askastudent - your student life specialists

career choice, hard

if money didn’t matter, indeed

June 19, 2025

Hey there! im about to end 10th grade yet i still havent decided what im going to major in…its a big struggle for me. I was thinking of engineering or some physics/astronomy related field but im really bad at those ;(( My friend recommended architecture cuz i like drawing and math but i dunno…. (if money didnt matter id probably choose art or design tho)

hey there,

omg i hear you. first of all, i’m sorry you’re feeling worried about this! when i was in high school, i felt the same way :(. it’s stressful to not have a concrete plan for your future, especially when it seems like other people around you have it all together.

but, now that i’m not in high school, i can tell you that it’s so, so perfectly normal to not know what you want to major in yet! honestly, when people used to tell me that this was normal, i thought they were lying to me to make me feel better… and now i know that they were right all along.

because nobody has it all together. those people who say they’ve got their heart set on something, ok whatEVER good for them i guess. but they are few and far between. (and most of the time, they’re the ones choosing law, medicine, or business for their parents.)

if you take one thing away from me, let it be this: you do not have to know what you want to major in yet. if you’re just finishing grade 10, you still have time. if you’re just entering grade 12, you still have time. if you’re entering your first year of university, you still have time. it’s all good and nothing is wrong.

like, i switched majors after second year. nothing bad happened to me — in fact, i actually learned so much from having experience in different majors!

if you were interested in U of T as an option at all, i’ll have you know that U of T students don’t have to choose their major until after their first year is over. other schools make you choose right off the bat, but U of T allows you to explore first before making your decision! (at least, this is the case with the faculty of arts and science. it’s slightly different for engineering and architecture because those are separate faculties).

but anyways, i think it’s really great that you’re considering engineering, physics, and/or astronomy. you say you’re bad at those, but don’t sell yourself short!! in university, success is far more based on work ethic rather than talent. you even said you like math, which is perfect — i’m pretty sure engineering, physics and astronomy are all heavily math based. so if you really do like math, i think you would do well in them.

meanwhile, your friend is right. architecture is a great option if you like drawing and design but also want the practicality of a science-y degree. i have a couple of architecture friends who were very into art in high school. like, i’m pretty sure it’s a stereotype that people who want to pursue art go for architecture.

overall, all these options are good options.

but where to go from here? here are two suggestions i have for figuring out what you want to do:

1. talk to people who are a few years older and get their perspective. do you know anyone in university? do you know anyone majoring in anything you’re interested in? ask them for advice, and find out what it’s really like to study those things.

2. get as much experience as you can in the fields you’re interested in. ie, let yourself see the room before you decide whether or not you want to be in it.

for example, there are engineering, physics, architecture, or astronomy programs offered by universities for high school students. spending time exploring these options through fun summer activities might help bring you some clarity. i know that U of T offers engineering summer programs for high school students — and i’m sure most every university near you offers something similar.

if you want a list of U of T summer programs for high school students, look here. there’s an architecture one on there, low commitment — only 2 weeks long! and there’s a bunch of engineering ones there. honestly these are so cool i wish i had known about these in high school.

but yeah, those are just some of my suggestions. the combination of advice from someone a few years older while trying things out firsthand can really help.

it’s kinda crazy because i was in a really similar situation to you when i was your age. up until grade 12, i wanted to go into astronomy or astrophysics. ultimately, i ended up choosing something different because i didn’t enjoy math. then i switched again once i got to university. but through it all and up until now, i know that if money didn’t matter i would be in music.

so i definitely feel what you’re going through.

and i don’t know, it’s hard. choosing between a creative career and an academic one is hard. ultimately, i chose science because i liked it and had a higher chance of making a living with it, among other reasons. is the decision to not pursue something artistic slowly but surely carving a hole into me every day? perhaps. have i recently been enjoying my science degree to the point of happy tears and gleeful skips around the apartment? perhaps.

but, enough about me. you’ll have a whole different experience from mine, and have got to figure out what makes the most sense for you. all i can tell you with certainty is that it’s normal to not be decided on a major and you still have time to figure it out. please don’t listen to anyone who makes you feel like you need to have everything together right now, please be gentle with yourself when you are unsure of things. it will work out!

anyways, i hope you took something useful from this. wishing you the bestest of luck. you are more capable than you think! i believe in you!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, prereqs, rotman

i’m an ap calculus hater

May 31, 2025
So I recently got accepted into UofT into their Rotman Commerce Program. The thing is, this was stated in my terms and conditions (conditional offer):”Maintain your current academic standing, particularly in any prerequisite subjects for the admission category to which you have been admitted, and graduate. If you have already completed your studies, ensure your official results are submitted.” Does this mean I have to submit my AP Calc results?

