Hello! I’ve been struggling with severe anxiety all my life, and it really reflects in my grades. I was wondering if there was anyway at all to get my past grades deleted from my GPA, if there is such a thing. I don’t want to ask the registrars office in the (highly likely) chance that I could be wrong. If I could get my psychologist to give proof that I’m dealing with anxiety, or if there’s anything I can do. I came off suspension and I’m doing so much better in terms of my grades but my GPA.

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hey there,

my first instinct upon reading this question was to tell you that there is no known avenue for removing past grades from your GPA. which is generally true. but then i gave your situation a good amount of thought and realized there was one way you might be able to achieve this, although i’m not ACTUALLY sure if it’s viable. wow. we love delivering news like that. i just don’t wanna get your hopes up by making it seem like cupcakes and sprinkles, yknow?

so. if any avenue would work to remove past grades from your GPA, it would be the petitions process. if you’re unfamiliar, petitions are basically how u of t students beg the big ol’ bureaucracy for an exception to the extensive list of laws that govern our lives, also known as the rules and regulations.

at a first glance, none of the common petitions fit your circumstances. one relatively common petition people send in is for a late withdrawal without academic penalty, which would technically have those courses removed from your GPA. the caveat is that those courses would need to be from this fall/winter term. u of t also notes that if you passed the course, late withdrawal without academic penalty is not appropriate. but if you meet the conditions, it might be an option for you. based on the information you gave me, i’m not sure that you do? but putting it out there in case my understanding of things is not accurate.

if want to know whether it’s possible to petition for any other forms of grade removal, you will need to contact your registrar. they’d be the best people to tell you what’s possible and what’s not possible, because they have a lot of experience with petitions. they’ve probably also encountered this question before, so don’t be afraid to ask. i’m pretty sure the answer is usually a no re: removing past grades, but i’m not sure if medical documentation may change that. it’s best to just ask. even if the answer is no, your registrar’s office will be able to connect you with other resources that might help you move forward, or advise other solutions.

for future references, the system tends to be more forgiving when you address academic issues right away. whether that’s petitioning for term work extensions or even just talking to your professor to see what they can do, there are provisions in place for supporting students who might be dealing with medical issues. the thing is that most of them are only allowed to be enacted until a certain date after a course is completed. i know it can be incredibly difficult to deal with these kinds of things when you’re working through severe bouts of mental illness, but i wanted you to know that if you’re able to act fast in the future, it may make things easier on you.

in any case, i’m glad you’re doing better now. i hope this was at least a little bit helpful and that you’re staying safe and healthy wherever you are.

be Boundless,

aska

hey. i’m currently taking mat137, but due to my grades early on, I won’t be able to finish with a good mark in the end. that’s why I want to lwd. however, the problem is that phy152 requires mat137 as a corequisite. I’ve emailed the professor to ask if I can continue taking phy152 and finish mat137 in the summer (I didn’t want to take a risk) but i’m really unsure of whether this will be accepted. do I have a good chance of receiving this exemption, or not? 🙁

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hey friendo,

i don’t really know what your chances are of receiving an exemption, but this is what i do know about the situation you’re in:

the department is usually responsible for enforcing prerequisite/corequisite requirements. at this point in the semester, though, the risk is low that the department will be actively checking for corequisite fulfillment. in other words, if you just drop MAT137 without notifying the department, you probably won’t get kicked out because they probably won’t find out. key word here being probably– i can’t make any guarantees. you’ve mentioned you don’t want to take risks on it, so i don’t even really know how relevant this information is to you.

anyway, if you’ve already emailed the prof, the department may already be aware. my guess is that, if the prof is unsure at all, they’ll reach out to the department to find out what the guidelines are for situations like these.

because of that, i’d just advise that you wait for a response from your prof, and then continue on once you know what their decision is. it’s hard for me to predict what your prof will say– they’re likely aware of everything i’ve mentioned in this post and more, so they’ll be best able to assess your situation. feel free to reach out for help again if you get an update/the situation changes, or see your registrar if you’d like more detailed in-person advice! you’ll need to see them anyway to request an LWD.

