askastudent

Hey aska,

im a grade twelve student who’s been going through a rough start to my year. Due to some personal reason, the first half of my math and physics marks are low.
I’ve recently overcome my personal problems and have started to get my regular marks again.
Re-encouraged i went to talk to my teachers and see what they had to say about me.
My physics teacher said that if i continued the way i was going i would probably end up with an 86 by the end of my semester.

However, my math teacher said that i would only be able to get an 82…
Now math is my average booster as u usually get 90+ in it, however this year, im actually doing bad at it…
I planned to redo so that i can get a higher average.

I then heard a rumor that none of the UofT campuses look at retaken courses… discouraged i tried googling this rumor for about a week with no avail. However i did stumble upon this site which has relieved alot of other stresses but not the main one.
I was hoping you could help me and anyone else in my situation by answering these questions:

a) Do the UofT campuses consider at retaken courses?

b) Would it be better to retake a course in second semester night school or summer school?

c) Does UofT even look at anything like UWO’s Special Consideration Profile?? (my reason for doing poorly during the first half of my first semester)

Eagerly(Desperately) waiting for a reply,
Me

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This post reeks of of “overachiever”. Who retakes physics when they already have an 86% average?

Sorry to hear about your personal problems, though. Hopefully, they’re not troubling you anymore.

Anyway, the answer to your question is… it depends. What program are you applying to at UofT? If you’re applying to a program within the Faculty of Arts and Science on the St. George campus, then yes – they do accept repeated courses. However, this might not case for some of the other Faculties or campuses at UofT, such as engineering (not sure if you were considering engineering at UofT, but if that was the reason you wanted to retake your math and physics courses, well, there’s your reason not to do it). Commerce will let you repeat courses, but will need you to give a valid reason. UTSC doesn’t seem to like people repeating courses, though (“the University reserves the right to give preference to students whose marks are the result of a single attempt at each course”). I couldn’t find anything about UTM, but you should really stop using Google as your main source of information. Searching on the web will only get you so far – all you’re gonna get is more rumours, and we all know how true those are. Go phone or email them instead. You’ll need to get used to doing a lot of phoning and emailing for information after you get into University anyway.

Uh, as for whether it’d be better to retake a course in night school or summer school, definitely night school. Universities won’t have time to look at your summer school marks – and by the time you finish your course, decisions will already have been made. Overloading yourself with night school during the semester is a little risky, though.

There are for student profiles Commerce and Engineering programs, but not for the Faculty of Arts and Science (again, not sure about UTM and UTSC; it probably depends on the program you apply to). However, don’t forget that even if there is no student profile, you can always write a letter to admissions and awards explaining your personal circumstances.

You should really get used to doing your best on your first try, though. That’s not to say that you won’t be given a second chance, but you probably won’t be retaking that many courses in University and the pace will be a lot faster than what you’re used to in high school.

Hey Aska! Glad you’re back!

Anyway I’d like to ask if it was possible to get a minor in French in the
Management program at UTSC! I know it’d be hard to fit in a major, so that’s
why I was thinking of a minor. I asked the representatives and they didn’t
answer my question, they just told me how they were going to build a pool…
I don’t even swim!

Oh and how does the Management program at UTSC compare to Schulich or Rotman
or Western…etc? I’m planning to do the co-op management program there if I
get in.

Thanks

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Wait… which co-op management are you talking about? I just checked out the UTSC calendar and there seems to be many management programs: specialist in management, specialist in management and economics, specialist in management and accounting… well, I’m gonna go ahead and assume that you’re going into the specialist in management program, since you’ve never mentioned anything about economics or accounting or management and what not. I guess they are pretty similar anyway. Unfortunately, it seems that there previously existed a specialist in management and humanities at UTSC, but that program’s been phased out as of this year…

Okay, I’m trying to count the number of FCE credits required for the specialist in management program but it’s like next to impossible. Let’s see.

First try: 14 credits.

Second try: 14.5 credits.

Third try: 13 credits.

Fourth try: 14.5 credits.

Okay. I’m going to go ahead and say that it is 14.5 credits (What do you mean it’s a good thing that aska’s not in management himself/herself?!). Friend of aska just counted it, and he also counted 14.5 credits. You can ­try­ to count it yourself if you want to be more confident with my answer (or if you’re interested in a program other than specialist in management). Each half-course (the ones that end with an “H”) counts as 0.5 credit and each year-course (the ones that end with a “Y”) counts as 1.0 credit.

