November 30, 2008
FINAL ADVICE
It is good to have an academic, social and spiritual life, but please, don’t let any area dominate your life. Don’t overread, don’t overparty and don’t be overholy. Try to be balanced in everything. Eat well, exercise also and be cool. Feel free to any question under ‘Post a comment’ .Wishing you a happy stay in the Department of Pharmacy, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Once again, we say WELCOME!
SPIRITUAL LIFE
Success does not depend only on your hardwork but also on the grace of God upon you. This is why you should draw closer to God. Pray everyday and always, and the Lord will see you through. As you are reading, ask the Holy Spirit to direct you on where to read because you may be reading very well but you may also be reading off point. Try to identify yourself with a fellowship on campus( there are so many of them). In our department, there are two fellowships, NFCPS ( National Fellowship of Christian Pharmacy Students ) and CAPSAN ( Catholic Pharmacy Students Association of Nigeria). Feel free to join any of them. Apart from bringing you close to God they can also help you make more friends in the department.
SOCIAL LIFE
It is good for you to work hard, but also find time for yourself. Try to make friends, be social, do not be an island. Attend other events apart from just your lectures. If you have the time you can attend seminars and other essential activities organized regularly by the university. You can attend parties also but not wild parties that will leave you drunk and leave you with a terrible hangover in the morning. Bear it in mind that your friend can make you or destroy you, so be careful about the types of friends you make.
PANS
The Pharmaceutical Association of Nigerian Students (PANS) is an association that was established for the main purpose of development of concern for the welfare of pharmacy students in the country. PANS UNN Chapter has been in operation for a while now. When you pay your PANS dues, you automatically become a member. I believe you were given an orientation organized by the university to familiarize you with the environment, activities e.t.c but also, PANS will give you its own orientation familiarize you with the Faculty. Though you are a member, you are an inactive member until you get to your second year you can participate actively. I assure you that you are going to enjoy being a member of PANS because there are exciting social activities in which you will be involved.
Academic Calendar
You may have noticed that while the students in other years in other departments have started lectures and may even be preparing for their exams, very few pharmacy students are visible in the school premises. This is because our department runs a calendar different from that of the school. For example, if other students write their exams in August, we may write ours in September. (Remember this applies to you from your second year to your final year, for now you will be writing your exams at the same time as your mates from other departments).So Pharmacy Students and also Veterinary Medicine Student are known to remain in school when everyone is at home. This is because of our large course outline. i.e. there are so many things that we need to know. So get yourselves ready, because from your second year you will be among this category of people. This is not a disadvantage however, I count it as an advantage because it provides a much more conducive environment for you to concentrate and study for your exams and there will even be more places for you to read since students from other departments are not around. This has always been the case so you will get used to it.
Exams
University exams are not much different from the other exams you have been writing since you were four years old, except that you have to work very hard. Know your study pattern and stick to it. I showed you how to calculate your GP in the previous section, but you can only calculate your GP in your first year. Even after calculating your GP and maybe it is 3.5 or whatever, it still doesn’t guarantee you’re going over to your second year. You can calculate your GP quite all right, but it will be useful only for the knowledge of it, and also to apply for scholarship but it is not even necessary for you to move into the next class (This applies to only pharmacy students. Other students make use of their GP).In Pharmacy department, your scores matter more than your grades. Let
me show you how your scores are calculated.
You can see that here is a slight difference between this table and the one above. This one contains scores. To explain this properly I will use the Maths courses as an example. You will do only 2 Math courses in your first semsester but you will do 2 more physics courses, 2 more general studies courses, 2 more biology courses and 2 more physics course in your second semester making it eight courses altogether for second semester i.e you don’t do any math course in second semester. Therefore, throughout your first year, you do a total of 2 maths, 4 physics, 4 chemistry, 4 general studies, and 3 biology courses. The average of the scores in each of the courses will determine whether you proceed to the next class. For example, in Maths, the scores were 75 and 64, giving a total of 139 and an average of 69.5. If the cut off for Maths is 50, you will know that you have passed Maths. The same applies to all other courses. In Biology for example, if your scores are 44, 25 and 50 for the three biology courses, the average is 39. If the cut off for biology is 40, you have failed biology and you will be asked to repeat first year while your mates advance to the next class.
But in a situation whereby you had 46, 30 and 50, the average is 42. If the cut off is 40, you will be allowed to go to second year, but you have to carry over the course in which you had 30 (which is an ‘F’). This is why you have to work hard to make your scores as high as possible, so that whatever the cut off may be, you won’t be in any trouble.
me show you how your scores are calculated.
You can see that here is a slight difference between this table and the one above. This one contains scores. To explain this properly I will use the Maths courses as an example. You will do only 2 Math courses in your first semsester but you will do 2 more physics courses, 2 more general studies courses, 2 more biology courses and 2 more physics course in your second semester making it eight courses altogether for second semester i.e you don’t do any math course in second semester. Therefore, throughout your first year, you do a total of 2 maths, 4 physics, 4 chemistry, 4 general studies, and 3 biology courses. The average of the scores in each of the courses will determine whether you proceed to the next class. For example, in Maths, the scores were 75 and 64, giving a total of 139 and an average of 69.5. If the cut off for Maths is 50, you will know that you have passed Maths. The same applies to all other courses. In Biology for example, if your scores are 44, 25 and 50 for the three biology courses, the average is 39. If the cut off for biology is 40, you have failed biology and you will be asked to repeat first year while your mates advance to the next class.
