u/Defiant-Passion1152

So I got an apartment close in proximity to campus, but I’m a first year and have never lived in Halifax, I’ve visited, but that’s pretty much it. I know that living in residence for the traditional university experience is important, though I like my own space and quiet. I’m a bit of an introvert, so all in all, the apartment set up is a good idea for myself.

The only problem is I’m not sure how to socialize and meet people as I won’t be in that built in people meeting environment. Since I won’t have family nearby and I know not a soul on campus, I’m just wondering about ways for me to socialize and acclimatize to university life and Halifax. Is there any book clubs on campus or nearby? Or for other people who have lived off campus (first year or otherwise) how did you manage to socialize and meet people?

So I have always had a serious passion for disease (As grotesque as it sounds) and I was thinking that if I was able to get into medical school I’d want to do an IM residency then do a fellowship in infectious disease. However, I was wondering if job prospects would make all of that not worth it. In infectious disease or otherwise. Because I hear one of the bonuses of medicine is the job stability, but I wonder if that applies to specialists aside from family medicine or emergency medicine and ones that may be in higher demand. Like is it seriously difficult to do? Would I be better to try to go to med school and do residency in the United States where there’s more in terms of private practice and industry, or is it easy to find a job here for specialists? I can’t imagine going through 15 plus years of school all to realize it’s impossible to find a job in my field. Bough, perhaps that’s the case everywhere now.

So I’m a highschool student in second semester grade 12. I’ve been admitted to Dalhousie, and have a renewable scholarship provided I stay above a 3.7 GPA. My current grade situation is somewhat high I’d say (I haven’t had a grade below 90 despite taking calculus, advanced biology 11 and 12, advanced English 12 (I took the regular one first), regular chemistry 11 and 12, etc. however, I royally suck at physics 11, I have a tutor for it now, and I’m currently sitting at an 80 something percent, which is not ideal as it’s a grade 11 course but I digress. I took all of my advanced courses online via NSVS (I’m an in province student), so I’m somewhat proficient with managing my own schedule and learning independently (quite frankly, I found in class the hand holding to be a little frustrating at times (not to say that there is anything wrong with it, but I did not feel like my in person classes were preparing me enough for higher education, and I just enjoyed moving at my own pace to a certain point (there’s a timeline and due dates of course, but you can get ahead if you’d like.)

So after my ramble up there, I’m wondering just how much grades drop once entering university. I’ve heard 10-20 points or something like that, but then other people have the opposite experience. I know it is highly individual so it would be hard to pin point, but it would be great if someone could give some tips and suggestions on how to do well in university, I’m entering with an undeclared BSc, I was thinking of doing microbiology and immunology as I find that sort of thing interesting, but I figure I’m going to take the prerequisites for a variety of majors and see what my standing and passion lies after I complete some university level science courses.

In a shorter version because if I were you and reading all that, I’d probably just skip to the bottom where the actual questions are.

-How much do grades drop from highschool to university?

-How can I do the best I can in university?

-Specifically, how can I do well if I do choose to do microbiology and immunology?

And that’s all, thank you for reading!!