• admissions,  international students

    long question from far away

    October 26, 2017

    Hey aska, I’m a senior student from Turkey and I want to study mechanical engineering in UofT. There is only one problem, and it’s obviously financial (yay for being an international student!). I talked to my family about this stuff, and they said that realistically, they can pay up to 40k CAD. Sooo the first question is about scholarships. I had 85 percent average last year, but I’m confident that I can get it up to 95 percent (let’s assume ok) because I’ve been studying this whole summer. I got 102 from TOEFL, worked at a rehab facility in summer, and joined a NASA contest but didn’t win anything so I don’t know if that last one counts. So what are the chances that I can get scholarship that’ll be enough? More importantly, what can I do to have a better chance? Also I’m willing to work while studying.

    The second question is, does taking SAT help? Everytime I ask this, the answer is different so I’m trusting you on this one!

    Lastly, sorry this took way longer than I expected but if I can’t get that scholarship, are student loans a bad idea? And there are not many for international students so is there a one that you can recommend?

    Thank you soooooo much, this is my second time asking here after almost a year and you can’t believe how much your answer helped! I’m grateful that you’re doing this voluntarily, have a nice day!

    ——————————————

    hi!

    i’m not 100% sure what the requirements are for a lot of the scholarships, as i think they fluctuate every year based on the applicant pool. i’m also not sure what scholarships u of t offers for international students– most of the scholarships i’m seeing are for domestic students. check out this link that has a scholarship sorter tool that lets you filter through the various scholarships in order to find ones that you would qualify for. they have an option for international and domestic students as well as admission and in-course scholarships. i can’t really say what your “chances” are or how to have a “better chance”. sorry, but my (in)finite knowledge doesn’t go that far. get in contact with enrollment services who will have way more information about scholarships, financial aid, and grants.

    i’m not sure if taking the SAT would help. according to this link, the only thing that you need in order to be considered for u of t are “excellent results overall” in math, physics, and chemistry in the grade 12 year. there aren’t any requirements beyond that, so unfortunately, i can’t give you an easy or direct answer. just know that the SAT is not required and would therefore, not affect your application either way. if i were you, i wouldn’t take the SAT (since you don’t have to) and focus on getting great marks in your grade 12 year.

    if you can’t get a scholarship, student loans are definitely an option! unfortunately, i don’t know much about international loans. but this link is filled with emails and contacts of people who do know tons about them. hit them up and ask away! they are definitely the ones who know the most and would able to help you the most.

    i’m really sorry for this super delayed response. i hope it still helps out. good luck!

    excited luck good luck GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  pharmacy

    another pharma question

    August 9, 2017

    Hey there,

    I will be starting my first year of university this September at UTM and I was wondering about the course loads. How many credits did an accepted student complete each year. On the website, it states that I need to take a minimum of 5.0 credits in one year (from September to April) but unfortunately I only plan on taking 3.5 credits in one year along with 1.0 – 1.5 credits in summer. Do you think it is still possible for me to get accepted into pharmacy after two years or should I increase my course load for the first year?

    Thanks

    ——————————————

    hi!

    you can take as many credits as you want. most students take 5.0 FCE (full credit equivalents) in order to graduate in 4 years (5 credits times 4 years= the 20 credits you need to graduate). however, you can take as many as you want and take as much time as you want.

    according to the pharmacy program’s admission requirements page, you need to have completed all the prerequisite courses as outlined on the website before you can apply. though the website does say it usually takes two years, i don’t think that time is a factor. so, even though you are taking a reduced course load, you may be able to be accepted after two years if you’ve completed all the requirements.

    i would also get in contact with the pharmacy department just to make sure. 

    i hope this helps. good luck!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  first year

    summer transcript scramble

    August 8, 2017

    Hello. I have another question about courses. So I am currently taking a summer school for Chemistry 12 University course and enrolment is on Thursday. Where can I submit my transcript for summer school? And will they allow me to enrol in a Chemistry course even though I have not submit my transcript for summer school yet? Thank you for your help. I appreciate it.

