askastudent - your student life specialists

choosing, courses, new kids

a user manual on courses that you should, probably, read

June 5, 2023
This may be a really stupid question, but could you explain courses (their typing(?) clusters(???)) as well as the course selection process and what needs to be considered? Every time i think i got everything i need to know im hit with new terminology i do not understand ? for context im an incoming (hopefully) part-time student at utm, class of ‘27, planning to transfer out by first year but will pursue an english maj philosoy min creative writing min courseload if transferring doesnt work out

hi bestie,

no worries, this is not a stupid question. i see you’re encountering first-year’s overwhelming task of deciphering the online labyrinth of “important-uni-things-you’re-just-expected-to-know”.

the good thing is, courses aren’t as complicated as they seem at first! tbh, i think the problem is that a lot of first years just don’t know where to find the right resources. or, they’re like me and gaslighted themselves into thinking it’s all common sense — what my high school chemistry class used to do before a test. as fun as that is, please don’t do that.

anyways. there are several U of T pages that describe everything you need to know about courses. to begin, i would say your best bet is to read through how to use the artsci calendar. this page explains pretty much all the basics about courses and programs, such as how courses are abbreviated on the website, and what things to keep in mind when choosing courses. among what is outlined on that page, understanding course codes is the foundational thing that i would highlight. for example, ENG110Y1 can be broken down into:
1. ENG – indicates department, ENG = english.
2. 110 – indicates level of difficulty. the “100” means a first-year level course, and 200-level courses are recommended to take in second year as they are more difficult. and so forth with 3rd year 300-levels and 4th year 400-levels. while an upper year can take easier courses, it would be hard for a first year to take a 3rd year course.
3. Y – the “Y” or “H” indicates the credit value. Y = full course, 1.0 credits, and H = half course, 0.5 credits.
4. 1 – indicates which campus offers this course. 1 = St.George, 3 = UTSC, 5 = UTM
when choosing your courses, you should take note of prerequisites (courses you need to take before another course), exclusions (courses that are so similar you probably shouldn’t take both), and co-requisites (courses you should take at the same time). if a course has any of these, it will say so on the timetable, degree explorer, and acorn. you should also know that there are four types of classes: lectures, tutorials, practicals, and seminars, explained, again, in “how to use the artsci calendar“. and a side note of personal advice — although you’re a part time student, i would highly recommend making space in your schedule to take first year foundation courses, those were my favourite classes in first year. but the best thing to consider in course selection is to make note of important dates so you don’t miss them (wouldn’t that be silly): such as priority course enrolment for first years, which starts on July 20th.

now in terms of your question about typing and clusters, i’m not sure what you mean by typing, as “type” is mainly used for program types. meanwhile, clusters are just categories of courses within a program. typically each program will break down its large list of courses into similar-subject categories. for example, your english major seems to have three clusters that you need credits in: 1. “indigenous, post colonial, transnational literatures”, 2. “pre-1800 english literature” and 3. “theory, language, critical methods”.

see? not so bad.

finally, i will leave you with even more resource avenues you can look into if you want to know more. there’s an awesome new student guide to planning and enrolling in your courses, with important dates and how to pay your fees. sid smith also has a simple page on how to enrol in courses. UTM’s 2023 course enrolment workbook is “to be posted soon“, and course enrolment workshops could be helpful for you. then, if you really want to know everything, as you say, you can go down a rabbit hole reading through the artsci’s course planning and course enrolment pages (but i really don’t think you need to).

best of luck in your plan, i hope it all goes smoothly.

over and out,

aska
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first year, internal transfer, switching

i don’t want to have to deliver unfortunate news, but

June 2, 2023

Hi there!

I am an incoming 105 first-year who has applied to Psychology at UTM, and is hoping for guaranteed residence as I’ve submitted my residence application before the deadline. I’d like to switch my program to Social Science at UTSG instead, and I was told by the Faculty of ArtSci that switching admission categories was not going to be a problem.

If I am admitted to Psych, what are the chances I could request/apply for a switch or internal transfer to UTSG Social Science before starting in the fall? Would I also be allowed to switch my residence application/admission to UTSG, and could I still retain my theoretical guaranteed spot, or would it be considered a rolling admission and I may not be offered residence? I understand I can apply as an Internal transfer with OUAC in November, but I am hoping to avoid having to take my first year in a completely unrelated program, and campus.

