• admissions,  scholarships/bursaries,  victoria

    an issue of timing

    May 27, 2014

    So, I got the President’s Entrance Scholarship last week which was awesome 😀 (I’m super duper glad) and a friend of mine got it a day before me. However, we’re a bit confused because a lot of other people received their scholarship along with their admission letter. We got ours several weeks after our admission letters came in. Another puzzling point is that it says on the website that average of admissions is what they look at, yet we got our admission before our midterms and got the letter after our midterms. What is going on? We were also wondering if we got any money from our college (both of us are at Vic). How will we know and when will we be informed? My other friends who already received everything said that they got the email from Vic a week after the scholarship letter. What on earth do they do over at registrar to give out these scholarships? We’re so confuzzled, help us aska!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m in a counting kinda mood today, so i’m just gonna go ahead and number all your questions/concerns, because there’s rather a lot.

    1. why did you get your scholarship letter when you did?

    the university can’t do everything at once! it might not look it, but the people working at the university are only human.* also, admissions explains that “the decision is sent either in the offer of admission or under separate cover” – so it’s not a big deal if your scholarship didn’t come with your offer of admission. as long as you got the notification, then you’re getting the scholarship, same as all your friends.

    2. why did you get your admission offer when you did?

    do you mean that you received your admission letter before midterms, and your scholarship letter after them? again, it just takes time to do these things. if you didn’t get them all together, that’s not significant to you or your studies.

    the reason you got an offer of admission so early is because it was a conditional offer; the conditional offers are reviewed in July and made final for students whose final transcripts meet the conditions of admission.

    3. will you get any scholarships from vic/how will you know?

    that’s up to vic to decide. they say here that students “will receive notification of the award with their offer of admission from the University of Toronto,” so if you’ve received your offer of admission, but you didn’t get anything from victoria college, then you probably haven’t got a scholarship from them, unfortunately.

    all in all, everything looks like it’s going as it should be! just keep an eye on your Join UofT account and your physical mailbox, and you should be all set. if you’d like to make sure everything in the process is continuing on smoothly and correctly, read over this checklist. and i’m always here to answer any other questions you may have!

    cheers,

    aska

    *will smith trying to act in a serious way is probably one of my top 10 favourite things. if you ever want to woo aska for free uoft keychains or something, take me to a will smith action movie. oh man. what a riot.

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  • admissions,  transfer credits,  victoria

    coming in from la belle quebec

    May 27, 2014

    1. I’m coming from Quebec, and my whole life I studied in French. So if I check the English requirements, this is what it tells me: “If your first language is French and you have four years or more of full-time study in a Canadian school system achieving satisfactory academic progress, you are not required to provide proof of English facility. Instead, you must include Grade 12 English ENG4U/EAE4U (or an equivalent course) among the courses you offer for admission.”I’m not sure I understand what that means? Does it mean I have to take an English course during my first year?
    2. Since I will be in Victoria College, do you know how far is it from other Colleges? What I mean is, what if I have a course in one College building and right after in another building, is it a long walk there? I don’t want to be late to classes and whatnot.
    3. When I applied, I applied to Social Sciences (with the intention of then majoring in either Equity Studies or International Relations), but I was made an alternate offer to Honours of Arts and Sciences. Will I still be able to have Equity Studies or IR as my POST?
    4. Last question I’m not sure you can answer and maybe I’m better off calling directly the university but I’m gonna give it a shot, this is going to be my first year of University (as in I have never attended University in my life). However, when I go on my ROSI account, in the “Year of study” category, I have the number “2”. Do you have any idea why? Shouldn’t it me written 1??
    Thank you again so much!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    1. ENG4U is a Grade 12 English course that Ontario high school students take. what they’re saying is that you need to have taken an equivalent English language course in your last year of high school (or during CEGEP) in order to prove your English facility. from here: “Twelve Academic Subjects including English/anglais (2 terms)” are required if you’re coming in from CEGEP. if you haven’t taken an English course, then you should contact admissions to see whether you need to provide some other type of proof.

    2. nah. take a look at this campus map; i’ve circled the victoria college buildings. as you can see, they’re on queen’s park circle, which has university buildings all along it. obviously some buildings will be closer to you and some farther, but most university buildings should be a maximum 10 minute walk from you.

    3. yes! social sciences is just an area within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; as long as you meet the first year requirements for equity and international relations, you should be fine (note that IR is a type 3 POSt, meaning that even if you meet the requirements, you may not get in, because enrolment is limited; equity is a type 1 POSt, meaning enrolment is unlimited).