But in a situation whereby you had 46, 30 and 50, the average is 42. If the cut off is 40, you will be allowed to go to second year, but you have to carry over the course in which you had 30 (which is an ‘F’). This is why you have to work hard to make your scores as high as possible, so that whatever the cut off may be, you won’t be in any trouble.
November 29, 2008
How to calculate your GPA
This is how to calculate your GPA (Grade point average)
There are 5 grades and each grade carries its own unit.
A------- 5
B--------4
C--------3
D--------2
E--------1
F--------0
This is just an assumption. I don’t wish anyone an ‘E’ or an ‘F’. If you work hard, your result will be much better than this.
Your GPA is calculated thus: Total Cumulative GP = 66 = 3.14
Total course unit 21
First class 4.5 - 5 1
Second class upper 4.49 - 3.5 2.1
Second class lower 3.49 - 3.0 2.2
Third class 2.99 - 2.5 3
Pass 2.49 - 1 Pass
Attempted certificate 0.99 - 0
There are 5 grades and each grade carries its own unit.
A------- 5
B--------4
C--------3
D--------2
E--------1
F--------0
This is just an assumption. I don’t wish anyone an ‘E’ or an ‘F’. If you work hard, your result will be much better than this.
Your GPA is calculated thus: Total Cumulative GP = 66 = 3.14
Total course unit 21
First class 4.5 - 5 1
Second class upper 4.49 - 3.5 2.1
Second class lower 3.49 - 3.0 2.2
Third class 2.99 - 2.5 3
Pass 2.49 - 1 Pass
Attempted certificate 0.99 - 0
ACADEMICS
Courses
As you well know, this is the major reason you are in this University is your academics. So I suggest you pay serious attention to it because if you don’t you will be doing a lot of damage to yourself and you will not know the extent of damage until it is too late. This is your first semester, and the courses you are going to be studying are: MTH 111, MTH 121, PHY 101, PHY 191, CHEM 101, CHEM 171, BIO 151, GS 101 and GS 103 (unless more courses have been added)
All the courses are two unit load courses except MTH 111, MTH 121 and BIO 151, which are three unit load. The unit loads are important in the calculation of your GP.
I suppose you have registered these courses, as failure to register them prevents you from writing the exam. For the departments that have not started registration, keep your ears on ground so that when they start you can register before the stipulated deadline. All the textbooks you will need can be bought from the school, so you do not need to worry about books. When you buy your books, do not store them or use them to decorate your
wardrobes, book racks or lockers, instead read them and try to understand them. Make sure you do not miss your lectures except you have a cogent reason to do so and also try to make good notes. Do not write your notes in sheets of paper so that they will be easy for you to read. Take all your courses seriously and NEVER neglect any course no matter how easy it may seem.
As you well know, this is the major reason you are in this University is your academics. So I suggest you pay serious attention to it because if you don’t you will be doing a lot of damage to yourself and you will not know the extent of damage until it is too late. This is your first semester, and the courses you are going to be studying are: MTH 111, MTH 121, PHY 101, PHY 191, CHEM 101, CHEM 171, BIO 151, GS 101 and GS 103 (unless more courses have been added)
All the courses are two unit load courses except MTH 111, MTH 121 and BIO 151, which are three unit load. The unit loads are important in the calculation of your GP.
I suppose you have registered these courses, as failure to register them prevents you from writing the exam. For the departments that have not started registration, keep your ears on ground so that when they start you can register before the stipulated deadline. All the textbooks you will need can be bought from the school, so you do not need to worry about books. When you buy your books, do not store them or use them to decorate your
wardrobes, book racks or lockers, instead read them and try to understand them. Make sure you do not miss your lectures except you have a cogent reason to do so and also try to make good notes. Do not write your notes in sheets of paper so that they will be easy for you to read. Take all your courses seriously and NEVER neglect any course no matter how easy it may seem.
ADVICE FOR FIRST YEAR PHARMACY STUDENTS
Welcome to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. You are now Great Lions and Lionesses. I want to say CONGRATULATIONS!!! You are not just any student but a student of the Department of Pharmacy which is one of the most sought out departments in the school.
As a new student or “jambito” you are going to be wondering about Campus Life and whether all those things we see in many home videos are real. I must say most of them are real, and it will be very good for you if you stick to the advice your parents or guardians gave you when you got your admission. I am sure you will be wondering what challenges you are going to face, so in order not to bore you I am going to narrow them down with respect to your academics, social life, spiritual life and the department as a whole.
As a new student or “jambito” you are going to be wondering about Campus Life and whether all those things we see in many home videos are real. I must say most of them are real, and it will be very good for you if you stick to the advice your parents or guardians gave you when you got your admission. I am sure you will be wondering what challenges you are going to face, so in order not to bore you I am going to narrow them down with respect to your academics, social life, spiritual life and the department as a whole.
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