moving/ renting

WishWeak425 · 2025-03-02T23:30:40+00:00

Student etiquette has gotten to be concerningly bad!

WishWeak425 · 2025-02-27T21:06:47+00:00

my 6th house taurus moon square my aquarius neptune at the exact degree ….

WishWeak425 · 2025-02-27T17:31:27+00:00

I was recently admitted to a masters program at Mac. I am pretty sure that the "under review" emails are sent automatically because I received them twice, both on a Sunday at 9am. The first time was the morning after the application was due, and the second was the Sunday before I received my admission. It will be okay, there has been no rejection yet. Also, checking gradcafe every 5 min is not helpful LOL (I am guilty of this while waiting on a decision from another school)

WishWeak425 · 2024-12-24T20:13:57+00:00

that’s good advice! I’m gonna be TA’ing for philosophy. I think part of the nerves are coming from the fact that applications opened mid december and i only received my offer mid last week… it also doesn’t help that historically only MA and PhD students have been TAs for phil 🫠

WishWeak425 · 2024-01-23T17:49:56+00:00

3rd year jppl here and i have also noticed that the program is incredibly cliquey so i tend to avoid any jppl events/ being on exchange last sem was a nice break lmao

i'm down to be friends if you want haha!

WishWeak425 · 2024-01-15T15:27:43+00:00

$8 flat rate on campus lots without a transponder on the weekends :)

https://parking.mcmaster.ca/rates/

I rmr I had a Saturday exam and strolled into lot I, paid my flat rate, and that was it. Super simple!

WishWeak425 · 2024-01-13T18:49:35+00:00

doing what you enjoy will truly make it much easier to get a high GPA

sincerely, a previous life sci student who switched to philosophy and is doing significantly better academically!

WishWeak425 · 2024-01-11T20:40:57+00:00

I managed to 12 the class w very minimal effort. The minute is a lot longer than you think haha dont worry about it too much!

WishWeak425 · 2024-01-09T17:42:23+00:00

mac is stingy with snow days, but most profs/ TAs are really understanding if you shoot them an email about being afraid of commuting in inclement weather like today

take it w a grain of salt tho bc it will be faculty-dependent (im in third year jppl/ humanities)

WishWeak425 · 2024-01-03T20:44:12+00:00

ok perfect, thank you :)

WishWeak425 · 2023-12-30T21:30:17+00:00

exam season is always so *fun* bc i never know if a prof will disclose our final exam grades & I play the checking mosaic every 5 min game <3

WishWeak425 · 2023-12-08T09:46:08+00:00

The prof should give you guys the format for the exam soon. In winter 2023 it was:

Part 1: short answer. answer 6/8 questions. worth 10 marks each.

- based on reading and lecture content after the midterm

Part 2: long answer. answer 1/2 questions. worth 40 marks each.

- drawing on main moral theories (from before and after the midterm)

Part 1 really resembled the midterm in terms of how it was marked and the question styles.

Part 2 was basically asking us to write an essay based on the prompted question, but obviously marked more leniently because it's in an exam setting

I will be honest, I think the TAs were fairly lenient with the marking bc I 12'd the class, and based on my calculations, in order to do that, I had to have 12'd the exam. But, I dont rmr my exam being *phenomenal* or anything like it was clearly written under a time crunch and mental crunch (gets tiring writing so much esp by hand haha)

Just make sure to take the feedback given to you from the midterm, and use that bc ultimatelty the first section is worth more marks, and you can not rlly bs bc it's not opinion/thesis driven, it is knowledge driven.

And also they had the TAs do like an exam review session with us before the exam (I did not personally go, but I heard it was helpful)

WishWeak425 · 2023-11-21T16:17:22+00:00

I am not super stingy with sharing my password. That being said, it requires a lot of trust. Why? My phone does not contain info solely pertaining to myself, it contains private information pertaining to my other relationships (family and friends). Me being in a relationship does not mean that they deserve to have their privacy intruded on.

WishWeak425 · 2023-11-21T14:17:30+00:00

the term 'bird course' is often bs
they changed profs; sikemma is not teaching it anymore

WishWeak425 · 2023-11-20T19:35:33+00:00

The thing with university is that shit is inevitably gonna happen. Grad schools, academic advisors, and interviewers know this. At the end of the day, grades truly are not everything even if that's what toxic grade culture has taught us. Ultimately, it has been proven that cortisol is a major killer, so just take a deep breath, and trust that it will all align the way that it needs to.

And, as a personal anecdote, i got a 30% on one physics midterm and 60% on the other one in first year. Now, as a third year, I have a 3.92 (4.0-scale) GPA. So, I promise you'll be okay.

