far
MATS204 - 100% online, very chill so far. haven't got any marks yet but i think it should be fine

FINC204 - on campus BUT no attendance for both lectures and tutorials. the new lecturer is a chinese guy and his accent is hard to understand but hes pretty much just reading from the lecture slides so i dont think its a big deal. pretty chill paper and apparently 40% got A+ last year

hi, thank you this is very helpful, in terms to pxss do u know any other easy rels papers as rels344 isnt offered for 2026

 

[zakin]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone was able to take BIOA301 without taking BIOA201 (the pre-requisite)?

 

[groundedbeing]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone took PHSL251? How did you find the paper?

 

[delulu567]

is anyone on top 5 gen grad waitlist for med pls reply to this or msg me thanks

 

[groundedbeing]

Hey is anyone a neuroscience major here?

Also did anyone take the paper CMHC201? How did you find it?

so far I've chosen my sem 1 papers, not sure if i'm meant to choose my sem 2 papers now tho. I chose:
NEUR201
PSYC111
EDUC252
CMHC201 - might change depending on how i like it or i find another paper

do you reckon these papers are enough or should i take one more? is that possible?

 

[davro]

Hey guys, going into third year looking to get into postgrad med. I'm majoring in FUHB and was wondering how third year compares to second in terms of workload/difficulty? If I can get similar grades to last year I'm on track to around a 8.3+ weighted GPA (according to spreadsheet). Speaking of which, according to FYI the minimum wighted GPA for the entry into 2024 and 2025 General Graduate MBChB was 8.14 and 8.15 respectively but reading everyones GPAs still without offers (and 9.6 rural getting declined???) is kinda stressing me out. Any advice?

 

[lookie]

Hey guys, going into third year looking to get into postgrad med. I'm majoring in FUHB and was wondering how third year compares to second in terms of workload/difficulty? If I can get similar grades to last year I'm on track to around a 8.3+ weighted GPA (according to spreadsheet). Speaking of which, according to FYI the minimum wighted GPA for the entry into 2024 and 2025 General Graduate MBChB was 8.14 and 8.15 respectively but reading everyones GPAs still without offers (and 9.6 rural getting declined???) is kinda stressing me out. Any advice?

Hey, I got into med this year and I actually found third year easier than second year, especially the physiology papers. I think that was because, second year mainly prioritized memorization, but in third year the papers I did were just testing my understanding.

 

[whoslaughingnow]

Has anyone received a conditional offer for med, but only has to do 2-4 hsfy papers? If so, would they be done during the year? I heard from someone that people who get conditional offers do the papers they need to do during the summer, but I wasn't so sure since some conditional offers are given by the end of January/early Feb, so doing the conditional papers in the summer wouldn't be possible.

I only did 4/7 of the HSFY papers in my first year and I'm in my third year now. I would like it if I got to do 2nd year med straight off the bat after this year, but it's likely not possible if the conditional offer and its required papers are completed during the year.

 

[allabtbalance!]

Has anyone received a conditional offer for med, but only has to do 2-4 hsfy papers? If so, would they be done during the year? I heard from someone that people who get conditional offers do the papers they need to do during the summer, but I wasn't so sure since some conditional offers are given by the end of January/early Feb, so doing the conditional papers in the summer wouldn't be possible.

I only did 4/7 of the HSFY papers in my first year and I'm in my third year now. I would like it if I got to do 2nd year med straight off the bat after this year, but it's likely not possible if the conditional offer and its required papers are completed during the year.

Just complete the HSFY papers during third year. It’s not worth it to wait an entire year IMO

 

[vimi]

Can I get some recommendations for easy 300 level papers (sem 1 or sem 2)?

I was going to take MANT337 for semester 1 and just found out that I have a lab clash with my major paper (ANAT331) that can't be restreamed so I need to look for a different 300 level paper.

I am a 3rd yr BSc student majoring in Anatomy and these are the papers I took so far (just in case this can be helpful for some people!)

