askastudent - your student life specialists

courses, first year, one programs

how to not drown in the large pond that is U of T

March 3, 2025

hey askastundent!

just got into uoft st george at innis in social sciences (planning on majoring in public policy) (yay!!) last week, and was wondering… how many people should I expect to have in my classes? I’m doing dual enrollment through my hs at a uni of a similar size to u of t (total student population of 67k) and all my classes have had between 60 and 30 people (minus my honors class of 11), now granted I’m not taking like ‘Biology 101’ or the super basic ones, but they’re all classes I qualify for as a first year. is u of t the same, with a wide range of class sizes that are available to you from year one or should I expect to be a total small fish in a big pond for all of my first year?

appreciate everything you guys do!

hey there,

yay!! that is so exciting, congrats and welcome!!

ok so the great thing about U of T is that there is a wide range of class sizes that are available to you from year one. you are absolutely not limited to only take classes with thousands of people in them. should you choose, your class sizes can be as small as 25 or as large as 3000+.

the first thing you should check out is the timetable builder, which students use to plan out their courses. filter for the faculty of arts and science, and the fall/winter subsession. then you’ll be able to get an idea of the many course options that U of T offers, as well as their class sizes.

if you’re planning to major in public policy, you should also take a look at the artsci calendar’s overview of what courses you’ll have to take for it, linked here.

as you can see on that page, in first year you’ll have to take large first-year economics courses, which have class sizes around 3000. but for the rest of your first year pre-req credits, you’ll be able to choose between large poli sci courses or small courses in the ones programs (such as munk one, trinity one, and vic one).

ones programs

but wait.

what are “ones” programs you ask? these are special first-year-only programs offered by all the colleges that allow you to explore your interests, find community, and get experiential learning opportunities in small seminar settings. what makes these classes special is that they often give you the chance to do exciting projects that go beyond the classroom.

since you’re going into public policy, i think the ones most relevant to you would be trinity one and munk one. i took the munk one program in my first year, and i gotta say, it really pushed me beyond my comfort zone and put me in a room with the most well-spoken, academically excelling, and smart students i’ve ever met at U of T. i highly recommend the experience, and it gave such a strong foundation on global issues and social change that would be relevant to any field of study.

the only issue i had with this was that these courses didn’t count towards my programs of study, since i ended up going into life sci, lol. but they would be perfect for you since the munk and trin (and vic, i think?) programs funnel directly into the public policy major!

first round applications for these close during the last week of march, so go check them out asap.

but if you didn’t want to take a ones program, you are still able to take small courses during first year through FYF seminars.

first year foundations seminars

when choosing electives during your first year (to go alongside your program pre-reqs), i highly encourage you to take some first year foundations courses. these are small seminar courses that not that many people know about — so like, kinda secret, very swag, and super duper cool!

they’re on really interesting, niche topics such as “murder and other deathly crimes”, “tree stories”, vampires, time travel, cryptology, and more. like, you won’t find these kinds of courses at other school. but, these are limited to 25 people per class, and, you can only take FYF courses during your first year.

i am a huge fan of FYF courses and took a few during my first year. they’re rare opportunities to make good connections with professors so early in your undergrad career, and give a more gentle/exciting transition into university than large courses provide. ie, you won’t get such a good chance to connect with your professors if you’re in a class of a thousand.

ALSO, if you take small seminar courses you have a much lower chance of being bombarded with 5 exams during exam season, since they usually don’t have final exams.

if you’re interested, you can see a full list of them here.

even if you don’t take seminars

ok, let’s say you’re uninterested in the above and are less than impressed with my advertisement of FYF courses and ones programs.

even if you don’t take seminar courses, all of your large econ and political science courses will have tutorials. basically, there will be lectures, which is when 500 people will go to a huge lecture hall and listen to the prof yap for 2 hours straight. but also, you’ll all be sorted into tutorials, which are when smaller groups will meet for an hour with the TA and go over course content in a more interactive way (eg. discussion, working on projects, talking about assessments).

so tutorials are sort of another way to experience small class sizes, minus the connection with the professor.

overall

so long story short, there are several ways to take small courses during your first year and you don’t always have to feel like a small fish in a big pond. you will have to be in some big classes, but if you choose, you can mix some small seminars into your schedule.

during my first year, i was able to take three seminar courses per semester, which always surprised my peers who complained about large class sizes. but this was because because i was part of a ones program AND took FYF courses. #iwaswinning4real.

so yeah. hope this answered your question??? either way, you have now received the secrets to taking small courses during first year. lucky you! now go forth and be a happy fish in a normal sized pond.