Hope that makes sense. Thanks so much for your time and much love.

hi bestie,

much love right back at you.

yes, it’s true that switching admission categories once you’ve been admitted to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences isn’t a problem – you don’t really need to do anything. the only thing to note is priority enrolment for classes, which just means you sometimes have to wait an extra week or so to enrol in certain classes offered by a program you’re not in. but, this is definitely not anything to worry about.

so what you want to do is called an internal transfer, which you’d need to go through another admissions process to do. you seem aware that you’ll just have to make sure you meet all the prerequisites and then fill out an internal application by the deadline for your faculty (arts & science for you). but generally, you can’t do an internal transfer at this time of year.

you can reach out to the UTM registrar to see if they’ll tell you differently, but as far as i know internal transfers are only done through OUAC, and you would have to do this during the normal application period (which is more than a few months past). so unfortunately, you might need to take your first year at UTM, as it may be too late. and, i guess if you can’t transfer right now, this also answers the residence part of your question.

i hope this was helpful and not too discouraging. best of luck!!

over and out,

aska

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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.

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.

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

over and out,

aska

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academic offense, chatgpt

chatGPT? more like chatGPTea

May 8, 2023
Hi, I as just accused of using chatgp for an assingment worth 5%. I had two draft’s open. Before I submitted I went downstairs and they were left unattended. Someone had gone upstairs and had messed with them. When I came back the document was already downloaded but I didn’t think much of it and submitted. I have messages with the person who indirectly confesses to messing with it. They case is going to the chair and I don’t know what to do. I don’t want this to drag on.

hey there,

first of all, omg???? i’m sorry that happened to you, that seems like some emotional damage.

second, to answer your question. to be honest, the best thing i can tell you is that you should probably go see your registrar about this. book an appointment with an academic advisor there. it will be super helpful because:
1. they are professionals and have lots of experience with this
2. they can provide you with strategies, resources, and support
3. they can’t use anything you say against you!!
you can also consult UofT’s downtown legal services clinic for free legal advice during this—they have experience advising students on academic offence cases.

so you’ve said that your case has already gone to the chair, which is “Level 2” of the academic offence process. at this point, what happens next depends on when you admit to the offence (i don’t know if you’ve done that yet). because if you don’t admit to it, your case can go further up to the dean or the tribunal. if you’re worried about what might happen to you, don’t worry, you shouldn’t be suspended or have any serious sanctions, since your assignment was only 5%. a possible consequence for assignments worth less than 10% is receiving a mark of zero for the assignment. also, showing remorse for the offence can have an impact on the sanctions you receive.

over and out,

aska
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credits, polisci, transfer credits, Transferring

ur not special (said in solidarity)

May 5, 2023

Hi aska, I’m a transfer student from UTSC and I only took 4 credits thinking it was full time but apparently 5 credits is full time — im gonna take some courses for english and PoliSci in the summer (I took POL101 and 106 to make the FCE) so I can get into the Polisci post and get access to 200 level English courses. I’m planning to take summer courses for my whole 4 years — would it be possible for me to graduate in 4 years even with the transfer (and credits that are now just extra/breadth) and the only 80% courseload in year 1? Thanks!

hi bestie,

trying to graduate in 4 years after taking an 80% courseload in first year? sorry bro, but. you’re not special.

i think you have a chance here, assuming i understand your situation right and haven’t lost my marbles yet. overall, you need to check off completion requirements in two areas to graduate: degree requirements, and program requirements. using degree explorer is a great way to check your current status on the requirements in both of these areas.

technically, 4 credits per year is a full time course load, since 3 is the minimum to be a full time student according to the academic calendar. but, it’s true that it is recommended to take 5 credits per year to complete the minimum of 20.0 credits within 4 years. with that said, i know several people who take 4 credits during the school year and then take 1 credit during the summer to make up for it, adding up to 5 credits per year. depending on how many courses you take, it could be possible to complete 20 credits by your fourth year—during the summer, there is a max of 1 credit (2 courses) per term, so you could complete 2 credits through the 2 summer terms. if you do that each summer as you’re planning to, that would help a lot.

meanwhile, you should also keep track of what courses you need to complete for your polisci program. here, i can’t give you specific advice since i don’t know what courses you’ve taken towards your degree.

overall, it’s hard for me to say anything definite on your situation since your timeline here is a bit unclear and i’m not sure how many transfer credits you have. i would highly recommend that you visit your registrar to get a more specific answer, and spend some time mapping things out with them.

over and out,

aska

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academic offense, current student

the (possibility of a) suspens(ion) is killing me

April 18, 2023

I was flagged for an academic integrity violation. First offence and it was an exam. Will I get suspended?

hey there,

to be honest, i don’t know. you might get suspended. you might get away with a “written reprimand”. if it was for something relatively severe like cheating on purpose, i’m pretty sure you’d get a zero or some other mark penalty on the exam at least. all of these, and others, are listed as “possible sanctions” for cheating on a test, and it’s up to the dean to decide the outcome.

