• admissions,  math,  prereqs

    another mathless student

    March 1, 2024

    hi, I’m currently in highschool in India (not a Canadian citizen) and am trying to get into UofT for chemical engineering. Unfortunately I did not take math in 11th grade, despite being excellent at it. How can I still apply for the undergrad? Should I complete math courses from TVO ILC? Thank you.

    hey there,

    well, first of all, you’re not alone. i’ve recently received some similar questions about not taking math prerequisites in high school.

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    so, to apply to chemical engineering at u of t, you’ll be applying under the admission code TB to the faculty of applied science and engineering. that means you’re looking at the admission requirements for all applicants to the faculty of applied science and engineering. according to their website, this includes senior level courses in mathematics (including calculus), chemistry, physics, and english.

    (also, if you’re interested, there is a specific section at the bottom of this site on requirements and document details specific to each country).

    and so we’ve got ourselves in a little bit of a situation here. your program requires that you take senior level high school math, but you haven’t taken grade 11 math yet. here’s the good news: the engineering website says that in the case that you haven’t taken one of these prerequisites, you can complete the grade 12 ontario high school equivalent prerequisite subject. furthermore, they actually recommend completing the course through the independent learning centre (ILC), so yes, to answer your question, you can complete math courses from TVO ILC.

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    but hold on, let’s dial it back for a sec. i noticed that you’re only asking about grade 11 math. to my understanding, you would actually need grade 12 level math to meet the admission requirements, since they specify that calculus is included. meanwhile, i looked at the ILC website for you, and it also seems like you’ll need grade 11 math as a prerequisite for the grade 12 math courses on there. so i think you might need to take both grade 11 and 12 math on the ILC, unless there’s a way for you to somehow bypass the grade 11 prerequisite.

    just keep in mind that for ontario school systems, the admission requirements specifically ask for two grade 12 math courses:

    1. advanced functions (MHF4U)
    2. calculus & vectors (MCV4U), which requires advanced functions as a prerequisite

    so if you’re taking your grade 12 math prerequisite through the ILC, which is within the ontario school system, i think you would need to take both of these courses. the international student admission requirements are “senior level courses in mathematics (including calculus)”, which probably means you need the calculus & vectors course. but according to the ILC website, to take calculus, you need advanced functions. and to take advanced functions, apparently you need a grade 11 math course.

    blegh, that was a mouthful. so many prerequisites! for your sake, i am glad you’re good at math.

    anyways i really hope i’m understanding this right. just keep in mind that this is just my best interpretation of what steps you need to take, and don’t follow this blindly. i would actually really recommend that you directly contact the engineering admissions office at admissions@engineering.utoronto.ca to make sure you’re doing all of this right. and if you’re still confused, you can shoot me another question!

    good luck! i hope it all works out for you.

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    over and out,

    aska

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  • failing,  prereqs,  repeating course

    prereqs do be wrecking

    December 19, 2023

    desperately need some help. i kinda did really bad in 3/5 of my courses. i passed my bird courses but the 3/5 that I’m pretty sure I failed….kinda need them. I’m taking the part 2 of those classes next quarter. and I’m taking extra required courses in the summer….what do I do…

    i saw this thing on reddit that the part 2 of classes, I might be kicked out if I did bad first semester. do I take those courses again second semester? can’t I take those in the summer…or do I take my part two classes next year. I’m scared for my life I’m sorry for the long question

    hey there,

    first of all, do not be sorry, my dude. this is not a long question at all.

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    just to be clear on the situation: you may have failed courses that you need as prerequisites for your classes next quarter and over the summer?

    what i’d do is double-check if there’s a certain grade threshold you need to meet in these courses to fulfill your prerequisite requirements. if there isn’t a grade threshold, you don’t need to worry about being kicked out for doing poorly in those prerequisite classes. you just need to make sure you pass the courses.

    if there is a grade threshold you need to meet and you don’t meet it, or if you fail the courses, then you unfortunately won’t be able to take the “part 2” courses you have scheduled, nor will you be able to take anything else that has the same prerequisites. the likelihood is that someone in the department will check whether you have the prereqs at some point in the semester, and if they find out that you don’t have them, you can be removed from those courses at any time.

    so if you don’t fill your prerequisites this semester, it may be best to focus on filling them next semester, and taking your “part 2” courses in the summer instead.