    4. it’s probably because you’re coming from CEGEP; since Ontario doesn’t have CEGEP, those credits will likely count as transfer credits for university here.

    from here: “Transfer credits will be granted to CEGEP candidates who have completed more than the 12 academic courses. If you have completed a two year DEC, you may receive up to 5 full credits towards an arts, science, commerce/management degree.” 5 full credits is one year at uoft, so maybe that’s what happened to you!

    you can, again, call admissions to make sure of this – they have access to everything in your student account, and will be able to tell you exactly where you stand.

    have a sensational first (second??) year!

    aska

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  • admissions,  subject POST,  UTM

    UTM biz

    May 27, 2014

    So I applied to the commerce program at UTM and instead, I got the “first year studies in business” alternate program. I read on the UTM website that this is an alternate program where students take the same courses as Commerce program students in the first year. Moreover, they needed to maintain a cumulative GPA of 2.5 minimum in order to transfer and reapply into the original commerce program after the first year. So basically what happens if I do not meet the 2.5 GPA (although I feel like if I try hard, I can easily do it.) Do you drop out and waste all the tuition money? Or what exactly happens and is it worth it? Btw I’m still in high school so a little confused about this.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    nononoOOOOnO N O NoO ON ONO you do not drop out if you don’t meet those requirements.

    basically what has happened here is that UTM has given you a very generous opportunity: you didn’t get into commerce straight from high school, so they’re giving you a second chance. after first year, if you complete those requirements you listed, you can reapply to commerce to try and get into the program for second year.

    if you DON’T get into commerce though, it’s no big deal! no need to drop out, or waste money, or any of that. you can just apply to get into a different program of study (subject POSt). take a look at all of UTM’s management programs here, and all UTM programs here.

    once you finish first year, you’ll have the opportunity to enrol into/apply to any subject POSt you want. after a year, you may realize that commerce isn’t for you, and decide to enrol in something completely different. as long as you meet the prerequisites for whichever subject POSt that is, then you can go ahead and enrol in/apply to it. the reason i say enrol or apply is because some POSts have unlimited enrolment, while some are a bit more competitive, and you can read about that here, under “Add or Change a Program.”

    that’s a really quick-and-dirty explanation of all of this, but the bottom line is this: first year is definitely worth it. it’s an opportunity to test-drive your program, so that by the time you get to second year, you know which program is really right for you.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  computer science,  UTM

    MY reputation is that i’m a fabulously wise guru

    May 21, 2014

    Aska, I heard you like questions so I got a few fo’ you:
    1) Alternative offers. If I get an alternative offer, does that mean that my original offer is rejected, or will UofT outright tell me that I’ve been rejected?
    2) Campus differences. Lets say a friend of a friend of a close relative of a friend got an alternative offer to UTM when they applied to UTSG and is feeling kinda bummed out. Would there be a big difference in programs? To be specific, Computer Science??
    3) Not that I really care about this at all, but would your degree specify what campus you got it from?
    Thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you got that right. i love me some questions. questions for breakfast, lunch and dinner. i’m not a physical being, so i don’t eat real food. i feed off of people’s questions, like that oracle from aladdin 2. so let’s begin the meal, shall we?

    1) if you’ve received an alternate offer, that means that they are not making the original offer, and are instead making another one. so yes, whichever program you originally applied to, you weren’t accepted – instead you’ve been given an offer for an alternate program.

    2) to your “friend of a close relative of a friend,” i would say that the differences are very minute. you can compare the mechanical differences relating to the required courses at each school by comparing the two calendars, but they’re not astronomical. for example, at the end of your first year at UTM, you need to have completed a math (with at least a 60%) and computer science (with at least a 65%) course, and 4 credits total. an equivalent student at UTSG would need to complete two comp. sci courses with at least a 60% in each and an average of 67% in both, and 4 credits total. there are some minor differences, but they’re not huge, right?

    your degree is what you make of it. if you do really well at UTM, and supplement your academic career with relevant extra- and co-curricular activities, you will be successful. there are successful people from every school, and unsuccessful people. the “reputation” of the place can only take you so far. and i hope the people who brag about their school left right and centre feel VERY SILLY about that.

