• engineering,  internal transfer

    how to get your steps in (towards a biomedical engineering degree)

    June 6, 2023

    Good afternoon. I have been admitted to Life Sciences to start in fall 23. I would like to proceed to Medicine after graduating but I find Biomedical Engineering also interesting. Please advise what steps I should take to keep my options open (and strong) to be able to transfer to Biomedical Engineering after the first year. Many thanks in advance.

    hi there,

    congrats, and welcome! just one clarification: are you trying to take Biomedical Engineering for your undergraduate or graduate degree? i may know everything at U of T, but — and i say this with love — i have questions about y’all’s questions sometimes. 

    TV gif. Elmo from Sesame Street tilts his head and shrugs as if to say, "I dunno."

    in the case that you’re asking about being admitted to the Biomedical Engineering undergrad program, the application requirement is that you have to be in the Engineering Science program. in order to apply to the Engineering Science program, select the application option that matches your academic history on this website, and go through the steps it provides. once you are admitted, declare the Biomedical Engineering major by adding it to your program planner through degree explorer.

    so you’d essentially need to transfer from Life Sciences to Engineering Science. this is not simple and will entail undergoing an application process for an internal transfer to the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. with transfers between faculties, admission is based on your overall academic record and is a rolling basis — so you would want to apply early, even though your deadline would be Nov 7. you should definitely talk to an academic advisor at your registrar about this application process to make sure you aren’t missing anything important. 

    not my area GIF

    if you’re asking about doing Biomedical Engineering as a graduate degree: what you’ll need to do to prepare for a potential Biomedical Engineering graduate degree depends on which specific program you have in mind. but it’s also unclear if you want to take Biomed Engineering at U of T or elsewhere? 

    either way, i’ll give you some advice based on U of T. you can read about the Master of Engineering program on the departmental website. here, it tells you about the application process and important details, such as what the prerequisites for the Master of Engineering program are: 

    a four-year bachelor’s degree in engineering, or its equivalent, with an average of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 grade point average scale (i.e., mid-B) in the final two years of study from a recognized university.

    proof of English-language proficiency is required for all applicants educated outside of Canada whose native language is not English. view the BME English-language requirement policy to determine whether you are required to take a language test and for a list of accepted testing agencies and their minimum scores required for admission.

    according to that, it looks like you’d need an undergrad engineering degree to do grad studies in Biomedical Engineering. basically, your key takeaway here is: if you don’t transfer into engineering during undergrad, your options for biomedical engineering unfortunately will not be kept that open.

    best of luck in everything, friend!

    edward nygma goodbye GIF by Gotham

    over and out,

    aska

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  • engineering,  Transferring

    so you wanna be an engineer

    November 10, 2022

    I’m a utsc student in my 2nd year (social science), i wanna transfer to engineering at St. George, how hard would that be? Is it possible to still graduate in 4 years if I do that? What would the process be? Really appreciate the help!

    hey there,

    so the good news is, it’s definitely possible to do that, and you might be able to get some transfer credits too, especially for electives.

    Sheldon Bigbangtheory GIFfrom Sheldon GIFs

    the kinda bad news is that since you’re not in engineering already, you’d have to transfer into first year engineering (more info here), so unless you’re really keen, it’d be really hard to graduate in four years total.

    in terms of the process, since you’re already a uoft student, you’d have to apply for an internal transfer on this portal. it looks like your application is based on your transcript and a supplemental application for things like extracurriculars, and apparently you need:

    unfortunately i don’t have personal experience with transfering, but engineering is a pretty competitive program and transfers can be especially hard to get. if you really want to get into the nitty gritty, a bit of snooping around led me to this report where you can see the number of applicants and offers for uoft engineering undergrad each year (pg 8-9 of the pdf) and it does not look pretty. if you’ve got the prereqs, a good gpa and extracurriculars, it’s definitely worth a shot, but you could also look into alternatives like eng programs at other unis to get some more options.

