• admissions

    $20 for palm reading

    April 13, 2016

    I’m in my first year, and looking to transfer from UTSC to UTSG. However, I failed one of my courses :'( and right now my GPA is probably around 3.36 ish. Is there a possibility I can still get in? Do they look individually at each course or collectively?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i would say there is still a possibility. a 3.36 is a B+, which is above the minimum mark you need to be competitive if you’re transferring from another university. there is no explicit minimum CGPA for an internal transfer, but given the standard applied to external transfers, i’d say that’s a competitive CGPA.

    as for how they assess your marks, the main considerations are CGPA and program prerequisites. if the course you failed is a prerequisite for the program you applied to, that may present a problem. if it’s a course that will be largely irrelevant to the program you’ve applied to and the rest of your transcript looks pretty good, then i’d say your chances are much better. like, if you failed first-year econ and got 80s in your French courses and you’re transferring to French, admissions is more likely to downplay the importance of the econ course.

    as always, i’m not involved in the admissions process, so all of this is based on careful reading of uoft websites and what i’ve picked up over the years. there are many factors that go into deciding whether or not to admit someone, and you may receive a decision that contravenes what i’ve said in this post. except it won’t be contravening it, because of this disclaimer: i am not a 100% accurate predictor of admissions decisions. i’m more like a fortune teller with a neon sign who works on yonge street: lots of practice means i will sometimes get things right, but not always.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions

    look down

    April 13, 2016

    Hi, I recently got a conditional offer to st George u of t social sciences. The condition was have a 75% overall average at the end of June, and a 75 in English. We have a report card coming out in mid April and I was wondering if my marks dropped by then, will I lose my offer? Or do they wait to see my final June report card so I can increase my marks??

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i don’t usually do this, but my answer to this question would be literally identical to the one i just answered, so: see my previous post. thanks!

    aska

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  • admissions

    even the potential for rejection is too much

    April 12, 2016

    So i received a conditional offer from utsc YASSS but they explicitly stated they want 4.0, so an A in the letter. Am i going to get my offer revoked if I got B or B+? (somewhere at 3.5) :”(

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    your use of GPAs instead of percentages is really throwing me off. do you go to a really fancy high school that uses GPAs instead of percentages? is uoft just using its own GPA system in its admission letter? are YOU trying to be clear by translating letter grades to a uoft GPA? are you transferring from UTM or UTSG, or another university? who knows. i’ll just have to cover all my bases.

    if the university’s admission offer?requires you stay at an A and you get a B/B+ as your final average, there is, of course, the chance that your offer will be revoked. i don’t want to deny that, especially (though not only) because i don’t need angry high schoolers chasing me down because they didn’t get into uoft when i said they would.

    however, a B/B+ is not THAT much lower than an A, in high school terms at least. the difference between a 3.5 and a 4.0 is actually pretty significant in uoft terms, but since i’m not sure whether that’s your high school GPA system or ours, i’m just going to ignore it and talk about the letter grade.

    ultimately, grade drops usually have to be pretty severe for an offer of admission to be revoked. i would strongly advise you to do your very best to try to meet the conditions of your offer of admission, because if you don’t, the offer?could be?revoked. that being said, there’s no need necessarily to FREAK OUT over a B+ when they’re asking for an A.

    if you’re transferring, i would say the same applies. usually, you need a ‘B’ average (including prerequisites) to be competitive when transferring from another university, so if you dip down below a 4.0 it’s likely not the end of the world. though, again, if you’re not meeting your conditions, it is a possibility.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions

    second chances

    March 16, 2016

    hi aska,
    today i received a refused admission to my first choice and got an alternate offer. i was wondering if i can still send in my midterm transcript to still be considered or is this a straight up rejection for my?first choice. keep in mind that i only sent in my interim marks before the deadline because i’m from BC. im sad but not really..thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m assuming you mean you were rejected from your first choice of program and received an offer to another program. since i don’t know what your first choice was, what the alternative is, and what campus you’ve applied to, i really can’t help you out that much.

    generally speaking, offers of admission are final. however, there’s no law against calling an office and asking a question, so if you really want to, you can ask whether there would be any value in sending in your midterm transcript marks. if you’ve applied to the downtown campus, a great place to pose this question would be enrolment services.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  first year

    sharing life advice (or, giving old people a sense of purpose)

    March 4, 2016

    Hi aska, first off you are hilarious and I have spent the past hour just reading your answers to various questions.