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    also, remember not to trust everything on reddit! it’s a good starting point but we see well-meaning misinformation on there all the time. the best thing to do is usually to hit up your registrar. it’s definitely best to ask them what to do since they help people in your exact situation all the time.

    i hope everything turns out okay, sending love and encouragement! this sounds really stressful too, so if you ever need extra support, here is a resource that might be helpful.

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    over and out,

    aska

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  • prereqs,  repeating course

    the sky’s the limit! and by “sky”, i mean “second time”

    June 7, 2023

    Do extra repeated courses count as prerequisites for a course?

    hi there,

    ah, a short, sweet, and simple question. i like it. i like you. 

    Happy Stephen Colbert GIF by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert

    yes. according to the academic calendar’s policy, you are able to repeat a previously passed course to meet a prerequisite.

    here are some things to note about extra repeated courses: first, they don’t count towards degree credit or your GPA, and you are only allowed to repeat the course one time — you won’t get a third try at it. also, you have to request to enrol in one at your college registrar’s office. and finally, if you reaally want to make sure that it would be counted, you could check with the department that’s requiring the prerequisites by emailing them.

    over and out,

    aska

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  • prereqs,  prospective student,  psychology,  subject POST

    throwback to the psych major era

    February 20, 2023

    hi aska, i’m a grade 12 hs student who got accepted into uoftstg for social science. i’m looking to major in psych, and i failed to realize that uoft doesn’t offer a psych BA. my problem is is that i don’t have the gr 12 prerequisites of calc or bio. my question is: uoft’s social science page they state, “at the end of your first year, you can combine programs outside of your own admission category” does this mean i can double major and enrol in the psych program despite of my missing prerecs?

    hello there young one,

    congrats on your acceptance! so after the barrage of psych major questions we got last semester, i’m prepared — this post from december is all about high school prereqs for psych at uoft and pretty much answers your question i think… (done. that’s it. that’s the post. do i just… go now?)

    but in the spirit of recycling, lemme hash out some of the main things about high school prereqs here… and some other things. basically, after first year, you’ll have to apply for your POSt, which is just uoft’s fancy name for your specific program, which doesn’t have to be within your admissions stream. you can definitely mix and match and jump around different majors/minors/specialists in all different areas of uoft arts and science. but preqrequisites are prerequisites, and the psych programs all list gr. 12 calc and bio as prereqs so chances are you’ll have to get those credits in order to be accepted. you should definitely email the psych department just to check (psy.undergrad@utoronto.ca) with them first, though.

    if you do have to complete those prerequisites, you could try to take them in the summer before university, or through night school/online options if they’re offered by your school board.

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    they should be completed by the end of your first year at the latest, because that’s around the time you typically apply for POSt — although you should also confirm that with the department just in case they ask for the prereqs following a different timeline. hope that helps!

    best of luck,

    aska

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  • current student,  prereqs,  psychology

    psych major questions make a comeback (ft. high school prereqs)

    September 15, 2022

    I have been trying to find an answer to this question everywhere, but it seems like not alot of people have been in this situation. Long story short, I have yet to be accepted into the PSY major (intend to graduate with a double major in PSY + SOC); however, I will complete all the required courses for both programs by December 2022. The issue is, I do not have the HS courses required for the PSY program. Will I still need to complete those to be accepted into program?

    hey there,

    so you’re right, i don’t have experience with this personally — but my guess is that you probably do need to get those hs prereqs. for example, the utm psychology website says, quite emphatically, that hs prereqs are “NEVER waived for any reason”. utsg psychology hasn’t put up any info about waiving hs prerequistes for their programs but seem rather strict about not waiving psy course prerequisites. i haven’t seen much about utsc, but… you get the idea. i’d definitely recommend emailing the psychology department to ask directly and make sure, but the general vibe that i’m getting is that they probably won’t accept you without those prereqs.

