• biology,  wait list

    “english or biology?” is like saying “lotion or paint?”

    May 10, 2023

    Hi aska, its me again (UTSC transfer) and I was also considering the Conservation EEB to take with PoliSci, but the only summer course offered is BIO120 first subsession (emailed bio120 office and they said I could take it even without gr 12 bio), what are my chances of getting past the waitlist? EEB125 is also only offered in the fall, do you think I could catch up and still graduate in 4 years or should I just go with English as my second major? Tysm

    hi bestie,

    i see you’re back.

    aaahh real monsters nicksplat GIF

    for your own sake, i don’t think it makes sense to settle for English if it’s not your first choice—English and Conservation Biology are very different majors (as if you don’t already know that). and, as i said before, catching up from an 80% course load in first year is very doable. while some of your EEB courses aren’t offered in the summer, there are so many course options to earn credits from. taking EEB125 in the fall is perfectly fine, as lots of people take their program’s first year courses after first year.

    in terms of BIO120, the general rule of thumb about waitlists is that about 10% of people will drop the course (not to mention the people who will drop from the waitlist). from a quick check of the artsci timetable, i can see that BIO120 has 189 spots this summer, so as long as you’re in the top 19-ish of the waitlist, you’ll most likely get in. so no need to worry, you’ll be fine. after all, this isn’t ticketmaster or the eras tour we’re dealing with here.

    Eric Andre GIF

    i hope this is helpful, sending encouragement and good vibes!

    over and out,

    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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  • biology

    where are our labs???

    July 20, 2019

    do you know if bio/eeb labs are all held in RW? Thanks in advance!

     

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    my understanding is that usually they are held in RW. it’s hard though, as a fellow student, to know if there are any exceptions. i did check the timetable (as i’m sure you have, as well) and it’s pretty frustrating that none of the labs have room listings right now. my guess is that you might be worried about making it to a lab in time, if your classes are back-to-back?

    if it’s a huge concern for you, i would give the department a call and ask about the specific lab. i did try calling twice, but i guess it was at a bad time cause they didn’t pick up. that’s probably on me– i should know better than to call around lunchtime.

    tl:dr if you’re willing to risk it, chances are good your lab should be in RW. if you are a concrete information kinda person, check with the dudes who should know.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • biology

    i glove my job

    May 25, 2019

    Hello !
    do i need to buy gloves if i want to continue taking biology? in first year my labs all provided gloves. thank you!

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    this isn’t something i would know from experience, but i asked a friend who’s taken higher level bio for ya. apparently if you’re taking BIO230 it’s a no on buying gloves, but they weren’t sure about BIO220. if you’re not taking 230 i would say just… wait til the course starts, then figure out whether you need to get them?

    or if you really really REALLY have a burning desire to know i guess you could contact whichever bio department you’re hoping to take courses in. i figure they’re the only ones who would know, since my guess is it varies per course– if you do choose to contact them, please remember to be polite and respectful because i’m sure they’re quite busy people who deal with a lot of stuff! although this is probably an unnecessary reminder and i’m sure you would be anyway.

    i would suggest you wait and see, though, if it’s all the same to you! if you need the gloves, you’ll find out come the start of classes. again, i wouldn’t know, but i’m guessing gloves don’t break the bank.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • biology,  other schools (boo!),  Transferring

    transfer quest 2k17

    May 24, 2017

    Heyy askastudent

    I messed upp sooooo badddddddd!

    I don’t even know what to do or how to explainnn!!!

    When I was in high school I barely got good grades in sciences although I really wanted to go on the science route and I did so bad in bio grade 12 by getting a 56% due to my mental health (ADHD and my anxiety). Since I did so bad in biology I thought i would make a drastic change by going ahead with commerce since my math marks were 90%+. And I got accepted to UTM.

    I was first year student this year 2016-17 and I was doing fine in all my classes but i freaked out recently and had a mental breakdown because I don’t think commerce is for me and i want to do my degree in biology… so I LWD literally every single course I had left and now on my transcript i just have soc100 as a CR/NCR this year was sooooo freaking crappy I don’t even understand. AND NOW I’M LIKE WHY DID I DO THAAAAATTTTT…

    When I talked to the registrar they said I have next year to choose whatever program I want to go in. But I now want to switch into McMaster or McGill or even downtown campus UofT for biology.