2nd year sem 1:
EDUC252 - very easy, got an A+ without watching any of the lectures, just went to all the tutorials
NEUR201 - new paper so there were no past papers for exam revision, but other than that it was okay
ANAT241 - pretty chill, lots to memorise

2nd year sem 2:
ANAT243 - there were lab quizzes each week right after the lab (closed book, 10min time limit) each worth 1% summing up to a total 10%. other than this the contents were very interesting and pretty chill if you are all caught up with the lectures. missed a lot of points from the lab quiz because i was always behind with the lectures but still got A+
BTNY202 - very easy paper, the labs can be very boring but other than that it was pretty chill. paper is separated into 2 parts (each taught and marked by different lecturers). Didn't go to any of the lectures and only watched some of the recordings, but still got A+
MAOR110 - well known HSFY paper but took it because of anatomy major requirements. Easy A+
ZOOL314 - mid-term exam was almost exactly the same as past papers. lots of questions recycled every year BUT i think the lecturers were now aware of this and changed the final exam questions (especially Bart's section). One of the lecturer's (Bart) lectures were very boring and content heavy and not relevant to exam questions at all, but still manageable overall. Was lucky and still got an A+

2nd year PXSS:
RELS344 - you can choose between RELS244 / 344 but definitely recommend taking 344 because they are exactly the same papers (same lecture content, same assessments) except theres an extra section about hieroglyphs in 344. i feel like 344 is easier than 244 because the extra hieroglyphs section reduces the weighting of quizzes/assignments so theres less pressure. everything was open book and online so it was a pretty easy paper. Easy A+ def recommend

3rd year summer school - still taking these papers but this is how i feel so far
MATS204 - 100% online, very chill so far. haven't got any marks yet but i think it should be fine

FINC204 - on campus BUT no attendance for both lectures and tutorials. the new lecturer is a chinese guy and his accent is hard to understand but hes pretty much just reading from the lecture slides so i dont think its a big deal. pretty chill paper and apparently 40% got A+ last year

Hii

A really good and easy Sem 2 paper I did was GLBL301, Global Studies. This was my fun paper and honestly an easy A+. The lecturers are so fun too. The best part is that there’s no final exam, it’s just multiple assignments spread across the semester. That definitely took a lot of pressure off while I was studying for my PHSL exams. If you want more info about the paper, let me know!

 

[anonymouse11]

Hii

A really good and easy Sem 2 paper I did was GLBL301, Global Studies. This was my fun paper and honestly an easy A+. The lecturers are so fun too. The best part is that there’s no final exam, it’s just multiple assignments spread across the semester. That definitely took a lot of pressure off while I was studying for my PHSL exams. If you want more info about the paper, let me know!

Do you have any recommendations for 200lvl non-sciencey sem 1 papers. Last year I took EDUC252 which was a really nice break from the other papers I was taking. I was hoping to take another paper like that this year.

 

[hehehehe12]

Hii

A really good and easy Sem 2 paper I did was GLBL301, Global Studies. This was my fun paper and honestly an easy A+. The lecturers are so fun too. The best part is that there’s no final exam, it’s just multiple assignments spread across the semester. That definitely took a lot of pressure off while I was studying for my PHSL exams. If you want more info about the paper, let me know!

Hi! Could I ask what papers you took or any that you recommend for Semester 2 200-level papers? Thank you!

Hi, could I ask if anyone took PATH201 in semester 2 along with PHSL232 and PHSL233? How would you rate the workload and is it doable to get an A+ in all of them? Thank you!

 

[yoshiyoshi]

Hii

A really good and easy Sem 2 paper I did was GLBL301, Global Studies. This was my fun paper and honestly an easy A+. The lecturers are so fun too. The best part is that there’s no final exam, it’s just multiple assignments spread across the semester. That definitely took a lot of pressure off while I was studying for my PHSL exams. If you want more info about the paper, let me know!

Hii,

Thanks so much for the recommendation--I really appreciate it!

I was able to get the course outline from the paper administrator, so I have an idea of the assessment structure. I was just wondering more about the content itself. When I looked through some of the lecture topics, a lot of it felt quite unfamiliar to me, so I’m a little unsure about how approachable it would be.

Do you think the concepts are generally easy to grasp, even without prior background?

Thanks again for sharing your experience, it really helps!

 

[vimi]

Hii,

Thanks so much for the recommendation--I really appreciate it!

I was able to get the course outline from the paper administrator, so I have an idea of the assessment structure. I was just wondering more about the content itself. When I looked through some of the lecture topics, a lot of it felt quite unfamiliar to me, so I’m a little unsure about how approachable it would be.

Do you think the concepts are generally easy to grasp, even without prior background?

Thanks again for sharing your experience, it really helps!