Oh, but what’s this? Apparently 2.5 credits required for the Management specialist are just “non-management/economics” courses. Your French courses can certainly count towards those. In fact, the French minor requires only 4 credits in total, and you’ll be taking around 20 credits in your entire degree. With the overlap taken into account, you only need 16 credits in total, so taking a French minor is totally doable!!

I totally don’t blame you for not figuring this out yourself though. The UTSC website sucks. *shakes fist at computer*

If you’re passionate about doing a French minor, do it. It’ll broaden your frontiers and give you a lot of valuable skills that you wouldn’t get from just a management specialist alone, as well as improves your marketability (if that’s what floats your boat). Don’t let those old dreams die.

As for how the management programs at each campus are different, I don’t really know. The types of your courses seem pretty similar. Anyway, there are other issues to consider – have you visited each campus? Doing that might give you an idea of which campus’s environment you like more. There might be other considerations, such as how far you live from each campus, whether you plan to live on residence, and so on. Oh, and of course, UTSC has co-op, if that’s important to you. The closest thing UTM and Rotman have is the PEY (Professional Experience Year), which is open to all undergraduate students. You may also want to check the fees for each institute, since cost may also be a factor in your decision. For instance, commerce students pay elevated fees in Years 2-4 at Rotman, and I believe the fees at UTSC/UTM are handled similarly. You can find more information on fees here (warning: prepare yourself for yet another confusing webpage).

As for Western and Schulich, they probably have different fees — you might want to check them up. Another thing to note is that you only enter Western’s Ivey program after 2nd year. The first two years are taken with another faculty, so it might give you the chance to explore another subject (like French!). On the other hand, if you want a more business-intensive program, you might feel like you are wasting your first two years away, so it might not be for you.

…I hope that post was long enough for you, because I’m exhausted from thinking too hard. Jeez, the things I do for you people.

Hey Aska,
do you know what is going to happen with this strike motion?
What does this mean for our semesters?
Thanks

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Ding Dong! The Strike is dead.

Hurrah! Now for the rest of the school year, we can look forward to living peacefully with our friends Midterm, Presentation, Problem Set and Essay. Ah. The good life.

Careful… she’s watching you when you–uh, never mind.

Hey, so I have a few questions about admission.

Right now I’m a Canadian citizen living in Minneapolis. I’m not sure how Minneapolis is relevant to my question, but I’m just throwing it out there.

Anyway, I really REALLY want to be accepted into UofT. It seems pretty sweet and my cousin went to Innis and reccommends it to me. Last year I had a GPA of about 3.3 (?, not sure though. I never paid enough attention). Right now I have no idea what my GPA is but I bet it’s bad. My current grades are C- (AP Literature), B (Advanced Pottery), A (Human Geography) and a C- in French 4.

I know you probably don’t want to calculate that GPA but yeah. I’m in the fall semester of my grade 12 year, and I plan on improving my grades a ton, but I think I’m sending my transcripts in a few months to the school. I took the SAT and did well on that though, and two SAT subject tests, which I haven’t gotten the scores back for yet. My

….

Ermm, uhh. Hey again . I just realized that it might help you to know that I’m planning on a psych major? Yeah. Life sciences I guess would be the program I’m trying for.

…also looking back at my original message, I cut off after my. Sorry about that.

I’ll continue it here.

..My ACT score was a 30, and I also took the AP Psychology and AP Composition tests, getting a 5 on both of them. I think a 5 is a perfect score too right? I’m somewhat hoping that my ACT and AP test scores will redeem me for having terrible grades this fall..also, my term ends on Nov 12 (there’s 2 terms in a semester.) and I’m planning on sending my grades and teacher recommendation letters sometime before December.

So yeah. I was just wondering if I completely screwed myself by not caring about my classes this fall, or if there’s still a chance that I could be admitted into the University of Toronto?

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Heads up. In University, you’ll have to teach yourself how to research effectively in order to expect to do well. Guess they don’t teach you that in Pottery class. But since you haven’t been disenchanted by the harsh reality of University yet (ah, I remember the days when “doing homework” meant going on MSN), I’ll begrudgingly do the research for you and direct you to the admissions site.

If you click around a bit, the site will tell you that you need a “high GPA and SAT Reasoning exams and three SAT Subject Tests”. Now, I’ll admit that this does sound a little ambiguous. Blame the admissions people. But just to give you a comparison, students from Ontario need low to mid 80s to be admitted into the Life Sciences stream. That’s an A-. The marks that you have now seem a bit low by comparison. But there’s definitely a possibility that your SAT and ACT scores will help your case. The admissions people said, “Successful applicants have presented scores of at least 600 in each SAT component and 26 in the ACT,” and your ACT score is obviously higher than that. As for whether or not you’d actually be accepted, no one knows except the admissions people, but there’s really no harm in just applying. Just remember to keep your options open, just in case.

