askastudent - your student life specialists

academic success, bad times, mental health, stress

how to fight the procrastination demons

October 30, 2024
Hey Aska, do you have any advice or personal strategies that have helped you for avoiding procrastination? I don’t know if I’m burnt out or don’t feel like doing any work but I desperately need to be more productive. I’ve been putting my assignments off until I feel the panic streaming through my bones and it can’t be healthy. Not sure what to do about it, I’m only in lifesci but my work load is crazy. Don’t know if you’ve dealt with procrastination but I’ll take any tips. Thanks.

hey there,

my brother, my buddy, my comrade, my pal. i feel you.

you are not alone and it’s so normal to feel this at U of T, regardless of what program you’re in. i gotta be honest, the life sci work load is truly crazy and i don’t even have the time to wrap my head around how it’s humanly possible to get all your work done — your panic is not your fault, the system is just built in a panic-inducing way, methinks.

but man, i’m sorry you’re feeling that way, it really sucks.

well, i am proud to inform you that i consider myself a highly practiced procrastinator, and like you, am also constantly feeling the panic streaming through my bones. especially this midterm season, it’s been crazy.

anyway. i’d tell you it might be helpful to see a learning strategist at your college registrar, because that is a resource that is helpful for some people, though i’ve never tried it myself. but i’m sure that’s already on your radar, and so are the array of the university’s mental health resources.

the best i can do is just share what sort of works for me and what strategies i use. i am far from having it all figured out, but i do struggle with procrastination like you, so maybe something here will be helpful for you.
1. plot well
my first tip is to plan all your deadlines and assessments out in some sort of calendar system. there are so many out there that it’s too much to attempt to find the best one, but what you can do is find one that works for your purposes right now. at one point, that was notion for me. then, it was those little brown muji planners. then, at one point i didn’t plan anything out and kept it all in my head (it didn’t go well). now, i use google calendar.

what i look for in a calendar is the ability to add colour — specifically, the colour red, which i use to highlight all my big assessments/tests. this adds Urgency and i need that. and what i like about google calendar is you can add time-events that block off hours in your day AND to-do list tasks AND day-events that just sit at the top of your schedule.

ahh ok i’m realizing this is hard to describe but i also don’t really wanna add a screenshot of my calendar here lol. so lmk if you want a more in-depth post about the calendar planning side of time management.

anyway, planning things out visually is super helpful for me because while i plan, it induces panic ahead of time as i’m writing it all out — which is a good thing! it tells me i need to get on top of things now and not later. it also helps you see how much work you’ll have per week in the next month, which can indicate how you should be balancing your work.

2. small steps

my next tip comes from a counsellor i once saw in first year, and it is directly targeted towards procrastination.

a lot of the time, the reason we procrastinate is because a task feels too big or daunting, and so we try not to deal with it until we absolutely have to. so breaking your task into small steps is a really effective way to take away how big the task feels to us.

for example, you’ve got to study for a midterm in 3 days, and there’s just so much content to get through, you missed a couple lectures, and haven’t done a single reading since the first week of class. so you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. well, what i would do (and what i did, because this happened to me last week) is break this situation into smaller steps.

first, go through the lecture slides that you missed, and make that a separate task in itself: so now, you’ve just got to catch up on a lecture.

YAY, one step done.

then, you’ve got to catch up on the readings. this feels big again, so what i do is break the reading list apart into the weeks they were assigned to, and make a goal of how many weeks to get through in how many hours, depending on the reading lengths.

see what i’m getting at? rather than letting your brain go “oh no i have to catch up on a semester’s worth of content in three days and somehow memorize it all”, let it go “ok so right now, in this moment, i just have to watch this lecture recording”. it makes things a lot more do-able.

and if you’re really overwhelmed, it doesn’t even have to be “watch this lecture recording”. it can literally be, “fill up my water. load quercus, load the lecture. open my notes”, etc. etc.

3. dismantle yo’ fears

disclaimer: i have zero qualifications, i just love to psychoanalyze things and i’ve done a lot of thinking about this so hear me outttt (or scroll past, whatever).

ok. so while we can take care of how large a task is, we can also take care of how daunting it is. for example, think of some big deadline or assignment that’s stressing you out right now. for me, that’s a 15 page personal essay that i’ve got to write for one of my classes. then, think about why it’s scaring you. what exactly is so scary about it?

just sit and ponder that for a sec.

procrastinating is just a natural human response to a stressor — like the fight, flight, or freeze response. procrastination is the freeze. and depending on the person and situation, they procrastinate not because of a lack of motivation, but because they’re scared of one of the following things:
- the unknown, because it’s a task they don’t know how to do or have never done before
- failure <3 or disappointment
- bad feelings associated with doing the task
so for me, if i really think about why my 15-page paper is scaring me, i realize that i don’t want to start because i want to write absolute Bars and get a high mark on it. meanwhile, i’m also trying to avoid the stress i associate with writing a long paper — but it’s not like putting it off is going to solve any of that, in fact, it will only work against me!!!!

so basically, really thinking about why that thing scares you and dismantling it is one man’s way to conquer the anxiety of starting big assignments/tasks.