    I have a few questions today to ask. I am a grade 11 student and i want to apply to the UTSC International Development Arts Co-Op program. However I have not taken any advanced levels of math apart from workplace to get my final required math credit. In grade 12 I will be taking 6 different social sciences courses. How do you think the lack of math will affect my application because from what i’ve heard it is quite a competitive program? Also, how does the year at U of T work, when do semesters start and end?

    Mostly, I am just worried that I won’t get accepted to this program and then if I do that the workload will quite literally kill me. Any advice for preparing myself for university and U of T would be nice.

    Thank You

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    ME? hilarious? in this economy??? as a taxpayer, i find that irresponsible and unacceptable.

    if your top 6 4U/M courses (including English) are strong, then i don’t think that the lack of math will affect your application, since IDS does not require calculus. as with this person, that only is my best guess, but i don’t know for sure because UNFORTUNATELY, i am not responsible for admitting students. if i was, punny stream-of-consciousness personal essays would probably determine whether or not people got into their programs. and i know rotman and computer science would have a problem with that.

    the one thing i will caution you, though, is that MGEA01H3 and MGEA05H3 are required for the IDS specialist. neither of these courses require calculus, but “algebra and graphs are used extensively,” and that kind of thing is not covered in workplace math. if i were you, i would consider taking grade 11 mixed math, or perhaps even functions, so you can have a basic understanding of this kind of mathematics before you’re thrown into it in first year.

    UTSC is a strictly semesterly campus. the fall semester goes from September-December (with exams in December), the winter semester goes from January-April (with exams in April), and the summer semester goes from May-August (with exams in June and August for half-credit courses, and August for courses worth 1.0 credit).

    my advice for preparation is that you 1) really do consider doing as much math as you can stomach. it will help you in the long run. 2) some people have good experiences at university and some people have not-so-good experiences, but i think that the following advice is helpful for pretty much anybody:

    • do not feel like you have to only do school while you’re in school. lots of first-years drop extra-curriculars, jobs, and hobbies in first year because they feel like they need more time to adjust to school and can’t do as much as they did in grade 12. it is true that you’ll need to use first year to adjust to university, but i’ve found that getting involved makes it easier to adjust, not more difficult. you can always drop things if you’ve taken on too much, but don’t hesitate to even try. getting involved helps you feel like you’re part of a community, which can make you feel more invested in your school work – and that’s good, not bad, for your academics.
    • sometimes you will fall asleep on your commute. don’t beat yourself up about it. you can’t always be doing readings on the train/bus.
    • ask questions!!!!! no one else knows what the heck they’re doing, either. you will not look stupid if you ask a question. this applies for classes but also just generally: if you have a question about university policy/procedure, ask it. do not just listen to what your friends are saying, because they are probably wrong. ask your registrar’s office. Google things. double check stuff.
    • take pride in your work. university is hard. you are doing a great job – even if sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.
    • plan ahead. listen, if you got through high school without an agenda or a calendar and you think you can pull the same thing in university, you are wrong. you will 100% for certain be more successful if you have some method by which to schedule your time, so find one that works for you, pronto.
    • let your plans change. medical school and law school are not the only options for your future. there are lots of challenging, fulfilling, well-paying, well-respected jobs that you’ve never heard of and that YOU CAN LOVE. and no one will think you are a failure for doing them. they will think you are an adult.
    • don’t give up. you will get a mark that you never got in high school. maybe you will get a lot of marks that you didn’t get in high school. firstly, that does not signal the end of your university career – first year does not have to foreshadow your second, third and fourth years. secondly: even if you do decide to leave, or transfer, or take a break from school, you are not giving up. as long as you are doing what’s right for you, you’re doing alright.
    • con hall classes suck, but they’re not forever.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions

    U or M

    March 2, 2016

    Hi aska! So I know that UofT accepts both U and M level courses as a part of your top six (I’ve applied to Humanities, so my only prerequisite is U level English), but I was wondering if they would prioritize accepting students with more U level courses since they’re technically supposed to be “””harder”””.

    Because of various course-scheduling conflicts and certain courses no longer being offered at my school, I am only taking two grade 12 U courses (English and Philosophy) and the rest of them are M (all drama and music courses). I got 95% in English (ENG4U1) first semester, and knowing my teachers and how I’ve been doing so far I’m guessing my final top 6 average at the end of the year will be above 90, but I’m just worried that I’d be at a disadvantage because I’m not taking many U level courses….

