Accepted

Hey all, I figured I'd start a thread to start talking to other's who've been accepted into the class of 2016, so introduce yourselves!

My name is Mike, I'm from Vancouver Canada and I'm super excited about iSci next year.

....these May acceptances are really unnerving.




For Mike, and all the others: would you mind adding a few lines about why you are choosing iSci?

+(tall order, sry ) for the people already in iSci...I would really appreciate it if you could tell us about how the program has made learning come out of the lecture and opened doors for you...



Thanks in advance...PS Congratulations on your acceptance! and Good Job!

My name is Robert and I'm from Toronto Canada... waay too excited for next year! is our class size really only 60 people?? facts about me: love competition, love sports!

Your class size will probably be closer to previous years (approximately 40)! (:
ooh and Congratulations everyone I look foreword to seeing you all next year !

Fourty kids!?
Wow.

I'm Chandula from Etobicoke, (basically Toronto) and I can't wait for iSci next year...I chose iSci because I am really into research and development (I aspire to get a career in such field one day). iSci's research-project based curriculum, and its small classes really appealed to me.

mikeg597 wrote:

Hey all, I figured I'd start a thread to start talking to other's who've been accepted into the class of 2016, so introduce yourselves!

My name is Mike, I'm from Vancouver Canada and I'm super excited about iSci next year.

another vancouverite in iSci, I am no longer alone! whereabouts in vancouver do you live?

Live in North Vancouver, go to school in West Vancouver, how about you?

I live pretty close to UBC, so i guess not that close haha

Hi! My name's Rosalind, and I'm from Whitby, near Toronto.
I'm currently deciding between iSci, and the more basic Life Science at Mac.
I've been accepted to both programs, as well as numerous others at other schools, but Mac seems to feel best for me.
I'll probably be accepting iSci, but I'm having a hard time deciding if it's really what I want for my future. I find the program incredibly intriguing, but I'm not super thrilled about the environmental and physical aspects. I prefer a bio/chem mixture most.
If anyone can help persuade me towards it, I'd really appreciate it!! I know they're both great programs and I can't go wrong with either... but for me this is like life or death right now (;
Thanks for the help in advance,
Rosalind

Here's a point that helped a lot of people decide. You can switch out of iSci in 2nd year into lifesci, but you can't switch from lifesci into isci in 2nd year.

Rosalind17 wrote:

I'll probably be accepting iSci, but I'm having a hard time deciding if it's really what I want for my future. I find the program incredibly intriguing, but I'm not super thrilled about the environmental and physical aspects. I prefer a bio/chem mixture most.
If anyone can help persuade me towards it, I'd really appreciate it!! I know they're both great programs and I can't go wrong with either... but for me this is like life or death right now (;
Thanks for the help in advance,
Rosalind

Hey Rosalind,
By environmental/physical aspects I'm assuming you meant physics and earth science (as opposed to the environment in our program and our mandatory 25 hr/week group workout sessions). I'm only going into second year, but I was on a similar boat as you last May. I was debating between iSci and life sci. I love physics, but earth science and certain aspects of chemistry were just not my cup of tea. However you will find that you can very much soldier through it the first year.

Regarding earth sci:
I can tell you that this certainly wasn't my favorite subject through first year. The professors and TA's were absolutely amazing and really did go above and beyond my expectations, it's just that the subject wasn't for me. That being said I still ended up doing well thanks to the RP's and the numerous (often mark boosting) assignments given throughout the year. Another thing I found helpful was the students. Your fellow iScis are often your best resource through the vast majority of your academic challenges. I have yet to meet someone in this program that wasn't willing to help when they felt that they were able to. At the end of the year, I still ended up doing surprisingly well thanks to the support system and was even tricked into learning some interesting things.

Regarding physics:
Unfortunately I am soon-to-be concentrated in physics so I can't tell you I didn't love it. However, based on what I saw of first year physics it was a good idea to have taken grade 12 physics before jumping in. Sometimes it can be fast and we did have a lot of mathematical manipulation that wasn't intuitive to follow at first. Still, there were students in our program that did enjoy physics and still ended up with good marks in it. If you haven't taken grade 12 physics, then I would suggest going on khan academy (url below in case you aren't familiar with him)and watching the following videos: Newton's laws of motion (first, second, and third), Introduction to gravity, and Introduction to work and energy. (I don't know if that feels like a lot, but you really will know a good chunk of your first mid term if you can grasp the concepts involved in those videos). Our prof was also great to us and we are well stocked on physics geniuses in upper years who would happily lend a hand. This is a subject that can be challenging, but you will be fine as long as you try to be.

Most important of all: it is all about how much work you put in. If you truly are a keener (unlike me), you will find that you will be just fine in both of these subjects. If you are not so much a keener, you will find that it is still very much bearable thanks to the people you are exposed to.

It is also important to note that I may be biased towards iSci. I would strongly recommend talking to some life sci kids before making up your mind (though I'm pretty sure you're smart enough to already have thought of that). Worse come to worst , you can switch into life-sci for second year, although switching into iSci in second year is not a possibility unless you stay behind for an extra year.

tl;dr-> You'll live, we'll get you through it.

Hope that helps! Feel free to ask me or anyone else on the forum to expand on anything or answer something I missed!

p.s. I was kidding about the 25hr/week workout sessions in case that wasn't clear.