    Good Luck Cheers GIFfrom Good Luck GIFs

    good luck!

    aska

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  • chem,  engineering,  grad school

    i had to google submatriculate, but i think i’m still qualified to run this blog

    April 11, 2020

    Hi! I’m a (possibly) incoming UTSG artsci freshman who has too many academic interests. Firstly, would it be possible to do a 2nd major (or minor or 2nd degree) in biomedical engineering? Secondly, is there a way to submatriculate into an MSc program from chem/biochem specialization? Lastly, is there some way for me to skip the introductory courses (apart from transfer credit)? Sorry for ruining your day with a barrage of obscure questions! ?

    ——————————————

    hey hey,

    lmao i feel like 40% of the people on this site are in some kind of serious academic trouble, and 20% are keeners like you (very kind, apologize too much, interested in literally everything). don’t worry, you’re not ruining my day with a barrage of obscure questions. i thrive on obscure questions. we cool.

    i’m not aware of any option to take biomedical engineering in conjunction with an artsci program. to even be eligible for biomedical engineering as a minor, you need to be in one of the core 8 engineering programs or in engsci. the biomedical systems engineering major, meanwhile, has hella requirements. you only get to enter it after two full years of engsci foundational courses. i can’t imagine an artsci kid juggling that on top of another major, even if it were allowed. i suppose you can get in contact with the department if you really wanna know for sure, but i think the answer is unfortunately no on this one.

    to address the lil’ musing about second degrees you seem to have thrown in…. i’m not really sure if a second degree is really what you wanna do, even if you’re super thrilled about everything. i have a feeling your first degree will tire you out a lil, or at least enough to make you wanna reconsider. especially doing a second degree in engsci, i dunno man, it seems like a lot. and then when you add the amount of student debt you’d be carrying after one degree, let alone two… yikes. just some things to consider, yknow? hang on to the second degree thought until you’re close to doing your first degree. then, if you still want to do a second degree, talk to the academic advisers at your registrar and get a lil guidance on it. that would be my take.

    as for the submatriculation thing… i was unable to find any info on this via the big ol’ world wide web. so i reached out to someone who’s pretty well connected in the chem department, and they told me that they’re not aware of any submatriculation options within chemistry. even if you’ve been working underneath the same supervisor for a long time and hope to do a phd with them, you’ll still need to actually apply to admissions to do so. i’m not sure if it’s different in biochem, but like i said, there doesn’t seem to be any readily-available internet info on this, which suggests that the answer is no submatriculation. once again, i would reach out to the department if you want a super solid answer, though. chem contact info linked here, biochem info linked here.

    in terms of skipping required introductory courses without transfer credit… i would say the answer is also probably no, otherwise a ton of people would be doing it. i’m assuming you’d be wanting to do this in order to take a wider breadth of courses, or something? introductory courses tend to have some pretty important information, and even if you could skip out on them i wouldn’t recommend it– the foundation you get in those huge first year courses tends to be quite important for the academic work you’ll be doing later on in your degree.

    but once again, you could contact the department running the course and ask, if you have a super duper legitimate reason to be skipping an intro course.

    this whole post has been an enormous “pls ask someone else” but i hope my insights have at least been… insightful! keep that excited, i-love-everything energy. it’s refreshing, and makes my brain feel a little less melty. wishin’ you all the best as you weigh your options for next year!

    be Boundless and stay healthy,

    aska

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  • engineering

    engsigh

    June 23, 2019

    I’m a soon to be first year for eng, and I’m not sure what engineering strain I want to do anymore. I’ve been thinking of switching to engsci(I know that it’s going to be tough – by the way, what’s the typical average I need after first year to be successful?), but I’m afraid of doing horribly in physics – I’ve had absolutely awful physics teachers for all of high school. how screwed am I if I manage to transfer? does the first year curriculum allow me to explore(most of) every strain?

    also, pertaining to physics – what’s the general consensus of physics in the first year of eng? do the classes have a high failing rate? is it generally considered one of the hardest courses?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    congrats on your eng admission! it’s understandable that you’re unsure what you want to go into at this point– and you’ve certainly got some time left. plenty of eng students go in not really knowing what strain they’re interested in.