I’m guessing a large part of the decision is probably based on the SAT though.

One thing. If you’re seriously planning on coming here, you really oughta change your attitude. U of T is not for the people who “don’t care about their classes”. As friend of aska puts it, if you’re one of those people, UofT will eat you alive.

Hey !So there’s a rumour going around and I was just wondering if it’s true. Apparently UofT accepts everyone for their first year and they make the first year courses really hard so the students will either fail or drop out.
Is the drop out rate high for first years? Also, are the first year courses really that hard or is it just these slackers who don’t have good work ethics?
Thanks!

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UofT was first founded in 1827 with the intention of robbing students of their money. Since then, it has historically taken the money of thousands of students per year. In fact, the influence of UofT is so great, that we’ve robbed Margaret Atwood, Paul Martin, and John Macleod, for their money. Anyway, UofT then blackmails each of its students into encouraging their friends and family to come to UofT, so that the cycle continues. You better be careful who you’re talking to. You never know if the people you’re sitting next to are UofT grads who are just waiting to get you when your turn comes.

In all seriousness. UofT is a university that is world-renowned in many categories, so obviously University is not going to be a cruise. You do not come here if you just want to laze around the next four years off your life. There are many other places where you can do that.

First year courses come as a shock to many, but a lot of it is also because University is very different than high school in almost every way—the way you’re taught is different, the environment is different, the people around you are different, yada yada. You’ll probably need a bit (or a lot) of time to make the transition. Of course, whether or not the courses are difficult, to you, also depends your abilities, interests, previous knowledge, and work ethic. Aska has actually heard that UofT actually has the highest retention rate (percentage of people who stay at the University after first year), though I’m not sure how much truth there is to that statement. Anyway, even if you fail a few courses, you can still continue in the University, so no, UofT certainly doesn’t fail people out.

Hi.

I am A. Currently I’m taking Eco105(Prof.Hare). I find hard time to
understand the subject and I feel I need more time to study it. I’m thinking
to drop this course and take it next summer. I’m planning to do IR and the
subject surely is required for the programme. Do you have any advice? Is it
safe to take it during summer? I heard that the structure of the course
depends on professor. Could my decision to drop will be risky?What is the
key to understand economic concepts? Seriously I feel like disaster and
horrible while having the lecture.

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Hi A. So you’re taking economics, huh?

Well, I just checked the Arts and Science calendar for the requirements for International Studies, and there are really a few things that you might just want to consider. First of all, aska has been told that unlike most subject POSts, International Studies only considers applicants to its program once every year, and that’s only during the first request period (April 1 to May 19). So if you take economics in the summer, you might have to wait until the next year to be accepted in the program at all. You might want to double check this with Trinity though. So go email them. Nao.

Second of all, summer courses are DEMANDING. You have to absorb the material that’s thrown at you at twice the rate you normally would. And from experience, the nice weather certainly does not help with motivation. That’s not to say you shouldn’t take a summer course—just don’t expect it to be any easier.

Third of all, you’ll notice that admission into the program requires a 3.0 GPA. That’s a B average. So if your economics mark has been REALLY low so far and is going to pull down your GPA substantially, that should be a factor in your decision as to whether or not to drop it. But this is definitely an issue that you may want to bring up with your registrar before you do anything hasty. BUT WAIT! What is that on the calendar under “Second and Third Years” for International Studies? *squints* Help me read that for you, would you?

What’s that? The International Studies program will require you to take more economics courses? Geez. Well, who would’ve known. You know what though? If you’re struggling with ECO105, you’re probably not gonna find the higher year economics classes any better. If you feel terrible in class, imagine how you’re gonna feel after year after year of economics?

Maybe you should take a moment or two to reflect on your own goals and why you want to be in International Relations. What is pushing you towards that field, and are there any other options that would will help satisfy your interests and that may be better suited for you? There are many other programs offered at UofT that have an “international” flavour: East Asian studies, European studies, and so on…

As for the key to understand economics concepts, I seriously have no idea. I’ve never taken an economics course in my life. In fact, my life has no purpose except to sit here answering questions like this for you people. Go talk to your prof, TA, and upper year students in economics.

