english - askastudent

admissions, english, psychology, subject POST

you’re doing amazing!

December 3, 2019
Hello! I am applying for U of T soon and I was wondering about the degree combinations. If I complete two majors (I believe you pick your two programs/majors after the first year on ACORN? Please feel free to correct me) how long does it take? Is it the standard 4 years as a double major? I’m planning on taking English and Psychology, if that helps 🙂 Sorry if this is a dumb question! I’m a very confused high school student

——————————————

hey friendo,

it’s all right to be confused, and this isn’t a dumb question at all! some students get to this school not even knowing program selection after first year is a thing. trust me, you’re ahead of the curve on this one, and it’s super great that you’re taking this into account now.

u of t basically only offers honours degrees. what this means is that to graduate with a bachelor’s here, you need to undertake one of the following program combinations:
- a specialist
- two majors
- a major and two minors
what you ultimately decide on, among these three options, won’t affect how long it’ll take you to graduate. u of t has set this system up so that all three can be completed within 20.0 credits. each course you take for a semester counts as half a credit, so if you take five courses in fall and five in winter, that adds up to four school years. in fact, you can even add a minor to a double major and still finish in four years, if there’s enough overlap between those programs. keep in mind that there is a limit of three programs total, though.

tl:dr a double major in english and psychology is fully doable in 4 years, if that’s how long you’re planning to take to complete your undergrad! an english major is a type 1 program, which basically means anyone can enrol in it– a psych major is a type 2L, which indicates that there’s a specific grade threshold you need to meet in order to be considered for enrolment. type 2L programs have a cap on how many students they can accept, so it would be best to aim for a grade higher than that threshold to make your chances of getting in better. in fact, the department recommends that you come up with a backup program, just in case admission doesn’t work out for you.

since you’re looking at two different program types, you should be aware of two different program enrolment periods. typically, you can begin requesting programs at the end of winter semester– the dates vary a lil every year. i’m linking you here to last year’s program request periods, just so you have an idea of what they might look like. this year’s have yet to be posted, but i’m sure if you check again later on, they should be up by february at the latest.

best of luck with your application! you know where to find me if you have any other questions.

be Boundless,

aska
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english, programs, subject POST

what is this, valentine’s day?

March 22, 2019

Hello again!

I just had a few quick questions regarding program enrollment. So, for my english major and creative expression and society minor it says that I can apply from March 1-September 18th 2019 and then for my book and media studies it says March 1-May 12 2019 but to check for results on July 2nd 2019 and enroll by August 7th 2019. Does this mean I can apply for it now for my second year beginning in September? Because I went to enroll in acorn and it said that the “start session” begins Summer 2019 but am I not enrolled nor do I want to enroll in summer school. I’m just confused on what this means.

Thankyou!

——————————————

hi again and welcome back!

lot of dates you got there. not all of us can relate.

SORRY anyways, all this info you’ve got boils down to yes, you can apply to your programs now for september. that summer start session thing just means hypothetically, if you DID want to start courses for your program in the summer, you’d be able to.

this is the statement the registrar put out about start sessions, that does a way better job of explaining things:

Heads up: If you have just enrolled in a program and the Start Session says 2019 Summer, that’s normal! It doesn’t mean you need to start taking courses this summer. The purpose of the Start Session is so you know which year you added the program, and which calendar’s requirements you will be following in order to complete the program.

hope this helped!

over n out,

aska

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arts & sciences, cinema studies, english, subject POST

aaaaand it’s that time of year again

March 19, 2019

Hi!

This may be a completely dumb question but, I am currently in my first year at UTSG and am deciding on what I want to major and minor in. I know for sure that I want to major in english and minor in literary studies but I am currently stuck on what to pick for my second minor. I wanted to do film studies but I haven’t taken the introduction to film studies this year and I heard that you can’t apply to be in film studies unless you have taken the intro course first. But, my question was if this is true or not and if I am able to apply for film studies and take the intro class in my second year. I have a back up plan to choose book & media studies as my second minor if film doesn’t work out. But, I was also wondering (this may sound really stupid so sorry!) if we apply for our programs at the end of our first year or the end of second year and when we are to apply. Also, one final question, can I apply for my major and then three minors in case one is difficult to get into and I don’t get into one (because film & book and media studies are more difficult). For example, if i apply for my major as english and then my minors as literary studies, film studies, and book & media studies, and if i get into all then I just pick the two minors I want the most.

Sorry if this was really long and makes no literal sense!