    as far as i know (and maybe you know this too), transferring into engsci is harder than transferring out of engsci. according to the university, you can only do so after first year, whereas you could transfer out of engsci right now. the website only specifies that you’ll need a ‘superior academic record,’ which i suspect is vague on purpose — they don’t know what kind of transfer room there will be year to year, and what your competition will look like.

    in terms of how screwed you are if you manage to transfer, this blog post compared first year engsci to ‘drinking out of a fire hose.’

    so, assuming you decide to go ahead with the transfer, you’d be going into second year engsci without having had the same intensive foundation as your peers. you can check out all the first-year engineering curricula here, which might give you a more accurate (and concise) look into first year than i can offer. the idea of first year, though, is that you do get a feel for each strain so you know what you wanna pick later on. with that said, i dunno how good of a job track one is gonna do regarding engsci strains.

    the post is actually pretty illuminating regarding the differences between engsci and track one, so i’d suggest giving it a look.

    what i’ve heard about physics is that there is some overlap with high school and AP physics. i’d suggest you check out forums and see what others say, as well as take a look at the course descriptions. this is track one’s first year physics req, and engsci’s is phy180, which i can’t find any working pages on. it’d probably benefit you to have a solid high school foundation for things like kinematics, but if you’re worried about it and enough of a keener, you can definitely pre-study to prep yourself.

    anyway, since none of this info comes from firsthand experience, i’d recommend you hit up the engineering registrar and speak to them as well. they might be able to advise you on what your gpa will need to look like to transfer into engsci, as well as what first year physics is really like.

    best of luck!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • admissions,  engineering,  wait list

    still wait-eng

    June 11, 2019

    Hi, I am on the waitlist for engineering at UofT, I was wondering of I could get an offer in late August (if enough people decline their offer). Thanks!

    ——————————————

    hey friend,

    according to the lovely engineering admissions office, august would be pretty late for an offer as typically programs are all filled up by then. they aren’t able to give a specific date/time frame as to when the latest offers are sent out, as they’re continually sent until programs are filled. so unfortunately i can’t give you any specifics.

    the only time offers might still be moving around in late august is for postsecondary transfer students undergoing transfer credit assessment, apparently. if you’re applying straight out of high school, seems like odds are low you’d be getting an offer that late in the summer. wouldn’t give you much time to plan, either, especially if you’re from out of town and will have to worry about housing. if you’d be a commuter not so much.

    hope this helped and sorry to be the bearer of non-ideal news. fingers crossed for you that an offer of admission comes sooner, but it may be best to start fleshing out backup plans and alternate routes in case that offer doesn’t come thru.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • engineering,  first year,  probation

    post holiday slump

    January 10, 2019

    Hello,

    I’m a firsts year engineering student and I’m currently having a pretty bad first semester in terms of grades. I’ve already dropped 2 courses and I know that I most definitely failed one of the remaining 3. I’m guessing my overall sessional average will fall between 40 to 45 percent which I know is really bad. Although I’ve learned some useful lessons in that i need to work on my time management skills and not falling behind, I’m unclear as to whether I’m going to be able to move on to the next session. I was wondering if they’ll put me on probation or if I have to restart all together or if I’ll be kicked out entirely.

    Thanks for your response.

    ——————————————

    hi!

    first of all, apologies for the super late response. it was exams and then the holiday and then the requisite two days of getting over the holidays etc etc etc. you know how it be. i’m not sure how relevant this response will be for you now that the semester is over, but hopefully this will help another student in the future or provide some clarity for you.

    according to the faculty calendar, if you are a first year student with a session average of 45%, you will be put on probation and you must withdraw for 8 months. then, you will have to retake the fall session. because of my late response, you should know your session average at this point. take a look at the calendar and see which average you fall under and what your situation is.

    i highly suggest that you get in contact with your registrar’s office or the engineering first year office to discuss your case. especially since this is a late response and your situation could’ve changed, i think it would be for the best if you talked with someone who can pull up your file and give you the most accurate info possible (even more accurate than me, your dear aska!).

    shocked gina rodriguez GIF

    i hope this helps!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  americans,  applying for U of T,  engineering

    would it be canadian american or american canadian?