    Shrug Really GIFfrom Shrug GIFs

    luckily, missing hs prereqs aren’t all that uncommon (i’m lowkey drawing stuff from this other post with a very similar issue) and if you do need the hs courses, you can take them in summer school or night school with the tdsb, or any other school board that offers it. maybe not the most fun times, but at least you won’t be stuck with that missing prereq forever.

    hope that helps and good luck!

    aska

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  • current student,  math,  prereqs,  UTSC

    gr 12 math strikes back

    September 2, 2022

    hi aska! so im going into my first year at utsc, there are some courses that sound really interesting but the pre-reqs for most of them are grade 12 math which i completely avoided taking. is there any way (even if its not this year) that i can ever take the courses?

    hi there and welcome!

    don’t worry, you won’t be doomed because of that pesky prereq, at least not forever. i would recommend first emailing the instructor to ask if you can have the prerequisite waived.

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    some courses allow this, however you will still be responsible for getting caught up on the material, of course. depending on how comfortable you are with learning the math, and whether or not the instructor is allowing waivers for the course in the first place, this may or may not work for you.

    you can also get credit for grade 12 math through tdsb night school (registration is still open i believe) or summer school, which both have remote and in person options. i’m sure other school boards and even private companies offer similar services to get high school credits, too, which you could look into.

    as a disclaimer, i haven’t personally taken night school/summer school courses so i can’t give much of a review, but i’ve heard that they can be more relaxed than their normal school counterparts, which sounds great unless you’re hoping to take a very math-heavy course. if you end up wanting more of a math background, uoft’s math department has the pump program which is a series non-credit summer courses that reviews high school math to prep for university.

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    i hope that answers your questions, and good luck with all that math!

    aska

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  • choosing,  courses,  current student,  prereqs

    course selections is like tetris but more frustrating

    March 5, 2022

    Hello! I was wondering… if we’re supposed to take classes for our enrolled major (second year) but also want to enroll at the end of our second year for another major- how do we balance our course load to take the prerequisites AND our major requirements? Thanks a bunch 🙂

    hey there,

    hope second year is going well~ i’d probably prioritize the courses you need to enter the major you wanna apply for, and then try to fit in the courses/prereqs you need for your current major.

    for most majors, there’s no strict requirement on what year you take your courses in, so you could take some of your 200-level courses next year if needed, and just generally mix and match the different course levels as long as you have the prerequisites.

    you might want to plan everything out on degree explorer to make sure that you’ll have all the prereqs you need for upper year courses. course planning is kind of a pain but there’s also something satisfying when you finally get all of those forty-something coloured blocks to fit in your plan :’)

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    hope that helps,

    aska

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  • admissions,  prereqs

    be freeeee my child (from math)

    January 23, 2022

    Hi I am going into grade 12 and I was wondering if I needed to take grade 12 functions to get into UofT? I’m really weak in math and I just know that if I took advanced functions, it would make my average drop significantly. The program I want to get into only requires me to take English as a course so would it be necessary for me to take math?

    hey there,

    apologies for the late reply!! but it looks like you’re already on the right track by checking out the requirements for your program!

    i’m assuming you’re applying from a canadian high school, in which case, you just need to submit your top six grade 12 courses, including english (ENG4U or EAE4U). you can find more info here. so if the program you’re interested in doesn’t require advanced functions, you don’t need to take it!

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    i think you probably know where to find the program requirements, but just in case, you can check out specific programs from the full list here, or get a really good breakdown of programs by categories here.

    the only other thing i’d recommend to look out for is if any of the courses you might want to take in the future have advanced functions as a prerequisite. the arts and science calendar is a real godsend for listing all the programs, and their courses, and the prereqs of those courses, so if you have a program in mind you can definitely check it out to be sure!

    so yeah, bascially, you should be all good! hope you’re living your best math-free life~

    aska

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  • prereqs

    very vague and mysterious of you

    June 12, 2021

    I’m currently in high school and I’m planning on taking a course in the summer to meet the requirements of my condition. Has anyone done this before and can you share what the process was like?