——————————————

hello n welcome!

i don’t believe in dumb questions. i’ll answer anything. your confusion is valid, the school’s system can be difficult to navigate and that’s why i’m on here, running this world-class (lmao i wish) blog.

so i’ve looked it up, but i can’t find any mention of… literary studies at u of t? so for the purposes of this post, i’m just gonna assume you mean literature and critical theory, or what i really wanna call lit&crit. if i’m wrong and literary studies is an actual program, feel free to correct me with as much salt as you’d like.

according to the cinema studies minor page it is true that yeah, you need the intro class CIN105Y1 in order to get into the program. you’ll need at last a 70 percent in the course to be competitive for admission. if your heart is set on studying the art of the silver screen, then what i’d recommend you do is register for the course in your second year and try to apply for the minor at the end of next year. you won’t be able to register and then take the intro course, as they require a final mark in that class to let you in.

that’s a good transition into your next question, about when to apply for programs. technically, you’re allowed to apply for a program at the end of your first year. this program request period has already started, and the dates vary by program type. you can check them all out here, which i would recommend doing just so you know what your deadlines are. however, there’s nothing stopping you from engaging in this program request period in later years, as well.

the only thing you really should know is that once you hit your second year (complete 4.0 FCEs), you’re required to be enrolled in programs or else you’ll be blocked from course registration.

for your last question, how it works is that you can apply to multiple programs as long as they’re not all type 1 programs. i’m not sure how familiar you are with the system, so i can give you a quick rundown of the program types. type 1 programs have no restrictions on enrolment. as soon as you request the program, you’re automatically added to it– english and lit&crit are both type 1. type 2 programs generally require a specific grade threshold in a specific course to be met– for example, a 70 percent in CIN105Y1. type 3 programs essentially add extra requirements, like auditions and essays, on top of what a type 2 asks.

at the end of the day, you can only be enrolled in 3 subject POSts at once. that’s why you can’t pick four type 1s, but you can request two type 1s and two type 2s. if you did get admitted to both the type 2 programs you requested, you’d only be able to accept one in addition to your two other programs.

if that’s too confusing, just know that in your case, theoretically you would be able to request that combo of programs (eng, cin, lit&crit, book and media). however, as you haven’t taken the cin intro course, i guess it’s not as relevant?

what you can do if you don’t get into book and media is request a placeholder minor. this is any type 1 minor that you can easily drop at the end of the year, and replace with something you like more– like cin, if you take the intro course!

hopefully this was helpful to you! in other words, i really hope i didn’t just make your head spin even more with the long post. comments section is open for complaints if i did. i know it’s tough juggling all that comes with march (wrapping up midterms! quickly approaching finals! tackling assignments like you’re putting out lil fires!) on top of figuring out how the HECK programs work.

all the best,

aska

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english, first year, programs, sociology, UTAPS

good luck, young one

September 10, 2018

Hello!!

I am a first year student. I plan on majoring in English and Sociology. I have a couple of questions:

What is Type 1,2,3 program? From what I understand type 1 program does not have any requirements. And does English and Sociology fall under any of those programs?

If English and sociology does fall under type 1 program that means that I do not have to worry about anything hopefully.

Can I enrol in my english or sociology major now or in second year?

Also how fast can i graduate? I am currently enrolled in 5 course. I plan on taking however much courses I am allowed in the summer.

Lastly, one of my friend told me about UTAPS. I will be receiving OSAP this year. Will i be eligible for UTAPS. And (if so, i hope so) when will I know if i am getting UTAPS?

Thank you

——————————————

hello eager first year!!!

since your question is in multiple parts, i will be answering in multiple parts.

1. program types

the program type basically indicates what the entry requirements are for that specific program. type 1 programs have no special requirements. type 2 programs require specific courses and/or grades in those courses and type 2L programs are programs with a limited amount of spots. type 3 programs require specific courses and have a limited number of spaces. some type 3 programs might require additional information (an application, an interview, etc). check out this link for more info.

according to the program listings, english is a type 1 program and sociology is a type 2L program.

2. enrolling in the majors

you don’t need to enrol in a POSt (program of study) until you’ve earned at least 4.0FCE (full credit equivalents). this is usually at the end of your first year.

for english, you will just need to add the program during the program enrollment dates and you will automatically be added to the major–easy peasy lemon squeezy.

for sociology, you will need to have a minimum of 65% in SOC101Y or an average of 65% in a combination of SOC102 + SOC103, SOC102+SOC150, SOC103+150, or SOC100+150. once you’ve completed that requirement, you will request the program on ACORN during the request period, and then wait for the response. if you are accepted, you will see an “invitation” to the program that you will need to accept to be officially in the major. keep in mind that because sociology is a 2L program, it means that just meeting the minimum requirement may not get you into the program.

check out this link for more detailed information about enrolling in programs.