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, extracurricular

a guide to what U of T actually looks at

February 24, 2025

what should i do to get a better chance of getting into u of t? is there anything particular they want to see in a student? and do i have to be good at leadership or its not that important?

hey there,

well, this is sorta hard to answer because it depends on which admission category, which campus, and which faculty you’re applying to.

soooo i guess i’ll just cover the main options and hope one of them is relevant to you?

humanities, life sciences, physical and mathematical sciences, and social science categories

within the faculty of arts and sciences, there are six admission categories, which are basically just general categories that help sort all the programs. if you’re applying to the humanities, life sciences, physical and mathematical sciences, and social science categories, you won’t have to hand in anything other than your grades. since these are the most common areas of study at U of T, this will be the case for most people.

if this is you, U of T will base your admission based on the average grades of your top six academic grade 12 courses, including pre-requisite courses. no leadership skills required, and no extracurriculars. which is a little cray-cray considering how much effort i put into that stuff in high school just to apply to a uni that didn’t look at any of it :DDDD.

anyways, admission for these fields of study is literally just based on grades and all you can do is try to keep your grades above the competitive average for your category.

so if you’ve got good marks, YAY. U of T made it super simple for you!

and if not. ugh, U of T sucks for that who gave them the right.

rotman commerce and computer science categories

meanwhile, if you were applying to rotman commerce or computer science, they will look at both your grades and your extracurriculars/experiences in a supplemental application. so yes, things like leadership and extracurricular activities are important.

for rotman commerce, it seems like this supplemental application will include written and video responses to assess your leadership skills and community involvement, as well as your passion for business. i’m sure for rotman, leadership skills are a big factor, since that’s kinda essential for business school.

and for comp sci, this application will look at similar things. it’ll be a 250 word response about your leadership skills and experiences. but questions won’t be centred around computer science.

faculty of engineering

for engineering applicants, they will be looking at your grades alongside an “online student profile” that you’ll fill out. this will focus on your extracurriculars and interests, and they are especially “interested in your activities and achievements that demonstrate leadership, dedication and overall excellence”.

if you wanted more details about what this looks like: it seems you’ll have to discuss your non-academic activities like clubs, sports, and arts. AND, you’ll have to complete timed video responses that will help them to “get to know you as a person”.

daniel’s faculty of architecture, landscape, and design

and finally, i want to include architecture, just in case this applies to you. telepathically, i am sensing you’re most likely in arts and sciences but we’re gonna roll with this.

if you wanted to apply to the daniel’s faculty, you’ll need to submit your grades alongside a supplementary application that will include a written response as well as a creative submission. so, leadership/extracurriculars don’t matter for this program, but personality and creativity do!

overall advice

so the tldr is: in artsci, the humanities, life sci, physical and mathematical sciences, and social science categories only look at grades. it’s only rotman, comp sci, and engineering that will look at leadership, extracurriculars, and interests. and architecture will look at your personal response and creative ability.

but regardless of which field of study you’re interested in, having good grades will really help you have a good chance of admission (duh!). make sure you’ve taken the pre-requisite courses for your admission category, thoroughly understand the admission requirements, and meet all the deadlines.

i’d also highly recommend that you submit during the early application period, for the best chances. start your application early so that you don’t rush it during the few days before and just decide “eh, i’ll just submit for the later deadline” because you’re too rushed (like a lot of people in my high school did). start early and submit early!

anyways, i hope some part of this was helpful. best of luck with your application!!

over and out,

aska

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GPA, non degree

on that non-degree to PhD arc

February 19, 2025

Hi! So here’s my situation- Masters degree in Electronics Engineering gpa 3.74- graduated in 2012 from university in uk Undergraduate degree in electronic engineering – graduated in 2010 in India. I passed in first class but WES evaluated my GPA as 2.8. I have been trying to get into a PhD biomedical engineering program and facing rejections. I applied for a masters program , rejected again. Grading in my undergraduate program was strict and there were only 2 students who were awarded distinction (>3 gpa). How can I improve my gpa from 15 years ago? Taking up an undergraduate degree now would push my PhD goals further. What do I do? Please help I sincerely appreciate any suggestions

hey there,

thanks for this question! geez, that undergrad program sounds so tough if only two people graduated with distinction.

well, i can tell you that this is a very common situation. many people end up needing to raise their undergrad GPA years after they’ve already graduated. and the main way to do this is to enrol at a university as a non-degree student.

basically, being a non-degree student allows you to take classes at a university without the commitment of pursuing an entire undergrad degree. taking these classes will give you the opportunity to improve your academic record, which is perfect for what you need!

i’m not sure if you were considering U of T as your university of choice since you asked me this question, but that’s where my expertise lies, so that’s what the next part of this post will be about.

usually i point people towards taking non-degree courses within the faculty of arts and sciences, since that’s our main faculty here at U of T. but since you’re in engineering, you might prefer to take non-degree courses within our faculty of applied science and engineering. i feel like taking courses that are relevant to your intended grad program would be helpful for your application, right?

well, just in case, here is how to apply for both.

applying for non-degree at the faculty of arts & sciences

if you want to start this fall, the application deadline would be june 2. you would apply on OUAC using the non-degree application. admission requirements would be based on your previous academic record from high school and university, as well as your english proficiency, if required.

applying for non-degree at the faculty of engineering

meanwhile, for engineering, the application deadline to start this fall would be august 1. according to their website, it seems like you would need to directly contact the engineering undergraduate admissions office to get a non-degree application. i’d assume that admission requirements for this are also based on your previous academic record and english proficiency.