    December 17, 2018

    hi!

    im an american senior high school student that’s suuuper into attending u of t for electrical engineering. i think my case is a little different because im a canadian born citizen, but all of my education from grade 1 was completed in the usa. basically, my gpa is a 3.3/4.0 and my sat a 1300/1600 with a 21/24 on the essay, and ecs are good (fencing team captain, intern job, volunteering, etc.). my question is… 1.) are admissions harder for american students and what are my chances OR because im a canadian would i be considered domestic? (i know this is true for fees) and 2.) well… anything you can share that would be relevant to this case in general. i finished my online student portal and im gonna submit it by the end of this week. im really passionate about potentially being able to attend u of t, and id be ecstatic if i would somehow be able to be accepted.

    im sorry if this is a little hard to answer!

    – canadian born american

    ———————————————

    hi!

    first of all, sorry for being MIA and the super delayed response. it is askastudent after all and i had exams and finals too.

    anyways…

    hey arnold nicksplat GIF

    so, according to this link from the engineering website, you will be “evaluated on the basis of the education system [you] followed, regardless of [your] country of citizenship.” meaning that yes, you will be evaluated as an international student.

    that being said, i’m not sure about the specific numbers/ averages/ SAT marks you need. all they say is “high grade point average and high scores.” this link has some information about admission requirements specifically for US students as well as how you can submit your transcript.

    i suggest that you get in contact with the engineering admissions office to get more information or if you have any further questions. they’ll have the most specific and up-to-date information.

    i hope this all helps!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  applying for U of T,  engineering

    please don’t fire a canon

    July 20, 2018

    Hi,

    I want to apply to uoft and fall under a student that would apply using the 105D.

    My college counsellor is telling me that I need to start looking at which essays I need to write and I don’t know if I need to write any essays. I’m thinking of applying to engsci. Do I need to write an essay?

    Thanks.

    ———————————————

    hi!

    after checking the engineering website, i can officially say that it is VERY HARD TO NAVIGATE. engineer a better website, engineers.

    face smash GIF

    ok, it’s actually not that bad. sorry, engineers. i’m still kinda mad about that time you fired your stupid canon in front of my res room in first year.

    anyways, after clicking through too many links, i finally found this link with detailed information about the student profile that you’d need to set up.

    while there isn’t really an “essay” you have to write, there is a section where you need to “detail” your academic history and your extracurricular involvement. i don’t know whether or not that’s in essay format or if you just fill in the blanks. maybe it might be like a short sentence answer deal?

    there is also a section in the application called the “online student profile” where they ask you three random questions and you have a limited amount of time to answer them. you will need to answer 2 of them in a video (it looks like you need a webcam and microphone to do the student profile) and one of them in writing. this might be what your college counsellor means when they say “essay,” but there isn’t really anyway to prepare since the questions are random.

    question mark idk GIF by US National Archives

    you should get in contact with the faculty of applied sciences and engineering and ask for more information regarding the application. check out their contact info here.

    i hope this makes sense. good luck with your application!

    xoxo,

    aska

     

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  • engineering,  first year,  residence

    but can you engineer a home?

    February 28, 2018

    Hey there,

    I’ve applied for engineering at U of T and it’s my first choice. I’m also really interested in living in the Innis College res but they claim they only take engineering students with averages above 96% !! Due to some personal issues my grades this semester weren’t excellent and my final admission average will probably end up being between 92 and 93. Is it worth putting Innis as my top choice to be considered for it or is the point completely moot? If not Innis, I’m also fairly interested in Vic, or failing that New, both of which claim to only have “limited spaces” for engineers. How do they choose which engineers get to live in college res, and do I only get considered for my top choice? I would like to avoid living in Chestnut if possible.