4. rest when you’re resting

my final tip also comes from that counsellor i saw. and it is to take proper breaks and draw clear boundaries between rest and work. you mentioned that you’re not sure if you’re burnt out or don’t feel like doing work, so i think this one might help you.

a problem that i (and several people i know) have is that when we take a break, we’re not really taking a break because the whole time we’re stressing about all the work we should be doing. so while we say we’re resting, our brain is still in drive-mode and is not resting.

as a result, this defeats the whole purpose of taking a break and then when you’ve got to lock in again, you still feel mentally exhausted. so it can be helpful to just being aware of this and consciously try to make a clear boundary between time set aside for work and time set aside for rest.

i also realize this is a pretty abstract instruction, so what this can tangibly look like is making your boundary physical. i heard somewhere that setting different environments for different things is super important because your brain will unconsciously associate an activity with that environment or something.

for example, a big one is not working in bed. doing work while laying in bed tells your brain that bed is an environment for working and resting, rather than just resting. or, having a different table for eating meals and another one for working. whatever is feasible for your living environment!

and, yeah. i’ll end it here cause this was another long post and i don’t want to bore the masses.

overall, i really hope that this was helpful in some small way or another. U of T is so notoriously hard and it’s a natural response to feel burnt out in this environment. it’s rough out here, but you’ve got this! best of luck to you <3.

over and out,

aska
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campus life, fun & places, library, studying

i know a spot. many, in fact.

October 25, 2024
hi what are your recommendations and pros and cons for your favorite places on/near campus to study? i need to stop living at robarts.

hey there,

well, have you have come to the right place! i happen to pride myself on knowing better places to study than robarts. you’ll never catch me setting foot in there during midterm/exam season, you can literally feel the stress in the air emanating off students. no, i am a proud “i-know-a-spot” culprit and i am so glad you asked.

it’s great that you’re looking for alternatives to robarts, because imo, changing up your study spot regularly can do wonders for your quality of life. if i study in the same place for weeks and don’t rotate it out, the walls start to look like we’re in a simulation, my eyes stop focusing, and i go a little crazy!

so here are my top recommendations for places to study.

on campus
1. gerstein library
if robarts didn’t exist, this one would be the classic U of T study spot. it’s a super huge place, so next to robarts, this is the library where you’ll be least likely to be fighting for a spot. the little rooms on the ends of the halls are my favorite because they have huge windows where you can look at the pretty leaves and get some good natural light in.

however, it can be a little loud sometimes in the general study areas (some people don’t take hints and you can only give so many side-eyes at their rambunctious laughter before giving up). so if you’re like me and lose focus when people talk, go on downstairs to the quiet study area.

i love how spacious this area is, and it is a great quiet space to get work done. i also love the design of the place, lol. i feel so University Student in there.

pros:
- outlets at every single seat!
- lots of seats, lots of rooms.
- you can get away with eating in here, but i’m not sure if it’s allowed?? i’ve done it but don’t remember if there are any signs saying not to…
- nice aesthetics.
- building is in the middle of campus, so it’s easy to get to.
- super long hours — closes at 10 or 11 pm, and one of the few libraries that are open that late / at all on the weekends!!
cons:
- you have to go all the way to the basement to get to the bathroom. unless i’m blind and they actually have more than one bathroom?
2. hart house

this is my personal favorite, just based on vibes. i feel like i can focus the best at hart house out of all my study spaces, and i’m not sure why? maybe it’s the semi-dim lighting and gothic windows.

at hart house, there’s a great space to study on the main floor, but it’s also open to the public, so sometimes there are interesting people in there. (one time my friend and i were studying and an old man just sat down at our table and started playing chess.) the main floor is sort of like a cafe experience in that sense.

but if you wanted a student-only space, there’s a great little library on the second floor. this library is a designated quiet space — actually, i would say it’s my quietest study spot on campus!

i do also see people studying in the basement’s arbor room, but i’ve never tried that myself because that’s more of a social space.

it can sometimes be hard to get a good spot here on a weekday, but it’s usually quite empty on the weekends. my favorite thing to do is snatch a spot next to the windows, because the ivy growing on the outside of the windows just looks SO PRETTY. also, in the winter, you can sit on the little cement seat below the windows and it’s literally a heated seat. or seated heater. who knows.

pros:
- stunning vibes and aesthetics.
- you can eat on the main floor + basement (but not in the library)
- wide array of options for noise levels
- also in the middle of campus.
- open for long hours, until 11pm
cons:
- few accessible outlets on the main floor, and not all tables have outlets in the library
- busy on weekdays
3. caven library at knox college

next up, another place with stunning aesthetics. i am realizing that might be my main priority when choosing a study space…

this library is famous for its gorgeous stained glass windows and is in every “U of T libraries >>” edit. it is also a designated quiet space, so we love that. eating, however, is not allowed — and if you try to eat, people will hear. it’s so quiet in there that it’ll take you 30 seconds to peel your granola bar wrapper open without it making noise.

but, i love the secludedness of the little carrels in the back and outlets are pretty accessible. this place just screams dark academia and is the place to go if you need to romanticize studying to keep yourself going.

pros:
- super quiet
- great for focusing
- absolutely gorg
- not crowded
- in the middle of campus
cons:
- closes super early at 4:30pm and is not open on weekends 🙁
- no talking, no eating
4. e.j. pratt library

this place is a little out of the way unless you’re a vic student, but it’s so worth it. if you’re tired of U of T’s gothic tendencies, e.j. pratt looks quite modern and is just the color white. it has a very open feel since the second (and third?) floor is connected to the first through the main room.

the whole place is a quiet space except for the basement. i’m not a big fan of the second floor’s seating situations, so my personal favorite spots here are the private 2-seater carrels in the back of the main floor. there are outlets there, and it is soo good for focusing. however, these are pretty popular so it can be hard to find an available one.