in general, it’s important to keep in mind that corequisites tend to exist for a reason– the two courses are meant to support each other. i don’t know what the impact on your learning will be of you dropping a coreq, even if the department’s okay with it. it’s possible that the crucial overlap occurred early on? but yeah, something to keep in mind, and something i’m sure your department/registrar will also mention to you.

sorry i can’t be any more conclusive– but good luck! hope it all resolves okay.

be Boundless,

aska

How does U of T inform students of suicides? I only hear about them from friends or I suspect that something occurs after clubs/groups post about mental health on social media.

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hello friend,

i’m glad you sent this in because i was meaning to put something up on this subject. i spent a good chunk of yesterday at the protest, and my heart is with those who lost a loved one this weekend as well as everyone who’s even been marginally affected. i know it was triggering for a lot of people; i myself had to skip a few classes because i just… couldn’t. and this time, i didn’t even lose someone– for those who did, i can’t even imagine what things are like right now.

from what i’ve heard and could find, u of t’s practice every time a suicide happens is to keep things quiet. with the most recent one, the health and wellness director janine robb either would not or could not confirm anything beyond a “tragic incident.” if there is an official policy enforcing this (there probably is lol bureaucracy), it’s not one that was transparent enough for me to find. apparently the family did ask for privacy at this time, which i respect.

as far as i know, the policy for on-campus student organizations and publications like the varsity is only to report the facts they have available at the time. as i’m sure you know, every time there’s an ‘incident’ (in robb’s words) a lot of speculation starts to swirl around, and so they’re careful to only publish information that’s been confirmed several times over. especially because this is such a fraught and painful situation, the students running papers and the like are being particularly cautious.

i do understand, though, the craving for more humanity from the institution that is u of t. it definitely makes me angry, that it feels like these deaths are just being swept under the rug as if they really were just numbers and not beloved members of our community. we have nothing to remember the people we’ve lost by– no names, not even the vaguest trace of an identity. to me and some of the others i’ve been talking to, it feels like remembering their names matters because under different circumstances, those names could have been ours. but good lord, the family has every right to their privacy. and i’m not sure of any happy medium between the two.

if there is an underlying anxiety to your question, it’s definitely one i understand. i called one of my close friends from home last night to work through what i was feeling, and when they asked if i knew the person who died, i realized– i can’t be sure. i guess if they were someone i was close to i would already have heard, but there are so many people at this school we know in passing, chat with outside lectures but otherwise don’t keep up with. u of t is a big school, but in some ways it’s also very small– there’s only a few degrees of separation between any two students. so when the school loses someone, we feel it. and we wonder.

i know you didn’t ask, but if you or anyone reading this wants to get involved with improving the system, you can check out this facebook page where a movement seems to be gaining ground. as well, the how many lives project is an up-and-coming attempt to create a student space for dialogue around mental health at the university, in an effort towards greater transparency. there’s a very clear systemic failure here, but with the breakthrough to admin last night at the protest, we have a real opportunity to begin collaborating with the university on some change. let’s not waste it.

three in one year is too many. one would have been too many. i had to rewrite this post from scratch since i lost the original version, so i’m pretty drained now and all out of words. but my ask box is always open for these heavier things, in addition to academic advice and fun stuff. i’m not a specialist and don’t even feel like an adult, so i want to be careful about the responsibility i take on here and want to be clear i’m not offering therapy. but i feel like it’s only honest to, on this platform, acknowledge what students at this school struggle with. even if i’m anonymous, i want this to be a place you can come to ask a question and get a lil humanity back, yknow?

wanna leave everyone lurking on this blog with a few words of encouragement: you are loved. your presence in the lives of those around you is valuable. and if there’s anything you’re struggling through right now, don’t be afraid to ask for help. i know wait times with health & wellness are long, and no one wants to be a burden to their friends. but please. this world is better with you in it.

all my best,

aska

I’ve been slacking in one of my courses, and because I’m on academic probation, I don’t want to risk potentially failing. However, I am taking the minimum amount of courses a full time student can take, so what happens if I drop the course? what will OSAP do since I’ll technically be part time, but I already paid this semester’s full time tuition.