As a last thought, your statement that you feel “like disaster” worries me a bit. I hope you are not starting to feel depressed in class. If you are, again, talk to your registrar or make an appointment with CAPS. This is all I can do for you. Take care.

Hi Aska,
After being an engineering student for 3 years, I finally discovered my true passion for history and philosophy of science. I would really like to get into the MA program there. How selective are they? I screwed up my first two years (somewhat) but my third and so far fourth year has been amazing. Do you have any direct or indirect understanding of the admission procedure and whether or not an engineering student who has been through Inferno can live to see her days at the lovely institute? Thank you

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Well, would you look what the wind blew in. An engineering student coming to aska for help? Do you know how much time aska has spent crying in the corner of his/her room after being viciously hurt by the engineers who insist on yelling “who do we hate? ARTSIES!” at him/her during Frosh week?! Do you know how many engineers have offended aska by telling him/her, “You’re in artsci, you have it easy”?

What’s that? You apologize? Aw, well, um, that’s okay, I guess. *blush*. That’s very sweet of you *giggle*.

Well, um, you should know that aska is affiliated with Innis College, which doesn’t have any connection whatsoever to grad school. So I can’t provide you any specific information on how selective the program is. Looking at the admission process though, it certainly seems quite competitive: “Admission to the MA program requires a four-year University of Toronto bachelor’s degree, or its equivalent from a recognized university with an average grade of at least a B+ in the final two years of undergraduate work. While the majority of accepted students exceed this standard, the very broad scope of the field and the variety of fruitful approaches to it also imply that many different backgrounds are appropriate. Accordingly, grades are only one criterion by which applicants are judged. These are minimum criteria and do not, in themselves, guarantee admission.”

Looks like you have your work cut out for you, honey. At least they don’t seem to care much about the marks you got during your first two years. In fact, they don’t seem to emphasize grades that much, so try to broaden your horizons a bit (I know engineering programs can be quite rigid), both in the courses you’re taking and in your extracurricular pursuits. Is there anything that you think will set you apart from the other applicants? – an engineering project? A month spent volunteering abroad? Job experience that could be applied to research in history and philosophy of science?

To become a full-fledged artsie, you have to scrape the purple dye off your toenails first (eww!). And don’t forget to pick up The Dummy’s Guide to Spelling from your local bookstore. You’re welcome . *blows a kiss*

Hello, im taking GER100Y1 and im wondering if its a hard or easy course. i really dont know what to expect. any insight for the course?

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Hello. You’ll notice on the Arts and Science calendar that the course description says that the course will be “intensive”. Now obviously there is some subjectivity in how “intensive” the course will be for everyone, but I’m guessing you’d need to put in a substantial amount of work into the course. According to the syllabus, you can’t even skip a lot of classes because you’d be given a participation mark. What a bummer.

Still. I would say if you have a genuine passion to learn a new language, do it. The results will be rewarding and the classes will be fun and immersive. You’ll have a lot of opportunities to speak the language during your classes and perhaps experience some German culture first-hand (maybe some German films, music, and the like). And the interest in the language that you share with your classmates will probably net you a few close friends or two. Besides, you’re in University —why not give it a try? University is not all about marks; it’s also about taking risks, exploring new areas, and trying new things. If you don’t like the course or it turns out to be too hard, you can always drop it.

Oh, and check out the anti-calendar. The course seems to have pretty high ratings, so if I were you, I’d give it a go. On the bright side, the “difficulty” rating seems to hover around 3-4, so maybe it’s not as “intensive” as they claim.

Hi,

I am a high school senior thinking of enrolling in the Rotman Commerce program at U of T next year. I plan to live on campus because I want that whole “university experience” that includes partying hard, making new friends, school spirit and etc.. One big concern I have is that since U of T is a commuter school that does not exist there, is it true?

Second, there are so many residences and colleges at U of T, I think it would be impossible to visit them all and I was wondering if you can suggest some for me. The criteria is as follows:

1. Lots of partying, always something to do

2. Dormitory style with double rooms

3. Good location, close to subway St. George station

4. Cafeteria preferably connected to the residence hall

I visited the Victoria College, and did not really like any of the residences, the one that was nice was an all female one, and I don’t want to be stuck in an all girls environment. Also, how far of a walk is it from 89 Chestnut to the Rotman Commerce building.

Thanks in advance.