3. how fast can you graduate

if you take 5.0FCE every year, you should graduate in 4 years (5 FCE x 4 years= the 20 FCE needed to graduate). if you take the maximum number of summer courses (2.0FCE) every year, you could graduate a little earlier (ie. if you were supposed to graduate june 2022, you can graduate november 2021). basically, that would look like this:

5FCE (fall/winter 2018-19) + 2FCE (summer 2019)

+ 5FCE (fall/winter 2019-20) + 2FCE (summer 2020)

+ 5FCE (fall/winter 2020-21) + 1FCE (summer 2021)

= 20 FCE needed to graduate for november 2021.

keep in mind, however, that summer courses move super super quickly and it isn’t a really good idea to take the max amount of summer courses– especially since you’ll be coming straight from a full year’s worth of school. personally, i can’t fathom the idea of three years straight of school– i need my downtime!

another option that you could look into is taking 6.0FCE (the absolute maximum amount of credits) per year. again, keep in mind that u of t courses are super intense and a lot of students actually take less than 5.0 because of how heavy the workload can be. it might be a good idea to see how first year goes and then decide if you wanna take a heavier course load (either in the summer or in the year after).

4. UTAPS

if you’re receiving OSAP, you will be automatically assessed for UTAPS. you can use their online estimator to see if you’re eligible and how much you could potentially receive.

according to the financial aid website, UTAPS is first applied to your balance on ACORN and any extra is sent to your bank account. it doesn’t say when you will receive the UTAPS if you are eligible.

i would get in touch with enrolment services, the financial aid office on campus, for more information.

phew, that’s a TON of information.

i hope this helps! good luck, young one.

xoxo,

aska

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english, non degree

zooming through your degree

July 30, 2018

Good Afternoon,

I have a double major degree in English and French Literatures, and I will be finish all of tem fully by 2021. However, my parents decided that that is taking too long and want me to graduate with my English B.A in 2019 and then moving on with my French as a part-time student. Can that possibly be happening? They want to do that just so that I can get a full time work as soon as possible, or worse disowned and all of that situation.

Thank You very much.

———————————————

hi!

yikes, this is a very tricky situation you’ve found yourself in. hopefully my answer helps out a little.

because of the degree requirements, you need to complete at least a specialist, two majors, or a major and two minors in order to graduate. so if you wanted to drop french, you’ll have to switch your english major to a specialist in order to meet the degree requirements.

something to keep in mind before you make the switch, however, is the fact that the english department changed their curriculum. these changes will be going into effect starting the 2018-19 fall/winter session. this means that the program requirements have changed and if you switch from a major to a specialist, you would be subject to the new program requirements rather than the old ones (if you don’t switch, you would continue to follow the program requirements that you’re already following). you should look into what the new program requirements are and see how many you will have completed with the old major program. hopefully, most of the credits that you took for the major are still applicable for the new specialist. the main difference i see between the old and new programs is that the english department seems to no longer accept cross-listed (ie. non- ENG) courses, but there could be more intricacies that i don’t know about. i suggest getting in touch with the english department for more information.

then, if you wanted to do french after finishing your english specialist, you could come back as a non-degree student. non-degree students are students who have earned their bachelors degrees and are coming back to take courses without working towards a degree. you could be taking courses for a variety of reasons: self interest, complete a prereq for grad school, whatever. that could be a good option if you still wanna do french but you also want to finish your english BA ASAP.

another thing: i don’t know how many credits you have left before you graduate, but you do still need to complete 20.0 FCE to graduate. depending on how many credits you have now, you may have to do more than 5.0FCE per year AND summer courses in order to graduate in time for 2019. i wish i could do the math for you, but i don’t know how many credits you have completed. also i’m notoriously bad at math, so maybe don’t trust me with that.

while it is totally possible to be in more than 5.0FCE in the fall/winter and do summer courses, it is a very heavy course load and not recommended. in fact, many students take LESS than 5.0 FCE per year. while it is up to you what you do with your degree–and if you really wanna zoom through it, that’s possible– it might be a good idea to think about WHY you’d be zooming through your degree. it’s your education and you should decide the pace that you wanna go at, not your parents. and switching from a 2021 to a 2019 graduation date is a pretty drastic change. obviously, i don’t know you so i don’t want to tell you what to do. but i suggest that you think deeply about what you want out of your time at u of t.

finally, i suggest that you make an appointment with an academic adviser your registrar’s office to discuss all your options. whether it’s sticking with a 2021 graduation date or trying to figure out how to zoom through your degree. they’ll be able to give you a ton of info that i’m not privy to.