look at courses on the timetable builder

if you were interested, or even partially interested in taking non-degree courses at U of T, i’d encourage you to check out what courses are offered at U of T on our timetable builder. this website allows you to search courses by faculty, session, department, or code. for example, if you wanted to check out biomedical engineering courses, you would type in BME in faculty of applied science and engineering in the filter bar.

and that’s it from me! hope this was helpful and best of luck. you are so swagalicious for not giving up in the face of rejection, you’ve got this!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, grades, rotman

live laugh spiral

February 18, 2025

Hi there! I am a Grade 12 student applying for Rotman Commerce at St. George campus. I just finished semester 1, and my top 6 average is currently a 95.3, which includes Grade 12 English and Calculus completed. However, I didn’t do well back in Grade 11 and have 3 very bad marks, including Chemistry, Physics, and G11 English, but I got 90s in all other G11 courses except for Function with an 87. As I know, Rotman would look at all G11 and G12 grades when reviewing my application, therefore, I am scared these 3 grades could significantly lower my chances, especially for the G11 English mark. I had high 50s in Chem, mid-70s in Phy, and 66 in Grade 11 English, which resulted in an 83 Grade 11 avg. Moreover, despite having a fabulous Grade 12 average, I took so many Grade 12 courses outside of day school. For example, I took English in summer school and got a 93; calculus in e-learning and got a 94, and at last, MHF4U in night school and got a 96. I am also scared it could lower my chances as well since, apparently, U of T cares about night school, summer school, etc. It also shows grade inconsistency in English since it jumped from a 66 in Grade 11 to a 93 in Grade 12. I got a 95 on both the only two Grade 12 courses that I took in day school fyi. Last but not least, I completed my supp app last week, and I believe I did decently well. I would give myself an 8/10. Nonetheless, I apologize for how long it is since I just wanted to provide some context. But here are a few questions I would like to get an answer to: 1. Will my low Grade 11 avg and Grade 11 English mark significantly lower my chances? 2. Does U of T care about whether I took any courses outside of day school? 3. Overall, what are my chances of getting into Rotman? I am really sorry for bothering you! I hope you have a good rest of the day!

hey there,

first off, congrats on finishing your application, and on getting such good marks in your first semester of grade 12! those numbers are really impressive.

but i get the anxiety despite it all (you’re just like me fr).

jk. these are super valid questions, and also really common questions! so maybe i can help clarify things. just a disclaimer though, i won’t be able to give a perfectly clear answer because publicly released U of T admission rules are pretty confusing. they really gotta stop tryna act so dark and mysterious, man.

grade 11 marks

ok i can see why you’re worried if you got a 66 in grade 11 english and english is one of the pre-requisite courses for admisson into rotman.

but you may be fine. because in general, grade 11 marks are looked at mainly for early consideration and conditional admissions.

it’s true that U of T does look at your grade 11 marks, but these will matter more when your marks from grade 12 aren’t out yet. keep in mind that everyone’s term system works differently, and some schools won’t release interim grade 12 marks yet at this point in the year. so for students who get their first term grade 12 marks back late, grade 11 marks will count more. but your interim grade 12 marks are already out, so your grade 11 marks will likely not hold as much weight. does that make sense?

i’ve heard U of T admissions likes to see improvement, too! so the fact that you showed massive growth from grade 11 to grade 12 should help you out. plus, an 83 average for grade 11 is not bad at all.

courses outside of day school

i’ve been told that U of T doesn’t care whether you take courses during the summer semester. i’ve also heard that they don’t care if you take courses online. however, i have not heard anything about night school.

while i did find a statement made about day school on this rotman page, it doesn’t really provide us with anything of substance. officially, they say this:

“while there may be valid reasons for taking courses outside of your day school, we encourage students to take courses in their day school where possible. all aspects of the application may be considered in the admissions process”.

very vague, i know. but the general vibe i’m getting is that taking courses outside of day school will not be a make-or-break factor in your application, considering you already have a very high average. i think it’s usually only cause for concern for applicants who are close to the minimum admission average. but that’s not you, because you’ve got really high marks!

your chances

so yeah, as i said above, if you have a top 6 average of 95.3, you’re way above the minimum average of mid-high 80’s, shown on this rotman page. the fact that you’ve got high marks and did well on your supplemental means that your chances are pretty good.

overall, my personal take (as an arts and science student and not an admissions person or a rotman student) is that you will be fine. several other people have asked similar questions to these, and you have higher grade 12 marks than the rest of the crowd. grade 12 marks and the supplemental will matter the most, and you’ve absolutely got those in the bag.

finally, no one can give you a guaranteed answer except the admission letter itself. but if you wanted to hear directly from a rotman student, here’s a link to register for a one-on-one meeting with a current rotman student. you can ask them about things non-admissions related too, like student life and general rotman advice they might have. finance, finance, case comp, add me on linked in, insert business lingo here.

anyways, that’s all from me. i know it can be pretty stressful while waiting to hear back about your application, so just know that you’ve done all you can — and you’ve done it well!

