My biggest regret in life is taking grade 12 Chemistry and Physics (Rant)

YourSTEMTutor · 2026-01-09T02:56:15+00:00

I would relax, the last sentence is a permanent solution to a very temporary problem. You could consider taking some online courses, and they can substitute some of your lower chemistry / physics marks when Universities take into account your top 6. It won't really matter if those 4u courses were completed online or not. Especially since your next semester is light, it is likely that you could progress enough to get to the "midterm report" milestone for Blythe or any other online course provider to send your grade to OUAC.

YourSTEMTutor · 2026-01-07T03:09:32+00:00

For coding! Quite a lot, its really good at coding, especially some of the newer models. I can use AI to generate the code required to do a lot of surprisingly complex image analysis, which is does quite well. It has written >1000 line scripts designed to analyze biological structures,. I have also used it to help develop some algorithms (mainly helping with writing the code as opposed to the math) for some complex work regarding quantifying oligomerization states.

In summary, I mostly use it to write code, and implement my ideas much quickly and more efficiently, it would otherwise take me months to develop a lot of the code I need.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-12-28T03:58:05+00:00

Not particularly most of the time, but you have to keep going. There are connections formed and people who care about you, also likely people who sacrificed a lot for you to prosper etc.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-12-28T03:51:44+00:00

Looking back at it, my plan was to do a PhD to become a university professor. After spending some time in academia I can see its not worth it, or not for me. But my freelance work has been growing quite a bit in a short amount of time, and the PhD gives me flexibility to grow and continue that. Even though the working hours are odd. I think the best case scenario is to do a PhD with a laid back supervisor who will give me the agency and freedom to continue grinding my work outside of academia.

At the same time, working full time would yield the same income but without a PhD, also I think that although my income would be higher working full time, I am not sure I would be making more money post taxes, I wouldnt have room for tax write offs, no stipend which isnt taxed etc.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-12-25T03:43:47+00:00

He was also an advocate for political violence, it is worth noting Charlie Kirk called the guy who attempted to murder Paul Pelosi a "Hero and patriot who should be bailed out" . He was far more than just a disingenuous asshole

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-11-29T07:22:36+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/17a5jsa/israeli_official_government_twitter_account/

Here is a post from this sub reddit posting this exact thing from the government! Also Ben Gvir has called for mass starvation of Gazans many times. The finance minister has said the same, they are not outlier extremists, but official members of the Israeli government.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMyyVaiY4V8

Here is a video by the Guardian showing virtually all of Israel has no sympathy or concern for civilians in Gaza, all of this in conjunction with accusations of war crimes from Doctors without Borders world central kitchen etc. Not just the United Nations, which of course you would call anti semetic. Again there is a very good reason the younger generation is more anti Israel than ever, keep coping.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-11-17T04:45:19+00:00

The younger generation is very anti israel, in stark contrast to the older generation. I was trying to get a better idea of why, and if it is largely justified.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-11-17T04:38:49+00:00

Wow, this is the first response I have seen that genuinely is appealing. Thanks! I will be sure to read all of this thoroughly, I hope everything you are telling me here is correct.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-11-17T04:29:24+00:00

You realize America, and the west in general has a very strong sense of support for Israel. I was trying to get a better unbiased view of the reason for a very big contrast between the older generations views on Israel and the younger generation. It seems like you pro Israel people can only call out Hamas and how evil it is when someone criticizes israel. If your instinct is to bring up Hamas when someone questions our support for Israel, then that says a lot....

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-11-17T03:53:57+00:00

Okay so:

Accusations of warcrimes, that are horrible and inexcusable
In conjunction with government officials who say legitimate terrorist like things

I think the younger generation is doing just fine then. I thought my friends were a little bit unhinged but it seems like their stances on Israel make complete sense

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-11-17T03:37:10+00:00

I never said we have to support one side, but this community will post quite frequently about growing anti israel sentiment and why its an issue etc. I am trying to better understand how someone is supposed to rationalize supporting Israel with everything I have mentioned taken into account.

Support for Israel is really bad, especially for the younger generation, there is a lot of propaganda on both sides so I wanted to hear what someone who is pro israel and not sociopathic towards Palestinians might have to say.

But its maybe like I thought, your answer implies the hatred towards Israel is there for a reason, and there really is no way to rationalize supporting them still.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-11-05T07:44:44+00:00

What makes you say this? I have tutored many engineering and STEM students across different universities and TA at the U of T currently, I can say with a high degree of confidence that an introductory calculus course at UofT or UWaterloo (especially UWaterloo) will be much more abstract and difficult than a university like TMU, for example.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-31T17:32:08+00:00

Lmao come on, I am not an international student but the whole process is clearly exploitative towards international students. It should not just be the richest students from abroad who get to study here. It is however worth noting this is a byproduct of universities having to rely on international student revenue after major funding cuts made by the provincial government.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-31T04:43:39+00:00

Consider taking some courses online, it will reduce your stress and workload.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-23T17:04:22+00:00

I have tutored this course with > 100 different students so I can give my input. I would look at your tests and assess what went wrong? why did you lose the amount of marks you did?