    ———————————————

    hi there!

    i’m not really sure what you mean by the requirements of your condition… do you mean your conditional acceptance?

    without more information, i’m not sure that i can answer this in a helpful way. i do know that people take summer courses to meet course prerequisites — one common summer course to take is calculus. if you’re worried about meeting math prereqs, you can look into the PUMP program, which is a u of t-run course that addresses that specific worry.

    i’ve never taken a supplementary summer course myself, so unfortunately i can’t tell you what it’s like!

    but i would recommend reaching out to your registrar’s office to ask about the process, and clarify what hoops you might need to jump through (submitting transcripts etc). even if you haven’t started your first year yet, you can book appointments with an academic advisor if you’ve been admitted to the school.

    sorry i couldn’t be more helpful, and best of luck with this!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • courses,  prereqs,  subject POST

    it can indeed be done

    June 1, 2021

    Hey Aska! I’m a grade 12 student. I’m going to UofT next year in the Life Science admission category. The truth of the matter is, I am very interested in two very different programs (life sci and poli sci). My understanding is that you can double major in programs from two different admission categories, even though you’re only allowed one admission category. Is that right? Also, do different majors have prereqs? And if they do, do you think it will be possible to fit them all in my schedule?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    congrats on accepting your offer of admission! it’s great to hear that you’re interested in different programs — i honestly think the people who study super different things, like chemistry and history, are the coolest people on campus.

    your understanding is correct — it’s totally okay to double major in programs from two different admission categories. different majors do have different prerequisites, though. you can find out what those prerequisites are by consulting the appropriate program entries in the arts and science calendar. in nearly all cases, it is possible to fit those prerequisites in your schedule with a little careful planning. degree explorer is your friend here.

    in first year, your admission category will afford you priority enrolment for certain courses — since you’re in lifesci, that means it’ll be easier to get into things like BIO120. but i wouldn’t say this will necessarily stop you from registering in humanities or social sciences prerequisites. plenty of people do it, and if you encounter difficulties, you can also reach out to your registrar’s office for help. in fact, if you want to have a chat with an academic advisor before your course enrolment begins, you should be able to book those kinds of appointments over the summer.

    hope this helped, and a very early welcome to u of t!

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • chem,  prereqs,  UTM

    check yourself before you (pre)req yourself

    June 29, 2020

    Hi, I am a first year going into the chemical and physical sciences program at UTM. I am looking to take a specialist in Biological Chemistry after the first year so I looked at the classes I should take. The problem is that many of the math courses require a minimum of 70% in Advanced functions and this past year I had an awful teacher and received my worse high school mark of 66% in her class. I also took Calculus and got an 83%. Will I be able to take the math courses?

    ——————————————

    hey there!

    congrats on committing to u of t and starting the lil adventure that is university!

    for a question like this, i’d recommend reaching out to the UTM chemistry department (probably the undergrad program administrator, specifically) and asking about your case. i’m not sure how they deal with situations like this, and it would be best to go directly to the source. there’s a chance you might need to take an online high-school level advanced functions course and get a higher grade in order to meet the prerequisite? but they’d be the ones to confirm that.

    i wouldn’t recommend registering in the course without the prerequisite, because departments will usually go into your records to check that you’ve met the requirements. if they find out that you don’t, you’ll be removed from the course with no warning, which will cause you a lot of unnecessary stress. 10/10 would not recommend.

    i hope the chem department is able to shed some light on what you should do! good luck with this.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • admissions,  biology,  prereqs

    broaden your horizons, or whatever

    February 28, 2020

    Questions! (I was recently accepted into the faculty of arts and science! Yay!) *deep breath* Here I go: I hope you won’t judge me but I didn’t take any science or math courses in Grade 12 simply because I thought majoring in English would satisfy me. (I severly limited myself, I know, and I’ve been regretting everything) The thing is, I’m now looking at all of these awesome programs that require math, bio, etc. and I was wondering if uoft let’s students take the classes required for those programs that you don’t have the high school prerequisites for. ie. You need to take a bio course for a genome major, but that bio course requires you to have taken grade 12 bio. Is it possible to still get into a more science and math oriented programs? It sounds impossible just typing it out because I don’t know if I would even be able to catch up to university level courses.