i encourage you to make the most of the rest of your senior year, and try to enjoy it while you’re still there. i’m rooting for you, and think good things are coming your way!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, bad times, engineering, hard

rejection is just redirection

January 31, 2025

I don’t know if I’ll make it into uoft engineering, because my average is mid-80s for end of first sem, but I’ve asked this page a lot of questions last year, and I’m very grateful, so I wanna know how I should prepare for the rejection. I don’t know if this sounds depressing, but I’ll be fine later on but I saw my exam grades today and I wanna cry and I just don’t want to feel sad about being rejected because I really wanted to go to uoft.

hey there,

man, i’m sorry that’s happening! that sounds really upsetting.

first off, thanks for your question, it means a lot that you came to me with this.

i know that it can feel like the world is ending when you don’t get the grades you wanted, especially when you put so much effort in and there’s so much at stake. i also remember your questions from last year, so i know that you’ve really been committed to getting good grades over the past year! you were asking all the right questions and were focused on all the right things.

i mean, it’s totally normal to feel distressed over this! anyone who’s worked as hard as you and has this much dedication to their goals would be.

when i’m feeling this way, i think it helps to know that you genuinely did the best you could. you did all you could with the resources and knowledge you had at the time, so there’s nothing to beat yourself up over. sure, it didn’t turn out the way you wanted, but a rejection is not a reflection of your work ethic, intelligence, or competence. sometimes the circumstances are just built in a difficult way.

and like, are we kidding? trying to get into U of T engineering is one heck of a difficult circumstance. the grades they require are insanely high, and it’s a notoriously difficult program at the notoriously most difficult school in the whole country.

just because this program isn’t right for you doesn’t mean you can’t reach academic excellence (whatever that is) or be on the path to a highly successful career — tbh, all the most successful and outstanding U of T students i know who are making big moves and getting recognized for their work aren’t in engineering. and i’m not sure if you applied to other schools, but getting any engineering degree is impressive and will make you employable. there are plenty of other top-notch engineering programs in canada and other top-notch programs at U of T.

but even then, nothing’s set in stone yet! you just got your interim grades back, not the rejection. your marks are in the mid-eighties, which is like what, two percentages away from the high-eighties? remember that the engineering admissions considers your extracurricular work along with your academic work, so that could pull your application up. at this point in time, you could still get in, or even get waitlisted. let’s not snowball towards the worst-case scenario, you still don’t know what will happen.

if you wanted advice on how to prepare for rejection, here’s what helps me. when i’m really set on an opportunity (which i am right now), i try to not get attached to the end outcome, and only focus on what’s controllable. you can only control your effort, consistency, and drive — after that, you’ve done your job and there’s nothing else you have to do.

also, you might think something is the perfect golden opportunity, but remember that it hasn’t actually happened yet. we’re only human, so we can’t look into the future, and you don’t actually know if it would be disastrous! like, have you heard of burnt toast theory?

maybe this opportunity just isn’t right for you — or, it isn’t right for you at this point in time.

what i’m trying to say is, when something doesn’t work out, there’s often something better waiting for you that you just don’t know about yet! i am a firm believer that rejection is just redirection, and what’s meant for you will find you.

maybe i sound a little delulu LOL but that’s what helps me.

anyway. if you’re really set on engineering and didn’t apply to other schools, maybe you can try again next year — you are still able to apply to universities a year after you graduate. don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something! if you really have a dream, don’t let one “no” end it all. i know someone who’s applied to med school four years in a row, getting rejected each time. but she keeps trying again and again, because she’s committed to her goal.

ultimately, all you can do at this point is keep working hard in school. maybe if you keep your grades up, you might get waitlisted, and then accepted!

i’ll leave you with this: if you have effort and you have consistency, there is nothing you cannot do. it is truly only a matter of time.

you are so capable. take a deep breath, you’ve got this.

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, human biology

to retake or not to retake

January 28, 2025

Hi ,Thanks again for your help with my previous question! I have a quick follow-up about my course selection. Since my Advanced Functions (MHF4U) mark isn’t very competitive, I’m wondering if I should retake it, or if taking Data Management (MDM4U) instead would be a better option. Do you think taking both would strengthen my application, or is one more important than the other? (Also advanced functions is not a prerequisite course for most of the programs I am looking at) and to specify I would like to apply to both campuses

I really appreciate your advice on this!

Thanks so much

hey there,

y’all, two returning askers in one WEEK! i feel so loved.

ok so should you retake advanced functions to raise your mark or just take data management instead?

well, if advanced functions isn’t a pre-req for most of the programs you’re looking at, you probably don’t have to retake it. here’s why.

as you can see here, the great thing about applying to U of T is that they will only use your top 6 marks in academic courses to calculate your admission average. among these 6 marks must be the pre-requisites for the admission category you’re applying to. so if advanced functions isn’t a pre-req, it won’t actually have to be included in the calculation of your admission average, assuming you have other academic courses that you got better marks in.

remember that if you’re hoping to apply to human biology, what you’ll actually be inputting into your OUAC application is the life sciences admission category. the pre-requisites for this category are english and calculus. so for example, your admission average could be calculated based on your marks in english, calculus, chem, bio, history, and data management. (classes like drama, art, band, or physical education wouldn’t count).