hey there,

huge congrats on your acceptance to rotman!!! conditional or not, that is a big deal and i hope you are being celebrated. if not, this is me celebrating you. YIPPEEE!!! YAYYY!! YAHOOO!!!

ok party’s over. now to your question.

hmm, AP calculus is not necessarily a pre-requisite for rotman admissions. but i know that calculus & vectors (MCV4U) or an equivalent course is required. so i’d say..
1. if you took a different grade 12 level calculus course, you probably don’t need to submit your AP calc results.
2. if AP calc was how you fulfilled the calculus & vectors (MCV4U) requirement, you should submit your AP calc results.
if this was any other AP course, i’d say either way, you should probably just submit your AP scores for the sake of getting a transfer credit. i remember having to do this manually — ie. the AP college board will not just automatically send your scores to your university.

basically, once your scores are available in early july, you just go to the AP website and submit them using U of T’s code, 0982. as long as you submit by the end of august, you’d automatically have a transfer credit show up in your transcript, assuming your AP exam mark is at least a 4.

BUT, the thing about U of T is that they don’t actually accept AP calc for transfer credits. (this made me soooo mad in grade 12.)

so if you were to submit your AP calc marks, it would only be to show them your final grade.

anyways. in short, i’d recommend you should definitely submit your AP calc marks if that was your fulfilment of the MCV4U requirement. however, if you fulfilled the requirement with another calc course, you still could submit the AP calc scores, because AP calc is technically a course that will show up on your grade 12 transcript and U of T might want to know your final score.

regardless of whether it’s a required pre-requisite for you or not, i don’t think it hurts to submit your AP calc scores to U of T.

finally, just to preface!! i am just a student, not an admissions officer. so as much as i hate to admit it, there is a chance what i’m telling you is not completely accurate. if you want an answer that is 100% true, i’d suggest checking out some of the contacts on this page. or, email the rotman registrar at ro@rotman.utoronto.ca. i don’t wanna lead you astray 🙁

good luck with everything!

over and out,

aska
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digital enterprise management, UTM

hit dem hard

May 27, 2025
Hello I wanted to ask few questions

I applied for Management but unfortunately couldn’t get into it but however DEM was my alternative choice and I got acceptance in that but they say that major can only be declared after first year of studies. But the problem is that DEM is type 3 degree and I don’t have any third choice so I just want to be sure that I will not be denied entry into it after completing the prerequisite courses and minimum grade requirement.

My programme is at UOFT Mississauga Campus .

Thank you

hey there,

aw i’m sorry to hear that you didn’t get into your first choice! that can really suck.

this is also such a valid concern. if you didn’t get into management and are now settling for your second choice, i totally understand why you want to be sure you’ll get in this time around!

here are some of my thoughts.

first, you’ve got it right that at U of T, program enrolment happens after your first year of studies. as you can see on this page, you need to have completed at least 4.0 credits to get into a program. (for context: one half-year course is 0.5 credits. so you can complete 4.0 credits by taking, for example, 4 courses in the fall and 4 courses in the winter.)

second, the info you have about DEM is correct. DEM is a type 3 program, which means
1. you have to apply
2. you have to meet the program requirements, and
3. there are limited spots available
that third point makes things a bit harder. the fact that there are limited spots available means that even if you meet all the program requirements, there’s a chance you won’t get in — but, don’t panic yet! this is just what i’ve heard from word of mouth, and it generally only applies if there’s a lot of interest during a certain year. if there’s too much competition, the people who are just on the edge of meeting the grade minimums may not get in. (eg. if the minimum is 70, your grade is 70 or 71.)

so if you wanna play it really safe, what i would recommend is that you try your best to exceed the minimum grades by as much as you can.

if you take a look at the digital enterprise management page on the academic calendar, you’ll be able to see exactly what the minimum grades for your program are. this page says you’ll need to have completed the following courses…
1. CCT109H5 (with a minimum grade of 70%);
2. CCT110H5 (with a minimum grade of 70%); and
3. CCT112H5 (with a minimum grade of 70%)
but on top of this, you’ll also need to meet a minimum cGPA. the thing is, they say the minimum cGPA changes every year based on competition and interest.

so if you asked for my personal opinion on how to ensure your admission into the DEM program, it’s this: really try your best to not only meet, but exceed the minimum grades in the three required courses. and, try to keep your overall GPA as high as you can.

like, don’t get me wrong. you definitely don’t have to drive yourself insane trying to get perfect marks. but, i just want you to be aware that simply meeting the mark of 70 will probably not guarantee you admission into the program. in fact, U of T loves to say that meeting the minimum grades doesn’t guarantee you a spot. so in response, i say aim for a higher mark than you think you’ll need. but also, through it all please remember to be gentle and kind with yourself!