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    congrats on your acceptance!

    honestly, you’re thinking about these things pretty early on– you’re in a much better position to catch up than, say, someone who realized the same thing in september of your first year. it’s really cool that your interests are broadening and you’re thinking about what will fulfill you. genomes? dang, dude. that’s some cool stuff.

    i wouldn’t say the game is over for you. as far as i can tell, these are your options:

    • contact the biology department

    i looked up the requirements for the genome major, even though i don’t know if it’s really what you’re interested in or if you just mentioned it as an example. it looks like you are correct and they will be looking at the high school courses you took to determine your eligibility for required courses like BIO120 and BIO130. but both course descriptions mention that you can get in touch with the course office if you don’t have the required prereqs. i’m guessing this means that they have some form of policy for dealing with students lacking prereqs. while i’m not sure what that is, i’m hopeful that they’d be able to provide you with some guidance on this issue.

    if you’re interested in programs other than genome biology and run into the same issue, i’d follow the same path and contact the department. they’re usually the ones who will know whether exceptions can be made for you, and/or what your best course of action is. department contact info can usually be found under the program listing on the artsci calendar. 

    • take summer school

    if your summer is unoccupied and the thought of spending the lovely months of july and august in a classroom doesn’t make you want to soak your pillowcase in tears, then covering those science/math prereqs in the summer is always an option.

    i still think you should contact the relevant u of t departments first, just to make sure that you don’t unnecessarily pile on schoolwork in the summer. i also don’t really know how many prereqs you think you need, and whether those could plausibly be completed over your break. i don’t know how it works for you, but what i remember from taking summer school in high school was that you were limited to two courses at a time???? obviously, that’s probably different in different systems/provinces/countries etc.

    it may also be important to note that once you complete those courses, you should provide proof of completion to your registrar/the department. the department is allowed to kick you out of a course as soon as they realize you don’t have the prereqs, which can even happen in the first few weeks of school. i don’t really want you to have to deal with that nasty surprise, so this has been your heads up.

    • take online courses

    you can also consider taking your prereq courses online. if you’re in ontario, ontario virtual school will probably be able to help you out. if you’re not in ontario, you can try talking to your high school guidance counsellor– ask them to point you in the right direction re: reputable online schools. from what i remember about high school online courses, you can start them whenever and finish them whenever. that might give you a little more flexibility– if you feel up to it, you can get started now and have those transcripts ready much, much earlier.

    best of luck with everything! i wouldn’t say it’s impossible to catch up, maybe just a bit more work. hope this helped and congratulations again on your acceptance.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • arts & sciences,  courses,  CR/NCR,  credits,  enrollment,  enrolment,  GPA,  prereqs,  repeating course

    we love a good second chance

    February 18, 2019

    Hey, so I wanted to know if you can retake a course you “no credited”? I want to major in sociology but I took only SOC102, LWD SOC103, and NCR SOC150 ( first 2 yrs were tough) There’s only certain combinations allowed and my only hope really is if I’m allowed to try SOC150 again.  Any advice?!

    Thanks!

    ——————————————

    hi there,

    did some digging for ya, and i’m not gonna lie– initially, it looked like it was gonna be bad news. as far as the artsci website says, you shouldn’t ever cr/ncr a course if there’s even a remote chance you’ll need it for program enrolment. the implication being, you don’t have many options if you’ve already done so.

    HOWEVER. i read through half of the faculty of arts and sciences rules and regulations to see if i could find you a loophole, and it looks like there might actually be one.

    chelsea peretti television GIF by Brooklyn Nine-Nine

    apparently if you’ve already passed a course, you’re not allowed to retake it; that includes courses you’ve passed with ‘CR’. but under the ‘repeating passed courses’ section, the rules allow for a single repeat of a course to achieve the minimum entry mark for a program like soc. this retake won’t count towards your gpa or graduation requirements, but it will be on your academic record.

    either way, what’s important in your case is that yes, you are able to give SOC150 another shot!

    in order to make it happen, you’ll need to get in contact with your college registrar. they’ll be able to give you further advice as well as enrol you in the course (from what i’ve read, i don’t think you can enrol in it yourself). i believe you’ll have lower priority to get in than students taking the course for the first time, but don’t let that stop you from going after this.

    best of luck,
    aska
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