admissions - askastudent

admissions, engineering, wait list

still wait-eng

June 11, 2019

Hi, I am on the waitlist for engineering at UofT, I was wondering of I could get an offer in late August (if enough people decline their offer). Thanks!

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hey friend,

according to the lovely engineering admissions office, august would be pretty late for an offer as typically programs are all filled up by then. they aren’t able to give a specific date/time frame as to when the latest offers are sent out, as they’re continually sent until programs are filled. so unfortunately i can’t give you any specifics.

the only time offers might still be moving around in late august is for postsecondary transfer students undergoing transfer credit assessment, apparently. if you’re applying straight out of high school, seems like odds are low you’d be getting an offer that late in the summer. wouldn’t give you much time to plan, either, especially if you’re from out of town and will have to worry about housing. if you’d be a commuter not so much.

hope this helped and sorry to be the bearer of non-ideal news. fingers crossed for you that an offer of admission comes sooner, but it may be best to start fleshing out backup plans and alternate routes in case that offer doesn’t come thru.

over n out,

aska

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admissions, scholarships/bursaries

we all need some money to lean on

April 11, 2019

Hi, I just received an admission from U of T. I didn’t receive a scholarship in my admission letter but I was wondering if it is possible to get one from the school or college at a later time. Thank you.

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hi there!

ah, answering admissions-related questions.

…and that’s actually okay with me! real nice talking to people who haven’t had their souls sucked out of their bodies by overnight study at robarts yet (shoutout to the utsu for bringing snacks last night tho you the real ones).

bless your soul, and congrats on your acceptance– exciting stuff.

depending on which campus/faculty/program/college you’re in, there are definitely other scholarships you can apply for. the most centralized place is to check this database. don’t stop there, because it doesn’t list all the university’s scholarships, but it’s a good place to start. you can also check your college/program’s website, and see if further awards are available there.

even if you don’t get any scholarships right now, there will always be other opportunities later. a lot of colleges will do in-course scholarships based on academic achievement, that you automatically get if you reach a certain GPA threshold. amounts (and thresholds, i think?) vary by college, ’cause u of t is a bureaucracy and that’s apparently how we do things here! errything is in several different places. you’ll get used to it if you accept your acceptance.

if you choose to get involved on-campus, there will likely be awards available for you to apply for going out of your first year, as well. my registrar sent those out to me in an email. i’m not sure if all registrars do that, but that’s another way to find out about what’s out there.

anyhow, best of luck! i mean, there are always external awards and stuff. i wrote a 1500 word essay in march of my senior year on the perks of orthodontics doing my best to offset some tuition, but they ended up giving the cash to someone else. big sigh. it be like that. my point is, there are opportunities if you’re willing to put the work in, you just gotta find them. and beat the hell out of everyone else going for the money, yay competition.

not that relevant, but if you don’t hear a tune in your head when you read the title of this post… wyd man?

cheers,

aska

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admissions

patience is (not) for wimps

March 1, 2019

What’s usually the last day for applications to get back to the students? Because I haven’t gotten mine yet and am getting worried.

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hey!

no need to be worried at all– it’s normal to not have heard from the university at this point in the year. i’m not sure what faculty you applied to, but this is what the artsci website indicates:

if you’re from ontario, there are three rounds of offers sent out, in february, march, and may. the latest you should expect to hear back, then, should be the end of may.

if you’re coming from outside of ontario, the rounds are early feb, late march, and late may. if you waited until the document deadline to submit your documents, you probably won’t be contacted until late may. not sure why, that’s just what the site says.

couldn’t find anything from daniels, engineering, etc., so if you’re not a potential artsci kid i honestly don’t know what to tell you. hopefully it’s about the same, though.

what i can tell you from personal experience is that you’ll get the earliest news through the website. make sure you’re logged into it and all, and then check that periodically. if you wait to get the email, it can take a little longer to get the news– i believe it was a week or two for me, between the time my letter was uploaded to the portal and the day i received the email. so like, not a significant delay. but it’s something.

don’t stress too much over it, don’t abuse the reload button, etc etc. because the news will come when it comes. which like, i know it’s easy to say. but it’s out of your hands for now anyway, right? no amount of thinking bout it will speed things up, unfortunately.

the doctor, as much as i adore him, is wrong on this one:

best of luck. i hope when the news does come, it’s good.

cheers,
aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, art, getting into U of T, keeners, Uncategorized

let me in already

February 12, 2019

Hi oki so im in grade 12 and i applied for the art and art history course around a month ago, but all of my friends who applied to different colleges and universities are now getting acceptances, so like I guess my question is is how long does it take for the applications to be reviewed and to get a response? Cause all I have so far is a letter saying “thanks for applying” and a “pending review” so I’m kind of worried.