i hope this helps!

good luck!

xoxo,

aska

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english, first year, newly admitted, polisci, programs

double double (major) toil and trouble

May 2, 2018

Hey aska!
I’m going to uoft St. George for an English undergrad in the fall of 2018. I’m also interested in doing a double major in political science. I’m a bit confused about how to choose courses (how to take ones that interest me, fulfill my program requirements, and are also are prerequisites to upper-year courses) and am worried about the workload if I do go for a double major. (I think I heard somewhere that it would take an extra year?) Also, I know I’m not outstanding in English and the main reason why I want to study it is because I want to improve in it. Since my highschool graduation is drawing closer, I’m beginning to have doubts about whether or not I can succeed regardless of how much effort I put in because it’s a world class program and I’m only average at best. In your experience, was there a huge step-up from highschool English to university English? Were can I find information on courses available to me?
Thanks so much!

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hi!

at u of t, in order to complete your degree, you have to do a combination of programs of study (or, POSt). you have to complete either: a specialist, two majors, or a major and two minors. so, your desire to do a double major is actually pretty common at u of t. being worried about the workload is valid, you ARE moving from a high school workload to a university workload. however, like i said, doing a double major is extremely common at u of t, with some students even piling on a minor with their double majors! i don’t think you will have any issues doing a double major. however, if you do, that’s ok too. and it’s ok to consider taking a reduced course load (less classes per semester) and take longer to graduate in order to work at a speed that works for you.

god, if i could, i would grab every incoming first year student by the shoulders, give ’em a good shake, and scream “YOU CAN TAKE MORE THAN FOUR YEARS!!! TAKE YOUR TIME!!!!”

but… i digress.

now to address the question of course selection. most students take 5.0 FCE (full course equivalents) in a year. 5.0 credits is considered the standard for a full time student and it’ll allow you to graduate in 4 years (5.0 FCE times 4 years = 20 FCE needed to graduate). because first year is general and you can take anything you want, it’s a good idea to check out the required courses for your intended programs of study. so in your case, if you want to do an english and polisci double major, you’d want to see what the required courses are to get into those programs as well as what first year courses are offered in those programs.

for english, there aren’t any prereqs to get into the major. however, you should probably take a first year english course anyways as most second year courses and other upper year courses require the completion of a first year course. check out this link for all the first year english courses that would count towards an english POSt.

for polisci, you need to have achieved at least a 67% in POL101Y or POL200Y or one POL FCE or equivalent in half courses. so it would probably be a good idea to take one of those courses in your first year so that you can get into a polisci major after first year.

you 100% should get in contact with your college registrar’s office and set up an academic advising session. they will be able to go more in-depth with you and discuss all your options. you can also get in contact with the program advisers of english and polisci respectively. check out this link for their contact info.

as for whether or not you can succeed “regardless of how much effort [you] put in”… well, like i said earlier, the transition between high school and university can be difficult, but it isn’t impossible. if you find yourself struggling academically, don’t hesitate to make an appointment with the academic adviser at your registrar’s office, or to contact your prof/ TA, who are also great resources and can really help you if you’re struggling in a course. you should also look into the academic success centre, where you can make appointments a learning strategist who can help you learn more about how you learn.

another great resource at u of t, especially for kids in programs like english and polisci, are the writing centres. you can book an appointment and bring your assignments to them before the deadline, and the people who work at the writing centre can go through the assignment with you and provide insight on how you can write a better assignment. they’re awesome. they’ve saved many a paper of mine.

ok, phew! that was a LOT of information. i really hope this helps. if you have more questions, please get in contact with the people i’ve linked above (especially your registrar’s office, they’re super helpful and a great first contact point for anything academic).

good luck, see you on campus in september!

xoxo,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, averages, english, polisci, St. George

ENG 4UofT

January 10, 2017

hi! regarding the political science question, is there a specific grade needed in ENG 4U that is needed? i read that for st george, you needed low 80s in ENG 4U. I meet the general admissions marks but my English grade is quite a bit lower than my other 5 subjects.

———————————————

hey there,

like i said in the previous post you’re referring to, at st. george, polisci falls under the social science category, so according to the requirements for ontario high school students, you’ll need an overall average (taken from ENG 4U and your next 5 best U/M courses) that’s in the low to mid 80’s. however, it does also state that you should have at least mid to low 70’s as your ENG 4U grade.

in terms of a specific grade needed, the best we can do is provide you with this “mid to low 70’s range”. my understanding is that it would be hard for the university to provide specific grades since not all students are admitted solely based on their academic performance.

hope this answers your question!

peace and love,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, arts & sciences, colleges, english, film

not another college question

November 20, 2016

Hi!
I’m a student who’s applying internationally for the faculty of arts and
sciences. And I really don’t understand the college system.
I mean I do, but like, are there subjects that are not available in all
colleges? Are there any colleges that are academically lower than others?
I’m planning to either major in film or english, is that going to matter?
Also, how do I do my research about the colleges? I’m really lost about
this whole situation.