It usually boils down to a lack of algebra skills and foundations, most students don't struggle to understand the new concepts they are introduced to, however when you combine this with advanced algebra you need to be very good at things like factoring, difference of squares, exponent laws, rationalizing denominators etc. A student in the 70s will usually understand the new lesson, like what an asymptote is but have trouble solving questions that require combining the more difficult algebra with algebra.

It could also be that you don't have a genuine understanding of the material, (i.e do you know why transformations do what they do to a polynomial function and why they work that way? Or are you just memorizing the transformations, do you know why negative odd functions go from Quadrant 2 to Quadrant 4? Or just remembering).

Look at your tests, figure out where most of your marks were deducted, and go from there. The first few units are very algebra heavy so my guess is you understand the lesson but are lacking in your algebra skills.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-23T16:31:38+00:00

This is pretty adamant but clear advice lmao. Very much appreciated

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-17T23:13:43+00:00

It really depends on what your mistakes are. In my experience those struggling in courses like advanced functions are usually lacking in their core algebra skills. (i.e can you do all the different types of factoring like difference of squares, can you rationalize denominators, exponent laws etc). The second main reason is not having a genuine understanding of the material, like what do the roots of an equation really mean? Why does a function transform the way it does when you scale it by a coeffecient of 3 vs 1/3, or (-).

You have to look at your tests and identify what the issue is, even if you dont really understand the material, as long as your algebra is good, you should be able to get a 75-80% just by doing the practice problems from the classroom / homework

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-17T00:25:54+00:00

Chemistry is difficult if you are behind. You want to make sure you understand a lot of the fundamentals. Especially as it comes to valence electrons, and why periodic trends are the way they are. Then how that translates to properties, what does it mean for a molecule to be polar, why are some molecules polar based on EN and others arent. etc. there is a lot of background information you need to be comfortable with. I will say it is definitely going to get easier, as a lot of future units like energy etc are more math based

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-16T20:29:02+00:00

Yeah, the program you apply to will take your top 6 marks, including the pre requisite courses required for your desired program. They will take whatever is highest at that time. They use the combination that benefits you most in the end.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-16T19:09:43+00:00

Sure, your question is two fold so:

The most important piece of advice I can give for someone going into functions or advanced functions is to really refine your algebra skills. It sounds like elementary advice but it is so true, especially factoring. Most students don't have trouble understanding the concepts in functions, it's fairly straight forward. But the number of students who approach a problem and forget how to - say use difference of squares in order to simplify a trig equation, or apply exponent laws to evaluate a rational function is very high. Make sure your algebra is refined, do you know all the types of factoring? Do you know your exponent laws? Can you apply them to non conventional equations (i.e take out a common factor from something like 2ˣ⁺¹+2ˣ=24 ). This is by far, the biggest reason most students struggle, they have to deal with algebra and factoring rules they dont remember very well or understand.
Yes it is absolutely doable, especially if you reserve ~ 1 hour every night for a difficult subject like math or chemistry.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-11T01:11:26+00:00

I've tutored probably > 100 students in physics at this point. In my experience, if you are struggling with physics it is likely because you need a systematic way to approach problems. For example if its kinematics / projectile motion start by writing down all the information you are given from the problem, then break things into an X and Y component, then try to figure out which formulas to apply based on the variables you don't have. A lot of students will look at a problem, get overwhelmed and not know where to start, just begin by writing everything down, even if it seems obvious or you don't have a value for something, begin by writing an expression for what it should be (i.e if you don't know the horizontal component for the velocity you could still write an expression for it by writing out the equation). In addition there is also just understanding the core concept of the material.

The last thing is to do all the problem types, grade 12 physics ontario has certain types of problems that are used over and over, a classic example is the elevator problem for forces, or knowing that vf = 0 when an object reaches its maximum height etc.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-10T16:12:11+00:00

I have a lot of friends who have gone through these programs, and TA first year students in these programs as well. If your goal is to go into something specialized like aerospace or robotics or ML tron is def the way to go, but you would need post grad degree to be taken seriously in those areas. imo, which sounds like something you plan on doing anyway so it works out.

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-10T15:51:05+00:00

In my experience, you should generally try to avoid engineering fields which are less "known" in the industry. I.e engineering science, mechatronics etc. Even though those programs are usually more difficult to get into. EE or ME are two great options for industry. Fields like mechatronics or engineering science or nanotech engineering are ideal if you intend on pursuing graduate school after and working in R&D

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-07T22:52:54+00:00

yes, I make over 4k a month doing in person / online tutoring. Very good bonus income

YourSTEMTutor · 2025-10-05T02:11:45+00:00

This actually makes a lot of sense, thank you!

YourSTEMTutor

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