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they do consider the context though, like the number of previous offenses, severity of the offense, and if you honestly admit to the offense as soon as possible. the fact that it was your first offense does help your case, and i’d recommend being honest about the situation and communicating professionally to show that you understand your mistake. the artsci website has some info on key steps you can take if you get caught up in an academic offense case, like contacting downtown legal services for advice (it’s free! and they have services catered to students).

hope that helps,

aska

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CR/NCR, current student, psychology, St. George

those pesky program requirements

April 15, 2023

Hi! Hope you’re doing well. For my psy major one requirement is 1.0 credits in cluster A and 1.0 credits from cluster B in 200 level classes. I did really bad in one of my cluster B credits (think 50-60s range). I was thinking of using cr/ncr since it would be bad for my gpa which is already pretty mid. Since it’s technically a program requirement I know it’s not allowed but couldn’t I just remedy that by taking a different cluster B class in a different semester? Thanks in advance

hey there,

so sorry for the late reply, i don’t think you can do cr/ncr anymore but hopefully this is still somewhat helpful. i think you’ve got it right, it should be fine to cr/ncr that course as long as you can take a different one for your program requirements (which seems to be the case for the psy major). the cr/ncr course just won’t count towards your major/program, obviously.

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best of luck!

aska

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prospective student, rotman, St. George

chill out rotman you’re scaring the first years

April 5, 2023

likely will be starting at rotman commerce in the fall. my question is, could I transfer from rotman to programs like utm commerce or utsc management? it’s been my dream program for a long time, but it wasn’t until the moment I got accepted that I started panicking about actually surviving rotman. realllllyyy want to make sure there’s a way out if I end up getting mauled in my first year lol

hey hey hey,

congrats on getting in! i don’t know what rotman horror stories they’re telling to make you all so anxious before uni even starts, but i guess it doesn’t hurt to have a backup plan…

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anyway, in case you get mauled and rotman doesn’t work out for whatever reason, there are definitely decent ways to get out. utm commerce and utsc management both accept “internal transfers”, which are just transfers from other uoft campuses. i don’t know how difficult it is to actually get in, but at least the rotman math, commerce, and econ courses set you up pretty well for the prereqs to transfer.

there might be a few restrictions, for example, the utsc management programs with co-op (oooo fancy) only accept transfers straight out of first year, so if that’s something you’re interested in, you’d have to start planning early on. i don’t see any requirement of that sort for utm management/commerce but you could contact the program advisor directly to make sure, because i know some other competitive programs also only accept students straight out of high school or first year.

another backup could be transferring into other utsg arts and sciences programs, like economics, which is usually a bit easier/more straightforward than trasferring campuses.

hope that helps!

aska

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daniels, prospective student, St. George

architecture and more

April 1, 2023

Hi. Variations of these questions have been asked and answered, but I guess I’m looking for the mechanics of the whole thing: first, have been admitted to Daniels in Architectural Studies and hope to pick up Art History as a second major. How easy is this to accomplish? What steps are involved? Second, how do non-Daniels electives work? Say I’m interested in an elective in English Lit or Archaeology or photography. Would I be able to tack these on and when? Third, any way as a Daniels student to do a business certificate? Thank you so much! You’re an amazing resource.

hi there and congrats!

although i can’t speak from personal experience (i took a nap in the daniels building once, does that count?), as a daniels student you are definitely allowed to enroll in other arts and science programs or electives and there are certain pathways that allow more flexibility to do this within your degree requirements. computer science and rotman commerce are the two main exceptions though – they have higher “deregulated” program fees and are basically gatekept from daniels students and also all the other artsci students, so you’re really not missing out on anything overall. all the typical artsy (and science-y) courses will be available to you.