and finally, i’d recommend that you apply during the first program request period.

as you can see on this page, there are 2 program request periods. while the current dates shown are still specific to 2025, they should update in the fall to 2026 dates. but in general, the first request period opens in early march and closes in late april. that’s when you should apply.

i recommend this because applying during the first round gives you two chances to get into your program! if you apply during march-april round, you’ll hear back with an acceptance/rejection in may. and if you’re rejected, this gives you enough time to apply again during the second request period in june-august! yay.

anyways, just keep in mind that CR/NCR courses won’t count towards the 4.0 credits required to get into a program. in simple terms, CR/NCR is basically for when you want to avoid having a low mark affect your transcript, so you can request for it to show a pass/fail instead. so if you choose to do this to a course, make sure you’ll still finish first year with at least 4.0 credits in other courses.

sooo yeah! i hope this was helpful. i hope you hit all those requirements and hit dem hard.

ha.. ha..

over and out,

aska
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admissions, engineering, scholarships/bursaries

yess internet, give us nothing!

May 21, 2025

hi aska! i’m a gr 12 student accepted to utsg engineering, and i searched for engineering admission scholarships requiring applications on the uoft award explorer. when i clicked apply, some of the application links (like for the Albert and Rose Jong Entrance Scholarship) lead to this page saying: ‘The University Registrar’s Office is making changes to the process for 2023-24. Updates will be available shortly. Stay tuned!’ do you know how/if i can apply for them? thank you!

hey there,

that is weird. but, also unsurprising. i see this happen way too often with U of T websites. in fact, i encountered the same problem last year when i was looking for scholarships in my program.

and ok i see what you mean. i just went to the award explorer and it led me to that same out-of-date page you saw!

well, i spent over an hour searching for answers to your question and i hope you’re hungry, cause i came up with…

a whole bunch of nothing! 😀

i could not for the life of me find a working application link to those awards. which is weird, because if they’re listed on the award explorer, i’m pretty sure you should be able to apply to them….

so even if i can’t figure out the exact answers to your questions, i will not leave you starving. here’s my advice on where to go from here:

honestly, if the “apply” link keeps leading to this out-of-date page, i would just recommend that you directly email the faculty offering the award and ask about whether you’re able to apply. tell them the same thing you told me. tell them that the links aren’t working, and specify that you’re interested in engineering admission scholarships requiring applications.

in general, if you have questions about a scholarship that can’t be answered on the info page, don’t be afraid to reach out directly to the faculty offering the scholarship.

that’s exactly what i did last year when i couldn’t figure out how to apply to some scholarships — i just went directly to the people in charge. and they got back to me within a week and very kindly answered all my questions!

so if you balk at hearing “email them” like i do, let me tell you, do not be scared. it’s actually so very chill! and if you ask me, it’s the faculty’s job to make its award application process clear for applicants. if students can’t find their award applications in an accessible or easy way, that’s on them.

but exactly who should you contact, you ask?

well, i can see that engineering admissions award links offered by both the university’s registrar office and the faculty of engineering are leading to that same page. so i guess you could contact either of them. but, honestly i’ve never tried contacting the university’s registrar office so i’m not sure how fast their response time would be. they’re the main office for the whole university, and they might receive a higher volume of emails than other registrar offices.

so what i’d recommend you do is contact the engineering registrar, since you might have a better chance of them getting back to you quickly. plus, now that you’ve been admitted, you are one of the students that they are in charge of helping!

here is the link to the emails and contact information of people in the faculty of engineering. don’t worry, i know there are a whole lot of people and emails on that page — so to help you narrow it down, the emails i’d recommend you contact are either the “awards and honors” person, or the undergrad admissions email: admissions@engineering.utoronto.ca , or the main registrar email: registrar@engineering.utoronto.ca .

and yeah, i hope this somewhat helps? sorry i couldn’t give you a better answer :((( the internet fails me sometimes.

over and out,

aska

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admissions, Transferring, UTSC

who plants flowers in a sandbox

May 16, 2025

First year uni transfer student here. I was curious what UTSC actually cares about when looking at transfer students? Is it the cgpa (x/4) or my last years average (xx%)? Also I was just curious what the status update from “application under review” to “application under review by faculty/division” meant… is there even a difference or have my hopes been squandered like a flower in a child’s sandbox?.