pros:
- low visual stimulation
- quiet
- very private carrels
- open until 11:45pm on weekdays!
- open on weekends, but only until 5:45
cons:
- every single time i’ve been here, someone has a hacking cough that echoes through the building
- no talking/eating in the main room, but can in the basement
- on the vic side of campus
near campus
1. the toronto reference library
this place is another gorgeous spot for productivity. it’s sort of a given that there are a lot of seats and it’s super spacious in here, since it’s, like, the toronto public library. but what’s weird is that the wifi here is unreliable sometimes??

anyways, there are so many spots to choose from here, but my favorites are the upper floor seats next to the windows that overlook the city, and the little glass cubicles on the middle floors that you need to book out. these are so entertaining to me, i feel like a zoo animal in them — great for minimizing distractions, since you are in plain view of the public and must look like you’re working.

overall, the productive energy in this building is great, and when you look at hundreds of people getting stuff done, you are filled with the motivation to also get your work done.

pros:
- great views
- productivity boost
- can talk, but also pretty quiet!
cons:
- unstable wifi in certain spots
- no eating??? but again, if you’re subtle they won’t catch you.
- open on weekends, but quite busy on weekends and closes at 5pm then
- i once reported a bomb threat there 😀 not the one that made the news though
2. cafes!

there are so many awesome cafes near campus that you can study in. i’m not gonna go through and rate them all because that’s a bit much and this is already a long post, but i’ll list a few good ones here: wildhearts cafe, 10 dean, nabulu, moonbean, carbonic, and neo. my number one place used to be charidise on baldwin, but they have raised their prices and are now more of a restaurant than a cafe. i’m in mourning about it and will tell everyone who will listen. their popcorn chicken slaps 🙁

and, yeah! those are my study-spot recommendations on and near campus. my absolute favorite place to study on campus is a super-secret-spot that i will be gatekeeping, but other than that, know that you have just received gold. these spots will elevate your study experience and your life, trust me. pick up the phone and call that u-haul cause you are not living in robarts anymore.

over and out,

aska
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business, certificate, choosing, continuing studies

dw, shrek is praying for you

October 18, 2024

hi aska! i’m on my gap year working while also aiming to get a gr 12 calc credit via TVO ILC. since i’m doing an online course right now, i’m wondering if completing a program from uoft’s school of continuing studies is a good idea. i also saw that SCS bootcamp stuff too. i got accepted to uoftsg for humanities/social sciences, and the plan was to get the business fundamentals certificate too. i’m still looking into the continuing studies programs, and the finance/marketing programs have me curious. then again, i’m unsure if it’s worth pursuing since i fear it might not be as valid on my resume compared to having a BBA. plus, juggling online courses w/ IRL courses, events, etc.

at the time i applied for undergrad, i didn’t try to get into rotman or schulich since i didn’t have the required math courses at the time of applying (or the required interest in business school lol).

i like what i’m about to pursue for undergrad but i keep thinking about getting some business stuff under my belt to increase chances of employability, and i’m becoming more interested in business and marketing. this has me wondering if i should try getting business qualifications via online programs or go to business school post-grad. what do you think? i’m thinking doing a business certificate in undergrad and then business school post-grad. thank you so much for everything you do 🙂

hey there,

no because you’re so real for this. every now and then i spiral about my program choices and think that i should get a business certificate to get those qualifications under my belt, for employability reasons. ~~#capitalismisdestroyingmydreams~~

so kudos to you for taking initiative during your gap year and looking into all this stuff!

in terms of the school of continuing studies programs, it looks to me like they can be really valuable for developing marketing and finance skills. they offer so many courses and programs, and everything i see here looks great. they do also offer online finance courses, so it wouldn’t have to be in-person if you’re worried about that time commitment.

now, it’s true that getting a BBA for undergrad would weigh a whole lot more than getting certificates. however, it wouldn’t be simple or easy to switch into a BBA once you’ve been accepted into U of T. the rotman school of business says they “very rarely” take in students switching in from the faculty of arts and sciences, which you’re in right now. this would be what is called an “internal transfer” into rotman and it’s quite difficult, from what i’ve heard.

so honestly, your idea of getting the business fundamentals certificate while pursuing your humanities/social sciences degree in undergrad seems like a good middle ground. especially because you like the program that you’re currently in for undergrad and want to stay in it. that way, if you’re still feeling like you want to pursue business later, you can always pursue business school post-grad. plenty of people go that route after working for a bit.

although i am not an employer (duh), i think that getting a certificate in business fundamentals would give you a boost in employability, especially when combined with your undergrad degree. and the fact that you would have certificates + a degree from U of T, a very reputable school, will give you another huge boost.

it’s also quite strategic to combine a humanities/social sciences undergrad degree with business qualifications. that way you’ll have a more diverse set of skills, making you more well-rounded and versatile in the job world? i think.

keep in mind though, that an mba and bba serve different purposes for both your career and employability. so i’d encourage you to look into which one would fit your pursuits/needs better.

through all this, my advice to you would be to not stack too many things on yourself while pursuing your undergrad degree. if you want to take those bootcamp or continuing studies course during your gap year, great! if you wanted to do those while being a full time undergrad student, i would say perhaps don’t? especially bootcamps — those are pretty intense and just balancing your courses as an undergrad student is already a LOT. ie. make sure you can commit to what you signed up for 😀

overall, i fully support you in your business pursuits, you’re doing amazing. i hope my thoughts on the matter helped in some way. best of luck to you and your decisions! (and thanks for your patience).

over and out,

aska

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fees, first year, no one asked

psa about paying tuition fees

October 4, 2024

hey divas,

today i have for you a super-fun-and-definitely-not-boring psa about your finances.