in terms of scheduling different courses and programs, as you may know, you need 20 FCEs (“full course equivalents”, which are essentially full-year courses or credits) to graduate. architecture studies students have to do a specialist in architecture studies, which is like a major but more intensive, with more courses. the comprehensive stream of the architecture studies specialist (a mouthful, i know) is a good option to complement a second major because it only has 10 required FCEs, essentially taking up half of your degree courses. the other streams are more specialized, but would require 13 FCEs. for example, the art history major requires 6 FCEs, and you also have breadth requirement courses which are required for graduation and can include up to 4 FCEs of courses from different subjects, which all starts to add up.

depending on the number of required courses you end up with, you might have space left over for other electives too. as far as i know, you can add any electives you’re interested in during course selections as early as your first year. the only potential limitation is that some courses may have priority enrolment for students in a specific program or stream, so it might be harder to get into really popular ones, but most of the more intro-level courses that people usually take for electives are pretty open.

as for your last question, rotman does offer a “certificate in business fundamentals” for all artsci students (including daniels i assume) which requires 2 FCEs, so you can totally tack that on. like, when uoft said you can build your own degree, they meant it.

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it gets pretty hectic trying to keep track of all the different programs and courses you want, so i’d recommend keeping everything organized on degree explorer. also i will say, while it might be tempting to do ~all the majors~ it’s definitely not required and depending on what you find interesting/useful, it might not even be the best way to go about it. electives can also give you a way to dive into different fields with more flexibility. although having a fancy title on your transcript also is kinda cool, too, so there are advantages either way i suppose.

good luck!

aska

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commerce, current student, programs, subject POST

following your passion

March 25, 2023

I’m currently a first year and I’m planning on going into a commerce program. However, I don’t like math and I literally know nothing about commerce. They say follow your passion, but I don’t have one yet. Stability seems like the next best thing. I don’t know how I’ll survive another year of math, and I def do not know what I want to do with my university life. Would it be difficult to switch from commerce to media/cinima? Or maybe I should take those as minor while commerce is my major?

hello hello,

starting off with the heavy hitting questions, are we? seriously this one is a lil too real :’)

if you’re trying to figure out what to do with the rest of your schooling/life, i guess aska’s a good a place as any to start. but idk if there’s a good and final answer to all that, and even if there is, it probably won’t be coming from some random (albeit extremely wise and knowledgeable) uoft student on the internet, although i’m flattered that you’re asking. ultimately, the answer’s gotta come from you obviously, and it might take some time, but that’s okay. we all go through it. (still going through it.)

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luckily, uoft does give some leeway to us perpetually indecisive students. most arts and sciences programs let you combine different fields and switch things up if you decide to change your path for whatever reason. if you’re interested in media/cinema or another field, you could take one of their required first year courses to see if it’s something you’d like to pursue further. i think it’d be feasible to fit in a minor alongside commerce, but you’d have to plan carefully to fit in all the courses you need (don’t forget breadth requirements, too). degree explorer is pretty great for that.

it can be hard to completely switch programs in upper years because you’d have to take required courses for programs that might be entirely new to you. it’s technically possible and you could always extend your undergrad later on if needed, but if you feel really unsure about commerce (to the point where you might hate it enough to want to drop the program), it might be better to apply for the commerce program but also take some other electives you’re interested in during second year to fully explore your options. who knows, maybe you’ll find your passion, and if that’s the case, you’ll be set to pivot into it relatively early on. or maybe you’ll still feel unsure, in which case you could still take all the required commerce courses in your upper years and finish with a “useful” degree.

if you decide to switch out of commerce, it’d probably be easiest to do a major and double minor, or even a double major, depending on what programs/courses you prefer. unlike rotman commerce, for example, which just has three specialist streams and a bunch of focuses you could tack on, other artsci students basically have a paralyzing amount of choice in terms of program combinations (no really it’s great… i love it). if you’re still willing to tolerate some math courses, commerce-related minors like economics, math, or stats, have courses which overlap with commerce requirements that could help you complete your program faster rather than starting in something completely new.

honestly, your university path is still pretty wide open, so don’t feel like you have to decide everything now. the world is your oyster – a terrifying kind of oyster. and how do you really go about figuring it all out anyway? it’ll be different for everyone, but i’d recommend looking into mentorship programs or events like career nights or program Q&As with upper years or alumni. lots of student associations organize these, and you could also attend more general ones within your college, too. it’s a pretty low commitment way to learn about what these fields/programs are actually like. you can also get more personalized advice from your registrar.