    3) kind of. from the UTM convocation website: “[t]he diploma parchment will say ‘University of Toronto’ and NOT ‘University of Toronto Mississauga.’ The only place on the parchment where ‘University of Toronto Mississauga’ appears is below the Principal’s signature.” so it will say “University of Toronto Mississauga” in small letters under the principal’s signature, but it won’t be very visible on the page.

    but it’s smart of you not to care too much about this. like i said, if you are accomplished in your school career, if you make connections while you’re at school, that’ll help more than a piece of paper from the downtown campus ever could.

    good luck in first year, dude,

    aska

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  • admissions

    everyone look disapprovingly at this person

    May 16, 2014

    Where can I find information about the conditions on my offer of admission other then the letter they sent? (Which I lost)

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    you lost your offer of admission?? you mean you didn’t frame it and hang it on your wall to commemorate this momentous milestone? for shame. for SHAME.

    but yeah, you can just call your college registrar’s office and they should be able to get?that information for you.

    hoping you keep a better eye on your things, you absolute ingrate,

    aska

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  • admissions,  grad school

    no cookie cutters in grad school

    May 8, 2014

    Hi aska,

    For admission into graduate school to get a Masters of science or a Ph. D, do you need to do a specialist program in your undergrad?? Would you be able to complete a Masters or Ph.D if you do a double major?

    Thanks.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    well, every graduate school and program is different. i don’t know exactly which Masters/Ph.D programs you’re interested in, but generally speaking, no. not every canadian university (or international university, for that matter), is organized the way uoft is. that means that lots of universities don’t have specialists or majors or minors, so it would be pretty irrational for a Masters or Ph.D program to demand that you have any one of those.

    usually, grad schools ask that you have a degree in a certain subject, or a related area. a double major may or may not satisfy the requirements for admission to certain programs, but it doesn’t completely exclude you from getting a graduate degree at all, by any means.

    if you’d like to, you can browse through uoft’s graduate degrees and take a look at their admission requirements to learn more about your options. whoo! isn’t higher learning exciting?

    for some reason, i always find it way more fun to browse programs and courses than to actually do them. i guess the illusion of productivity and academic excellence is so much more fun than the real deal. whoops.

    anyways, happy exploring!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions

    donut panic

    May 5, 2014

    AHHHHHHH. So I’m applying to St. George? Humanities next year and I just got my second semester mid term. My averages are 80-85 and up except for biology which is a 78. Will this significantly affect my entrance?

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    AHHHHH. sorry, it’s a monday; just gotta do a little shouting into the void, ygm?

    my friend, there are a lot of factors that affect admission, and i can’t comment on how certain things may or may not influence your application. you are a special snowflake and everyone’s case is different from one another’s. however, you can take a look at the anticipated grade ranges of those accepted to uoft in 2014 for each program, and gauge your chances by comparing your (current and next year’s anticipated) average to those numbers.

    note that the numbers for 2014 may not be exactly the same as 2015, so don’t take them as gospel, but just as a rough guide giving you a bit of context about where you may stand next year.

    you’ll probably still end up a nervous wreck in grade 12, checking OUAC every five minutes like an old guy checking the lottery numbers, but?i hope you’ll be at least slightly less of a mess after this post.*

    and please, try not to worry so much. make sure you work as hard as you can and complete the prerequisites for your intended program, and then try to take comfort?in the fact that you’ve done everything you can. after you’ve worked hard and done your part, it’s in the university’s hands to make a decision. obsessing about it won’t help any.?go?out for an ice-cream or something instead. trust me, your hair’ll start greying much later that way.

    cheers,

    aska

    *askastudent: making people slightly less of a mess than they were before, since 17 A.D.

     

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  • admissions,  architecture,  masters

    do not fret, my architecture pet

    April 22, 2014

    Hey so i’m finishing third year and i’ve had a terrible one and i will be applying for master of architecture next year when i complete my fourth year. They require a minimum of 3.0 in last 5FCE so my CGPA is 2.86 right now and would i be fine if i rock next year In terms of gpa?
    Also since its considering the last 5FCE my Cgpa wouldn’t be that important right? considering all the other aspects of the application like the portfolio and the letters of recommendation
    Please get back to me whenever you can
    Thank you

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    right, so the GPA is calculated based on “the student[‘s] grades in academic courses in the last five FCEs completed at the senior level,” meaning that those are the courses that will be considered for your application, and that you’ll need to focus on. like you said, you just have to rock your last five courses (i.e. meet/exceed the GPA cut-off), present a strong application in all the other components, and, based on what’s on the daniels website, your application will have met the requirements for consideration.

    note that there are no specific mark requirements, but there are some prerequisite courses you do need to have completed in order to apply.

    best,

    aska

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  • admissions,  stress

    destress in ten simple steps for only $29.99

    April 17, 2014

    How in the heck do I not stress about getting accepted to uni I’m in gr 11!!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    well, in the interest of not letting myself get too preachy in long, tedious paragraphs, and also in breaking up the way text looks on this website a little bit, i’m going to present some of my ideas in a list. so here we go!