^live footage of me when i’m reminded we live in an economy and money exists. if this is also you, i promise i’ll keep this short.

so september 30th just passed, which was the deadline to pay your fall tuition fees. but you knew that, right? …right?

well, i sure hope most of you paid your fees. but for those of you who were like me in first year and did not know such a deadline existed, this is a message for you! (and don’t you dare say it’s just me, i know y’all are lurking out there. i saw y’all in the registrar’s office asking about fees just last week).

so i’m here to tell you that if you missed the deadline to pay your fall fees, you will be ok. although the official deadline happens on september 30th, there is a grace period of 15 days!

what does this mean? well, it means that late fees will not be added to your account if you pay your fees by october 15. so if everything shows in your acorn account before october 15, you’re all good to go.

i do however, recommend paying your fees as soon as possible, because they may take a few days to process through the system, depending on how you’re paying them.

and if you’re already registered, you won’t be removed from your courses. i know that this is something a lot of you are scared will happen if you don’t pay your fees right/miss the deadline, but it will NOT happen! you’re safe, and so is your spot in your courses.

finally, this last part is relevant to people living in a student residence. you might have already registered with a payment during the summer, so you think you’re all set for this deadline. BUT, residence fees show up in your account later on, after you’ve already registered. some people don’t realize this and think they already paid their fees. so if you are in residence, make sure to also pay your residence fees, which had the same sep 30 deadline.

and that’s all. i hope you all appreciated this psa and feel better about your fees. i also hope you all enjoyed reading about finances for however long it took you to get through this post. i however, will never get that time back.

over and out,

aska

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internal transfer, rotman, UTSC

make those moves!

October 2, 2024

Hello there,

I hope you are doing well.

I currently am a first year student in UTSC for social science and my goal is to switch to it’s for rotman commerce. I know it is a big shot but rotman commerce is my dream school and I really want to switch. I am taking microeconomic, calculus for management and macroeconomics to help me switch to rotman. Do you have any recommendations of what I should do or if there are any other courses that I need to take?

Ragards

hey there,

what you’re wanting to do here is an internal transfer, which is a switch between two separate faculties. in your case, these faculties would be UTSC and rotman commerce.

so here’s the thing: not all departments actually accept transfer students.

rotman is sorta-kinda-maybe one of these departments, with exceptions. officially, they say that they “don’t generally” accept external transfers, which would be students from other universities (according to this website). as for internal transfers within U of T, they say “successful transfers into rotman commerce are very rare”, but students in the faculty of arts and science can apply.

however, there is nothing officially said about whether students from UTSC can apply for an internal transfer into rotman, so the first thing you need to do is determine if an internal transfer is even possible for you. i’d advise that you get in direct touch with the department for that — you can contact them by email or even show up in person to their academic services/admission office on 125 st. george street if you are so inclined.

i would ask them whether an internal transfer from UTSC to rotman is possible. and if it’s not generally done, whether there any special circumstances or any possibility at all of allowing it.

and yeah, i know that’s all kind of a bummer BUT please don’t let it get you down. the good news is, you are able to still study business at the scarborough campus’s department of management. this department is really good and offers great programs.

and with this, you would still be able to get a U of T business degree in a high-quality program — that stands for itself. getting a U of T business degree holds prestige/value for hiring no matter the campus you get it at. (i could have used the word aura here but i will not be caught using gen alpha lingo today).

that’s all to say, i’d encourage you to reach out to the utsc academic advising and career centre, because they can really help you figure all of this out, 1. in the case that there are exceptions that will allow you to apply for an internal transfer OR 2. in the case that you’re applying for the department of management at UTSC. book an appointment with an academic advisor! it will make things a lot clearer, since they know a lot more than students do.

and that’s it from me. personally, i think it’s really great that you want to study business, definitely go for it! a lot of people are too scared to pursue the program that they really want, so kudos to you for taking action on this. best of luck with everything, you’ve got this! i’m cheering you on.

over and out,

aska

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academic standing, health and wellness

nooo don’t suspend me how will i bench press

September 27, 2024

can probation/suspension students use the gym or the counselling people? is that allowed? or are we no longer considered students???

hey there,

ok so this is sort of an interesting one because there’s nothing official said about this on any of the U of T websites. so we’re gonna have to rely on our sleuthing and reasoning powers here.

first off, probation and suspension are two different academic standings (here is some Official info on that). when you’re on probation, you’re still enrolled as a student, but your grades are sort of put on watch. the best way i can think of explaining it is, it’s basically academic purgatory lol. you’re not quite suspended, but you’re also not in good standing. it’s sort of the buffer zone before getting suspended, where you still have the chance to pull your grades up and get back into good standing — but if you don’t, you’ll get suspended. you can read more about the specific GPA’s that determine all this on that site i linked.

meanwhile, when you’re suspended, you’re technically not enrolled/registered for the school year, so everything sorta goes on pause.

can you still use the gym?

using the gym and (some) of the libraries would require that your T-card works. however, your T-card would not work if you’re suspended.

the biggest determining factor here is incidental fees. if you’re suspended, and you aren’t registered for the school year, you won’t be paying your fees, which is what gives you access to the gym in the first place.

i guess you could separately pay to access some of the gyms though, like the hart house gym, which i know non-U of T folks can pay to use.

can you access counselling/mental health services?

by counselling services, i’m going to assume you mean health & wellness services and registrar counselling?

again, the services provided by health & wellness are covered through incidental fees and that makes me think that maybe you won’t have access.