best of luck!

aska

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admissions, prospective student, science, St. George

hope in the face of gr 12 calculus

March 19, 2023

Hi! So, my top 6 average before I took calculus was a 91, then I got a 60 on my midterm and now my average is an 86. Overall, I took 8 courses this year and most were low 90s with the exception of an 85 and an 88. I’ve completely given up on being accepted into material sci because I doubt they’ll accept me because of my calculus mark, but do I still have a chance for LifeSci? This is about stg campus btw. Please help!!

hello there!

a stem kiddo — we love to see it. i gather that your top six average is 86 now including calculus, which was a 60. it’s a tricky situation because your average is technically still in the running for both programs, but they both require calculus.

just so you know, you won’t actually be admitted for specific programs like material sci in first year, btw. you would have to enter the physical and mathematical sciences stream in the first year, and then apply for the material sciences POSt (specific majors, minors, stuff like that) afterwards. complicated, i know.

physical and mathematical sciences requires a top 6 average of mid to high 80s, including grade 12 english and calculus, and so does lifesci. they do both recommend mid to high 80s in english and calc though, and it’s kind of hard to say how strict the admissions office is with that requirement.

i know a few friends who’ve gotten into lifesci with a few marks in the 70s, so i’d say you’ve still have a shot, especially since you did well overall and in your other courses. lifesci is also known to be a huge first year stream, which does improve your chances.

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if you do end up getting into lifesci, a cool thing about utsg arts and sciences is that you can apply to pretty much any program in the faculty for second year. there are some exceptions that are much more competitive, like computer science or rotman commerce, but as long as you take the high school prereqs and do well in the required first year courses, you can still get into materials science or any other program that you might find interesting!

good luck! hope that helps!

aska

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admissions, prospective student, repeating course

second chances: technically possible, probably hard

March 5, 2023

So I failes my advanced functions class and I am retaking it. Am I still gonna get accepted if I have a repeat? I know that Rotman does not count MHF4U but how about Scarborough and Mississauga. Will they accept?

hello hello,

so from the utm, utsc, and utsg admissions websites it looks like all of them have the same somewhat vague stance against repeated courses, which is basically that generally they’ll allow it but “urge you to do as well as possible on your first attempt” (and that’s word for word on all three sites — a lot of repetition there, ironically).

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so while a repeated course won’t take you out of the running, it’ll probably be an uphill battle especially for more competitive programs, and students without repeated courses might be given greater preference. to be honest it’ll be really important to try and ace the course this time around to show that ultimately you can do well (yeah i know, no pressure or anything…)

utm was also kind enough to specify that they’ll only take the highest grades of the repeated courses, but the others weren’t as clear, so as with many admissions-related things, it’s kind of a black box.

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you could also apply for special consideration if you have proof of any extenuating circumstances that affected the first time you took the course. no, i’m not gonna link all that for all three campuses but i promise it’s out there and it’s a thing. google is your best friend 😉

oh also, interestingly, rotman allows repeated courses too, though i was under the impression that they didn’t for some time. like all the others, they also “urge you to do well on your first attempt” and all that, and they do prefer candidates without repeated courses. but as you mentioned they don’t require advanced functions, just calculus and vectors, so hopefully that all goes well in case you’re interested in applying.

best of luck,

aska

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internal transfer, Transferring

goodbye uoft, hello… uoft

March 1, 2023

I am an internal transfer student and I have accepted my offer. The conditions are: have CGPA above 2.7 and maintain my current academic standing and if I am currently enroll, do not have any misconduct notes on my final transcript. My question is I dropped 2 winter session courses after I accepted my offer since I don’t need them anymore. I still have 4 winter session courses left. Is this action going to affect my offer?

hey there,

if those are all the conditions on your offer, i’d say you’re in the clear. there aren’t any specific requirement on courseload in the uoft internal transfer criteria in the first place, and although they might’ve considered that during admissions in a more ~holistic~ way, i doubt that even uoft would be petty enough to go back and check that after you’ve been accepted.

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the only scenario that i think might possibly be problematic is if you dropped a course that was a required prereq for entering the program you applied to, since you do need the required high school or university prereqs to transfer. but i’d assume that’s not the case since you said you don’t need those courses anymore. so basically, you’re freeee! take the offer and run! they can’t possibly take it back – unless your cgpa drops and/or your academic standing changes, so just be careful of that.

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good luck!

aska

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