    ——————————————

    hi!

    i’m so sorry that it took until now for me to get to your question. i’ve been really swamped lately and then took a week off (aska needs downtime too!) so i’m sorry if this answer is no longer relevant.

    you should be able to enrol in a chemistry course at u of t without having grade 12 completed (ie. it’s not on your final high school transcript yet). so, you’re all good, m’dude!

    as for submitting your summer transcript, you need to get in touch with enrolment services. you should call or email them (following that link) and ask them how you would submit a transcript.

    i hope this helps, and i’m so sorry this took so long!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  pharmacy

    get pharm’d

    July 31, 2017

    hello uoft expert. what are the chances of getting into the PharmD program after completing all the prerequisites after in my second year?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    though i am the “uoft expert” (your words, not mine), i have absolutely no idea what your chances of getting into any program are. according to the pharmd website, you need to have a cumulative average of at least 70% and to be finished all the prereqs, which usually take about two years to complete. those are just the minimum requirements. i’m sure you know that u of t is absolutely whack and that you’ll need more than the minimum to be competitive. because i have no way of knowing how competitive admission would be in any given year, i don’t think i can tell you your “chances”.

    i would get in contact with the faculty of pharmacy (specifically the pharmd program) as they would have the most relevent and up to date info and may be able to answer any questions that you may have.

    i hope this helps! good luck!

    kiss ufc mma blow kiss ufc 214 GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  grad school,  psychology

    psych! don’t really have an answer

    July 24, 2017

    Hi there aska! I’m a psych major interested in eventually doing my masters in psych. Say for example I chose to do a thesis on women’s mental health, would I need to take courses related to my future area of specialization or is any psych course fine?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    you would have to check out the specific program’s prereqs. if you were thinking about pursuing your masters at u of t, you can check out this link. 

    otherwise, i can’t really help you. i don’t know what program you want to get into, so i can’t give you anything but very general advice. i would get in touch with the school or program that you’re interested in, ask them if there are any courses that they require you to have completed before, and see what the steps are from there.

    sorry i can’t be of more help.

    kiss flirting beso besos blow kiss GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  nursing

    hello again

    July 11, 2017
    hey aska!
    I submitted a BScN related question about a month ago. I’ve done more research and still have a few questions. I know one of the requirements to apply for the nursing program is 10 FCE. This means I can apply after my second year of undergrad but I’ve heard that there’s a greater chance of getting accepted if I complete an undergrad before applying. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to switch into nursing but would prefer to graduate in 4 years? Also I read that each prerequisite must be completed with at least 60%. I just finished my first year and completed BIO120+BIO130 with 70s but CHM135+CHM136 with 50s. Can I choose to use my bio courses as prerequisites instead of my chm courses? thanks guys!
    ——————————————
    hi!
    you don’t need to be in your second year to apply to the BScN program, that’s just when you can start applying for the program. basically, once you’ve hit 10 FCE, you can start applying. however, if you don’t think your marks are strong enough to apply after 10 FCE, you could wait until third or fourth year. it’s all up to you! it’s not that you’ll have a better chance of getting accepted if you apply after you’ve completed your undergrad, it’s just that they have more marks to look at and you have more time to boost your GPA.
    you can’t choose what the admissions committee does and doesn’t see. according to this page outlining their application process, you have to submit an official transcript, meaning they would have access to everything. i can’t find where it says that you need a 60% in the prereq courses, but you need at least a 3.0 GPA in order to be eligible. 
    all that being said, the only advice i can really give you if you want to finish in four years is to just apply after your 10 FCE (or after second year) and work really hard during your second year to boost your GPA. i would also look at the other admissions requirements and work to make those really good. look for a couple of amazing references and write a slam-dunk personal statement. that’s how you could differentiate yourself against the other applicants.
    if finishing in four years isn’t a big deal, you could also keep trying until you get in, even if it’s after your second year.
    i hope this helps! good luck in all your future nursing endeavors.
    spongebob patrick spongebob squarepants luck motivational GIF
    xoxo,
    aska
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  • admissions,  nursing

    lemme refer you to the FAQ

    June 27, 2017

    hello aska! id like to apply to the undergraduate program for nursing. I know applicants should have a 3.0+ gpa, a work related reference and a academic reference. I wasnt originally planning on nursing & i was slacking in my classes so my gpa is currently 2.5… Is it possible to boost my gpa to 3.0 if i do well in 6 FCE? Also does work related reference refer to paid work or volunteer work? & im assuming academic reference would be a prof? thank u so much

    ——————————————

    hi!

    of course, you can pull your grades up if you really try, but i’m not 100% sure how much you could pull your grades up. it would depend on how well you do on the 6.0FCE you wanna take as well as how many FCE you’ve already finished. i suggest checking out this handy dandy GPA calculator. just remember that it’s not an official GPA calculator, just an estimator and planning tool.