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hi!

unfortunately, this is outside of my scope, so i’m not really sure what’ll happen with your OSAP or tuition. i suggest that you get in touch with someone from your faculty/ college registrar’s office or enrollment services, who’re the OSAP specialists on campus.

sorry i couldn’t provide you with some As to your Q, but i just really don’t want to give you false information or lead you astray.

hope this helps!

xoxo,

aska

Hey! How are you doing?

tbh I’m kinda stressing about choosing classes even though it’s supposed to
be done by now lmao

so I’m starting first year and I’m taking PSY100 in the fall semester but
I’m trying to change a class for the winter semester and I’m looking at
second year psych courses, some of which are still open.. so my question is
can I enrol in one of them for the winter semester even though I
haven’t technically passed/gotten the credit for PSY100 which is a preq, or
do I need to/should I wait until I actually pass the class??

I really want to get into psychology for my second year and hope that
taking a second year course in psych would help? But I’m also taking calc,
bio and chem too, so idk if taking the second year course would be worth
it/too stressful

Thanks!!

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hi!

firstly, let me take this chance to say that i am so so sorry that this answer is so late. we’ve been pretty busy at aska HQ lately, what with classes and orientation week and losing a beloved member of the aska team. but we’re back, baby!

unfortunately, ACORN will kick you out of a course if you don’t have the prereqs for it. it might take a few days, but they do catch up and kick people out. trust me, i got kicked out of a dope class in second year, too.

i really hope this helps and i’m sorry that it took so long. i promise that we are back on track!

xoxo,

aska

I’ll be a first year soon and I don’t know what textbooks I need? Where I should buy them? When I should buy them? Also when do you think is too late to hand in my OSAP forms it’s almost mid august and I haven’t done it yet yikes

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hi!

first of all, let me say, welcome to u of t!

second of all, don’t worry! i know that that’s the absolute worst advice you could give someone who is worrying big time, but trust me.

you won’t know what textbooks you need until you get the syllabus from the prof. this might be when they put their course up on portal or not until the first day of class. i would highly suggest going to the first week of class before going to buy your textbook, as some profs will tell you how much you’ll need the book. and there really is no need to get a book that isn’t mandatory.

profs will also tell you either on the syllabus or in class where their books are available. some will be at the u of t bookstore, others might be at the bob miller book room, and some might be available at a printing centre, not a bookstore. this is also another great reason to wait until the class has started before going to get books. slow down, my wayward child!

as for OSAP, you should finish your application ASAP to ensure that you’ll be able to get the money before classes start. basically, the faster you finish your O$AP, the faster you’ll get your $$$.

hope this helps! good luck and i look forward to seeing you on campus in september.

xoxo,

aska

Hi! I was just wondering: what is the closest library to Convocation Hall?

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hi!

i’m pretty sure that would be gerstein.

there’s also this really nifty thing called google maps. it’s pretty cool. you can type in where you are and what you’re looking for. it’s AMAZING and totally beats having to wait a long time for a certain student blogger to catch up on questions!

hope this was informative.

xoxo,

aska

any tips on how to juggle work, studying, and socializing?

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hi!

the best advice i can give you is to figure out what’s important to you and what should be prioritized. i know that that sounds kinda cheesy and is probably something that you hear much too often, but i’ve found that sitting down at the beginning of every semester (or even month, life changes quickly) and figuring out what i want to dedicate most of my energy towards is very productive. then, you can designate the amount of the time you want to spend on each thing proportional to how important it is to you.

i would also highly suggest meeting with a learning strategist from the academic success centre. they can help you develop learning skills to combat procrastination, manage stress, and a whole host of other things. they’re really great and not a lot of people know about them, but they’re definitely an on-campus resource you should check out.

i hope this helps. good luck!

xoxo,

aska