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Hiiii. I’m glad to hear that you have school spirit and are excited to meet new people, BUT your insistence on “partying hard” is making alarm bells go off in my head! “The university experience” also includes:

• getting accustomed to walking to 9 am midterms in the snow
• getting owned by two midterms on the same day (with no break in between)
• going onto the course website and repeatedly refreshing until your marks come out, and
• either breathing out a sigh of relief when you realized you’ve passed, or crying your eyes out while resolving to do better on your next midterm

No, no, no. You would NOT want to miss out on these wonderful, life-changing events. Seriously. You won’t even remember partying after you wake up (after having passed out from all that alcohol, if it’s your thing), but you will keep these midterm memories for a very long time indeed. In UofT we have a saying: work hard, party hard. Partying is good and fun and all, but remember that you are also here for academics (besides, I hope your parents aren’t paying your tuition.)

What’s that? I should actually give you some actual information about the residences so your eyes would stop rolling themselves around in their sockets?

Geez. I was just getting to that. I don’t HAVE to help you, you know, but since I’m such a nice guy/girl, I will. For starters, you should check out this site, which gives you some basic information about the residences. Innis and Woodsworth have suite-style rooms, so I would not recommend them to you. All the other colleges’ residences are dorm-styled. As for proximity to the transit stations, Victoria College is pretty close to Museum station, Innis and Woodsworth are pretty close to St. George, and New is close to the Spadina streetcar (which you can take North to Spadina station). I believe UC and New have residences that are connected to their cafeterias. Friend of aska says that Chestnut is the party rez. Whether or not to take her advice is up to you – though the walk from Chestnut to Rotman is pretty darn far. According to google maps, it’s around 30 minutes. (Keep in mind that in the winter, you’ll have to walk in the snow too.) Also, another-friend-of-aska says that Chestnut doesn’t give you the “rez experience” because it’s more like a hotel than a dormitory.

…great. I’ve just spent around an hour browsing downtown Toronto using Streetview. Thanks a lot.

Oh, and don’t forget to consider the price of the residences. Here’s a link to the electronic copy of the viewbook too, if you need it.

You know what though? Like all good things in life, you can’t have everything. As far as I know, no rez at UofT really satisfies all of your criteria. Prioritize what you want from your rez life, maybe visit a couple more of the residences and colleges, and then pick the one that seems to suit you best – that’s all there is to it.

Lastly, remember that, as you’re in commerce, you’re also be exposed to a myriad of social events, internships, and other opportunities. Make sure to take advantage of those too.

Hey Aska!
Its my first year at U of T and I’ll be commuting.. Just wondering if you have some advice for meeting people and getting involved.. I just feel like it will be hard meeting people not living in res, can you really make friends in big lecture halls?
Thanks c

‘Tis true. Residence is a pretty easy way to make friends, and NO you really can’t make friends in big lecture halls. BUT residence is also an easy way to make enemies, and there are tonnes of opportunities to make friends on your way to and from big lecture halls.

Let me just say that I had a positive experience in residence, but an easy criticism is that it’s like a continuation of high school (with the same level of gossip, but in a more sophisticated vocabulary). You would make friends in res, but primarily through proximity, not necessarily mutual interest/compatibility.

You have already touched upon possibly the best way to make friends at U of T: getting involved.

Whether you are joining a student society, a club, or an intramural sports team – participating in extracurricular activities gives you a strong chance of meeting people… that you like.

Each College and Department typically has an undergrad student union. I know a bunch of Cinema kids involved that way, and they love it. There are clubs aligned with spirituality, hobbies, political parties… and there are tonnes of student newspapers you can contribute to. I’ll stop listing examples of groups to join, because there are hundreds at the university. The Clubs Fair, happening on Friday, September 4^th, is a good way to see what your options are.

But let’s be serious for a moment. Not EVERYONE wants to play a sport. And not EVERYONE is a “clubs” type, which tends to be a specific breed of student (characterized by an ultra-peppy and cliquey ability to over-achieve).

Speaking of student societies, I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Attend Frosh Week and have fun. I mean that in the active sense. Try to get the most out of the experience. There’s nothing I hate more than too-cool-for-school-kids who hide their insecurities by sulking about how “lame” Frosh activities are. Your college’s Student Society will provide other structured opportunities for you to meet people throughout the school year (ski trips, pub nights, formals).

Clubs, sports, social events… what else? Class.

I met some of my favourite people in class. Small classes. Seminars. Tutorials; the type of classroom setting where you have to say your name before you speak. Not only are you forced to talk to your classmates, but sharing a class with someone suggests that you also have some common interests. Where else can one enjoy a marathon conversation with someone about reconstructing morpho-syntactic structure and inflectional paradigms in proto-Semitic?