    I’m planning on meeting the requirements for the biology degree in UTM for 2017-18.

    But to transfer to McGill or McMaster Their website said I have to be newly admitted at UTM to transfer… but next year would be like my 2nd year i guess?? but technically a re-do first year >.< … By the end of 2017-18 year i would have hopefully completed 5 credits (not including the 0.5 CR/NCR) ….Idk if they mean this because they don’t want someone who is “half done their degree (10CR)” from a diff uni or if they just mean even if u just have 5 credits “you can’t apply here since u are second year”? Do u think that would make it hard to get into McGill or McMaster because they say that, or is my situation diff since i would only have completed 5.5 CR.??

    ANDDD im freaking out if my grade 12 marks would matter for transferring since i got 56 in bio grade 12 … but If i get a good cgpa next year that shouldn’t matter right??

    GHAAA I HATE MYSELF SO MUCH I DONT EVEN UNDERSTAND WHAT I SHOULD DO!!

    i know that transfering to downtown campus wont be that bad as long as my CGPA is a bit higher than the minimum but my heart feels more inclined to actually “starting fresh” by going to a different uni like McMaster ot McGill.

    What do you think? Helppp :'(

    Thanks yoo!

    PS sorry for a lot of rambling…

    ———————————————

    hello!

    from what i can understand from your question (which is like… not much), it sounds like you’re a first year student who’s finished 0.5 FCE’s. is that right? as for wanting to transfer, i really shouldn’t be answering any questions about other schools. this is askastudent u of t, not asakstudent mcgill or mcmaster. i really can’t guarantee correct answers if we are speaking on behalf of another school.

    there are many factors that go into a transfer, and i really have no clue how it works at other schools. because your case is very unique, you really need to speak to admissions at mcgill and mcmaster directly. if you are aiming to enrol in either of the schools for the 2018/19 session, your application would be due sometime in the winter term, meaning that they wouldn’t have much of a transcript to look at when reviewing your application. in that case, they might even consider your high school grades. who knows? all i can tell you right now is what i see on their website, which might not even be applicable in your situation, so promise us you’ll talk to them first!

    the mcgill website doesn’t say how many credits you need to have, just that you need to have a 3.3- 3.8 CGPA, a semester each of differential and integral calculus, and two semesters of bio, chem, and/or physics (with labs).

    at mcmaster, it only says that you need to complete at least 2 full years there, aka 10 “full credits” in order to receive a degree there. they also have some prereqs outlined, so check out their website.

    to transfer downtown, they just look at your CGPA. if you know what specific subject POSt you want to enroll in, i would check out their requirements too.

    i really encourage going to see an academic advisor or registrar in order to map out your specific case. they’ll be able to give you more personalized and nuanced information too.

    i hope that was helpful. can’t believe you got me on the mcgill and mcmaster websites, good job.

    best of luck!

    Product Hunt confused silicon valley jared go figure GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

     

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  • biology,  life science,  sociology,  subject POST,  UTM

    majoring, minoring, and all that jazz

    October 6, 2016
    Hi Aska, I’m a first year at UTM and am currently majoring in Sociology. I have a couple of questions hope you will be able to answer them, it would mean a lot! I was wondering how double majors work? When do I have to say that I am double majoring? Or do I have to? Also if I want to make my 2nd major Life Science do I have to have all the prerequisites from high school and the average?
    ———————————————
    hey,
    the whole major minor conundrum is this thing we call subject POst or program of study. there are three different options you can pursue:
    1) a specialist
    2) 1 major + 2 minors
    3) 2 majors
    when you’re applying for a subject POst, you should go to this link to see the complete listings of every subject POst available.
    let’s say you want to do a double major in sociology and biology (this is just an example)
    you’ll see that both sociology and biology are type 2 subject POSTs.
    type 2 means that you will need to submit a request via ACORN, make sure you have taken the required courses and also make sure you have met the GPA/ grade requirement. the first request period will be from march 14th to may 1st. mark it down so you won’t forget like i did in first year. i made these mistakes so you could learn from them, my young padawan.
    still confused? here’s a guide to understanding the different types of enrolment.
    unless it is otherwise indicated, most life science programs won’t require any high school prereqs unless you’re thinking of pursuing psychology, which requires grade 12 biology or calculus.
    a good idea is to check out the calendar to see exactly what you need to take for each program. you can do that here.
    the calendar will tell you everything you need to know!
    hope this cleared some stuff up for you. enjoy your first year and remember that your registrar is the best place to go if you have any questions regarding academics
    cheers,
    aska
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  • biology,  courses