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hey hey!

i’m assuming you applied to UTM, yeah? or at least i can only find one art & art history program, which is a joint one with sheridan. two schools for the same buck. and they’re both sane campuses that close when the godforsaken floodgates of heaven decide to open and turn toronto into the depths of siberia.

mmmm, utsg can’t relate. i want a snow day that doesn’t begin in the late afternoon. but i digress.

when you’ll hear back from u of t depends on where you’re attending school right now! if you’re from ontario, the UTM website indicates that there are three rounds of offers in february, march, and may.

however, if you attend school elsewhere– whether that’s in canada or otherwise– admission looks a little different. officially the rounds are the same, but some decisions are released as early as january, which is before the february document deadline. so for some reason if you wait til the deadline to send your documents in, they probably won’t consider you til the last round in may.

if it’s not the UTM program you went for and you mean the st. george art history program, that falls under the faculty of arts and science so the timeline should be about the same.

nothing to worry about, is the bottom line. it’s only halfway through february, so really the first round of admissions have only just begun. obviously i have no idea how long it’ll take the school to review your specific application. they’re sorting through piles of stuff right now, and i bet they wish they could get through it faster, too.

man, i remember how long it could feel, waiting to hear back when it seemed everyone else was already getting news from their schools. hang in there. your time will come.

over n out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, life science

pros and cons list

December 17, 2018

Hello,

I’m a grade 12 student who’s been interested in U of T for a long time. I’m really focused on getting the best quality education and research opportunities and I know UofT is amazing for that, but I’m concerned about my GPA. I (currently) aim to pursue graduate studies after undergrad and I’ve heard a lot about U of T being a terrible school for prospective grad students since they don’t focus on undergrad and kill your GPA. If it’s relevant I’m somewhere from 10-20% above class average in all my courses and I work extremely hard in school. In your opinion do I have a chance at a high enough GPA in U of T life sci for grad school? Or should I just go to an easier and less prestigious school for undergrad that I may enjoy less but have a better chance at grad school?

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hi!

so, like, this question is a little bit impossible for me to answer. which is definitely not what you wanted to hear, but we out here.

yes, u of t has a reputation for being really hard on your GPA which can negatively affect your grad school applications. at the same time, u of t has amazing research opportunities as well as extracurricular and academic opportunities for undergrads that look great on a grad school application. i also know people in life sci who have excelled at u of t, more so than they did in high school. ultimately, it’s up to you. you need to make your own pros and cons list and weigh all your options.

that being said, if you need any information regarding the actual application process, you can take a look at this FAQ from the faculty of arts and science.

i hope this helps!

xoxo,

aska

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admissions, americans, applying for U of T, engineering

would it be canadian american or american canadian?

December 17, 2018

hi!

im an american senior high school student that’s suuuper into attending u of t for electrical engineering. i think my case is a little different because im a canadian born citizen, but all of my education from grade 1 was completed in the usa. basically, my gpa is a 3.3/4.0 and my sat a 1300/1600 with a 21/24 on the essay, and ecs are good (fencing team captain, intern job, volunteering, etc.). my question is… 1.) are admissions harder for american students and what are my chances OR because im a canadian would i be considered domestic? (i know this is true for fees) and 2.) well… anything you can share that would be relevant to this case in general. i finished my online student portal and im gonna submit it by the end of this week. im really passionate about potentially being able to attend u of t, and id be ecstatic if i would somehow be able to be accepted.

im sorry if this is a little hard to answer!

– canadian born american

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hi!

first of all, sorry for being MIA and the super delayed response. it is askastudent after all and i had exams and finals too.

anyways…

so, according to this link from the engineering website, you will be “evaluated on the basis of the education system [you] followed, regardless of [your] country of citizenship.” meaning that yes, you will be evaluated as an international student.

that being said, i’m not sure about the specific numbers/ averages/ SAT marks you need. all they say is “high grade point average and high scores.” this link has some information about admission requirements specifically for US students as well as how you can submit your transcript.

i suggest that you get in contact with the engineering admissions office to get more information or if you have any further questions. they’ll have the most specific and up-to-date information.

i hope this all helps!

xoxo,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, keeners, music

kids these days

December 3, 2018

Hello I’m a grade 11 student stressing about post secondary. I am interested in the music program at uoft but am scared that my grades are not good enough because 2 of them are were mid-high 80s. Should I be concerned?