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

I am happy to hear that you’re keen to engage in a social network downtown. It seems that the tendency for uninvolved commuters is to leave the city immediately after class, and return to their circle of high school friends – only to return en masse to Richmond St. later that evening in a their parents’ minivans, sporting bejewelled halter tops, excessive eye-liner and 7-UP bottles half-filled with vodka.

That was an unfair characterization. Crystal light is clearly the new 7-UP.

Maybe I’m just bitter because I grew up in rural Eastern Ontario and had dropped all of my high school friends before I even got here. Call me an a-hole, but a boy can only listen to small town folk inappropriately pluralizing words for so long (”yous guys,” “eatin’ at Subways,” etc.). As you can see my campaign to make university friends was born out of necessity.

Generally speaking, I do think that it is really important to expand your social scene at University. This is especially true in a city like Toronto, where you have an opportunity to meet a diverse range of people. Alas, I am preaching to the choir, for you are the one who is asking about making friends.

So, I will conclude with my best advice, which is to be OPEN to meeting new people. Sometimes the best way to make friends is a less desperate/aggressive approach. Sit directly beside someone in lecture, arrive five minutes early to tutorial to engage in small talk, take off your oversized sunglasses and undersized earphones as soon as you enter a building, don’t wear Axe.

If all else fails, substitute human friends with small dogs… or iPhones.

hard to admit, but being a mama’s girl my mom is coming with me to toronto for few weeks during frosh week to settle me into my residence etc (teaching me how to use the laundry machine to avoid ‘everything is pink because of one red sock’ situation, etc etc)
but through sept 3rd and 18th there seems to be no hotel rooms available for booking
would it be possible for her to stay with me in my residence during her stay? I have a single room so maybe?

Listen, I am a proud Mama’s boy who couldn’t even recognize a washer/dryer upon entrance to residence – so I can understand where you are coming from. It is BECAUSE I can relate to you that I’m about to serve up some tough love.

Are you honestly considering having your Mom stay with you for the first 15 days of university?! Really? I think this is a bad idea for reasons three.

One. These are two of the most socially decisive weeks of your uni experience. You will seriously limit your ability to make friends and engage in (planned or impromptu) activities. Unless you have one of those vicarious mothers who’ll wear tubes tops while serving up strawberry daiquiris to your girlfriends – you cannot argue that you will be undermining your social life before it has the chance to develop.

You’ve signed up for Frosh week right? If not go sign up now! Seriously. Go.

Okay, you’re back. Now, that you’re doing Frosh, what is your poor mother going to do with herself while you are pre-occupied with all of these exciting events? Water fights and face paint? No.

Two. You have a single room? Is it part of a suite? Do you share common spaces like a living room or bathroom? Think about the situation that you will be putting your neighbours in? The presence of a parental figure would certainly be a damper on the local scene. In fact it would just be awkward for everyone involved.     

Does your residence have a limit on the number of consecutive nights a guest can stay? Find out.

Three. I GET that your Mom loves you, and wants to ease your transition. I really do.

I GET that you want your Mom around to teach you the in and outs of domesticity, and to be a familiar face when you are entering a new environment. BUT you should know that there is something to be said for learning independence… independently from your parents.

University is so much more than memorizing crap in class. It is about stepping out from under the protective parental umbrella, and tackling the challenges and nuances of daily living – face on. And you won’t be alone. Everyone shares these uncertainties.

I had a friend who poured bowls of cookies for breakfast, and put liquid detergent in the dryer. Did we judge her? No, we helped her and became better friends because of it.

Why don’t you be proactive and help your Mom with laundry and cooking now, before you leave? She’ll love it for more than one reason, and you’ll have a head start when you get to school.

Perhaps your Mom could visit for a couple days in the second or third week of class (when you’ve actually accumulated enough laundry to do a load). I would plan it tentatively, as you may very well find that you aren’t as incompetent as you once thought.

Sound reasonable? I really hope so, because I am not kidding around.

Hmmm… this one felt a little heavy for a Friday afternoon. How about we lighten the mood with a little spice a la 1997?

Oooh, that actually just made things even heavier, didn’t it? My bad.

With each course that I want to take comes a tutorial. Now I’m reading about them but it’s just not clicking. Are they classes (after the lecture) that further the students understanding of the lecture?

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Every time I send a new question, I think of a new one! So this one is:

I understand that beside courses it says [_L] and [_T]
But under Vic college, I’m looking at a bunch of humanities courses and instead of L and T it says [_S] [_P]

So whats S and P?