honestly, taking data management instead could strengthen your application just because you won’t have a repeated course on your transcript. and it’ll have the same function as advanced functions — you’ll be able to use data management as the alternate pre-requisite for UTSC human biology, as mentioned in my previous answer.

i honestly don’t think either data management or advanced functions would be more important than the other transcript-wise, but i will say that data management skills will be very applicable for any STEM program you want to go into. sure, advanced functions skills are important, but data management skills will be directly needed in a large number of your upper year courses in life sciences. i think it’ll be useful to get comfortable with these skills early on (i wish i did!).

basically, both the UTSG and UTSC campuses say that repeated courses aren’t super great on your application. so it could be a good idea for you to just take data management to meet the pre-req requirement for UTSC human bio instead of retaking advanced functions.

but it’s really hard to say what decision is better to make, because all this stuff is intentionally made to be a little murky. it’s totally up to you, you could retake advanced functions and try to get a higher mark and have that work out for you! you could take data management and have that work out for you! anything could happen.

my personal take is that taking data management might be the best idea, BUT remember that this is just my opinion as a student who is not involved in the admissions process at all. please think it through a lot, since there’s no easy answer here.

i hope this helped! sending lots of encouragement.

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, rotman

preparing to absolutely slay

January 25, 2025

hi there again! i hope you’re doing good! i apologize for the bother, but i wanted to ask what you might recommend or what advice you might have for the rotman commerce supplementary application or any incoming applicants, since i’m super keen on completing the supplementary soon and have been trying to prep with old questions/practice but it still seems super intimidating!

i just wanted to ask what strategies you might recommend or studying tips when preparing for the supplementary as i really want to do my best!

also thank you for taking the time to read this! and i hope you have a good one!

hey there again,

OMG a returning customer!

great question. so just to preface things: i am not a rotman student myself, but i do know a couple rotman students and here’s what i’ve gotten from them.

i’m sure you already know this, but definitely make use of rotman online resources to prep. they post the supplemental application questions in the portal, and you’ll be able to practice lots beforehand. you can also check out this recent webinar recording giving more details on how it’ll work.

the best thing you can do is prepare with the practice questions, which you’re already doing, so yay! besides that, my friend says to make sure that you can answer the questions in a clear manner, and that your thoughts are organized. like, don’t ramble, but stay direct and specific to the point you’re making. and also, practice standard interview questions. rotman students have to come across those quite often during their undergrad.

besides that, from my experience as a U of T undergrad, i would say it’s always good to be prepared to talk about your past relevant extracurricular/academic activities and what you learned from those, or what you achieved in those areas. a question i am sooo tired of seeing is to “describe a time you encountered a conflict/hardship and had to overcome it”. and from my experience doing interviews, please make sure you start your the supplementary during a time when you’re in a good, calm, and well-rested head space. i once did an interview right after something stressful happened and let’s just say i was shaking while answering questions.

yeehaw. anways, i also think it would be good to have a prepare response of why you want to go into business, or why you’re interested in this field, since they’re probably gonna ask that, right? according to their website, they want “outstanding students that have demonstrated academic excellence, have an understanding of leadership and community, and a passion for the world of business”. so definitely keep that in mind and try to highlight those characteristics!

ie. make sure you seem genuinely interested, and have evidence of community/leadership involvement.

and it’ll be really helpful to practice interview questions with someone else/different people! that’s something that will be super beneficial for the quality of your responses, since other people can give you feedback from another perspective. i definitely recommend it.

again, remember, i’ve never done this application, that’s just some general advice from being an undergrad at U of T.

overall, don’t stress too much. there won’t be anything crazy/surprising in the questions that’s meant to trick you or catch you off your guard. i know it can feel really scary and intimidating to do all this pre-U of T stuff, but according to people who have done it, the supplemental application is not as scary as it seems, and you’re gonna be so okay.

best of luck with your application! you can do it!!! wishing you lots of gentleness, sweet treats, and warm hugs this month. and omg would it be crazy if i asked you to update me if you get in maybe?

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, human biology, prereqs

i am once again asking… which campus?

January 20, 2025

I am a grade 11 student who is currently taking advanced functions but my mark is not very competitive, I was thinking about retaking the course in summer school. Will Uoft not consider me if I retake and if it’s in summer school. I want to apply to the human biology program and the prerequisites include advanced functions.

hey there,

thanks for your question! just to set things straight, i’m going to assume that you’re talking about the human biology program at the st. george campus?

if you want to apply to the human biology program at the st. george campus, you’ll be applying to U of T under the life sciences admission category. basically, all programs here are grouped into six admission categories when you’re first applying, and all you have to worry about is the requirements to get into that broad category.

to get into the life sciences admission category, you definitely need to take english and calculus. but interestingly enough, on this page, the pre-requisites list doesn’t include advanced functions (MHF4U), just calculus and vectors (MCV4U).

so, if you’re applying to the st. george campus, i can tell you that you don’t actually need advanced functions and can stop reading here!

however, if you’re applying to the scarborough campus, you can ignore everything i just said and keep reading.

sorry for the emotional whiplash.

but ok, now i’m gonna assume you’re applying to human biology at UTSC!