Khan academy Physics: http://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics

^Aww, thanks for calling me amazing and above your expectations, haha (I hope I was one of those good TAs)

Otherwise, yes you will be doing a lot of real physics, math, and earth science - that's part of the program. But if you are in Life Sci, you will be doing at least first year of each of these as well (but if you want to, you can drop each of these in 2nd year in Life Sci -- unlike iSci which builds on these in second year). So to be clear, curriculum-wise in first year you ARE NOT learning anything different (if you are comparing this directly to Life Sci).

The real key is the style of learning. If you applied to (and have been accepted!) you should have a very clear understanding of how the style is different, and the real advantages of it. Small group work, project emphasis vs exam emphasis, learning through research projects, research and lab emphasis... those are some key points. Please base your decision on the style of learning and the learning atmosphere rather than content. If you have been accepted to iSci (it's quite the difficult program to get into, I can assure you), you are more than prepared to tackle first year.

Heed Nicholas's advice too, it's good advice, and perhaps the best. I cannot tell you how many people have been in a very similar situation as you, only to regret their decision. Conversely, there's nothing to regret the other way around (I believe there have been 2 or 3 -- who have switched into Life Sci after first year iSci, very easy to do, and these students were more than well prepared for their future in Life Sci).

Come talk to some iScis, and you'll see some of the real cool bio and chem students are doing (and by real cool, I mean 3rd or 4th years doing some real substantial research in top labs)

Hey guys, my name is Bianca and I'm from Oakville, Ontario I chose to accept my offer to iSci last week because I love labs and projects, and I think that learning through research projects based on real-life problems such as the energy crisis would make for a really cool first year!

Hey Bianca, welcome to iSci! I'm a second year and also from Oakville (woot woot)
I believe there will be at least one other iSci in your year from Oakville as well.

OAKVILLEOAKVILLEOAKVILLE! welcome!

Melissa that makes at least two in each year - 3 in the year above us, 2 in our year and a few in the year under us!
Soon enough we'll be able to hold oakville activities! >:}

Lol, aren't you forgetting the fourth years Tweedie?
Three? Who am I forgetting?

Hi guys! My name is Kayla and I'm from London, ON. I'm really excited for ISci next year
I chose ISci because I couldn't decide which science I wanted to go into and because I love labs and projects.

Stoney Creek (Hamilton), Ontario!
...
Does anyone know how, exactly, the registration process works?
I just accepted my offer of admission into iSci, but I felt like I was missing something aha (I did get the confirmation number, so I'm pretty confident I did it right).
After this, though, I'm kind of confused about the complete registration process
Can anyone shed some light?

Hey guys! I'm Alan from Toronto and I'm so excited for iSci next year! I chose iSci for the small class sizes and because the research projects sounded really interesting. Looking forward to learning some awesome stuff and meeting some amazing people next year!

A.deJesus,

Once you've accepted your offer of admission, there are a few things you need to do:

1. You should receive a form in the mail regarding your MACID (your student card). Make sure you fill out this form and mail/bring it to the Registrar's office. Be sure to include a passport photo of yourself.

2. Once you receive your student number, you also need to activate your MACID. Log on to MUGSI (you can find the link from McMaster's home page) and follow the links to activate your McMaster email address and your online MUGSI account.

3. Finally, you need to register for your courses! This will involve some planning, but once you have everything figured out, you log on to SOLAR and sign up for the courses you want to take, including ISCI 1A24! Registration begins on Wednesday, June 27 at 12:01am. Once you register, you will also have to complete a Payment Agreement and pay your tuition by September 1.

For more information, check out http://registrar.mcmaster.ca/guide/index.html

It's been a while since I did all this (I'm a fourth-year student!), so I hope I didn't leave anything out or make a mistake. Be sure to double-check with the link above, and good luck!

Adam

Hi everyone, my name is Natalie and I'm from Hamilton, Ontario . I'm really looking forward to iSci because of the research, the problem-based learning, and the small class sizes. I looked at our timetable for next year and it looks packed, it's sure to be fun though! Can't wait to meet all of you in person!!

Yay! Two of us from Abbey Park accepted our offers to iSci

Wasn't sure if you guys have seen it already but someone on Facebook created a group for iSci 2016: https://www.facebook.com/groups/373770512677332/

Hey Isci! I'm Doug from Toronto and I'm so excited for next year with all of you

HEY Y'ALL.

...I'm from Mississauga, and I'm so excited for isci next year

Hi Everyone,

I'm Katie from Brantford and I chose isci because I love labs and hands on learning. I'm so excitied to meet you all in the fall!

Hey everyone,
Trystan from Ottawa here. Super excited to meet everyone, and really happy to be in a program with such a variety of different fields and things going on for it. Very much sold on isci by the idea of research based projects that looked at real world problems.

Hello,
I'm Andrew from Thorold (small city in the Niagara region) and I am really excited to start the school year! The iSci program looks like it will be really interesting! What's everyone doing for Wecome Week? Anybody else sign up for the Webster Falls Hike on Monday? See you all soon!

Hey everyone!
SO my name is Lauren Smith and I just discovered this website...
I am from Mississauga and I CAN"T WAIT to meet all of you very soon!
I'm so excited and I just can't hide it...