I mark first year calculus (I'm not a TA, but I mark assignments and quizzes and such). As such, here are a few pointers I can give:

1) DO THE HOMEWORK. Practice does make perfect, and it's pretty obvious when you lack practice. Think of how challenging grade 9 math was (assuming it was challenging at all). Looking back now, that stuff is easy because you did it so much that you're a pro. If you do that in first year calculus, you will be a calculus pro.

2) GET A TUTOR. Many people wait to seek help until it's too late. I know admissions to pharmacy school are pretty competitive, so be proactive and get some regular private help from the get-go. Doing so will save you a lot of stress and you'll end up doing much better in calculus than you would otherwise. Check out what U of T has as far as student services go, as I know Trent (where I go) has a pretty large peer mentoring program that's entirely free of charge.

3) ATTEND ALL CLASSES. Some lectures, especially towards the beginning, may seem to go slow or be entirely review. There will still be some truly difficult concepts towards the beginning so don't take these days for granted (like delta epsilon limit proofs, which not all schools do but I'm pretty sure UofT does). Attend all classes (including any seminars and tutorials that are offered) in order to maximize your success. Read ahead on all the material before class and make your own notes so that you can concentrate on what the professor is saying in the lecture, jotting down anything that you didn't get on your initial read-through.

4) PROOFREAD ASSIGNMENTS. You don't get much of a chance to look over tests and quizzes (but if you do finish early on those, proofread them too). For assignments, you'll be at home and have time to look for stupid mistakes. You'd be amazed how much better some people would do if they simply looked over their work before submitting it.

5) PLAN AHEAD. This advice goes for all university courses. You should be planning ahead for success. For most things in university you're given a good two weeks of notice at minimum, so make sure you look at your schedule with calculus and other classes to make sure things won't overlap too much. Lots of professors like scheduling midterms and assignments around the same time of year, so this is especially important at those busy times.

I am a math major, so please ask if you have any questions. Consider that if you're trying your hardest (i.e. doing everything that I've advised above) in high school calculus, it might be wise to have a backup plan in case university calculus doesn't go as planned. Remember too that it is only calculus that you'll be doing in first year, not the vectors part (unless you take linear algebra too) so if that's your weak area then don't be too intimidated.

I did really well in all my calculus courses (at the U of A in my undergrad). Here's what I did:

1) PAID ATTENTION. I attended every lecture and paid super close attention. To the point where I was completing examples one step ahead of the prof. I often caught their little math mistakes (a plus instead of a minus) as a result. This is probably the only class where I paid attention this closely.

2) DO THE HOMEWORK. Typically the exam questions mimic the homework.

3) DO PRACTICE PROBLEMS. This was the only way I studied. My schools actually offered exam review classes you could take that would provide a booklet of practice problems and also 3-4 hours of a lecture that went through a selection of sample problems. If your school doesn't have this, a tutor could probably do the same thing.

Check the requirements for the exact calc courses that you need.

For first year calc, if you can take MAT135H+MAT136H rather than MAT137Y. It is far easier as you do not have to do proofs and avoid many difficult concept (Delta-Epilson as the earlier post mentioned). For MAT135+136 make sure to study from past tests – many questions are recycled or they make a small change the number in a question (ex change 2x^2 to 3x^2). This was the key to me getting an A- in the course. You won’t be allowed to take MAT133Y which is for commerce and economics students, which sucks because it’s easier. And do not even consider MAT157Y that will ruin you.

By Calc II, I believe you mean MAT136 (Calculus I (B)) rather than MAT235Y (Calculus II). If you do mean MAT235Y make sure to keep up with homework. I have my final exam for 235 on Friday and I find it very difficult, partially due to the fact that I haven’t kept up with the work – I did get A- in MAT135+136 – so I’m pretty decent at math.

Make sure to purchase the student solutions manual that accompanies the textbook. It provides detailed step-by-step instructions to solutions for homework questions. This may be all you need, especially since you say you understand the theory in class. It all depends on your math skills. MAT135 is pretty much a review of everything you do in Grade 12 Calculus (not the Vectors part), it just uses more complicated questions. Depending on the strength of your high school's calculus teaching and your own math ability , MAT135 may be pretty straightforward or complicated. MAT136 is new stuff - integration.

If you feel you need a tutor, then get one. Or go the first couple of weeks using only the student solutions manual, and decide whether or not you think you need one.

When it comes to studying for tests, only do past test questions, don't both with the textbook questions, as they repeat the past test questions. Make sure to get a few years worth of past tests with solutions.

There are also some places that do mass (its in a UofT lecture hall) cram sessions for tests: TLS, Illanko, and another. They also provide full solutions to years worth of past tests, but they are in the $60-$100 range for one prep session. I recommend PrepAnywhere, they have everything online, with video instrutions to individual past test questions, and also update throughout the term with some tricky concepts with the stuff you learn in class. No matter what you choose to do, I can't stress getting past tests enough. You can find people selling their past test packages on tusbe.com for about $10-$20.

Also make sure to enroll in Prof. Anthony Lam's lecture section. He is the best 135/136 prof.

I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted but I have a few more comments:

Regarding Prof. Anthony Lam's lectures, make sure to get there a bit early as his lectures are usually packed (people in other profs come because he's better - you all write the same tests and exams). His morning lectures might be a bit less packed that's the lecture I was in (Tues, Thurs, Fri 10-11). I also find learning math in the morning to be easier to take in information.

Also, you might take a couple of weeks to adjust to his accent, but don't be concerned. I adjusted to it pretty quickly and learned a lot from him.

Another important thing is the quizzes in tutorial. They are on basic questions (homework-type questions (easier than test questions)). These are 1 mark each (either right or wrong) but they are multiple choice so even if you can't figure it out you have a 1 in 5 chance of getting it right - I got lucky a couple of times lol :).

When I took MAT135 (it was full year) they counted the best 10 of 13 quizzes (so if you got 10 quizzes right and 3 wrong, you still got full marks for quizzes). They were worth 10% of the course mark (so each correct quiz added 1% to your final mark). Very easy marks but don't take them too lightly, easy marks to get but also easy marks to lose if you don't know your stuff.

Now that its two halfyear courses (135 and 136), it will probably be best 5 of 6/7 for each course - might be 5% or 10% of course grade - I don't know the exact weight since I took it 2 years ago before the split and last year was the first year of the 135/136 split.

If you need help with understanding the material, you can always go to the Math Aid Centre and speak with one of the TAs - there is always someone on duty, and its FREE.

Also reading the sections in the textbook also help. I know it's something no one does in high school, I know I never did lol, but in university math it helps clear things up.

The quizzes are usually on topics that were covered a week or two before in lecture, so if you fall a bit behind it's okay (usually happens around midterm season), but try not too because it's calculus.

MAT135 covers the same concepts as high school calculus just a lot more difficult. So it may be a good idea to review your high school notes at the end of the summer to refresh yourself and give you a head start.

Once again good luck, and if I remember anything else, I'll post more.