Two questions. Same student. Same day. Normally I wouldn’t indulge such a desperate plea for aska’s attention. BUT, your first question is irresistibly basic – yet important, and I actually didn’t know the answer to the second. So, here goes…

“With each course… comes a tutorial.” In my head I read that like a cheesy, white, male voice actor excitedly announcing on an infomercial.  Like a tutorial is some sort of bonus if you “enroll within the next 30 minutes!!” I’ve never heard a tutorial sound more exciting! With that attitude, I suspect you will do quite well in school, my dear.

So, what IS a tutorial?? To an upper-year student this question is almost amusingly obvious – but then I realized… I had NO IDEA what they were when I came to U of T. In fact, I think I was scared of them ( “Will I have to speak…. out loud?!”). A great question, asker.

A tutorial can takes many different forms, but is more or less “a class.”

A tutorial intends to supplement the lecture material. It may be a re-iteration of the Prof’s discussion. It may be an in-depth debriefing of required readings. It is always a chance to seek clarification.    

A tutorial is facilitated by a T.A. (teaching assistant), who is more often than not a grad student. If you have an undergrad as a T.A. you know that they are either a) a big deal, or b) so far up the Prof’s @#% that you don’t know where one ends and the other begins. In upper years, it’s not uncommon for the Profs themselves to conduct the tutorial.  

A tutorial may require passive or active participation. The T.A. might give a mini-lecture while you sit, write, and ask questions. The T.A. might facilitate a dialogue between the students. The T.A. may also administer quizzes. It is really common for students to have to prepare a five-minute presentation or lead a group discussion as well. 

A tutorial is smaller than the general class. 15-30 students is the usual range.

A tutorial is almost always 1-hour long.

A tutorial may be enrolled in on ROSI, or be signed up for in the first week of class. Once the Prof announces, “Okay, come to the front and sign up for your tutorial” – your bland, sterile, Sid Smith classroom will transform into a warm summer’s morning on the cobbled streets of Pamplona. Except the bull horn that trails inches from your thoracic vertebra is actually the ballpoint pen of a Polish girl who commutes daily from Mississauga.

A tutorial is usually mandatory. That is to say, they take attendance for 5% of your grade. If no grade is assigned you should still go. That’s right… should. But I’ll leave the guilt trip up to your own superego. Besides the obvious, one benefit of going is that your T.A. will begin to recognize you, and dare I say like you. Don’t tell me that won’t help when they come across your essay at the bottom of a pile of 200. A second plus is that you can meet friends in tutorials. It happens all the time, I swear. A tutorial is just small, conversational and informal enough to lay the foundation for some lasting bondage.   

A tutorial is almost never held in the first week of class, especially if the timeslot precedes the lecture (don’t go, no one will be there).

A tutorial may occur weekly, or less frequently. The total tutorial hours are indicated in the Calendar Listing.

E.g. HIS104Y1      Ten Days That Shook The World [48L, 24T] (pg. 262). The “24T” means that there are 24 tutorial hours across both Fall and Winter terms. This is approximately once per week.   

That was THE perfect segue, to answering your next question.

 [__S] = Seminar: essentially a hybrid of lecture and tutorial. It will be a smaller class with the expectation that you speak now and then. Like high school. With less melodrama. Probably.    

[__P] = Practical, aka laboratory, aka lab. In first year, these are usually held every other week.

P.s. Speaking of Salt and Pepper. Did you hear that all of a sudden salt is healthy for us now?! What’s next, poutine and cigarettes?!?

Hi,

I’m doing a budget for the coming school year (aka figuring out how much money I can spend on Thai takeout/going to shows/clothes/other fun stuff whilst still having enough to feed myself) and have general figures for all my expenses except books. Could you give me a ball-park estimate of what a first-year Humanities student should expect to spend on books? I’m taking an economics course, a german course, and three social sciences courses, if that helps.

Thanks!

Before I answer your question, I want to say that… in the first week of class you will receive a course syllabus from your Prof. This will list the exact required readings for the course, and where you can pick them up – officially. Generally, it is not a good idea to buy your books before attending your first class. It’s common for students to switch up courses in the first week. You don’t want to have spent a billion dollars on books for courses that you ain’t takin’. Then again, you could avoid bookstore lineups by going early for courses that you know you MUST take. 

But for now, for you… an estimate of book costs… yes. Let’s get down to business.