Hii

The lecture topics honestly are not hard to understand at all. From memory, there were around 10 or 11 lectures, one each week on Monday. The second session, which I think was on Tuesday, was more for group discussions based on the previous day’s lecture, so we were not really taught any new content then. Each lecture had an overall theme. Within that theme, there were case studies or authors or quotes or theories that you needed to know. You basically memorise those and learn how to apply them to a broader context.

I can explain each assessment and how I approached them if you want. Since it is not a sciency paper, the way you study and prepare for it is a bit different. )

Good luck!

 

[rizo]

Hi, I'm a third year Physiology major this year. Here are the papers I've taken so far + some advice (please note that this is just my advice, everyone learns differently + things may be different for your year).

Semester 1:
ANAT241
Overall - this paper has a lot of memorisation (especially MSK). I do recommend it though because I found that some of the content overlapped into other papers which was helpful.

The paper is split into 5 modules - cellular regulation, cells in tissues, musculoskeletal system (MSK), and regional anatomy and physiology.

Cellular regulation - content here is pretty similar to some of the stuff taught in first year. It covers cell communication and how it regulates cellular behaviour + cellular techniques to visualise cell signalling. This module was assessed by a lab report (I remember this being the first lab report I had ever written - I didn’t do too amazing on it (but I still ended up getting an A+ on this paper) - so please don’t feel disheartened if you don’t do great. You will definitely learn and get better at writing them).

Cells in tissues - the first half talks about tissue types, defects, tissue healing and disease, and then the second half is about muscle and nervous tissue. I remember learning about histology techniques in the lab too. This module is assessed by an MCQ test (like in HUBS). I quite enjoyed the second half of this module because it also overlapped with some of the stuff in NEUR201.

MSK - so much memorisation, tbh I watched some of the lectures of MSK the night before/the morning of the exam LOL:’) I crashed out so much learning so many different muscles and bones. My personal recommendation for this module is to mainly focus on things that are written on the slides, don’t get too caught up in what the lecturer says because she can’t test you on every single little detail in the exam. I used to write down everything that she would say (because that was my way of taking notes back then) but this was really inefficient and took me so long. Then before the final, I remember just remembering + understanding the stuff she had on the slides and then I was mostly fine for the final (but there was some content she assessed on that wasn’t on the slides). This module was assessed by a group presentation - I know this sounds intimidating but literally everyone I know got an A+ on this. But tbh I think they marked quite nicely.

Regional anatomy and physiology: my fav module! content covered was on the anatomy and physiology of the thorax and abdomen. For the anatomy aspect, there was so much memorisation again (not as much as MSK though). The physiology part was the easiest part of this course and was really straight forward. This module was assessed by 2 online tests you do in your own time. The first one was about a rat dissection you do in a lab and then the second was on physiology content.

NEUR201
Overall - my fav paper in 2nd year! This is the first paper where you get introduced to assertion questions. The paper is split into 4 modules - cellular neurophysiology, molecular synaptic anatomy, neuropharmacology, and special senses.

Cellular neurophysiology - the lecturer for this was so goated (unfortunately I think he’s not lecturing this year). But content here is similar to what was taught in HUBS neuro.

Molecular synaptic anatomy - I strongly disliked this module and tbh didn’t have much of a clue of what was going on. The lecturer was such a yapper and I found the content hard to understand. I remember the lecturer would test on things that wasn’t on the slide so I would write down most of the stuff she’d say.

Neuropharmacology - I remember some people saying they didn’t like this module but I personally liked it and found it really interesting. But there was quite a lot of remembering of what different drugs + receptors do. It covered receptor signalling, drugs that act on the brain and nerves that regulates muscle + organ function.

Special senses - Mike is another goated lecturer, he explains things so clearly and gives big hints about what’ll be on an exam. The content in this module covers mechanisms that enable vision, hearing, balance, and smell.

There are 2 progress tests (I think both have 30 questions each, broken down into 20 mcqs and 10 assertion qs?). Both are 20%, and then the final is 60%.

BTNY201
I took this paper because someone said it was easy but I didn’t enjoy it at all haha… I did still end up getting an A+ but I struggled. if I remember correctly, there are 3 lab reports, 1 open book test (you can do this at home), and the final. I would say that this paper did help me get better at writing lab reports and using excel though. The lecturer is such a yapper and I found it hard to know what was gonna be tested or not. For the lab reports, make sure to ask the demonstrators (especially Chelsea - because I think she does some of the marking?) lots of questions as to what they want you to write/if you’re on the right track - I would show them what my ideas were and they’d tell me how I could improve. The questions in the final are somewhat repetitive, and one of the questions is repeated each year (about golden rice) - you do your own research on this (it’s not covered in lectures). My approach to studying for the final was just preparing essays and then memorising them all.