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hi!

jeez, are you saying that your two LOWEST marks are mid-high 80s? wow. kids these days.

so, i scoured the internet for information re: admission requirements for the faculty of music. according to this link, they don’t list any academic grade averages. they do, however, say that you need to have completed RCM level 8 theory with at least a 60%.

there are also other requirements that you need for the music faculty, but i can’t really tell you what the specific requirements are because you haven’t told me what program specifically you’re interested in! kids these days.

anyways, you can check out the faculty of music’s application info page to see what the specific requirements are for the program you’re interested in.

hope this helps! good luck, catherine keener!

xoxo,

aska

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admissions, life science, math

you gotta math no matter what

October 15, 2018

Hello!
I am currently a high school student in grade 12 and considering Nursing at UofT. I’ve noticed one of the prerequisites for nursing is life sciences. And to take life sciences, I need to have advanced functions and/or calculus and vectors. The thing is, I was a little late in realizing this and I am taking data management (MDM4U) this year only because I took college math in grade 11 and therefore don’t have the requirements to take advanced fuctions/calculus (MHF4U/MCV4U respectively) in grade 12.
Do you know if UofT makes any exceptions to these situations? Would I be able to take some sort of introductory course or something during first-year? I am open to options!

I’ve searched the internet high and low for answers but it seems like I’m the only one with this problem 🙁

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hi!

whoa! a grade 12 student thinking about their POST GRAD ambitious? damn, i’m in third year and i barely know what i’m doing with my undergrad. but good on ya.

let’s not get ahead of ourselves, though. i’m only going to address the whole getting into life sciences thing in my response.

so, unfortunately, if you don’t have grade 12 calculus and vectors, you will not be admitted into the life sciences stream. you can check out this link to see the specific grade and course requirements for each admission stream.

something that you could possibly, maybe, potentially do is to apply for u of t under a different admission stream, like humanities or social sciences, that only requires grade 12 english. the admission categories (life science, humanities, etc.) are only really important in first year (you actually declare your majors/minors/specialist after first year) and you can take courses outside of your admission stream (ie. a humanities student could take life sci courses).

i don’t know if this is necessarily the best option, though. basically, students who are in a certain admission category get first dibs (or priority) on courses that are associated with that category. so, life science students would get first dibs on life science courses. this means that even if you wanted to take those courses, you might not get into them because you wouldn’t have first dibs as a non-life science student. also, most life science programs require some sort of first year math course and the prerequisite for those first year calculus courses is… high school calculus.

unfortunately… you’re gonna have to do grade 12 calculus at some point some how if you wanna do life sci here. i’m sorry, i wish i could’ve told you otherwise, but we here at askastudent are committed to the truth.

good luck.

xoxo,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, engineering

please don’t fire a canon

July 20, 2018

Hi,

I want to apply to uoft and fall under a student that would apply using the 105D.

My college counsellor is telling me that I need to start looking at which essays I need to write and I don’t know if I need to write any essays. I’m thinking of applying to engsci. Do I need to write an essay?

Thanks.

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hi!

after checking the engineering website, i can officially say that it is VERY HARD TO NAVIGATE. engineer a better website, engineers.

ok, it’s actually not that bad. sorry, engineers. i’m still kinda mad about that time you fired your stupid canon in front of my res room in first year.

anyways, after clicking through too many links, i finally found this link with detailed information about the student profile that you’d need to set up.

while there isn’t really an “essay” you have to write, there is a section where you need to “detail” your academic history and your extracurricular involvement. i don’t know whether or not that’s in essay format or if you just fill in the blanks. maybe it might be like a short sentence answer deal?

there is also a section in the application called the “online student profile” where they ask you three random questions and you have a limited amount of time to answer them. you will need to answer 2 of them in a video (it looks like you need a webcam and microphone to do the student profile) and one of them in writing. this might be what your college counsellor means when they say “essay,” but there isn’t really anyway to prepare since the questions are random.

you should get in contact with the faculty of applied sciences and engineering and ask for more information regarding the application. check out their contact info here.

i hope this makes sense. good luck with your application!

xoxo,

aska

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admissions, IB, UTM

utm giveth, but can utm taketh away?

April 27, 2018

Hi!
I can’t express how much this blog has both entertained and educated me– mostly on things that don’t apply to me, but informational all the same.

Well, to get the the meat of things, I’m afraid that my offer to U of T will be revoked??

Basically, even though my IB predicted score is a grand total of 24 (barely passing, my god), I somehow got an offer of admission from U of T Mississauga for Psychology (which is insane because I’m getting a 2 in math a.k.a. not passing).

I hear a lot of my peers saying things like “Oh yeah, you can drop 6 diploma points and UBC won’t revoke your offer lolol!!” or “So and so was worried because, with Waterloo, you can only drop one point!!1!1″… Where can you even find this information, friends??? This would be really freaking helpful to know for U of T so I could skip having a panic attack everyday about my fate in the coming months.

Anyways, I’d just like to know your thoughts. Though I know that time is the only thing that can truly soothe my anxiety, it’s nice to have more of an idea of what I’m dealing with; even if a solid answer can’t be given.

Thank you!!