P.s. thank you aska!!!

hey there,

thank you for the thank you!

so no, i don’t think your hopes have been squandered like a flower in a child’s sandbox, though i rock with the way you put that. i think your hopes still have a chance at life! don’t you dare let anyone kill them.

in fact, let me pull out my nonexistent CPR skills and revive them, right here, right now.

because there is still hope for your application. the status update from “application under review” to “application under review by faculty/division” basically means that your application is moving through the system. so now, it’s under review by the faculty you applied for — and that is good news! yippee.

but what does UTSC look for when reviewing your application?

officially, they say here that they look at your complete academic record, with more emphasis on your most recent year of full-time study. they also say they look at both your academic and non-academic credentials, depending on your program.

but honestly i’m not sure if they look at your cgpa or your percent average. i’d say it’s safer to assume that they’ll look at both? all they actually tell us is that they look at your complete academic record — there’s nothing i can find that gets more specific than that.

beyond that, they will likely look closest at relevant subjects for the program you’re applying for. this might mean they even look at some of your high school marks, if you didn’t take anything on the subject in uni. for example, if you applied to statistics, they would probably pay the most attention to any calculus and functions courses that you’ve taken, whether that be in high school or first year university.

finally if you’re worried because you’re still waiting to hear a response right now, just know that the people reviewing your application might still be waiting to receive your final marks from this past uni semester. the semester did just end, and not everyone’s marks are out yet.

so not all hope is lost! according to this page, decision letters go out from january to may, and the month of may is not over yet.

anyways, good luck with everything, my friend. hope you enjoyed my live demonstration of CPR.

over and out,

aska

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housing, money, residence

the housing market should be scared of me

May 15, 2025

Hi there!!!!!!! Is it actually cheaper to rent an apartment than to live in college? Those prices are driving me insane, honestly lol.

hey there,

this is a great question.

my immediate answer is yes, it is cheaper live off campus, just because that’s how it’s been in my experience and my friends’ experiences.

for example, some of my friends were recently paying around $1600/person/month to live on campus and then moved off campus to a place that was like $1300 per person each month.

personally, i used to live in dorm but got an apartment last fall. let’s just say that when i moved off-campus, my rent was $500 less per month than it would have been had i stayed in campus housing. but keep in mind, i got really lucky finding my place.

so if you’re exclusively looking at the renting price itself, in general it is common to find apartments within walkable distance from campus that are cheaper than the college dorms (see a list of the dorm prices here).

but for a complete answer, i have to acknowledge that whether an apartment is “cheaper” heavily depends on your lifestyle choices — ie. what conditions you’re willing to live in, how far you’re willing to commute, how much you’re ordering food in. because there are definitely ways to make living off-campus more expensive than dorm.

furnishings

an important thing to consider is how much it’s going to cost to furnish your apartment. some apartments come furnished, most don’t. you’ll want to think about how long you’re planning to stay in the city — is it worth buying all this furniture if you’re only here for a few years? you decide.

if you stay in dorm, you save a few hundred, maybe more, on furnishings and cleaning supplies. but if you’re here for a while, this one-time purchase might be worth it.

maybe you’ll even get lucky and manage to find a furnished place! like, my friends just found a relatively affordable place with really nice furnishings nearish to campus. it’s doable.

meanwhile, if you were wondering, it is also possible to furnish on a budget.

for example, i was able to cut costs by turning to my holy grail facebook marketplace for things like shelves or chairs. you can also ask around — a lot of students are moving in and out, and everyone has things they want to get rid of. if you’re feeling adventurous, you might take note that most of my furnishings were picked up from the sidewalks of residential neighbourhoods and then thoroughly bleached. what can i say? you see an offering from the universe, you take it.

food

this is a huge factor that can make-or-break how expensive your living is. my biggest qualm with U of T dorms is that almost all of them require you to buy a meal plan if you want to live in dorm. bully behavior if you ask me. *cough* whaat who said that?

i’ve never had to buy a meal plan, but i remember in my first year everyone was trying to use up their money before the school year ended. one kid had 2000$ he had to use up in one month — so he treated the entire class to lunch multiple weeks in a row LOL.

the short story is, you’re going to be paying an insane amount of money for the meal plan. even if you don’t use up all the money in it, you won’t get it back. and there’s pretty much no way you’re going to use up all the money by yourself.

so to save money, i would recommend living in a place with a kitchen — whether that be a dorm or an apartment. for example, woodsworth college and innis college both include kitchens in their dorms, and give you the option to avoid meal plans.

just try not to live exclusively off uber eats like some students do. then consider all that money Not Saved 😀

area

next up, what area are you looking at? an important thing you’ll want to consider how far you’re willing to walk to get to class. are you willing to pay transit fare multiple times a week? because with frequent use, transit fares can add up to a lot of money.

in general, apartments further from campus are going to be a lot cheaper. for example, places in little italy will be more affordable than, say, places in the annex. but, while you’re deciding how far you’re willing to walk, just keep in mind that toronto turns into a windy winter hellscape for most of the school year.