BIOC221
I didn’t really like this paper and I found it quite difficult. There were 5 modules: genes and genomes, bioinformatics, prokaryotic transcription, eukaryotic transcription, translation and protein regulation. You get assessed by: 2x lab reports, 5 quizzes (which are like LATs, they’re open book) and then the final. I remember for the final, I think you get 7 questions? And you choose 6 of them to answer (not sure if that’s right, double check). But that means you don’t have to revise all of the content, I remember skipping a module.

Semester 2:

GENE222
Probably the easiest, most low effort paper I’ve ever taken. I really recommend going to Karen Knapp’s tutorials, she goes over the lecture content and explains how to answer exam questions.

PHSL232
I really enjoyed this paper! Assessed by 2x progress tests (20% each) and the final (60%). The modules are: Cardiovascular system, Respiratory system, Exercise and pathophysiology, and Pharmacology

Cardiovascular system - builds on stuff in HUBS. content covers excitation, contraction, the cardiac cycle, intrinsic and extrinsic controls of cardiac function, design of the vascular system, regional and fetal circulation. I don’t remember the content here being too difficult.

Respiratory system - again, builds on HUBS stuff.

Exercise and pathophysiology - i think this was the first time that this module was being taught, there were some questions from past papers but for the most part, I had to make my own practice questions for this. Content covered was cardiorespiratory adaptations to exercise, hypertension, cardiovascular remodelling.

Pharmacology - I think (not sure if this is right) that this was a new module last year? I remember watching and learning the stuff for this module a week before the final exam - the lecturers are quite clear about what they expect you to know (they would give hints), so I just made sure to focus on that and it was fine. They also gave a final overview of the module and gave some practice questions - again they made it clear what you needed to know, so if they do it this year, make sure you go to this!

PHSL233
I enjoyed this paper for the most part, not as much as 232 though. Assessed by 2x progress tests (20% each) and the final (60%). Modules covered were: cell structure and signalling, cell function and signalling, cell pharmacology and signalling, gastrointestinal physiology, and renal physiology.

Most of the content in this module built directly on HUBS and was relatively straightforward. However, the cell pharmacology and signalling component was much more challenging. I know a lot of people (myself included) found this part difficult and didn’t like how it was taught (but also it was the first year the module was being taught). The lectures felt kind of disorganised, and the material came across as isolated facts rather than a cohesive framework, which made it harder to understand conceptually. That said, most of this content was assessed in the second progress test, and comparatively less of it appears in the final exam. Once you get through the progress test, the remainder of the course feels much more manageable + enjoyable.

ZOOL314
I really recommend taking this paper if you enjoyed NEUR201. BUT the lecturer’s accents are kind of hard to understand sometimes (that’s what I thought personally), and I didn’t really understand the way that they’d explain things. There are 10 or 11 labs throughout the sem, but they aren’t compulsory to go to (I don’t think many people showed up to them). The labs are assessed through online quizzes (untimed). Then there’s also a mid term test, I remember the questions here being the exact same as the practice ones they gave. For the final, Paul’s section was basically the same as previous years but Bart’s was different so be careful about that. For Bart’s lectures, he gave out a whole transcript that was ~400 pages long. At the start of his teaching I used to read the transcript and use some of it for my notes, but then I gave up and would just go off of what was on the slides, or I’d just read his transcript if I didn’t get what he was saying.

Summer school: I didn't do PXSS but I'm doing MATS for summer school.

Overall advice:

• PLEASE choose papers that you find interesting, not just papers that people say are ‘easy’. If you find papers that are interesting, you’ll want to study for them more and enjoy lectures instead of dreading them
• Make sure you have a life outside of studying and take breaks. Burn out is a real thing and it hit me hard during sem 1. Please take care of yourself!

 

[MEDPLS]

Hi, I'm a third year Physiology major this year. Here are the papers I've taken so far + some advice (please note that this is just my advice, everyone learns differently + things may be different for your year).