    Thanks for any help you can offer!!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    this is one of those admissions questions that i won’t be able to give you an exact answer to, not because i don’t want to, but because i don’t have the answer. unfortunately, you’ll just have to make your peace with that.

    i am inclined to say that because you are entering into the humanities and Grade 12 English is typically the only required course for the humanities, it shouldn’t impact your application too much. at a lot of high schools, drama and music are only offered at the M level, and so if you want to take those courses, you don’t really have the opportunity to take them at the U level.

    your M courses shouldn’t put you at a disadvantage when entering first year, since many first-year humanities courses are in areas that simply aren’t taught in high school. that means everyone is encountering it for the first time. and if it shouldn’t impact your studies, then it stands to reason that it also shouldn’t impact your application.

    SO my logic would be that as long as your GPA is competitive and it includes prerequisites, you should be fine.

    if you’d like some more nuanced information, i’d recommend you talk to enrolment services. they can give you the lowdown.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  rotman

    rotman hopefuls break your heart

    February 19, 2016

    Hi,

    My name is [redcated] and I am currently in Grade 11. I am wanting to get into the Rotman Commerce program but am becoming more nervous and stressed out as I get closer and closer to University applications. So, my question is: how strict are the admission requirements how steep has the competition been the last few years? For example, would I still have a chance of getting admitted if I had 75% in Calculus and what was the minimum average requirement for the past few years.

    Best

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you must be new here, my friend! as many frustrated high schoolers before you will tell you, aska has literally no information about admission statistics that isn’t already publicly available.

    that being said, here’s what i do know:

    i’ll never say never, BUT the rotman site does say that you should have received a mark in the mid- to high-80s in calculus to be considered. since they list it under “Minimum admissions requirements,” i’d say it’s pretty important.

    as for a cut-off, the closest thing i can give you to that is the anticipated admission grade average for fall 2015: for Rotman, it was in the mid- to high-80s. keep in mind, this is your top 6 4U/M courses including english and calculus.

    i am wondering, though: have you already done calculus? surely you’ve only done functions since you’re only in grade 11? you can’t have fast-tracked that much.

    if you’re freaking out about your calculus mark before you’ve even done the course: firstly, calm down. go have a hot chocolate and watch some netflix or something.

    SECONDLY: you have lots and lots of time to prevent this issue from even happening. if you’re not doing so well in functions and you’re worried about how it will impact your calculus mark, then take the time now to improve as much as you can! get a tutor for the summer. take advantage of time, wherever you can find it. you can do this.

    good luck with your application.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  international students

    international fees *sips tea*

    February 16, 2016

    Hello! I have several questions to ask you, being an international student looking to transfer to U of T. First of all, why does the application fee cost so much? It is $100 more than the cost of applying to an university in the US.
    Also, is it normal to pay the fee before turning in all the needed documents? It asked me to pay for it right after I filled out the online information portion.
    Lastly, I accidentally pressed something that said ‘thanks for submitting your application, please send pay your fee by mail’. Can I pay online instead?
    Thank you for your help!! 🙂

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    it costs so much because you’re an international student. it costs $150 to apply to up to three universities for Ontario residents. for you guys, it costs $165, plus the extra $90 fee from uoft. you’ll have to get used to paying more as an international student if you want to come here, because canada is VERY UNFAIR and the universities love to money-grab wherever they can.*

    you’re supposed to send the fee online, according to the bottom of this page on the OUAC site. i’m not sure if maybe the uoft fee can be sent separately – as per usual, the university website is of absolutely no help with that.**

    if you want to pay online and you’re not sure how to do so, what i would do is call enrolment services. they can help you out.

    cheers,

    aska

    * although, to be fair, U.S. universities do this, too. but i’m not here to judge.

    **or maybe it is and i just can’t find the right page. it wouldn’t be the first time. though i do have to say that trying to find information on the collection of disparate websites that make up uoft’s online presence is like being dropped in the middle of a foreign continent and being told, “Okay, we need you to get to Billy’s Burger Shack. It’s a favourite around here! You’ll find it in no time!” meanwhile, you’re panicking because you have no idea where this place is. who’s billy? where is his shack? what country are you in? is that an ocean or a sea in the distance? you don’t know. you may never find out.