*not actual footage of toronto. i am just being dramatic*

ultimately there’s a lot of factors to consider here. living farther is technically cheaper but if you consider the transit cost idk…

and even if you live close to campus, the area north-east of campus has very few affordable grocery stores while the south-west side is affordable grocery heaven. definitely some things to think about.

more affordable on-campus housing options

all that considered, i just want to make sure you know that living in an expensive college dorm is not the only option if you want to live on campus.

here are some options that people i personally know have used. these are like, not necessarily U of T affiliated, but are still university student residences:

coop housing. this is the most affordable option you’re gonna get! it involves living right on the edge of campus with around 9-13 people in a house, and from what i can see, rent is around 600-800$ per month. this is the lowest rent i’ve ever seen downtown. so if coop housing peaks your interest, you might want to spend some time scrolling through the coop house options, as there are many different houses with different rent prices.

tartu residence is the second most affordable place i know of. it is also located on the edge of campus, on bloor street. the lowest monthly rent you can pay here is $785, but there are a lot of pricing options here depending on what conditions you prefer. i know different people who have rented at the lowest and highest rates at tartu, and both sides say it worked well for them.

anywayssss. the good thing is that the housing market has gone down a bit this year so it is actually a good time to be looking for an apartment (in comparison to recent years, where it’s been really bad).

so yeah, i hope this was helpful and not too confusing? remember, this is just my personal opinion gained from a few years in the city — i guess you could say other people might have different opinions. i guess.

feel free to ask more questions, like how to look for apartments or area recommendations. i have sooo much to say about this but don’t want to overload you with info lol. good luck with everything!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, hard

the waiting game

May 9, 2025

I’ve completed my application in January and I have received multiple emails from uoft admissions (probably more than 40 emails have been sent back-and-forth between us), yet I have not been admitted and it is now April and I already understand why people called the school uoftears. I already have hair loss before even entering the school.
Like bro if you’re gonna reject me just say it already.
No need to ghost me to make me like you more or smth.
Also if you’re in the admission team and you see this please let me in.

hey there,

dangg i’m sorry that’s happening!! i know this season is already such a hard time for high school applicants, and what you described sounds so stressful 🙁

i hate to let a homie down, but i’m not actually working on the admissions team. i’m just a student! (albeit a super duper cool one who knows a lot of things about the university). so even if i wanted to, i can’t let you in. (unless i went rogue, became a supervillain and hacked the system idk).

but while i don’t have the super-hacking powers to let you in myself, i can tell you some things that might help ease the uncertainty.

based on what you’ve said it seems to me like there is good news: and it’s that you haven’t been rejected. U of T will clearly and formally tell you if you have been rejected, so if you haven’t received a rejection letter, there is still hope for you to get in. U of T will not just ghost you.

i also know that acceptance/rejection letters are still going out right now, and can even come out as far as in late may, according to this future U of T page. in fact, admission decisions can be sent out late for any number of reasons. for example, depending on your program, they might just be reviewing supplemental information, or even waiting for relevant midterm/interim grades to come out.

the point is, decisions are still being made right now, and you can still be considered in the next round of admission decisions.

however, i know that waiting this long for your admission decision can be quite stressful and hard. just know that your worth is not tied to the university’s timeline or decision! and in the meantime, please be kind to yourself. you’ve already done the hard work, now we’ve just got to sit tight and wait.

wishing you good vibes, good luck, and sunshine-filled mornings. you’ve got this!

over and out,

aska

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choosing, courses, one programs, timetable

feeling attacked by course enrolment is a rite of passage

May 8, 2025

hi aska,i just accepted my utsg offer and am already stressed about the course selection process. i tried using the timetable builder but i don’t understand it 🙁 do i select all the tutorials and lectures listed for a specific course? what does this mean?: “Students enrolled in LEC0101, LEC2000 & LEC2001, must enroll in one of TUT0101 to TUT1702; TUT2801; or TUT5101 to TUT5201.” do i take all vic one courses? is it okay if most of the courses i want to take are 0.5 credits?thank you in advance!

hey there,

big congrats to you and welcome!

first, i gotta say, the immediate stress and confusion about course enrolment is absolutely normal. when i was in your shoes and dealing with this for the first time, i remember going crazy over how confusing everything was — it always felt like i was missing something important that everyone else heard about!

but the good thing is that course enrolment does make more sense once you’ve done it a bunch of times. so maybe i can help clear some things up.

enrolling in LEC and TUT

so you’re asking what this means on the timetable builder: “students enrolled in LEC0101, LEC2000 & LEC2001, must enrol in one of TUT0101 to TUT1702; TUT2801; or TUT5101 to TUT5201.”

great question! i am realizing that wording is so confusing?! not very swag of them :(. it’s interesting because i’ve never seen instructions like this for course enrolment… usually it’s simple and you just enrol in one lecture and one tutorial. but — uhhh i’ve actually never had to enrol in a course like this before.