Semester 1:
ANAT241
Overall - this paper has a lot of memorisation (especially MSK). I do recommend it though because I found that some of the content overlapped into other papers which was helpful.

The paper is split into 5 modules - cellular regulation, cells in tissues, musculoskeletal system (MSK), and regional anatomy and physiology.

Cellular regulation - content here is pretty similar to some of the stuff taught in first year. It covers cell communication and how it regulates cellular behaviour + cellular techniques to visualise cell signalling. This module was assessed by a lab report (I remember this being the first lab report I had ever written - I didn’t do too amazing on it (but I still ended up getting an A+ on this paper) - so please don’t feel disheartened if you don’t do great. You will definitely learn and get better at writing them).

Cells in tissues - the first half talks about tissue types, defects, tissue healing and disease, and then the second half is about muscle and nervous tissue. I remember learning about histology techniques in the lab too. This module is assessed by an MCQ test (like in HUBS). I quite enjoyed the second half of this module because it also overlapped with some of the stuff in NEUR201.

MSK - so much memorisation, tbh I watched some of the lectures of MSK the night before/the morning of the exam LOL:’) I crashed out so much learning so many different muscles and bones. My personal recommendation for this module is to mainly focus on things that are written on the slides, don’t get too caught up in what the lecturer says because she can’t test you on every single little detail in the exam. I used to write down everything that she would say (because that was my way of taking notes back then) but this was really inefficient and took me so long. Then before the final, I remember just remembering + understanding the stuff she had on the slides and then I was mostly fine for the final (but there was some content she assessed on that wasn’t on the slides). This module was assessed by a group presentation - I know this sounds intimidating but literally everyone I know got an A+ on this. But tbh I think they marked quite nicely.

Regional anatomy and physiology: my fav module! content covered was on the anatomy and physiology of the thorax and abdomen. For the anatomy aspect, there was so much memorisation again (not as much as MSK though). The physiology part was the easiest part of this course and was really straight forward. This module was assessed by 2 online tests you do in your own time. The first one was about a rat dissection you do in a lab and then the second was on physiology content.

NEUR201
Overall - my fav paper in 2nd year! This is the first paper where you get introduced to assertion questions. The paper is split into 4 modules - cellular neurophysiology, molecular synaptic anatomy, neuropharmacology, and special senses.

Cellular neurophysiology - the lecturer for this was so goated (unfortunately I think he’s not lecturing this year). But content here is similar to what was taught in HUBS neuro.

Molecular synaptic anatomy - I strongly disliked this module and tbh didn’t have much of a clue of what was going on. The lecturer was such a yapper and I found the content hard to understand. I remember the lecturer would test on things that wasn’t on the slide so I would write down most of the stuff she’d say.

Neuropharmacology - I remember some people saying they didn’t like this module but I personally liked it and found it really interesting. But there was quite a lot of remembering of what different drugs + receptors do. It covered receptor signalling, drugs that act on the brain and nerves that regulates muscle + organ function.

Special senses - Mike is another goated lecturer, he explains things so clearly and gives big hints about what’ll be on an exam. The content in this module covers mechanisms that enable vision, hearing, balance, and smell.

There are 2 progress tests (I think both have 30 questions each, broken down into 20 mcqs and 10 assertion qs?). Both are 20%, and then the final is 60%.

BTNY201
I took this paper because someone said it was easy but I didn’t enjoy it at all haha… I did still end up getting an A+ but I struggled. if I remember correctly, there are 3 lab reports, 1 open book test (you can do this at home), and the final. I would say that this paper did help me get better at writing lab reports and using excel though. The lecturer is such a yapper and I found it hard to know what was gonna be tested or not. For the lab reports, make sure to ask the demonstrators (especially Chelsea - because I think she does some of the marking?) lots of questions as to what they want you to write/if you’re on the right track - I would show them what my ideas were and they’d tell me how I could improve. The questions in the final are somewhat repetitive, and one of the questions is repeated each year (about golden rice) - you do your own research on this (it’s not covered in lectures). My approach to studying for the final was just preparing essays and then memorising them all.

BIOC221
I didn’t really like this paper and I found it quite difficult. There were 5 modules: genes and genomes, bioinformatics, prokaryotic transcription, eukaryotic transcription, translation and protein regulation. You get assessed by: 2x lab reports, 5 quizzes (which are like LATs, they’re open book) and then the final. I remember for the final, I think you get 7 questions? And you choose 6 of them to answer (not sure if that’s right, double check). But that means you don’t have to revise all of the content, I remember skipping a module.