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  • admissions,  rotman

    econ will getcha, even in high school

    February 12, 2016

    Hey there,
    Can’t tell you how much I appreciate about the existence of this site. As you can see from my subject, I’m a current grade 12 students who is struggling with my average and considering retaking a course. My average, I would say it would be around 88-90ish. I know people have a higher chance at getting offer with an average 93-97ish, but I still have my hopes up! Anyways, my school is a 2 semesters system, and I’m taking economics 12 in the first semester. However, I’m not satisfied about where I’m getting right now for economics (84% FYI). I’m thinking to retake economics in the second semester, and I’m wondering how would u of t see my marks since I’ll be having 2 marks, one original and one retake. I heard some universities will average up between the original and the retake mark, and some universities will take some marks off from the retake mark. Thank you so
    much for answering my questions.

    Best regards.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    the subject line of your e-mail says that you’re applying to Rotman commerce, which makes the answer a little bit different from usual. rotman commerce does not consider retakes, so it probably wouldn’t make much sense to retake economics for that reason. that being said, depending on the other programs you’ve applied to at other schools, you may want to retake it if those other universities do accept repeated attempts.

    also, if you’ve applied to other streams at uoft (e.g. humanities, social sciences, etc.) then the repeated course won’t be completely discredited, but it will impact your application in that preference will be shown to students whose marks were the result of a single attempt.

    finally, do keep in mind that the only required course for Rotman (in addition to English) is calculus. that means that if your economics mark is not within your top six 4U/M courses (including calculus and English), it won’t be part of your admissions average at all. so another way of approaching this pickle you’re in might be to take another course next semester in which you anticipate you’ll do really well, and boot economics out of your top 6.

    best of luck with your application, mi amigo. i wish you a fabulous businessy future, full of tapered dress pants and not-too matchy-matchy suit jackets.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  grad school,  grades

    automatically rejected?

    February 5, 2016

    Hey,

    So im a 3rd year physics specialist, and i took a course That was not required for my degree( Just for the fun of it) and i got the mark back and its 50. This Is the first time i have gotten a mark like This. I am usually a high 70-low 80 Student. I had prospects for physics graduate school at uoft and some other school in Ontario. M’y question Is: How Bad Is going to look on applications or am i automatically rejected? Also, Is it possible to ask my college to base This course on a cr/ncr basis? I only took the course for fun. It has nothing to do with my study. The test of my marks for This semester have been 3.7-4.0, So Can i make a case That This Is not a representation of my academic ability? I am worried because Most Schools look at last two years and This Is going to be a cold sore of sorts in my transcript. Thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you can always ask, but it’s unlikely that your college will make the course credit/non-credit after the course is over. like, very unlikely.

    however, the fact that your mark is so unusual, and that it has nothing to do with physics, can only help your application to graduate school. that means that when a graduate admissions committee looks at your transcript, they are more likely to see this particular mark as a fluke. yes, it might cause your GPA to dip a little, but it’s not going to ruin your chances.

    the M.Sc. requires at least a B+ average or better, so if you’ve been sitting at a 3.7+ GPA, this mark probably will not be the tipping point from accepted to not. in other words, your GPA leaves wiggle room for a mark like this.

    now i want to be clear that i’m not guaranteeing your admission to any program: competition varies widely from year to year and i can’t make very accurate predictions because i haven’t seen your transcript. all i’m saying is that all hope is not lost.

    something that might help your application, if you feel comfortable doing so, is sending an explanatory letter along with your application. most admissions committees will allow you to send along a letter explaining any unique circumstances or unusual results. you can use this opportunity to explain the outlying mark – just make sure to ask whether they’ll accept such a letter first.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  international relations

    IRe over IR requirements

    January 27, 2016

    Hello!
    I’m in grade 12 now and really hoping to get into International Relations at U of T! I read online that math was recommended….but unfortunately I didn’t take it this year. It’s not my best subject, but I could probably switch into if I had too. I’m just wondering if I won’t get in unless I have that credit…like will I not be accepted? It would probably bring down my average a ton (93%), but getting in is super important to me. I’m not really worried about doing economics in first year without it, as I would take the lower level course. Please advise!! Thank you:)

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    before we get started, a quick primer on how programs work at uoft: to get a degree from the faculty of arts & science, you need to be in one specialist, two majors, or one major and two minors. none of these combinations are better or more prestigious than any others – it’s all about how you want to organize your degree.