    Aska’s List of Ideas about how Not to Freak Out about University (Yay!)

    1. take a bubble bath and watch as all your troubles melt away.

    2. eat a piece of cake.

    3. start off every day by stretching in bed.

    4. hug more people, more often. (not like strangers, though; only hug people you know. and ask first, ’cause some people have a thing about not liking hugs which you should totally respect, and also, people are better huggers if they enjoy hugging, so…anyway. next point.)

    5. do well in school! almost forgot about that one. because doing well in school is the only sure-fire way of getting into university. no amount of worrying and anxiety can do more than that. buckle down and work, and try to channel that nervous energy into productivity, if you can. (i know how hard it is, but it’s worth it.)

    6. let yourself daydream a little. worrying about university can often be mitigated by a healthy amount of excitement for university; visit campuses, peruse the course calendar to try and find the coolest-sounding courses just for fun, make grand plans without worrying about whether they’ll actually happen. if you’re not enjoying yourself at least a little, then the whole thing isn’t worth it.

    7. understand that while you’re probably not the smartest person applying to university, you’re also probably not the dumbest. if you keep working hard, you will almost certainly be accepted somewhere. also, if you’re not accepted, that’s probably for a reason. like, i would probably not be accepted into the navy, but, you know, i would be miserable if i were in the navy, so i’m glad they wouldn’t take me.

    8. focus on building memorable experiences, now. school is important, and planning ahead will always make things smoother for you down the line, but that’s not everything. go to concerts. learn a new hobby. take a class at your local community centre. take a trip. read more books. start a new TV show. your life will not be made or broken based on whether you attend uoft.

    9. don’t read this blog too much; all this talk about OSAP and subject POSts and stuff is bound to be unnerving for someone not part of that world yet. and if you do read it, know that it’s alright if you don’t understand half of what’s being talked about. heck, i barely understand it sometimes.

    10. breathe!

    best,

    aska

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  • admissions,  americans

    kindling a love for kin

    April 17, 2014

    helloooo

    i’m an american born canadian student aka i was born in vancouver so i have a canadian citizenship but moved to america when i was little. because canadian tuition is cheaper and canada is just so cool i am considering going to university in canada. i’m looking into ubc, mcgill, and u of t. problem is i literally know nothing about canada or their system idk. i was?just wondering if you could help shed a little light on all of this.

    ive heard that u of t is more of a liberal arts school and that undergrad?is hella hard there. i want to study kinesiology to become a phyiscal therapist. but i heard that its hard for science majors at uoft to get the classes they need to get into grad school (ex bio physics and chem). is that true? ive heard that many people, bc they didn’t get the required classes, have trouble getting into grad school. i plan on returning to the US for grad school and i would hate for something like that to happen.

    can you just talk a little bit about kinesiology at uoft as well? thank you
    so much!!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    this is the second time i’m hearing this thing about kinesiology students not getting the courses they need, and i’m starting to think i’ve missed something, so if any kin students are reading this, please correct me if you know something about the program that i don’t. however, as far as i know, kinesiology is an entirely different faculty from the faculty of arts & science at uoft, so there’s no way that you wouldn’t get into the classes you need for your degree. also, you wouldn’t be a science major – you would be a kin student, and you would graduate with a B.KIN, not a B.Sc.

    as for uoft being hella hard, there’s something to that, but…i dunno. it’s not impossible. as long as you’re prepared to work hard, you should be able to pull through. university is made for regular people with good a work ethic, not genuises. i don’t think coming here would ruin your chances at grad school, either in canada or abroad (and like i said, getting your required courses/prereqs for grad school shouldn’t be an issue).

    finally, while i usually try to answer everyone’s questions individually, because even similar questions often have different nuances, i answered a question that is literally exactly like yours right here?not too long ago. read that through as well and e-mail me if you have more questions, but i think that post answers everything you’re asking in depth.

    best,

    aska

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  • admissions,  Transferring

    WILL I GET IN?!?!