BUT i did some digging and found this one person on reddit (keep in mind, idk how reliable this is) who was asking a similar question to this just last month. they were asking if they could still go to their mental health appointment if they were placed on 4 month suspension. they then came back to update us (king behaviour, imo) that they were still able to go to their appointment! so it seems like you’re not automatically kicked out of the system if you’re suspended.

so it seems to me that if you already have an ongoing relationship with someone at health & wellness, it’s worth reaching out directly to them for clarification. they might be able to continue working with you, especially if your suspension is short, but you’d need to confirm that. like for example, if you see your therapist every week and get suspended, i don’t think you should get cut off from therapy? there has to be a way around that.

it’s just if you’ve never gone, and try to initiate something after you’re suspended that you might run into issues, i think.

so ultimately, your best bet here is to double-check with health & wellness to know for sure. if they don’t have an answer, maybe your registrar’s office will.

because even in the worst case scenario in which you are completely cut off from accessing health and wellness services, you won’t be completely stranded. if you’re suspended, you still have access to your registrar’s office for support and advice. (this fact comes directly from my registrar). they will be able to offer you counselling services and mental wellness support — and some colleges or faculties might have specific resources or guidance for suspended students, so definitely check them out.

sooo tldr: if you’re on probation, you’ve got access to gyms and counselling services. if you’re suspended, no access to gyms, possible access to health and wellness counselling, definite access to faculty/college registrar counselling.

and, yeah! i hope this was helpful. best of luck to you, feel so free to reach out again if you have more questions!

over and out,

aska

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applying for U of T, extracurricular

hmmm very suspicious ha ha of you

September 20, 2024

Hi, I was wondering how universities ensure that people’s extracurriculars are credible. Like do they call the schools/ check Instagram posts of the club or make you upload certificates or something? Also, would they suspect someone if they have “too many” extra-curriculars.

hey there,

might you be asking because you’re one of those people with a suspicious number of extra-curriculars?

nah, jk. there’s no such thing as too many extracurriculars, in my opinion. if you can handle it, you can handle it. and if so, wear that proudly and put it on your resumes/applications! i think the likelihood of them thinking you’re lying is pretty low, and the best plan is to just be honest (and show off that resume!!).

that’s to say, biggest side-eye to anyone who lies about their extracurriculars. lying about your extracurriculars to get into university would be crAzy when you’re applying to a university that (for most programs) only looks at your grades.

because at least in U of T’s faculty of arts & science, you pretty much just input your grades to the system, upload your transcript, and call it a day – at least that’s how it worked for me when i applied.

outside of the faculty of arts and sciences however, they do ask for some sort of supplemental application. this is the case for the rotman business school, the engineering faculty, architecture faculty, and the faculty of music. (not an exhaustive list, just the main ones i can think of out there).

and that brings me to your question. how do universities ensure the credibility of your extracurriculars? do they ask for paper proof? do they call your school? do they show up at your front door step? is that why you had to put your address in your application?

well, considering U of T – like most large universities – receives tens of thousands of applications each year, they aren’t able to lean into that level of helicopter parenting. most of the time, if they do ask you to write about your extracurriculars, applications will explicitly say whether or not they will be verifying those extracurriculars.

often, there will just be a box where you write the name, email, and phone number of a couple people who can be your reference for that extracurricular. they could say something like, for example, “we may reach out if further verification is required”. in other words, they might not actually contact the references you put down. other times, they will definitely reach out to that reference and say something like “we will reach out for an informal assessment via email or phone”.

so overall, i hate to say it, but the way universities ensure the credibility of your extracurriculars just depends on the university and program you’re applying to. they all do it differently! but if they do plan to verify anything, you will know ahead of time and it will be you choosing who they might contact as verification. as in, they won’t randomly call up your school out of the blue.

as for certificates, i also don’t think they’ll ask you for these as paper proof of extracurriculars. the only instance in which i’ve seen these required is if you’re asking to use something for university credit, which wouldn’t be part of your application anyways.

anyhoo. i hope this was helpful and answered your question! best of luck.

over and out,

aska

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academic standing, probation, suspension

stay strong, soldier

September 13, 2024
i went into school thinking i was on academic probation (i guessed because my marks weren’t good and i did a little bit of reading and i fit the bill) but i got that confirmation from OSAP and not the school. i got info from osap asking me to write an action plan on how to improve in the summer. so i was thinking i was on probation from the summer to the fall semester.

today was the first day and i was trying to sort out my courses and get some help with planning and i found out i’m actually suspended! i got no information whatsoever from the registrar about the probation and nothing about the suspension. i sent in an appeal but i’m so scared. i don’t have a good support system at home and i don’t know what to do.

i know i did bad but i was miserable doing a program that my family wanted me to do. i went in today to switch my major to make myself less miserable and i find out i can’t even take these classes. i’m scared and sick and sad and confused. what do i do??

hey there,

man, that’s tough, i’m sorry this is happening.

i hate that you didn’t get any notification or warning before it happened. like – what!?? it also sucks that you had to pursue a program that you didn’t want 🙁

well, what i can do for you is try to explain how this whole suspension thing works, which might help you know what your next steps could be.

so first of all, on the artsci website, there’s a page called “academic standing” that details the exact conditions that determine your academic standing. your standing is evaluated at the end of the fall/winter school year and at the end of the summer. and there are four types of academic standing you might fall into during this evaluation:

1. in good standing

this is when your CGPA (cumulative gpa, which basically is just your grades from all your years spent at U of T) is 1.50 or higher.