There are two ways to answer your question:

The standard response is… one thousand dollars. This is a very rough estimation, based on an equally approximate average of $200 per full course, or $100 per half course. Again, this is rough math (the only kind a humanities student like you really knows). Also, Humanities course books will certainly be cheaper than Science courses, namely because there are no goggles or lab coat required to read Shakespeare. What I am basing these numbers on? The word of a financial aid advisor, costs of books at the U of T bookstore, personal experience, and the positioning of the moon in the seventh house.

If you want a more accurate estimate of your course book costs, you can try to find out the prices for each course. I did some investigative work based on what you said you’re taking.

ECO100Y: Intro to Economics: for the Summer offering of this course, the U of T bookstore sold the course pack for $145.50.

GER100Y: Intro to German I: the German Department actually publishes its 2009-10 course syllabi online (amazing). The required textbook is listed there, and costs $45 on amazon.com. If it is sold at the Bookstore it will cost more. I promise.

POL103Y: Canada in Comparative Perspective: the Bookstore sold this book for $100 for the Summer offering of the course. Amazon.com is selling it for $95. Wooo. There is also a course reader (a bound collection of journal articles) that is required and typically costs around $100.

POL108Y1: Global Networks: last year’s course had three required readings that are available at the U of T Women’s Bookstore (where all the cool books are). Online they cost $10 + $10 + $15. Weekly readings are actually posted (for free) on the course website. Double wooo.

SOC101Y: Intro to Sociology: Prof. Brym actually designated a series of his OWN books as required readings. This is a moderately irritating cash grab, but then again, if you ain’t a Rotman Prof you ain’t exactly ballin’. The costs on the publisher’s website are: $104 + $60 + $23 = $187. You also need to buy an “iClicker” from the Bookstore for $35 – which is all the rage in Con Hall these days.    

Okay! I’m exhausted. The point in doing all of this research is less about giving you exact monetary sums, and more about showing you the different ways of finding out what + how much your books are. Got it Watson?

Now, that was an “official” response to the issue of buying books… but the starving student response is… considerably cheaper. Below is a list of alternative methods/tips for getting your course books without succumbing to the inflated prices of the man.

a) Check out the library system: U of T’s library collection is friggin huge (the plus side of being at a massive university). Depending on how large your course is and how frequently the readings are required, you may be able to get by signing them out. Typically, Profs will put a few copies of a course reader in the “course reserves” section of the library. This limits your sign-out period to a day or two, or maybe the books can’t leave library. You can photocopy select readings from these if you want too.

b) Differentiate between required and recommended readings: when you’re poor… the word “recommended” takes on a new meaning – if you catch my drift. Usually these books are only useful if you are totally struggling, you are an ultra-keener, or for when you are writing essays. 

c) Locate second hand bookstores. There is one across from the bookstore on College St. They have new and used books, and they are cheaper. Just find out if the editions are the same (they change very minimally every other year or so… just to milk us for more money). The Prof will tell you if an older edition will suffice.   

d) Buy books directly from students who have taken the course last year. You will often find advertisements in res bulletin boards. Check these out even if you don’t live there.

e) As suggested before, ordering from amazon.com, or directly from the publisher may be cheaper… depending on the shipping cost. 

f) This may or may not be illegal… buuuut you can possibly photocopy a library’s copy of the entire textbook. Here’s what you do: get your hands on a copy of the textbook from the library, gather up a bunch of friends/acquaintances in your course, take the book to a local copy centre (the less mainstream, the better), and order as many copies as required. Why is this awesome? It’s waaay cheaper. Your fellow copyright infringers and you will become instant fugitives… I mean friends. And your version will come in a coiled binding that you won’t feel bad about defacing with highlighting and scribbles.  

 If I had even half of a moral in my body I would NOT suggest this on a University-sponsored forum, like askastudent. Lucky for you I don’t. So do it, but don’t go telling people I told you to. Do we understand each other?! I thought so.

The flipside to buying cheap books is selling old books. Post ads in residences or sell them back to the bookstore. This is actually quite a viable option. Apparently you can get back up to 50% of the original cost.

Will all the money that you save on books might I suggest spending it this way….

Indian takeout from Banjara

Muchos nachos at the Green Room (beware of funky draught beer)

Performances by the Drama Program at the Helen Garpheghasdfhgeklfns Playhouse

Streetcar + ferry ride + bike rental + picnic on Toronto Island

Get fancy and have one drink at Panorama (a better view than the CN tower will offer… because you can actually see the CN tower)

Classic/Alternative/Delayed movies at the Bloor Cinema (get a membership)