    April 15, 2014

    WILL THEY ACCEPT ME AT ST. GEORGE (FROM UTM) IF I HAVE A 3.1-3.2 GPA? TELL ME PLz. DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE ACTUAL NUMBERS ARE?

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    ARE YOU HAVING A STROKE? DO YOU NEED EMERGENCY CARE BECAUSE I CAN SEE YOU ARE SHOUTING QUITE URGENTLY.

    dude, if you’re gonna type in all caps, i’m pretty much obliged to make fun of you. just a little bit. just ’cause it sounds like you’re shouting to a stranger over the internet, and you don’t need to be doing that, you know? so i gotta poke fun. but don’t you worry, i answer everyone’s questions; you don’t need to shout to be heard.

    alright, your question. are you talking about transferring? ’cause that’ll depend on the program/stream you applied to. whatever it is, whether you’re accepted will depend on whether you completed the?program requirements and your previous averages. you can take a look at the anticipated grade range of accepted students for fall 2014 and the average averages of students accepted in 2010 to gauge where you stand. your application to transfer will basically be treated like an application from grade 12 to uoft, so those numbers still apply to you.

    also, if you need to convert your GPA to a percentage, you can use this. i don’t have any more specific knowledge than that, unfortunately. i wish i did.

    i hope that’ll help you stop yelling so much. it’s bad for your larynx, y’know.

    best,

    aska

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  • admissions

    a funny joke that’s worth reading

    April 10, 2014

    Here’s the sitch I’m in grade 11 and getting high 80’s and 90’s in everything except biology (high 70) Will this affect my entrance next year? I want to apply to st george

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    i doubt it, dude. your grade 12 marks are generally more important than your grade 11 marks (and by generally, i mean in every case except early admission, which is when the university sends out a handful of admission offers in december to people who applied in october/november; but don’t worry about that). you should just go by what they say here; since they’re only talking about grade 12 marks there, that’s what you should focus on.

    also, i guess it’s around the time of year when i’m going to be getting a lot of questions like this, so YO, GRADE 12’S, LISTEN UP: i don’t have much to tell you about admissions that isn’t on the admissions website already. like, i can probably share a personal anecdote or say something funny about your question, but usually, the admissions website and this document?are basically what i’ll be referring to to answer the bulk of your questions.

    now for something funny, as advertised.

    are you ready for this though. i don’t think you are.

    what do you call a really fast zombie?

    …

    ….

    a ZOOMBIE! ha!

    best,

    aska

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  • admissions,  rotman

    some conjecture about rotman. b/c that’s the best i can do

    March 31, 2014

    Hey, i have a question regarding Rotman Commerce Acceptances. My top six marks right now (with the pre req Eng4u and Calc) are:

    English: 86
    Law:90
    Physics: 92
    Accounting: 93
    Philosophy: 93
    Calculus: 70

    i know that Rotman commerce says calc has to be at least an 80, but my midterms haven’t gone through yet for this semester, and I am taking calc this semester. If I raise my Calc mark by the end of the semester to around 85, can I still get acceptance from Rotman commerce, even though my calc mark on my midterm on OUAC will be around 70?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    aww man, you’re probably not gonna like this – not ’cause i’m about to give you bad news, just ’cause you seem like a real go-getter, someone who likes to hang their hopes on solid facts. and i don’t really have any solid facts for you, because (despite my frequent letters to their office) i have not yet become rotman commerce. i can’t imagine why; i would be great at making admissions decisions.

    here’s the thing: the only solid factual thing rotman has said about the timing of admissions offers and stuff is this:

    “Most offers of admission are made in late-May. By this time, Rotman Commerce and the University of Toronto will have received comprehensive information regarding your academic record, extra-curricular involvement and supplemental application. This timeline ensures that we have sufficient information on which to base our admissions decision and that applicants are evaluated concurrently.”

    you can find the source of that quote here. now, i don’t know what the most updated information is that they will have by late-May. if you go here, they say that “[a]dmissions decisions are based on mid-terms marks and then final marks are used to satisfy offer conditions,” but i don’t know which semester they’re talking about when they say “mid-term marks.” i also don’t know how many offers are made later than late-May – like, what does “most” mean – 60%? 90%? i’m not sure.

    as you can see, it’s all kind of imprecise.

    so there’s some information that points to the fact that they might base “most” of their admissions decisions on second semester marks; i’d understand if that’s not precise enough for you. if you want some more exact information, i’d suggest you call rotman directly.

    sorry for the mediocre assistance.

    best of luck!

    aska

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