*i leave you in the room and do some digging through the world wide web*

*i return looking more confused*

okayyyy so i’m gonna guess that the course you’re asking about is SOC100? because the only place those exact instructions can be found on the internet is in the SOC100 syllabus from fall 2023. but when i look at the timetable builder for fall 2025, the SOC100 tutorial and lecture numbers look a bit different, so those instructions wouldn’t apply anymore. in general, just know that you should ignore the enrolment instructions of past syllabuses, since they change every year.

for now, it’s too unclear since the timetable builder doesn’t have all the enrolment instructions or details up for fall/winter yet. once more details show up on the timetable builder and you’re able to start adding courses to your enrolment cart on acorn, things will hopefully make more sense.

but if you still wanted to know, i can tell you what i think those instructions mean. i think if you’re enrolled in one of the three lectures, you must choose one tutorial in one of the three ranges — so one tutorial overall. either:

1. a tutorial between the numbers TUT0101 and TUT1702

2. just TUT2801

3. a tutorial between the numbers TUT5101 and TUT5201

so in the end, you could be enrolled in LEC0101 and TUT0101, for example. and if you wanted to know what’s behind my reasoning for that, it’s just based on familiarity with how U of T writes their lists of options. see more on that here.

ultimately, it’s kinda really hard to give an exact answer on this unless i knew exactly what the course code was so that i could take a look at how it looks on acorn myself. but anyways, if i’m wrong about the SOC100 syllabus thing… haha ignore that you didn’t hear me. if i’m right about it… of course i’m right.

what are lectures and tutorials

i get that all this course code stuff can be confusing if no one’s explained it before. so i do want to quickly go over what lectures and tutorials are.

basically, just think of “lecture” as the main class time. here, your professor teaches you things, uses a laser pointer at a powerpoint slide, and yaps away while you rapidly type notes at the speed of light. every single course will have a lecture, noted as “LEC” on the timetable builder.

some courses will also have “tutorials”, noted as “TUT” on the timetable builder. here, you listen to your TA (teaching assistant) yap away instead, and depending on your program, they’ll either go over problems or go over the readings, and you’ll do a lot of class discussion stuff.

tutorials are almost always offered in larger courses (think more than 80 people), but can also be used in classes as small as 50. the main idea of tutorials is to break up the crowd and give you the chance to learn in smaller groups.

like for example, if you’re in a class of 200, and there’s only one prof, how would the prof answer all 200 student’s questions during class time? that would waste a lot of time and make the prof go a little insane. so instead, we get broken up into groups of say, 20, to get the chance to ask specific questions, get one-on-one help, and engage in discussion about course content with other students.

so tutorials are more similar to the high school classroom experience. and keep in mind that you’re often required to attend them — especially if you have participation marks or presentation projects involved.

vic one courses

do you have to take all vic one courses?

hmmmmm. so i’m gonna assume that you’ve already applied and been accepted to the vic one program. because in order to take vic one courses, you would need to get into the program first. like, it’s a whole separate application to the U of T application. but you know that, right? 😀

once you’re in, you would know that there are eight streams, and you would have chosen your stream during the application. here’s the catch, though: you can only take courses within the stream you got into. so for example, if you got into the chambers stream, you won’t be able to take courses from the pearson stream, gooch stream, or any of the other streams.

but, the good thing is that while taking vic one courses, you are allowed to take courses offered at other colleges. it says so on their FAQ page. so in short, no, you are not limited to only vic one courses.

in fact, you can’t actually take only vic one courses during your first year. you’re gonna have to take other courses too, because vic one courses alone can’t fill up your course schedule.

why is that?

well, if you take a look at the vic one course offerings on the timetable builder, you’ll see that some streams offer two fall 0.5 courses and two winter 0.5 courses, while other streams offer two 1.0 courses.

adding up either of these options would leave you with 2.0 credits completed by the end of the year. BUT to finish first year, you’re going to have to take at least 4.0 credits.

so you’ll have to take courses outside of vic one to meet your degree requirements. does that make sense?

finally, if you didn’t actually apply to vic one yet but wanted to join it, you’ve still got a chance! the third application round is still open until june 9, and you can find out more about applying here.

half credit courses

yes, it is absolutely fine if most or even all the courses you want to take are 0.5 credits. these courses are worth half a credit, and are more common than courses that are worth one full credit.