to answer your question, does U of T care if you retake a course or take it during the summer? well U of T says they do accept repeated courses, but “priority will be given to students who took the course in a single attempt”. you can find the full quote on this FAQ page under the admission decision drop-down button.

basically, what i think this means is that retaking a course doesn’t take you out of the game completely, but it might negatively impact your chances of getting in. according to my predecessor (previous aska), if it’s a close call between you and and another applicant (ie you’re right at the cutoff) and they have to choose between y’all, they’ll choose the student who didn’t retake the course. butttt, i have zero idea if this is true.

tbh, all you can do at this point is to do as well as you can in all your other courses, to make up for the repeated course. if you’re stellar at your other subjects, you can make it so that they won’t ever have to choose between you and another applicant, right?

but i also happened to notice that the human biology admission requirements give you the option between advanced functions OR calculus & vectors OR mathematics of data management for your math pre-requisite. if you were really worried about how retaking a course might impact your application, you could just take one of the other pre-req options.

meanwhile, they couldn’t care less if you complete a course during summer. that will have no impact on your admission decision whatsoever.

and yeah, i hope this helped, whether you were applying to UTSG or UTSC! best of luck to you, you’re gonna smash that course through the roof! everyone’s gonna be so sockless because you’re gonna knock their socks off. the classroom is gonna explOde from how much you’re gonna destroy that course.

over and out,

aska

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campus life, clubs, fun & places, u of tears

seek and you shalt receive

January 18, 2025

I just need to know. Everybody says UofT isn’t as depressing and it’s what you make out of it, but I need a clearer answer. What’s it like there? Do you get to have a vibrant social life there? Are there fun things to do on campus? Like maybe attending games or idk just fun things to do.

I want to study Economics on the St. George campus and I want to know if there’ll be time to do fun things on campus, in the city. I know I’ll be busy; it’s university it has to be.

But I just need my university life to be fun and full of adventures, if that makes sense. Can I get what I’m looking for?

Thank you.

hey there,

ok but those people are kinda right, it is what you make out of it. in my opinion, your sense of fun and adventure will entirely depend on how much initiative you take to seek out fun activities on your own.

the baseline is, you will have fun and adventure at U of T if you actively seek it out.

things to do on campus?

to answer the first part of your question, are there fun things to do on campus? yes, a hundred times yes. there is honestly an overwhelming number of fun and exciting things to do on campus, happening everywhere and everyday. because of the large and diverse student population, there are more clubs and student organizations than you can count, and events are targeted to a wide range of interests.

there’s everything from cultural or spiritual groups to artistic groups to academics/career focused groups and everything in between. like, there’s a club about bread? and definitely a LOT of clubs have game nights if that’s what you’re looking for.

since you asked specifically about games, i can point you towards the GLG board game club, the esports club, and the tabletop gaming club, found on instagram at @torontotabletopgamingclub. but if you were interested in other things, you can also search up clubs by category on the utsu website, “find a registered club“.

in short, i can tell you with absolute certainty that the opportunities do exist, should you wish to take them.

but do you want to join clubs, student leadership, sports teams? are you the type of person to sign yourself up for an art gallery night? attend a karaoke event? sign yourself up for a weekend of cooking workshops? you gotta take that initiative and make that commitment, it won’t just come looking for you.

that’s one thing i wished i knew earlier on in my undergrad. in high school, there were only so many clubs, you only really joined things if your friends were joining too, and it was easy to hear about everything going on. but at U of T, the biggest university in canada, you gotta actively search through all the noise and find the groups/events/opportunities you’re interested in. you gotta put yourself out there, into rooms where you don’t know a single person.

vibrant social life?

from what i’ve heard, many people at U of T don’t consider their social life to be particularly vibrant. there are plenty of people who do, but plenty of people who don’t. once it hits the second month of the semester, most people who consider themselves studious will mainly hang out with their friends by studying in the library. maybe there will be some fun things on the side, but as you go deeper into midterm season, those will be fewer and farther in between.

it also depends on what you consider to be a “vibrant” social life. does that mean parties every weekend? having a large friend group to do things with? these things are definitely possible at this school, depending on your ability to balance your time. we are not a party school like mcgill or western, but parties do happen!

this section is funny because i wouldn’t say i have a vibrant social life, i mainly only see my friends within the walls of a library. all of our hangouts happen during the first two weeks of school and reading week. but like, that’s kinda on me because i like my sleep. if you don’t (like most people at U of T), you can most likely have a vibrant social life.

fun things to do in the city?

y’all, if i had to pick a sentence to say in front of a lie-detector test, i would say that toronto is definitely a city with fun things to do. that’s a given.

this one is hard to go over though, just because of the LARGE scope of fun things this city offers. toronto is THE city to socialize in and make connections in. i always say that i love toronto because it feels so connected and so, so alive. there is just such a depth and breadth of culture and community in this city, and it’s filled by the most incredible people with such interesting backgrounds.

personally, my favorite events in toronto are kensington market pedestrain sundays and the annual nuite blanche event. but the best everyday thing to do is go exploring! every street here is filled with exciting things to see. there are also a lot of niche socializing events i’ve heard word about that you won’t see in most other cities.