    As a backup plan to all of that, I have a friend who was slotted into SMC and did some last minute emailing and got switched to UC. Is it likely that residences might have extra space if I try something like that?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    according to the innis res website, if you want to live on res at innis, you’ll have to rank them first when you apply for res via myres (the residence portal), or they won’t consider you. i’m not sure where it says that innis only takes engineering students with averages about 96, so i can’t really confirm if that’s true or not. either way, i think that if you want to live at innis, you should rank it first anyways. if you don’t get in, it won’t be the absolute end of the world, since the magical res people will place you in your second or third choice.

    that being said, i’m not sure whether vic or new also requires that you rank them first. i would get in touch with their res offices specifically to ask. here is the link for vic and here is the link for new. if they don’t require that you rank them first, then it would be a good idea for you to rank them second and third after innis.

    as for your friend who switched into UC, i’m not sure how that would work. this is something that you’d have to contact the specific residence offices about.

    applying for res can seem kinda confusing, especially since there is a completely different website and portal that you have to go through. you will need to log onto myres, confirm your interest in residence, and rank your residences before march 31st. for more info, you can check out this link.

    i hope this helps!

    tommy wiseau lets go home GIF by The Room

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • engineering

    if i could help, i would

    March 23, 2017

    Hi there. I have applied to engineering at u of toronto. Unfortunately i did not study grade 10 n just gave my Olevel exams privately without a school. They want my grade 10 results now. I emailed them explaining this but no one has replied yet.

    ———————————————

    hi,

    not sure what your question is but um… just wait?

    i can’t expedite the process of them emailing you back. apologies for the less than satisfactory response, but i really can’t make them respond any faster!

    so… yeah.

    that’s about it.

    sorry?

    thank you for giving me the opportunity to use a phil dunphy gif. i love phil.

    cheers and good luck with everything!

    aska

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  • applying for U of T,  colleges,  engineering,  friends,  getting involved,  hard,  partying,  residence,  scholarships/bursaries,  St. George,  studying

    6 responses + a rant

    January 18, 2017

    Hey Aska! I’m a Turkish student and I’m in grade 11. I’m filled with
    so many questions because I whole-heartedly want to study at UofT. I
    researched a lot of things and still have tons of questions. So yeah,
    let me begin 😀

    My first question is about admissions. With %86-87 average in grade 11
    and %93-94 in grade 12, would I be able to get into mechanical
    engineering? (Also consider that I have decent SAT scores ad medium-
    to-decent extracurriculars.) I really want to know if I even have a
    chance.

    +What about scholarships?

    +Does Innis collage and UC require anything when applying? (I know
    that Innis should be ranked 1st if you wanna be accepted there.) Which
    has a better community in your opinion? And which should I choose as a
    newcomer?

    +Is it that hard to get good grades at UofT? I personally love
    studying but I don’t know if I’ll be overwhelmed.

    +Are international students treated differently really?

    +What are the parties like?

    +It is a very big school, will I be able to form close relationships?
    If so, how?

    Thank you soooo much in advance, and sorry for mixed questions. I
    sincerely hope that I can be a part of the community. Take care!

    ———————————————

    hello!

    first of all, you’re adorable and i love your enthusiasm. you’ve asked a lot of good questions and i commend you for taking the initiative to reach out so early! this is probably the longest post i’ve ever written so bear with me.

    on getting accepted into mechanical engineering

    at this point in time, the website says that you need a mid 80’s average to get into the mechanical engineering program, but it would be best to check the updated average when you actually apply in 2 years. engineering programs are competitive and it is very likely that these averages will change by the time you apply, since they tend to fluctuate from year to year.

    with your awesome grades, you definitely have a chance of getting into the mechanical engineering program, but keep in mind that this is just a general cut-off guideline for this year’s applicants. by saying you have a chance of getting in, i’m not saying you will get in.

    on scholarships

    scholarships are described at length in this link where you will also see a complete listing of all the scholarships available at u of t. keep in mind, since you will be an international student, you will only be eligible for a small number of scholarships. if you scroll to the listings at the bottom of the page, under availability, if there is a blank in the column instead of the words “domestic students”, that means international students are eligible. there are also admission scholarships (which you are eligible for, yay!) which you will automatically be considered for when you are admitted to the school.

    on UC and innis

    university college is large and old whereas innis is small and new. to get into innis, you are absolutely right, you do need to rank it first (good job!) but UC does not require you to rank them first. innis requires you to rank them first mostly because they are so small in size and very popular.