2. on academic probation

this is the stage i believe you were at before you got suspended, and it happens when your CGPA is less than 1.50.

and here’s where it gets a little complicated. the bridge between academic probation and suspension is a tough one, and i really wish U of T made it more clear!

you mentioned that you thought you were on academic probation and then all of a sudden you were suspended. here is why i think that might have happened — on the website, they give this explanation:

“if you are on academic probation and at the end of the next session in which you are registered, you have a cumulative GPA of less than 1.50 and an annual GPA (fall/winter session) or sessional GPA (summer session) of less than 1.70, you will be suspended.”

basically, your sessional GPA is what really matters here — not your overall gpa, just the gpa from the most recent session.

here’s an example to illustrate this better:

let’s say we’ve got a student, and his name is bob. bob has a gpa of 1.40 at the end of the school year in april, 2013 (better times, man). so he’s put on academic probation. he doesn’t take summer school, and then enters the next fall/winter school year in september, 2013. then, bob takes some classes like the uni student he is. but, during the school year, bob doesn’t do too well (he’s going through it). so he comes out of the fall/winter session with a sessional gpa of 1.55 and a CGPA of 1.48.

does bob stay on academic probation or does he get suspended?

well, although his sessional gpa is above 1.50, it actually needs to be above 1.70! so there are three reasons why bob is going to get suspended:
1. 1. his CGPA was below 1.5 last year, which put him on academic probation (kind of like a watch list)
  2. his CGPA was below 1.5 again this year (so now we’re looking at his sessional gpa)
  3. his most recent sessional gpa is below 1.70
so then, bob is suspended for one calendar year and can’t register for the fall/winter school year in september, 2014. if his most recent sessional gpa had been above 1.70, he would have just stayed on academic probation and avoided suspension.

i hope that helped clear things up ? i definitely wish the system was not like this, but…. once again, U of T is showing how *sparkle emoji* institutional it is. (it might be too bold of a subtweet to add here, but you know that thousand yard stare meme? yeahh..)

3. on suspension

the next type of standing is suspension, and i’ve kinda already explained how you get here with my amazing story about bob. but, something else to note is that there are two suspension lengths that students can receive.
1. one-calendar-year suspension, if it’s your first time being suspended
2. three-calendar-year suspension, if you’ve already been suspended before (this sounds so rough omg)
4. refused further registration

annnnd the final type is when someone comes back from a three-year-suspension, and during the next school year, came out with a sessional gpa of less than 1.70. in this situation, you’re refused further registration in the faculty of arts and sciences (indefinitely? forever?).

so yeah. that’s my long-winded explanation of academic standing, but i think it’s really important that all students have a good grasp of how this works.

next steps

as for your next steps, i would say that the best thing to do at the moment is to book an appointment with your college registrar’s office. as intimidating as it might sound, they really know the system best and will be able to help you best, since they’re literally professionals who are paid to do it! they’ll be able to provide you with your best steps forward, which would definitely be helpful during this stressful time. also, they can help you plan out possible steps towards switching your major — because this is another confusing process that will be hard to plan out by yourself.

so please don’t hesitate to do this! it’s my #1 piece of advice for you rn.

and also, submitting a petition would be my next piece of advice for you, but i see you’ve already done that. again, your college registrar’s office can definitely help you out with this, especially if you submitted a lift-of-suspension petition. i’d encourage you to read up on all the info about that here.

honestly, other than that, i’d just say to please take care of yourself! i understand that this can be really distressing, but you come before school! as much as school matters, please take the time to process things and make sure you’re okay mentally and physically before powering through it all.

so yeah. let me know if i can help out more! i’m sending so much love, you’ve got this!

over and out,

aska
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admissions, applying for U of T, UTM

chronically confused

August 14, 2024
Hi I want to apply to study Communication, Culture, Information & Technology at University of Toronto Missisigua And I am quite confused on their website I am seeing the deadline for early admission is June 27th but sometimes I see January 15th I am pretty confused when does early admission and regular admission open and what day do they end?

hey there,

ok yeah, i took a look at the CCIT and UTM websites and it is a bit confusing as to what the dates and deadlines are.

well, here is my summary of the admissions deadlines according to this UTM dates and deadlines page:
- november 7 is the “recommended application deadine for early consideration”
  - december 15 is the “recommended document deadline for early consideration”
- january 15 is the “application deadline for all applicants on OUAC”
  - february 1 is the “document deadline for all applicants”
as you can see, it might be confusing because there are different deadlines for your application and getting all your documents in. the gist of it is that november 7 is the early admission deadline and january 15 is the general admission deadline. apply for the early deadline if you want to be considered in the first round of offers, but apply before the general deadline if you want more time to get everything together. but keep in mind, some spots may already be filled by early applicants by then.

meanwhile, later on in the spring, you’ll have acceptance deadlines (for you to accept U of T’s offer):
- may 1 is the acceptance deadline for canadian and international applicants
- june 3 is the acceptance deadline for ontario applicants
however, the website says that with these acceptance deadlines, you might have a different, specific date as stated in your offer letter.

it seems to me like there is no deadline on june 27. i searched that date up on google with the “must include” function and nothing relevant came up for CCIT admissions. but, i do see a july 12th date on the same dates and deadlines page i’ve been talking about. it says that the “application deadline dates for september 2024 entry” was closed on july 12, 2024.

soooo yeah. that is super confusing. personally, i think the july 12 date seems way too late to be an application deadline. when i applied to U of T st. george campus, the deadlines for me were also november 7 and january 15. so my honest student-to-student advice is to just stick to that and ignore the july 12 date.