    bio-bo-bio, bio bio bo-bio

    May 5, 2015

    I want to take first year bio but I don’t have grade 12 bio as a prereq. It says I need special permission to take it. Is it hard to get special permission to take bio first year ?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    it depends. if you’re very strong academically, and have other experiences that might supplement what you would’ve learned in grade 12 bio, then it’s possible you’ll get special permission. otherwise, it might be a bit trickier. think about it this way: to get special permission, you have to have a special reason.

    however, at the end of the day, it’s the bio department who grants special permission, so the best thing to do is ask them.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • biology,  courses

    BIO120

    April 21, 2015

    Can I take first year bio120 without having taken grade 12 bio?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    Grade 12 Biology is a prerequisite for BIO120H1, but you can contact their office at bio120 ( at ) utoronto ( . ) ca if you’d like to discuss the possibility of taking it without the prerequisite.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • biology,  PUMP,  subject POST

    a rock and a hard course

    June 24, 2014

    Hi I’m starting uoftSG as a humanities student, however I love biology and i might want to major in that as well. I took chem/bio in high school but when I checked the prerequisite for chemistry on the uoft site it said I needed functions & calculus as well??? When I took chem in high school I never felt that I needed math. Is there any way around this???

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    speaking as a former life-sci student turned liberal arts bum, math really can be important for bio. if you really want to skip the math, you can, but it’s tricky.

    you don’t need to take calculus in first year as a biology major, but MAT135/6 are recommended corequisites for CHEM138/9, which are required. so, you don’t HAVE to take the maths, but they’re recommended for a reason.

    secondly, there’re these things at uoft called enrolment controls. enrolment controls are basically a horrible horrible thing that make it a lot more difficult for you to get into that cool course you found randomly one lazy Sunday on the course calendar.

    if you take a look at the enrolment controls for BIO130H1, BIO120H1, CHM138H1, and CHM139H1, you’ll see that they all have ‘P’ enrolment controls. that means that certain students get to enrol before everyone else, leaving the rest of you poor souls?to scrounge for spots?on August 9th. lucky for you, these first year bio and chem classes are ENORMOUS, so you’ll probably get into them, but it’s not guaranteed.

    there are a lot of pesky obstacles here, and probably more i haven’t thought of. that’s why you should probably discuss all this with your college registrar’s office once you get on campus. you guys can chat and figure out whether the major is for you, if you can go it without the math, or if you should spend some time catching up, either in night/summer school or in uoft’s PUMP program.

    anyway, take the first-year bio and chem classes – after a year of slogging through lectures, labs and exams, you’ll know what you want to do.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • biology,  subject POST,  summer,  UTM

    get into health 4 sum wealth

    February 27, 2014

    Hi, im in first year and i somewhat screwed up and am left with 2.0 credits i really want to get into biology for health sciences but some of the courses require chm 110 and 120 which ill be doing over the summer. Do you think ill be granteed a spot in my subject post after i complete chem over the summer. Im really confused and disappointed in myself some encouragement would really help.