    which one to pick? that’s the ultimate question. there are many factors that you should consider, for example: are you going to be living in residence? what kind of residence style are you looking for? do you want to be part of a big college or a small college?

    i’m not exactly allowed to tell you which one i like more (and believe me, there is one) because i’d probably get destroyed, and it’s really up to you to do your own research and decide which one is better for you. i can provide you with the resources, but the rest is entirely up to you.

    on getting good marks

    is it hard to get good marks at U of T? yes. very hard. i have yet to get good grades at U of T. don’t slack off, study hard, and go to class. i made the mistake of not doing any of those three things in my first three and a half years and have paid dearly (emotionally and monetarily). we have a scary reputation for a reason. if you’re thinking of coming here, be ready to work your ass off.

    on the treatment of international students

    *disclaimer* aska rant on international student culture and discrimination

    i thought a lot about how to answer your question about the treatment of international students. on one hand, i wanted to answer: international students aren’t treated differently! it’s love love love all around! but i would be lying. the aska motto is to deliver the cold, hard truth, so here goes: (it might seem a little controversial and blunt, but that’s askastudent for ya!)

    international students are treated in the same way they treat other people. as i’m sure is common at every university, there are groups that i will refer to as ‘cultural cliques’. cultural cliques are groups of students who stick together because they come from the same culture, usually when english is not their first language. i’m not saying this is a bad thing. it’s actually great that these students can find friends who speak a common tongue! how awesome! however, sometimes, students will ignore everyone else outside their clique and as as a result, they get ignored back. this is perfectly fine if neither groups want to mix and mingle, but it does sometimes result in some differential treatment. the most common thing i see is people getting mad about international students speaking their native tongue instead of english.

    as someone who was not born in canada and can speak a second language, i can sympathize with both sides of the story. an international student might have a difficult time with english and find it easier to communicate in another language, yet a domestic student, might find it rude that other students are speaking in foreign language. often, this stems from the domestic student’s insecurity that the international student might be crap-talking them in a different language. of course, this isn’t always the case, but it does happen! heck, it’s happened to me before! someone tried bad-mouthing me when they thought i didn’t understand the language. well, joke was on them!

    many will also argue: “you’re in canada! speak english!” but this argument isn’t exactly valid. i’m sure lots of people who go to countries like japan don’t spend years learning japanese before they decide to go. canada is known as one of the most multicultural countries in the world, and it’s truly unfortunate that not all cultures are as widely accepted as canadian culture.

    bottom line, discrimination can happen, but i guarantee that it won’t happen if you treat people like you want to be treated. my advice to you is to keep an open-mind. be friendly and warm to people if you want them to be friendly and warm to you. if you find people from turkey at U of T that you want to be friends with, that’s awesome. if you want to form a turkish clique, even better! make the most of your university life and spend it with people you care about.

    *aska rant over*

    on partying

    i’m not much of a partier, so i can’t reveal too many juicy details about that. just based on the parties i’ve been to, they can definitely get pretty rowdy at times, but also be super lame. a gathering of people involving beverages and loud music usually constitutes a party at U of T, and i imagine, everywhere else! sometimes there’s dancing and sometimes there are games. sometimes ambulances are called, and sometimes the paramedics get a night off. sometimes people fall asleep and sometimes people stay up all night. hope that answers your question!

    on forming close relationships

    i have hit the 1300 word count so i think it’s safe to say that we, in some way, shape or form, have formed somewhat of a close relationship. U of T is ginormous. you are again, absolutely right.

    you can definitely form close relationships at U of T. in addition to studying your ass off, you should be making time for late night mcdonald’s runs, jam sessions and spontaneous city explorations along with friends. again, treating people like you want to be treated applies here. treat someone like a friend and chance are, they’ll treat you like a friend and then BOOM! you’ll have a friend. that’s how you make friends. how nice. you’ll meet people in your classes, in residences, and at various events on/ off campus! everyone else will be looking to make friends as well, so don’t sweat it. some of my closest friends have been people i met at school, so you’ll be fine. trust me.