    so, depending on whether you want to stick strictly (there’s a tongue twister) to IR, or add some other disciplines to your studies, you might be more interested in either the IR specialist or the major, respectively.

    if you want to do the specialist, they do recommend that you take ECO100Y1 instead of 105Y1 (which is the less intense version of 100), so you would need to take advanced functions and calculus for that course.

    since you don’t apply directly to programs in your first year, you definitely wouldn’t get rejected from uoft based on not having the math (i’m assuming you applied to the humanities or social science stream, which doesn’t require math) – however, once you get here, you wouldn’t be able to take ECO100, and therefore be eligible to apply for the IR specialist, UNLESS you had taken advanced functions and calculus in high school.

    if you’re concerned about your average, one thing i might suggest is taking those two maths in summer school. keep in mind that you’ll still likely have to send those transcripts in to the university, so you’ll need to maintain a certain average, but hopefully there won’t be as much pressure as during the school year, and you can really focus on doing well.

    if you want to do the major, things are a little different. the IR major will accept both ECO100Y1 and ECO105Y1, and doesn’t indicate any preference for one or the other. ECO105Y1 does NOT require or recommend that you take calculus beforehand.

    this is a lot to think about, but don’t worry: you have time to think about it. take it slow, reflect on your options, and if you have any questions, aska’s here.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions

    they Begin

    January 19, 2016

    Hi, there
    I am a BC grade 12 student, I am planing to go to u of t life science or psychology next year, I am taking cal 12, chem 12, physics 12, English 12 and pre cal 12. My first term avg is 80.4%(and my past years grade arnt good), and I have quite a lot extra curriculum. I want to ask if I have any chances to get into u of t life science or psychology, also,should I apply for UTM or UTSC or St. G if I want to have a larger chance to get in?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    dear highschooler: you should feel proud of the long legacy you’re entering. i bet you didn’t know that you were becoming part of a legacy by writing this question, did you? well, you are. the legacy of FRICKIN’ KEENERS asking me whether they’ll get into uoft*. take a look at this tag to learn about your proud heritage (also if you’d like to see what i’ve said to other people in similar situations).

    before i say anything, the caveat for any type of admissions questions is that your guess is as good as mine. the admissions committee has the final say, so anything and everything i say may not pan out as i’ve said it. do not sue. thanks.

    the anticipated admission grade ranges of people coming in to first year for life science in 2015 was in the low to mid 80s. you’re right on the cusp of that lower end. depending on your grade 11 marks, you might even dip below it a little. that’s not to say that you have no chance, and i would urge you to still apply, but you may want to consider applying to other campuses and universities as well.

    as for psychology: that’s a subject POSt (program of study) and not a degree POSt. when you enter into first year in the faculty of arts & science, you’re in a degree POSt – humanities, life sciences, physical sciences and mathematics, or social sciences. after first year, you decide on a subject program of study, which is a more specific are of focus.

    psychology is pretty popular on the downtown campus. typically, you need to have received a mark in the 80s in PSY100H1 to get into the program (though the minimum cut-off is 75%). unfortunately i don’t have more stats about how many people apply versus how many people get in.

    and that’s it! if you’re doing exams right now (i don’t really know how school works in BC), good luck. if not, also good luck with just…living and stuff.

    best,

    aska

    * don’t worry, i was one once too. yes, i admit it. there’s no shame in being a keener. accept yourself. aska does.

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  • admissions,  enrollment

    a B.A. in science, or what i like to call…just a regular B.Sc.

    December 14, 2015

    Hello!!!

    I would like do complete another BA. My previous BA I completed at Ryerson University and this time I would like to complete it at UFT. Reason being, career change and my grades from my previous BA are simply not high enough for the program I would like to qualify for.

    My undergraduates degree was Early Childhood Education, this time I would like to complete a degree majoring with the sciences. My questions are as follows:

    Can I complete another BA?

    In high school I only took the required sciences, do I need to go back and take the science courses I missed?

    In doing this, will UFT look negatively on my application?

    Many thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    unfortunately, you cannot complete a second B.A. if you already have a B.A.

    HOWEVER, since you want to major in a science, you’re probably not looking at an arts degree anyway, but a B.Sc. so your first question is kind of irrelevant.

    you can take a look at exactly which high school science courses you need for the degree program of study you’re interested in here.

    if you have to take some high school courses now in order to be eligible to apply, no, the university will not count that against your application.

    best of luck with it,

    aska

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