HOWEVER, i am not involved in the admissions process and before following what i say, you might want to confirm it. the easiest thing to do in this situation is to just send in a quick question through this page.

anyhoo, good luck with your application!

over and out,

aska
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courses, wait list

my olympic sport is uoft course enrolment

August 14, 2024

why am I refused to a course that I’m waitlisted?

hey there,

alright, so you were refused from a course that you were waitlisted for.

well, i’m gonna be honest, there are multiple ways i could interpret this question. i’m not too sure whether you’re asking why you were waitlisted, or why the waitlist closed, or if you were just mysteriously refused from a course.

sooo i’m gonna address all these situations just in case. i hope that’s alright with you.

1. being waitlisted

the critical info you need here is that being waitlisted for a course means that you’re not in yet because the course is full. it’s essentially a “lineup” for the course. i know this can be disappointing and a little (or a lot) stressful, especially if you need to take that course to get into or complete your program.

but it happens because U of T needs to regulate the class sizes in order to organize classrooms, or something like that. in my experience, the max class size is just the number of seats in a classroom. sometimes they are able to expand and switch classrooms if there’s a lot of people on the waitlist, but most of the time you just have to wait it out and hope for the best.

a general rule of thumb is that if your spot in the waitlist is within the top 10% of the class size, you’ll get in. so if the class size is 70, then you’ll be fine if you’re in the top 7 of the waitlist. (you’ll be able to check what number you are on the waitlist on acorn, at the bottom of the “courses” page.) but, keep in mind that this rule really depends on the level of interest for the class and is just a rough estimate.

if you’re still waitlisted but pretty high on the list when classes start, don’t give up hope! in the case that the class is pretty big (aka over 40-ish and not a seminar), and it’s held in person, you can technically attend lecture until you’re off the waitlist. how will they know you’re not supposed to be there? 😀

i know people who have done that, and it’s worked for them. this allows you to not fall behind if you get into the course a few weeks after the start of classes. sure, during that time you won’t have access to the quercus page and course resources, but you can befriend someone who does!

don’t worry about keeping an eye on your waitlist rank though. when a spot opens up, you’ll be automatically added into the course and you’ll receive an email.

2. waitlist closing

next, maybe you were recently booted from the waitlist.

well, waitlists do have a closing date each term, which happens a few days before course enrolment closes. these dates will be listed on the academic dates & deadlines page. after the waitlist closes, spots in courses will be available on a first-come first-served basis. so this is the one case where you do have to obsessively check the course availability — whoever catches an open spot and enrols first gets it. at least, during the few days until enrolment closes.

3. refused enrolment in a course

that brings us to my last guess. you were refused enrolment in a course.

well, there are a number of reasons why this might have happened. but the #1 reason why this happens is because you don’t meet an enrolment control and aren’t eligible to take the course.

for example, you’ll be refused enrolment if you haven’t taken the required pre-requisites or co-requisites. or, the course might only be available to students in a certain program or year. in fact, some courses even require separate application and approval processes through the department. regardless, these should all show up under the course’s enrolment indicators on timetable builder.

the only other reason i can think of is, maybe you might have reached the course load limit, which is 6.0 credits for the fall-winter session combined (max of 3.0 credits per semester). or maybe your academic standing is affecting your enrolment? this would only happen if your GPA is less than 1.5. but, i’m not super sure how this works.

overall, i would highly encourage you to contact your college registrar if you’re in this third section where you were mysteriously refused from a course. they are more knowledgeable on the behind-the-scenes aspect of course enrolment and would be able to help you figure out the reason why this happened.

and, yeah.

i hope one of these options was relevant and answered your question. if not, well. so much of this job is a guessing game, i’m bound to get it wrong sometimes.

best of luck, i really hope you figure it out!

over and out,

aska

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academic standing, admissions

so. that’s kinda scary

August 8, 2024

Hi! I’m stressing out right now I was admitted to UofT for environmental science and the requirements for my offer were to get a 70% in english (which I achieved), and a overall average of 75%. I ended up finishing with a 73.33%. And I received an email saying since I didn’t achieve the average my offer may be revoked. Do you think it will be revoked or should I be okay? How likely is it that my offer will be revoked. Thanks!

hey there,

hmmmm, interesting. most admission offers i’ve heard of provide much more ominously vague conditions, like “maintain your academic standing”.

i’m sorry this is happening, it sounds like a really uncertain and upsetting situation! but honestly, i gotta say, as a fellow student, i am not really in the position to be telling you whether or not your offer will be revoked. i’m not involved in the admissions process at all, so that’s not my place of authority and i don’t wanna tell you something wrong in a consequential situation like this.

i feel like i’d need to see the exact wording of that email to really determine how likely it is that you’ll be revoked. it does say on the admissions decisions page of the artsci website that “students who don’t meet the required conditions by the posted deadlines can expected to have their offer rescinded”. and if you received an email saying you didn’t meet the conditions, well, it does seem pretty likely.

but, i’m not sure how often U of T rescinds offers (i don’t have any mutuals who this happened to). reddit, which keep in mind is not so reliable, says it doesn’t happen often and that it requires a huge grade drop of more than 10%. so who knows.

regardless, you might wanna prepare yourself for either situation. here are some options i’ve heard of:

apparently there might be a form linked in your conditional offer where you are able explain the extenuating circumstances behind a grade drop.