Semester 2:

GENE222
Probably the easiest, most low effort paper I’ve ever taken. I really recommend going to Karen Knapp’s tutorials, she goes over the lecture content and explains how to answer exam questions.

PHSL232
I really enjoyed this paper! Assessed by 2x progress tests (20% each) and the final (60%). The modules are: Cardiovascular system, Respiratory system, Exercise and pathophysiology, and Pharmacology

Cardiovascular system - builds on stuff in HUBS. content covers excitation, contraction, the cardiac cycle, intrinsic and extrinsic controls of cardiac function, design of the vascular system, regional and fetal circulation. I don’t remember the content here being too difficult.

Respiratory system - again, builds on HUBS stuff.

Exercise and pathophysiology - i think this was the first time that this module was being taught, there were some questions from past papers but for the most part, I had to make my own practice questions for this. Content covered was cardiorespiratory adaptations to exercise, hypertension, cardiovascular remodelling.

Pharmacology - I think (not sure if this is right) that this was a new module last year? I remember watching and learning the stuff for this module a week before the final exam - the lecturers are quite clear about what they expect you to know (they would give hints), so I just made sure to focus on that and it was fine. They also gave a final overview of the module and gave some practice questions - again they made it clear what you needed to know, so if they do it this year, make sure you go to this!

PHSL233
I enjoyed this paper for the most part, not as much as 232 though. Assessed by 2x progress tests (20% each) and the final (60%). Modules covered were: cell structure and signalling, cell function and signalling, cell pharmacology and signalling, gastrointestinal physiology, and renal physiology.

Most of the content in this module built directly on HUBS and was relatively straightforward. However, the cell pharmacology and signalling component was much more challenging. I know a lot of people (myself included) found this part difficult and didn’t like how it was taught (but also it was the first year the module was being taught). The lectures felt kind of disorganised, and the material came across as isolated facts rather than a cohesive framework, which made it harder to understand conceptually. That said, most of this content was assessed in the second progress test, and comparatively less of it appears in the final exam. Once you get through the progress test, the remainder of the course feels much more manageable + enjoyable.

ZOOL314
I really recommend taking this paper if you enjoyed NEUR201. BUT the lecturer’s accents are kind of hard to understand sometimes (that’s what I thought personally), and I didn’t really understand the way that they’d explain things. There are 10 or 11 labs throughout the sem, but they aren’t compulsory to go to (I don’t think many people showed up to them). The labs are assessed through online quizzes (untimed). Then there’s also a mid term test, I remember the questions here being the exact same as the practice ones they gave. For the final, Paul’s section was basically the same as previous years but Bart’s was different so be careful about that. For Bart’s lectures, he gave out a whole transcript that was ~400 pages long. At the start of his teaching I used to read the transcript and use some of it for my notes, but then I gave up and would just go off of what was on the slides, or I’d just read his transcript if I didn’t get what he was saying.


Overall advice:

• PLEASE choose papers that you find interesting, not just papers that people say are ‘easy’. If you find papers that are interesting, you’ll want to study for them more and enjoy lectures instead of dreading them
• Make sure you have a life outside of studying and take breaks. Burn out is a real thing and it hit me hard during sem 1. Please take care of yourself!

Hey, thanks for this it is really helpful, i was contemplating taking ANAT241 in sem 1 but was scared cause many people have said it is a very content heavy and hard paper so I am not entirely sure if its the right choice or not, what is ur advice on this, thanks

 

[rizo]

Hey, thanks for this it is really helpful, i was contemplating taking ANAT241 in sem 1 but was scared cause many people have said it is a very content heavy and hard paper so I am not entirely sure if its the right choice or not, what is ur advice on this, thanks

Hi, it is content heavy but as long as you try your best to keep up with lectures and labs you'll be fine. Try to also revise lecture content before the lab so that you're not confused and can actually ask questions (especially for MSK labs). I remember that some lab dems would test us (if you wanted them to). I would sometimes ask lab dems if they could test me on content before the test/final). and then they would point out things I should remember/things I got wrong. everyone studies differently but I used anki personally. wishing you the best!

 

[granlea]

Hi, has anyone done BITC201? I'm thinking of changing one of my papers to it but I'd like to know what the assessments are like first.