half-credit courses will last for one semester, which is half of the school year. for example, it can start in september and end in december, OR start in january and end in april. meanwhile, full-credit courses will last for the whole school year, from september to april.

anyways, these were all really great and very valid questions. i’m glad you asked rather than languishing in confusion! that’s not fun, i would know.

so i hope this was helpful, feel free to ask again if more come up!

over and out,

aska

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fees, financial aid, residence, scholarships/bursaries

the cost of living, it’s eating me alive

March 27, 2025
hi! I’m currently in the middle of the decision process of whether I attend UofT. I got into the Arts and Sciences Faculty with Innis College. My main issue is regarding residence fees, if I apply to Innis college scholarship before the deadline, by when would I get acceptances/rejections regarding scholarships?

hey there,

omg congrats on your acceptance!

this is a really great question. residence fees at innis are honestly getting so high, even if innis is known as the lowest priced dorm at U of T.

so i definitely get why you’re looking to get scholarships to help out.

i know that there are admissions scholarships that you’re automatically considered for, and those would have been included in your admission offer. but since you’re talking about scholarships that need applications, im assuming that you’re talking about innis leadership awards for incoming students.

would you hear back about these scholarships before your deadline to respond to your admission offer?

well, your deadline to respond is going to be either late may or early june. (it should say the exact date on your admission letter!) but, decisions about these scholarships often aren’t released until late spring, which i know is vague but i fearrrr that’s all i’ve got.

all i can say is, it is not uncommon for students to hear back about scholarships after the response deadline. there is a decent chance it could happen to you.

regardless, i want you to know that these innis leadership scholarships are not your only opportunity to get financial aid.

government financial aid

if you’re from canada, a great thing to do is apply for government financial aid programs. for example, students from ontario are able to apply to OSAP. meanwhile if you’re not from ontario, there are still provincial student aid programs for each province.

in-course scholarships

there are also going to be several “in-course” scholarships available to you during your time at U of T. this “in-course” name basically just means “not admission and not graduating, but while you’re here”.

first, there will be in-course scholarships that you can apply for within your program. the bigger your program is, the more scholarships they’ll have to offer. you’ll usually get an email about these mid-way through the fall semester (though i’m not sure if programs offer ones for first years, sometimes it starts in second year?).

second, there will be in-course innis awards available to you. for example, there are gpa-based awards that tons of people get during their second, third, and fourth year. and there are several more leadership awards that you can apply to during the spring of each year.

some more resources

a great tool for sorting through the many scholarships at U of T is the award explorer. definitely use filters though, to find ones that would be applicable for you.

you can also use this U of T financial planner to help yourself budget. it’s meant to help students see how much money they’ll need to cover tuition and fees, housing costs, food, etc during a year. it can be pretty overwhelming, and this can be helpful in sorting it all out!

finally, i just want to say that innis residence is a really amazing place to live! i lived there, and i’ve heard nothing but good things about it (unlike other residences). the location is insanely convenient, there is plenty of student support available, there are lots of events with free food, and it’s just a great place to find community. i could go on and on!!

i will leave you with some important dates to keep in mind:
1. applications for provincial financial aid programs become available from your home province or territory around may of each year.
2. the deadline to apply to incoming innis leadership awards is april 14.
and yeah, i hope this helps you make your decision! sending good vibes <3

over and out,

aska
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deferral, second degree

you’d probably prefer to not defer

March 23, 2025

Hi, I got accepted as a second degree student and surprisingly got accepted to a masters program (both at UTSG). Can I defer the second degree to finish the one year masters (accelerated)? If I reapply, would my masters GPA be used?

Thank you.

hey there,

ok slayy congrats on getting accepted to both of these! getting into a masters program at the st. george campus is a huge accomplishment.

so now that you’ve been accepted to a masters, you’re saying you want to defer your second degree to complete the masters first. that decision makes sense!

but, good thing you asked. because here is the thing!

you unfortunately won’t be able to defer your second degree if you’re going to pursue a masters degree. this is due to two reasons:

1. students can only accept one offer of admission from U of T at a time, and

2. you can only defer for a gap year if you’re not planning on attending university during that year.

as you can see on this future U of T page, in order to get approved for a deferral, you must have already accepted the offer of admission, paid the admission deposit (if required), met all the conditions of your admission offer, and confirmed that you aren’t going to study at university in the meantime.

so basically, if you accept your masters offer of admission, you won’t be able to accept your second degree offer, and also won’t fulfill the criteria to get your deferral approved. does that make sense?