    – Amanda B.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    first, let’s do practical stuff, then encouragement.

    so, we gotta see what kind of subject post biology for health sci is. if we look here, we’ll notice that the bio for health sci major has some requirements for enrolment. they are: a) completing 4.0 credits, b) completing the prerequisites listed and c) having a CGPA of 2.5. health sci is a type 2 subject POSt (just ctrl+f ‘biology for health sciences), which means that only people who have fulfilled the given requirements can enrol. however, it is not a type 3 subject POSt, where even if you’ve fulfilled the requirements, you still might not get in because of the competition. in this case, if you did a), b) and c), you’re guaranteed to get in.

    because of that, if you successfully complete your chem courses (which are prerequisites) in the summer, and keep your GPA above a 2.5 (and assuming you fulfilled all the other prerequisites), you’ll be all set to enrol in the subject POSt! you’ll just have to do it in the second request period (see page 8), between june 17 and september 22nd, after you’ve received the marks for your summer chem courses. and that’s all there is to it.

    one thing i’m a little confused about: you said you’re “left with 2.0 credits.” does that mean that you failed 2.0 out of 5.0 credits this year, or that you passed 2.0? if you passed 2.0, then you’ll have to do one more credit over the summer to fulfil requirement a) completing 4.0 credits. just keep that in mind. other than that, i don’t see any immediate problems.

    k, now for some encouragement. well, my trans-campus friend, let me tell you something: you are great. you have almost survived your first year, and you’re still intact enough to have goals for yourself and aspire to greater things. you’re not just sitting miserably in your bedroom, smoking by a window and wishing your life was sepia toned. you go out there, and work, and ask questions when you need to! that’s awesome. pushing through is awesome. keeping on keeping on after you’ve disappointed yourself is awesome. and trust me: first year disappointments? we’ve all been there, and we got through it. and so will you, because you’re amazing (dare i say, almost as amazing as aska).

    i wish you the best of luck with your summer courses, Amanda B.

    cheers,

    aska

     

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  • biology,  subject POST

    what have we learned here? we have learned uoft is NOT sadistic

    December 4, 2013

    Hi,

    I was thinking Id like to do a biology minor next year but I’m confused about the second year courses I have to take.?It says: 1 FCE from: BIO220H1; BIO230H1/BIO255H1; BIO251H1; BIO270H1; BIO271H1; BIO260H1/HMB265H1.?This means I only have to take 2 half credit courses from those 8 half courses that are listed right??I dropped chemistry so I can’t take them all. I hope I just have to choose two since BIO220 and others don’t require chemistry.

    Thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    sheesh man, it’s a minor program. taking them all would be a ridiculous requirement! i mean i know uoft is cruel, but they’re not insane.

    it says right here that you need 4.0 FCE to complete the program. in ALL FOUR YEARS of your undergrad, you need to complete 4.0 – that’s it, that’s all. no more than that. so they couldn’t possibly expect you to take all those courses. this is the deal, right:

    the required first-year courses are BIO120H1 and BIO130H1. then you pick 1.0 (that is, 2 courses, like you said) of the ones you listed in your question, and then 2.0 FCE’s out of their third list, which is: EEB202H1, EEB204H1, EEB214H1, EEB215H1); EHJ351H1, EHJ352H1;ENV234H1, ENV334H1; HMB265H1; NUS; PSY397H1 and PSY497H1.

    so to sum up: if you’ve got 4.0 FCE by the time you want to graduate, and 1.0 of them are BIO120 and BIO130, 1.0 of them are from the list you’ve given, and 2.0 of them are from the list I’ve given, you fulfilled the requirements for the subject post! easy-peasy! pumpkin squeazy! ham and…cheesy…

    they leave me alone for a long time in this office, you know.

    happy biologizing,

    aska

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  • biology,  business,  subject POST

    i want to do ALL the degrees

    November 29, 2013

    Hey!
    So I see that a question very similar to this one has been asked, however, I’m wondering if any of you witty aska people know anyone who has actually pursued the pathway I am about to ask about:
    I want to attend U of T Scarborough for the Human Biology Major program (or maybe the Specialist, I don’t know yet.) However, I would also love to take courses from the B.B.A. program in Management (specifically speaking, Health Management). You know, Biology and Health Management; best of both worlds. So the BSc. in Human Bio is offered as a major, and the B.B.A. is offered as a Specialist… I know I could always do a minor in biology if I wanted to, but is there any possible way to take courses from both specialties? (because I know they are completely different faculties). Or is there a way to graduate with both the Bio major and the Management specialist? (if you are a mere mortal like me and not a robot with infinite intellectual capacity? It seems like a ton of credits needed.)
    Thanks 🙂