    a “work-related reference” refers to anyone who can vouch for you in a professional capacity. according to the admissions website, a “work-related reference” could be a work OR volunteer reference. i would figure out what might be the most relevant experience to nursing. for example, if you’ve volunteered at a hospital, that would be much more relevant than a summer camp you worked for.

    an academic reference is anyone who can vouch for you in an academic capacity, so yes, a prof who knows you and your work well would be dope.

    i’d also check out their FAQ page. they have a lot of good (and accurate) info about the application process there.

    hope this helps and good luck!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  international students

    too many acronyms

    June 20, 2017

    Hi 🙂

    So im planning to apply to U of T and want to study criminology. To do so, I need to take an English Proficiency Test, like TOEFL or ?ELTS, because i went to high school in germany and english is my second language. And my question would be if i, as an international student, would have to take the SAT? Or would it be enough to show my high school diploma from germany and the results of the english proficiency test?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    yes, you’ll need to do an english proficiency test and then have the results sent to the university. as for another standardized test (like the SAT), you don’t have to send those results in unless you took them. if you did take the SAT, you’d have to have the results sent electronically from the testing authority. you can check out the specific admissions requirements here.

    i hope this helps!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • ACORN,  admissions,  subject POST

    acorn, you good?

    June 14, 2017

    Hello,

    I’m going into my second year studying life sciences and have applied to several type 3 programs. I got invited to a program a few days ago on Acorn and there was orange text saying “accept your invitation” and an accept button but being the indecisive person I am, I decided to wait to see if I got anything else before accepting. I checked back today and there was another program under “invited” on the enrol & manage –> programs page on Acorn however both now only have a reapply button. What does this mean? There’s no option to accept or decline the invitations, and clicking reapply just makes an error message pop up saying that the request period is over??? I’m worried and confused, pls help!!

    From,
    Confused student

    ——————————————

    hi!

    as far as i know, you can’t start accepting invitations for programs until july 3rd. i don’t think ACORN will let you accept before that, but you can view your acceptances before that. you can check out more of the dates here. so yeah… not really sure what’s happening with your ACORN and all those weird buttons, but i wouldn’t worry about it too much if i were you.

    if you’re worried about the offer disappearing, i would check with your college registrar as they have access to more information than i do as a student blogger.

    hope this helps! good luck m’dude!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  computer science,  enrolment

    so many details so little answers (sorry!)

    June 8, 2017

    Hey guys!

    I know i am pretty early but i need information as early as i can.

    I want to apply to for Computer Science at University of Toronto St George for September 2018. I am an adult student so ill be taking most of my courses online and in summer, night and adult school. So the courses i am planning to take are:

    – ENG4U (already did it though when i was in high school)
    – MCV4U
    – BAT4M > accounting
    – CGW4U > world issues
    – MDM4U > data management
    – SES4U > earth & space science

    So apart from the obvious english and calculus, do you think the rest of the courses are acceptable?

    Plus for calculus….well so my transcript shows a mark for the course but i never actually completed it. I wanted to drop it because i know it was going to be pretty hard since my dad was going through an operation and i just wasn’t in a  good state to focus on such an important course also since i was taking ENG4U and SCH4U. My stupid mistake was that i was late and dropped it right after the dead line so even though i officially dropped the course and never wrote the exam, the mark still showed up on my transcript. Do you guys have any idea how Soft will look at that? And is should explain them my situation right?

    Any help would be GREATLY appreciated! Thank you!

    ———————————————

    hi!

    i don’t know if i can say that these courses are “acceptable” or not, i can only tell you that the only courses required are english and calculus. if you are worried about your calculus mark (you said you wanted to drop it, but it was past the deadline, so i’m assuming you didn’t get the mark you wanted), i would suggest retaking the course.

    as for whether or not the courses are “acceptable”, i would get in contact with enrolment services. they would have the most up-to-date and relevant information that i might not be privy to as a wee student blogger. they have the best info on the mystical enrolment process and admission requirements.

    i really hope that helps. best of luck!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  choosing,  internal transfer,  other schools (boo!),  UTM

    the bias is real

    June 4, 2017

    Okay, I know a lot have talked about it but I hope you bare with me a bit.