BUT it will be okay. you can still do the second degree after your masters as you’ve planned, it just seems like you will need to reapply for the second degree.

as for what grades they’ll look at when you reapply for the second degree program?

according to the second degree admissions page, your application will be assessed based on your academic record from your previous degree. i think this means it’s safe to assume that your grades from both your undergrad and masters degree will be looked at for your admission. but honestly? i don’t think you need to worry too much about getting in again, since you’ve already gotten in once.

so tldr: you can’t defer the second degree if you accept the masters degree. and when you reapply to the second degree, they’ll look at your grades in undergrad and masters.

also, just to preface, i did not make this stuff up (it would be crazy if i did LOL), this info was all verified by my college registrar. but i’d still highly encourage you to directly contact the faculty in which you plan to pursue your second degree.

i say that because the future U of T website says that you should contact your faculty directly for details about deferring your offer, especially if you’re in applied science and engineering, nursing, bachelor of information, physician assistant program, or medical radiation sciences. often, each individual faculty does things a little differently and it’s just better to make sure.

hope this helps! congrats again on your admissions, i hope you make some time to treat yourself <3

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, OUAC

whatever you do, do not dilly dally

March 16, 2025

Hi! I’m a student from Vancouver, BC. And I applied for U of T this year and I met a trouble with my information in my account. I got a wrong SIN number and how can I change it? Thank you so much!

hey there,

i’m gonna assume you haven’t gotten a letter of admission/denial yet and are still waiting to hear back.

if you put the wrong SIN number into your personal information page on OUAC (where you applied), you should be able to change it. back when i applied, i’m like 80% sure i was still able to go back and my change personal info after completing the application.

but tbh it’s been a while and i’m not an expert on the OUAC platform.

all i can say is that you should try to fix this asap because it might impact your admission decision. in the best case, you should be able to manually change it, or contact the admissions office to get it changed. in the worse case, a wrong SIN number in your application sounds like it might count as fraudulent information.

officially, the university says this: “you should be aware that when you submit your application you are required to certify that the personal information and documents submitted in the application, or to be submitted (all of which constitutes the application), are true, complete and correct in all respects. if evidence is found to the contrary your admission to the university may be rescinded, your registration may be revoked”

but no need to quake in your boots just yet. if you really can’t figure out how to manually change it in OUAC, you should really contact undergraduate admissions directly at this link or at this phone number: 416-978-2190. and do it as soon as you can.

i really hope this helped and that everything turns out ok!

over and out,

aska

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enrolment, programs

so your chances are looking…. chancey?

March 9, 2025

I’m currently a first year art and sci at utsg and had a question about enrolling in a program. I’m interested in a minor but lack one of the prerequisites! If I take it in the first term and apply in the second enrolment period, does this affect my chances of getting into a limited program, especially the more competitive ones?

hey there,

i immediately love you for specifying your faculty and campus. we appreciate the context. plus, this is a really good question!

well, i can tell you that your situation is super common. students who don’t have all their program pre-requisites by the end of first year will complete them in the first summer term and then apply during the second enrolment period. this happens all the time!

but i can see where you’re coming from. if i was in your position, i would also be asking whether enrolling in the second period might affect my chances of getting in, especially to a competitive program.

the good thing is that you don’t have to worry about whether applying during the second period might be applying “late” — departments don’t really care which period you apply during. if they have a set grade baseline or required pre-req courses, that’s all they’ll base their decision on.

however, if you’re worried about spots filling out, hmmmmm. yeah. that’s valid.

here’s the thing. i looked into it, and it’s really unclear whether spots can fill up during the first enrolment period. this is because program enrolment is a process that’s overseen by each individual department, so there isn’t really a clear answer i can give you without knowing which minor you’re interested in. (ie, every department does this a bit differently.)

if you wanted my personal opinion, i’m sure that most departments would hold spots for students who apply during the second enrolment period. because programs that are open during the first and second period will take students in the second round if they meet the requirements. it’s just unclear exactly how many spots there would be in each period.

my take is, if there’s a list of pre-requisite courses you need to complete and you’ve completed them, i’m pretty sure they have to let you in. meanwhile, if there’s grade averages involved, it’s probably gonna be more complicated. but tbh, only the people within your department would know for certain.

all that considered, just make sure that the minor you want actually accepts students during both periods. (some programs only accept students during the first period, and you can find that info in this list).

and in the end, if you don’t end up being accepted to that minor, it’s certainly not the end of the world. worst case is, you apply to programs in your second year like half of U of T anyway. 😀 almost everyone i know (including me) was still applying to programs during the summer after their second year. if that happens to you, it is completely fine and normal.

so yeah. i hope this was somewhat somehow helpful for you? good luck with the rest of the semester, i hope you get some time to photosynthesize in the spring sun! <3

over and out,

aska

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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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