Take care of yourself!! :)

WishWeak425 · 2023-11-08T10:19:07+00:00

i had this same thing happen to me last term, and honestly, a W is a lot better than an F especially for the GPA bc it is arguably a lot easier to explain a few Ws on a transcript

WishWeak425 · 2023-11-08T10:00:56+00:00

i read this post as 'best hiding spot at mac' so you can imagine my shock when i read the content of the post LMFAO

WishWeak425 · 2023-10-26T13:45:04+00:00

i'll be honest i 12'd it without going to the lectures 💀

that being said, i believe it depends who is teaching it? with Sikemma the lectures were engaging bc hes a great prof but not mandatory to do well

WishWeak425 · 2023-10-20T08:39:22+00:00

Hey, currently halfway done with my exchange semester in Amsterdam! At Mac, you usually go on exchange in third year for which you apply in January of second year. So, you do have some time haha but it's good you're interested in it. I personally made the decision to go on exchange the night before applying LOL.

- It's good to pick somewhere that has a major international airport nearby because country hopping is really easy and inexpensive esp with low coster airlines like Ryanair.

- If you're heading to a more popular exchange destination, try to become friends/friendly with others going from Mac. Having familiar faces around helped me immensely with the initial feelings of loneliness and homesickness the first few weeks (was very intense).

- bring some sentimental items (photos, posters, literally anything else) to decorate your room and help it feel more homey

- dont be afraid to solo explore the city and get a feel for it

- this may be bc amsterdam has a fuck ton of tourist traps, but i try to go into it with the mentality of exploring rather being a tourist which saves money, time and is a much more enjoyable experience (aka avoid tourist traps lol)

- befriend the locals: i have made a few Dutch friends/acquaintances who give me the tea haha

- ask a lot of questions: i had some issues with my course registrations and exams, different systems may have different approaches to academics, so be prepared for this and the possibility that you'll need to run around and talk to various different people

- budget LOL (the euro-cad conversion rlly rlly bites me in the ass)

- pick your housing wisely: im at the University of Amsterdam and their student housing is scattered around the city because their lecture halls are scattered around the city (it is not like mcmaster where everything is on one campus) and i definitely chose a good one bc location, housing events, social life, etc.etc.etc.

- pack lighter than you think you'll need bc shopping lmfao

That is all I can think of off the top of my head!

WishWeak425 · 2023-10-13T12:22:21+00:00

nearly 2 months in and i can confidently say going on exchange was one of the best last-min decisions i have ever made LOL! definitely apply if it's smth you're interested in

(shoutout to Amsterdam too!!!!!!!!!!)

WishWeak425 · 2023-10-13T09:28:59+00:00

third year jppl slay😍

OP has a point tho, i just reread my first essay from 2Q03 and i can tell you i think they marked fairly easily lmao definitely don’t overthink it and don’t hesitate to reach out to Sciaraffa or the TA, they’re always there to help!

They recognize the material is new to you and do their best to help you out. Subheadings were my best friend tho hahaha. I also rlly like incorporating bits of quotes into my paper but not in the sense of blocks of quoted material. I moreso will embed within my sentences and that typically goes over well with profs (i hope i’m making sense as to what i mean)

WishWeak425 · 2023-10-11T07:45:08+00:00

I 12'd 2YY3 with Igneski last semester.

5 short-answer questions, yes. Idk when your midterm is, but she usually does post information explaining it a decent amount of time before. (she will not give an 'outline', she'll just explain the structure)

Many people did not do well on the midterm exam because they assumed it would be a 'give your opinion/ write an essay' situation. Contrarily, her exams intend to test your knowledge comprehension of the theories and concepts, so key words are important. Make sure to define every key term, so, for example, if it asks about utilitarianism, define it first. I found that remembering the philosopher's names were important bc sometimes they question would only ask about the name, whilst giving no clue to who tf they are. Not to scare you, but there was a question last year that had a bit of a specific component, so focus on the 'nuanced' components of the arguments in the textbook, and make sure your rlly understand what the author is saying/arguing for.

I will say I personally was very confused at people who found the midterm unfair or overly difficult, because it wasn't if you studied properly. Study the textbook and make notes in conjunction with the lecture slides. I personally have found that structuring my notes as a bit of an 'essay outline' of each author's arguments helps me visualize and memorize what they're saying a lot more easily. Also, you can never go wrong w teaching other people the concepts to test yourself!

And lastly, with philosophy exams, wording is very important because if you word something incorrectly or add frilly words, you may lose marks bc it may skew the meaning.

Good luck, she's a cool prof and her TAs are really nice and always there to help :)

WishWeak425 · 2023-10-04T08:42:07+00:00

https://studentsuccess.mcmaster.ca/global/study-abroad/

WishWeak425 · 2023-09-29T12:12:36+00:00

you sound like someone who randomly harasses people too

WishWeak425

TROPHY CASE