basically, if you’re at U of T, there will be some type of gathering within 2km, on or off campus, for pretty much every pursuit you could think of. it’s crazy. but it’s just a matter of hearing about the right events for you and making the time to go.

which brings me to the second part of your question.

will there be time to do all these fun things?

yes, if you make the time. honestly, it’s completely up to you and your work ethic. economics is a hard program, but i know several econ students who do make the time to get involved in campus life and fun events. as long as you’re not taking 6 courses (pls don’t do this to yourself), or have a bunch of evening classes, you will probably have time to do fun things even if you have a part time job on the side. plenty of people have made it work.

just don’t expect to have an abundance of free time. you’ll have to choose which fun things you want more out of the many options, since there will be only so much time in your schedule. most likely, your schedule will be packed, but it is absolutely possible to strategize and fit in time for fun and adventure. i’ve done it, and most of the people i know have done it. you can do it too!

however, please take everything i say with a grain of salt. this is all just my opinion as informed by my singular experience, and you could have a totally different take when you get here!

finally, if you wanted to vibe check what life at U of T is like, you could check out some student life instagram accounts. like @lifeatuoft, @uoftsu, @uoftsportandrec, @econ_uoft, @utsgdc, or @esauoft. your home college will also have plenty of student-run events! check out @myncsc, @innisicss, @vusac for example.

over and out,

aska

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academic success, awkwardness, profs

weirder things have happened

January 15, 2025
do people actually go to office hours, or is that weird? – can you go without having specific questions about the course?

hey there,

yes, people do actually go to office hours.

to be honest, whether it’s weird or not depends entirely on your ability to hold a one-on-one conversation with your professor without letting the anxiety take over. but most times, your professor will carry the convo and do their best to make you feel comfortable! they’re also always happy to connect with their students, i’ve only ever met one prof who wasn’t :D.

however, i totally get the hesitation about going to office hours. a lot of the time, i find myself wanting to ask my professors about their research, but hold back because i know so many students ask them about it to try to get some RA position. but at the same time, i rarely ever have clarifying questions to ask my profs about course content or assignments, since most times it’s TA’s that do the marking.

so, here are two things that have helped me get more comfortable with attending office hours, whether that be with a TA or prof:
1. eliminate the one-on-one aspect of office hours. bring a friend in the course, and say that you both had some similar questions about the course content or assignment! or that you’re both interested in hearing more about their research. this makes a load of difference, making it feel a lot more like a casual hangout than a Meeting With The Prof.
2. if you don’t have specific questions about course content, there are other things you can chat about: like their research, their career advice, other classes they’re teaching, advice on navigating the department, and grad school. that last one is especially applicable for chats with your TA’s.
3. but ultimately, course content is the main topic of most office hours meetings. here are some helpful things you could ask concerning the course:
- - could they explain a complicated lecture slide in more depth?
  - could they help you with some specific practice questions you’re working on? or practice questions from past exams?
  - could you run your final essay topic by them, and flush it out more?
your office hours interactions will also just depend on the prof or TA in question. most profs will want to get to know their students, some more than others. you’ll probably be able to determine this friendliness with a quick vibe check on how they lecture.

also, it’s a whole lot easier to go to office hours to connect with your prof if they have a set time. if you have to reach out to make an appointment with them, you should probably come prepared with questions to ask.

overall, i’d say attending office hours is one of the best things you can do to get the most out of your courses, despite how scary or awkward it can seem. i know most people don’t go because they don’t have specific burning questions, but i encourage you to *sparkle emoji* make up some questions! because having your profs actually know who you are can come back and do you some good in the future. man, i gotta start practicing what i preach…

but yeah, it’s totally normal to go to office hours. the best answers come straight from the source and talking directly to your profs can really help you do better on your assessments.

hope this helped!

over and out,

aska
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credits, degree requirements

unlimited, the future is unlimiteeeed

January 14, 2025

hi aska, im trying to plan out my degree. do you know if we are capped at 20.0 credits during our undergrad? in short, is there a limit to how many credits an undergrad student can take at uoft?

hey there,

nope! i can tell you that there is no limit to how many credits you can take over the course of your undergrad degree.

i can see how it might be confusing, because we all know we have to take 20 credits to graduate. but according to the HBA/HBSc requirements, 20.0 credits is just the minimum amount of credits required for the completion of your degree, not the maximum.

so if you’ve already met the 20 credits, you’re free to take as many courses as you want before you request graduation! ie. you aren’t forced to graduate when you finish 20.0 credits, you have to ask to be let out of here.

but, note that other limits do exist: there’s a limit to how many credits you can take per semester, and a limit to how many programs you can enrol in (three).

you know, i once heard legend of a guy who’s been taking undergrad courses at U of T for like 10+ years. never got a job, just loves to learn. tbh i wish i could just do that too, the workforce is too scary.

but yeah, hope this helps! i’d also encourage you to plan out your degree using U of T’s degree explorer site, it’s been super helpful for me.