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    just fyi, it is officially becoming my FAVOURITE THING that people who come to this website think there is like, an aska TEAM or something. that we all come into an askastudent office and drink coffee out of askastudent mugs and have super-funny inside jokes about this or that secret aspect of the blog. maybe there could be a torrid love affair between me and the guy who answers all the go#$@8mned college questions!

    …yeah, no, it’s just me, y’all. just one crazy kid. though i’m seriously hyped about the idea of something like this turning into a whole business. if any rich philanthropists want to help that happen…i’m on board.

    ONTO YOUR QUESTION. you’re very noble person for wanting to do health management AND human biology, but you would have to be in school for a long time to get the major and the specialist. you need 20.0 credits to graduate, and while it’s not a big deal to graduate with one or two extra credits, you would need to complete 32.5-33.5 (health management specialist requirements and human biology major requirements) credits total to get both of those and frankly, that’s a bit ridiculous – that’s over two years worth of extra courses, and besides being completely ridiculous and kind of masochistic, i’m not even sure that’s allowed.

    even double-majoring in health management and human bio puts you somewhere between 25.5-26.5 credits, which is an entire year’s worth of extra credits and then some. both these programs are very intensive, and they’re that way for a reason. i’d strongly suggest picking one, or like you said, doing a biology minor along with the specialist (not a human bio minor though they don’t offer a human bio minor unfortunately).

    as for taking management courses if you’re not in the program, there are only a few courses you can actually take. According to this,”non Management Program students can only enroll in MGTA01H3/(MGTA03H3) and MGTA02H3/(MGTA04H3). Students in Health Studies/Health Sciences programs can also enroll in MGTA06H3.” so basically, if you really want to do management, go for the program, because otherwise you’ll have a tough time taking many of the courses.

    so yeah. don’t torture yourself. a specialist and a minor is more than doable (if i can do it, anyone can – just use aska as your idiocy metric; you’ll always be able to do better than me), and trust me, you won’t be missing out on much, AND there will also be the added benefit of you being able to sleep! woo!

    never change & shoot for the stars,

    aska

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  • biology,  transfer credits

    ap stands for already passed (so please just give me the credit please)

    July 8, 2013

    So, I got into Rotman Commerce and I want to use my AP credits that I took?in high school to count as college credits. Does this automatically happen if they get the scores? Also I want to use these credits so I could skip?some of the prerequisites and skip into something like second year biology.?Is this possible? The thing is, I took AP Bio in grade 11, and I’m not sure?if they have the scores for that or not? I don’t know. But I told the?admissions my scores when I applied. PLEASE HELP ME. thankyou.

    ———————————————

    Howdy ho!

    You can get a credit for your AP course if you went through with the necessary steps to make sure that your test scores made it to the university.

    So when you wrote your exam, you would’ve been asked if you needed the scores sent somewhere and you would’ve given the little code meant for UofT. Once the university gets the scores, they automatically assess you and will contact you to tell you what course equivalent you’ve gotten, but for the most part, if you know you have the grade, you can check the chart in that link to see what you’d get.

    But since you did it in Grade 11 and I assume you didn’t notify anyone of having those results sent to UofT way back when, you might want to contact Enrolment Services to see if you had the foresight to send the bio score when you applied.

    If they say nay, you need to speedily contact your high school or whoever and make sure the bio score makes it to the university by July 16, 2013.

    Now if you do get the transfer credits for “BIO120H” and “BIO130H,” feel free to move forward!

    Just… be careful.

    Don’t load up on science courses when you’re in first-year Rotman, because let me tell you what: getting into Rotman (like the real Rotman which happens at the end of first-year) is pretty damn hard.

    Yeah.

    Cheers!

    aska

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