i’ve also heard you might be able to take summer school to improve your grade average. i’m not sure how this works though, you’d have to directly contact enrolment services to find out if it’s possible.

so yeah, i know it wasn’t much but i hope this was somewhat helpful. good luck!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, engineering

young engineer will not go crazy today, no siree

August 6, 2024

Hey, I want to get into mechanical engineering in uofstg and I’m grade 11 (well going into grade 12 since it’s summer) and in ontario with a 87 average. I’m in HOSA but didn’t make president (I thought I would). My school doesn’t have many clubs but I want to be more involved with stem club next year. I just wanted to know how competitive my program is and my chances of getting in regardless of grade 12 (I am hoping to do better next year). I’m shaking in my boots because I really really want to get in. I keep pretending like I won’t go crazy if I don’t get in but I just might.

hey there,

i get how stressful it can be during this stage of high school, right before university application season starts! “shaking in your boots” is such an accurate description of that time.

but,

i’m not an engineering student so i can’t speak from experience as to how competitive admissions is. to be honest with you, all you can really do to figure out your chances of getting in is to do some casual internet sleuthing (aka research) on U of T websites.

so you want to get into mechanical engineering. well, engineering programs are definitely among the more competitive programs at U of T. but, your 87 average does fit within the range listed on the FAQ page of the engineering website — here, they say the grade range that you need to be competitive for mechanical engineering is high 80’s to low 90’s. keep in mind though, being within this range “doesn’t guarantee admission”, as they’ll always say.

on this page, it also says that your admission average is computed based on a select group of pre-requisite grade 12 level courses. under the ontario school system, those are english ( ENG4U), advanced functions (MHF4U), calculus and vectors (MCV4U), chemistry (SCH4U), and physics (SPH4U). this tells you that you’ll want to especially do well in these courses, since admissions will definitely be looking at them.

meanwhile, you’re right that your extracurricular activities matter too — for both admission and scholarship consideration.

the engineering school’s admissions requires that you submit an online student profile, through which you’ll input your grades, describe your extracurriculars and send in some “get to know you as a person” video responses. you’ll have access to this though the engineering applicant portal once U of T receives your initial application on OUAC (ontario universities’ application centre).

keep in mind though, that your extracurricular activities don’t need to be engineering-related. they can also include athletics, arts, community involvement, and paid or volunteer employment. for this section, i think it’s great that you’re a part of HOSA and that you’re gonna get involved with stem clubs!

anyways. it seems like that’s it. these are just the admission areas you’ll want to make yourself as competitive as possible in. to directly answer your question, i can’t really tell you

“congrats, you’re competitive!”

or

“man i’m sorry you just won’t cut it”.

because like, i’m not an admissions officer, nor have i applied to engineering myself.

but it seems to me like you’re in a pretty okay position right now. engineering is very hard to get into, but i think you are able to craft a strong application from here on out. i think just work really hard in grade 12 to get the highest marks you can, and really sell those extracurriculars in your student profile.

all in all, i believe you’re fully capable of getting in if you set your mind to it and really commit yourself during this last home stretch. lose that fear of failure, you’ve got this!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, campus, psychology

where.

July 14, 2024
Hello, I am interested in applying to the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. I would like to know which campus offers the best program for that. Additionally, I would like to inquire if it is possible to apply for admission immediately after completing Grade 11, with the potential for a conditional offer based on an average score above 95% in Grade 11 (through Tvo ILC), without having started Grade 12. And what will be the admission steps?

hey there,
1. which campus is best
first of all, great question. it can be really hard to choose which uni and campus to attend, because that’s where you’ll live your life for the next four+ years. when i was at that stage, i felt a lot like this:

i can tell you that psychology at U of T is going to be really good no matter which campus you choose. but if you wanted to know which one was best for that program, it really depends on what you’re looking for.

st. george is the biggest campus and it’s downtown. so that will mean it has more research opportunities in more areas, because of how connected the st. george campus is. like, there are a lot of U of T affiliated companies in different sectors that will take U of T undergrads looking for experience. the psychology has a great page where you can check out research opportunities here.

as for the other two campuses, i don’t know much about UTM, but UTSC in scarborough is known for being the co-op campus. so if you’re looking for co-op opportunities, that’s the place to be. for example, at UTSC you can take the co-op program in psychology, which is a work integrated program that combines your studies with paid work. this can also be great if you want to earn some money while being a student.

i’d say both co-op opportunities and research opportunities are really important for psychology because it’s difficult to get job experience as an undergrad when you’re a psychology student. so it just depends on what you prefer.

meanwhile, you should also choose the campus based on its environment and how it would work for you, as each campus has different pros and cons. like, do you want to live in the downtown core? do you want to live in a smaller campus? do you like nature? noise? etc.

if you’re curious, you can check out this page that goes over what makes each campus unique.

2. can you apply for admission now?

so unfortunately, it is not possible to apply for admission immediately after completing grade 11. this is because you need to be at least enrolled in grade 12 courses before you can be considered for admission.

according to the admission dates page, the early application date is november 7 while the deadline is january 15. so you’ll have to wait for the fall of your senior year to apply, around late september or october. you can apply for early admissions even if your grade 12 marks are not out yet, but you do need to be in grade 12. there’s not really a way around that.

finally, if you’re still undecided on which campus to choose, i’d encourage you to reach out to a recruitment officer, as they can probably tell you more psychology-specific things about each campus and help you make your decision.

anyways, hope this was helpful, good luck!!

over and out,

aska
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