over and out,

aska

*ps. if you don’t get this title, you clearly haven’t seen wicked*

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campus, distribution, grades

the latest scoop on grade deflation

January 10, 2025
Hello! I’m a grade 12 student who has applied to two programs at UofT: Life Sciences at St. George, and Physical and Mathematical Sciences at UofT Scarborough. I’ve heard a lot about grade deflation at the undergrad level at St. George, but not so much about the other campuses. Is it still present at Scarborough and Mississauga? Thank you!

hey there,

great question.

i go to the st. george campus, and in my experience, grade deflation is a pretty common occurrence here. however, i believe it happens across all campuses, since it seems to stem from U of T’s institutional grading policies and not from individual professors or TAs.

although i’ve never taken any courses at UTSC, i did take one course at UTM in which the grades were clearly deflated. and if i had to throw out a super rough estimate, i’d say maybe 20% of the courses i’ve ever taken were impacted by grade deflation.

that being said, personal anecdotes can only tell you so much, so i won’t say too much about the details of the grade deflation i’ve experienced in my courses. instead, if you wanted a more detailed analysis, i’d recommend checking out some articles written by the varsity (U of T’s student paper)! i’ll link them here:
- TA’s speak out about U of T grading deflation allegations
- The Breakdown: Grade deflation.
these articles argue that the grade deflation at U of T is an institutional problem. essentially, there’s a whole handbook for instructors in the faculty of arts and sciences that outlines rules about how they give out grades. as the varsity suggests, this tells us that the source of the deflation does not lie with individual course instructors.

for example, the guidelines say that for first and second-year courses, only 15-35% of the students should get A’s. meanwhile, the proportion of F’s in a first or second-year course should not be more than 10%. if not, the course should undergo review and make sure grades were given out fairly.

interestingly, these guidelines are mainly meant to apply to first and second year courses, since U of T knows that grades matter the most for grad school when you’re in third and fourth year. so if this is something you’re worried about, it seems like grade deflation might not be as pronounced in upper year classes.

anyways, to directly answer your question, i spent some time looking into the UTSC academic handbook, UTM handbook, and the UTSG handbook, and i found that the guidelines on grade distribution are consistent across all three campuses. if these guidelines really do enable certain instructors to keep deflating student’s grades, then there should theoretically be not much difference across campuses in rates of grade deflation. the only noteworthy difference is that the UTM handbook explicitly mentions that these guidelines are not mandatory, and course marks are not required to fit into pre-defined grade distributions.

overall, the data on grade deflation is super murky and there’s not a clear answer. my take is that grade deflation is definitely present across all three campuses, but whether it happens at similar rates is anyone’s guess.

i also think that if you’re trying to choose between which campus to attend, there are plenty of other factors to weigh. i’d recommend you check out this article on what makes each campus unique, and also look into the different opportunities at each campus for your specific programs!

and finally, please don’t let this get you down or make you too scared about coming to U of T. if you’re coming to UTSG for life sciences, i can tell you that none of the first year life sci courses i took were affected by grade deflation. while i know it’s widespread across different departments, in my personal experience, mainly social science courses have been the issue. all hope is not lost and it’s still possible to do well!

best of luck and hope this helps!

over and out,

aska
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admissions, ccit

new year, same old questions

January 6, 2025

Hey aska,

I am going to apply for CCIT next month for Technology, Coding and Society at University of Toronto Mississauga campus and my average is 78% Would I be fine with applying with that average or should I try to boost up my average?

And also aska,

Will be a Non Ontario student and applying late January affect my chance of admission?

hey there,

ok we’re starting the year off with a banger, another admissions question. let the slayage begin.

so you want to apply for CCIT and have a 78% average.

first off, i just want to make sure that you calculated this average the same way U of T calculates your average.

because according to the CCIT info page, your overall admissions average is not just the average of all your marks. instead, it’s calculated using your mark in english plus five of your top academic courses — so it’s only an average of six courses.

they say this average should be around the mid to high 70’s if you want to be a competitive applicant, and you’re definitely in that range, which is great. meanwhile, on the info page for general admissions, it says you’ll need a minimum mark of 70% in grade 12 level english and a minimum overall average of 75%.

however, they also say that the mid-70’s estimate is just a guideline based on the previous academic year, rather than a strict cut-off for admissions. so take from that what you will.

based on all of that, if the average of your english mark and top 5 marks is 78% and you have over a 70% in english, you’re theoretically fine. but if you want my person opinion, it wouldn’t hurt to do your best to boost your average as much as you can? because U of T is always saying stuff along the lines of “just because you have these guidelines marks is not a guarantee that you’ll get in”.

my take is that 78% is sort of toeing the line and the higher your average is, the more likely your chances are. so if you’re able to push and get that average a few percents higher, i think that would only help secure your spot. but there’s also no need to panic or stress a lot since you are already in the competitive range. so, up to you.

to answer your last bit, no, from what i’ve been told, being a non ontario student will not affect your chances of admission at all. you can see on the general admissions page i previously linked that the admissions requirements are as the same no matter where you went to high school.

and finally, will applying in late january affect your chances? i mean, as long as you apply before the application deadline on january 15 and get your documents in by february 1, it doesn’t really make a difference when you apply.

hope this helps and good luck!

over and out,

aska

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