    The whole idea of studying in Canada started in Feb, and I have registered
    in multiple universities, the ones which didn’t reach their deadline yet,
    one of them is UofT. Sadly I didn’t make it to UTSG deadline but I have
    registered for UTSC and UTM, in Computer Science (and my April IELTS exam
    result getting held back for a randomly selected measuring didn’t help
    my lateness). But yesterday I got admitted in UTM as UTSC have “reached
    enrolment capacity”.

    I’m expecting an admitting from the University of Alberta too.

    Now, I would love to go to UofT but I’m not happy with the being in UTM,
    less range of courses, most the events will be on the main campus, far from
    downtown, need an off-campus residence, and as an international student, I
    need a good social life and being off-campus won’t help.

    How easy/what’s the chance for me to transfer to UTSG, what should I do and
    not do to ease the transfer, and does the tuition fees differences a lot
    between the two campuses?

    Or should I just stick to UAlberta? (with their on-campus residence)

    If I wouldn’t be able to transfer to UTSG I’ll go to UAlberta without a
    second thought.

    I know there isn’t a right answer to this but any thoughts and advice would
    help, cause I can’t stop thinking about it and I don’t know what to choose.

    Thanks.

    ———————————————

    hey,

    seeing as though this is askastudentuoft, it’s highly unlikely i’m going to tell you to go to ualberta because that would go against everything we believe in. like, do you really think i’m going to say: “yeah man, go to ualberta, they’re so much better than us!”

    that being said, it’s really up to your own gut. you can definitely transfer to UTSG eventually. it’s called an internal transfer! we have tons of posts on internal transfers which will answer your question about how to do so and much more! i encourage you to look at those because there are only so many ways to say the same thing over and over again :/ to ease the transfer, you just have to work hard to get a good CGPA. what CGPA range are they looking for? it changes every year so you’ll have to ask enrolment services when you want to transfer.

    not sure what you’re going to be studying, but the UTM and UTSG tuition fees look about the same if you look here! colleges at UTSG have varying incidental fees but they don’t seem to vary by much. the fees website will have tons of info on international fees.

    UTM is a great school with a lot to offer. i think you’re being too hard on it. seriously, give it a chance. if your end goal is to end up at UTSG, being at UTM would definitely make the transition process much easier than if you were to transfer from ualberta

    another thing to consider is the city. do you want to live in edmonton or do you want to live in mississauga/close to toronto? i’ve never been to edmonton, but i know that toronto has a great deal to offer with its multiculturalism and places to explore! toronto is awesome.

    but hey, as much as we would love for you to come to U of T, we hope you make the right decision for yourself, even if it means going to another school!

    you know yourself better than anyone else. you are the only one who knows what you want and what you don’t want.

     

    peace and love,

    aska

     

     

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  • admissions,  life science

    the N to your BSc

    June 1, 2017

    How can a Life Sciences student become a Nursing student?

    ———————————————

    hi!

    i’m assuming you’re talking about the bachelor’s program? the website has tons of info about how to get into the bachelor of science in nursing program hosted by the faculty of nursing.

    according to the website, it’s a two year program and you need to have 10 FCE before applying. it also says that you need a 3.0 GPA, a personal statement, an academic reference, and a work-related reference. there are also some prereq courses that are outlined on the website, so i would check those out too.

    basically, i would just check out the prereqs, take those courses in your first two years (or first 10 FCE), then apply after! the application itself can be found here.

    good luck!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions

    mysterious admissions committee continues to mystify

    May 29, 2017

    DEAR Aska

    Before I start, THANK YOU for all the work you do. It’s always better to start with thanks as I have heard. So my predicament is basically this: I applied to ArtSci at St. George for the Social Sciences and will now likely fall below the required average (by about 2-3%). I am asking if that cuts me off from admission. My marks for the required courses are super high (above requirement), it’s just the sciences which are keeping it low. Will they look at the individual courses? Can my required possibly save me?

    Thanks in advance

    ———————————————

    hi!

    they do have access to your full transcript, so they can see that your required courses have better marks. however, the whole admissions process is kinda shrouded in mystery, so i’m not quite sure how they make their decisions. there are a lot of factors that go into their decisions.

    i’m not sure which average you’re going off of, but if you’re looking at this, then the cut-off is low to mid 80s. i’m assuming you’re at a high 70-ish? dude. i really don’t know. lots of stuff go into their decisions, but at the end of the day, that just what they are- their decisions.

    best of luck!

    xoxo,

    aska

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