    did i answer all your questions? if not, comment below and i’ll do my best to get back to you.

    good luck, chill out, and may the odds be ever in your favour.

    peace and love,

    aska

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  • applying for U of T,  engineering,  grades,  repeating course

    don’t forget to drop your courses when you move

    January 16, 2017

    Hey I failed grade 12 calculus, chemistry, physics, and biology. All uni level. This was because I only attended the first week and then moved kinda far away, but I FORGOT to drop the courses! I retook them all achieving high marks:

    SBI4U – 84% (failed first time)

    MHF4U – 85% (passed first time)

    SPH4U – 99% (failed first time)

    SCH4U – 98% (failed first time)

    MCV4U – 99% (failed first time)

    ENG4U – 73% (this one sucks, passed first time)

    GPA: 89.6%

    My question is, do the courses that I failed, due to the reason stated above (moved away), count towards my GPA? Or do the higher, newer marks count towards my GPA? I was wondering because uoft doesn’t use repeated marks, so do my new ones count as repeated, or not? What is the procedure if you failed a course and then retook it? Which number do they use for GPA admission?

    And will my average be high enough to have a good chance at being accepted for mechanical engineering, physics, computer science, and engineering science? I haven’t decided which one yet lol.

    Thanks so much!!

    ———————————————

    sup,

    this is quite the predicament that you’re in! can’t say i’ve ever heard of anyone else doing this.

    arts and science has a blurb in their policy which states the following:

    “The Faculty of Arts & Science does not recommend that students repeat courses and reserves the right to give preference for admission and scholarship consideration to students whose marks are the result of a single attempt at each course. Students with extenuating circumstances requiring them to repeat such courses should send an explanation to Enrolment Services at the time of application, i.e. prior to the admission decision.”

    long story short, you might be able to attach some sort of an explanation to your transcript. it does say in the FAQ for engineering admissions at UTSG that it is their policy to only count the first attempt, but it also says that you can provide documentation to explain any extenuating circumstances.

    perhaps something along the lines of:

    “i moved and foolishly forgot to drop my courses lul so i failed but it’s k cuz i did them for real and i got good grades, see?”

    since you haven’t indicated which campus you’re planning on attending, i’m going to assume you’re referring to UTSG, since UTSC and UTM don’t offer engineering courses. here are the averages that you would need to get into engineering (below), and physics, and computer science at UTSG.

    Low 90’s Engineering Science
    High 80’s Chemical, Computer, Electrical, and General First Year
    Mid 80’s Civil, Industrial,  Materials, Mechanical and Mineral

     

     

    hope this helped,

    good luck with your application!

    peace and love,

    aska

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  • applying for U of T,  engineering,  english

    shakespeare ex machina

    November 4, 2016

    Greetings, I’m in a predicament and I need some enlightenment. I applied to the Eng program for 2016 but didn’t get accepted so I decided to try applying again. Do you think its worth applying for a second time? Signed Confused Me

    ———————————————

    hello,

    first of all, a little more info would’ve been helpful! i appreciate your efforts in trying to be concise, but do you mean eng as in english or engineering? help me out here!

    giphy-2

    if you didn’t get accepted it may be because your high school marks weren’t high enough, but again, i have no idea, mostly because i don’t know what program you applied for, nor do i know you personally.

    if you want more information on this matter, it may be worth it to contact your department (whichever it may be) to see how you can boost your application. not sure if this a thing they do, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask!

    i obviously can’t speak on behalf of enrolment services, but chances are, if your marks are still the same as they were the when you first applied, it’s likely you’ll get the same answer. it also depends on the applicant pool that you were in- maybe the averages were particularly high that year and you didn’t meet the cut-off. these are just examples, of course, and i hope you know that i am in no way assuming that your grades were too low. there are plenty of reasons why someone might not get in and low grades is just one of them!

    i know this probably wasn’t the most encouraging response, but hopefully you now have some more things to think about. i wish there was more i could do!

    but hey, be careful what you wish for. school may not be for you! my sage advice would be to make sure it’s 100% what you want.

    best of luck!

    signed,

    an even more confused aska

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