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hi!

first of all, congrats!

when you were admitted to u of t, you would have received a letter detailing the conditions of your acceptance. that letter can be found on your joinid portal, or it would’ve been mailed to you physically when you were admitted. you need to check out what the the conditions of your acceptance are, according to that letter, as they differ from program to program and campus to campus. you will need to fulfill the conditions of your acceptance that are laid out in the letter in order to keep your acceptance.

if you can’t find the letter, or it’s way too confusing for you, or whatever, then you should get in contact with UTM. check out this link for UTM admission inquiries’ contact info. give ’em a call, they’ll have way more answers re: this issue than i do!

i hope this helps!

xoxo,

aska

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admissions, international students

usa! usa! usa!

March 19, 2018

Do u have any posts for international applicants, specifically from the US?

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hello!

while we don’t have a specific US international applicants tag, we do have a general international students tag. you could also check out our admissions tag for more info, though it is more generalized, so you’ll have to slosh through a lot of posts to get to ones that’re relevant to you.

you can also check out this link on the u of t website that describes how to apply to u of t as a US high school student. they also have information on what to do if you have AP or IB credits.

hope this helps! good luck!

xoxo,

a very canadian aska

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admissions, financial aid, first year, scholarships/bursaries, victoria

welcome to u of t, here’s too much info!

March 12, 2018

So I was accepted into U of T today for Life Sciences at St. George and I also got into Victoria College (which is supposed to have a lot of scholarships). I was really expecting to receive at least a small scholarship as my average was 94.5 (if I include English, because i think i read somewhere that they include English no matter what) and 96.7 without English. Do I get notified about scholarships at a later time or have I just not received any. On another note, I am planning to do a specialist in Pharmacology and Biomedical Toxicology. Do you know how competitive that program is?

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hi!

first of all, congrats! yay! u of t! life sci! vic! yay! yay!!!!

u of t-wide admissions scholarship recipients are notified at the time of admission, either with your acceptance letter or under a separate cover. if there’s any confusion about this, you should contact enrollment services who’re the scholarships/ financial experts on campus. check out their contact info here.

as for vic-specific scholarships, the website says that “applicants with an average in the mid-90s will be automatically considered for (though not guaranteed) an admission scholarship when they apply to victoria college.”it doesn’t say anywhere when applicants are informed, but i would assume that it’s at the same time as the u of t-wide ones. on the u of t scholarships website, it says that “MOST faculty and college scholarship offers are made at the same time.” i would contact the vic awards office over any confusion, as i am but a humble student blogger who isn’t privy to all the mysterious workings of this crazy university. their contact info is here, at the bottom of the first part of the page.

i know how closely related getting scholarships and accepting an offer of admission can be– we’d all like to pretend that the school we pick is actually and completely our choice, but in reality… school costs money and sometimes ya gotta go where the money is. i suggest looking into other sources of funding like OSAP (or your local student loan) or UTAPS (u of t specific financial aid). there are a lot of different ways to get funding, apart from scholarships, so if you haven’t received any scholarships this year, looking for other sources of funding could be super helpful and a good avenue to explore.

as for the specialist in pharmacology and biomedical toxicology, i can’t really tell you how “competitive” a program is as it’s based on the pool of applicants during any given year. according to the website, admission to the program is based on a “student’s grades in the following courses: BIO120H/BIO130H/CHM138H/CHM139H/CHM151Y1 and from 1 FCE from any of the following MAT135H1; MAT136H1; MAT137Y1; PHY131H1/PHY151H1; PHY132H1/PHY152H1”. whew… that’s a lot. basically, it looks like those are the required courses that you have to take before you can apply for the program… i think. this is “askastudent” after all, not “ask a department admin person.” you should get in contact with the undergraduate coordinator for the department of pharmacology and toxicology. their contact info can be found here.

i hope this was helpful! that was a ton of info to slap onto a freshly minted, newly admitted, not even first year student.

good luck!

xoxo,

aska

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admissions, daniels, masters

you are the architect of your own future

February 7, 2018

Hi,

I go to ryerson university, and i would like to do masters architecture at UOFT i have a 3.2 GPA, and hopefully higher in the last two years. my only problem is that im in third year and i got one C+ on my transcript. Do you think this will affect my chances?

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hi!

according to the daniels faculty website, you need a completed bachelor’s degree and a “final year average of at least mid-B”. a mid-B at u of t is usually around 3.0. this means that with your 3.2 GPA, you do reach the minimum requirement.

they DO say that they will look at an applicant’s entire academic history, but i don’t think one C+ will be too much of a blemish on your overall academic record if the rest of it is okay. that being said, i’m just a student blogger, i don’t know everything. you should get in contact with the faculty and their prospective grad student contact. you can get that info here.

i hope this helps! good luck!

xoxo,

aska

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