Thank you so much, your blog really helped clear up a lot of thing.

———————————————

hello,

i was going to preface this post by saying ‘ugh, not another college question’, but you’ve asked some questions that i think are important to address, so i have no sass for you today.

let me try addressing your questions one by one.

1. are there any subjects that are not available in all colleges?

do you mean to ask if there are any subjects that are exclusive to certain colleges? the answer to that is no. you have access to all courses in the faculty of arts and science regardless of your college affiliation.

2. are there colleges that are academically lower than other colleges?

no, not that i know of. there are students who perform well and students who perform poorly at every college. even if there were, we most likely would not be able to disclose that information on aska because that would be hella shady.

3. i’m planning on majoring in film and english, does that matter?

not really. innis college IS known for their cinema studies program and there isn’t really ONE college affiliated with english. innis also has a writing and rhetoric program, while vic has literature and critical theory. the only thing that might matter is, for example: you might hear more about cinema studies events if you’re an innis college student. regardless, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem as long as you are subscribed to the right listservs (email subscriptrions). to see a list of every college’s specialty, click here!

4. how do i conduct research on the colleges?

you can go on this website and find the tag ‘colleges‘. we’ve answered tons of questions similar to yours and you’re bound to find out a lot about each of them. even browsing reddit or college websites can tell you a lot about them. maybe you’ll find that one particular college gives off a good vibe. like i’ve said in the past, what college you’re part of doesn’t REALLY matter unless you’re thinking of living in residence. there’s also college culture to consider, but you’ll have to find out about those yourself by talking to people from the respective colleges. if you want more info on the residences offered, check out our ‘residence‘ tag!

keep in mind that when you’re ranking colleges, some colleges (innis, vic, trin) require you to rank them first.

choose wisely, my friend.

peace and love,

aska

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americans, arts & sciences, cool things, english

it wasn’t me (clean version)

November 4, 2016

You said the UofT English courses are very traditional, but I was wondering what exactly that entailed. I know there are probably a few hundred pretentious schmucks out there that’ll swear by their life that there’s nothing they’d enjoy more than rereading A Midsummer’s Night Dream, but that’s just not me. I have a friend in the states that’s doing a BA in English and they had courses like Zombie Literature and etc. Is there anything as fun and interesting as that at UofT?

———————————————

hey,

uhhhhh not sure who said that, but it wasn’t me! i am (believe it or not) the 15th aska running the site and i’ve actually never taken an english course at U of T. thank you, IB credit!

thank you for offending all the pretentious schmucks reading this- i’m sure they’re angrily shaking their berets at you. *lowkey high five*

k, but seriously, shakespeare can be good sometimes. (i’m saying this as someone who doesn’t read for pleasure) i’ve definitely watched some very interesting sparknotes vids on shakespearean plays… “to be, or not to be”… that’s a thing, right? i only pretend to know shakespeare because of michael fassbender and oscar isaac’s portrayals of shakespearean characters.

U of T is just as hip as any school in the states, okay? we’re such a huge university, it would be a shame to not have some good classes.

in our english department, you can take classes on graphic novels, children’s literature, detective novels, science fiction, and fantasy and horror. if you want to check out the full list of courses that are offered, you can find them in the calendar.

if you can’t find ‘fun and interesting’ courses in english, there’s always mus321-perhaps you’ll find some more down-to-earth mustachio’d fellas. (p.s. it’s MOVEMBER now, i’m so happy)

hope these courses are fun and interesting enough for you!

cheers,

aska

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applying for U of T, engineering, english

shakespeare ex machina

November 4, 2016

Greetings, I’m in a predicament and I need some enlightenment. I applied to the Eng program for 2016 but didn’t get accepted so I decided to try applying again. Do you think its worth applying for a second time? Signed Confused Me

———————————————

hello,

first of all, a little more info would’ve been helpful! i appreciate your efforts in trying to be concise, but do you mean eng as in english or engineering? help me out here!

if you didn’t get accepted it may be because your high school marks weren’t high enough, but again, i have no idea, mostly because i don’t know what program you applied for, nor do i know you personally.

if you want more information on this matter, it may be worth it to contact your department (whichever it may be) to see how you can boost your application. not sure if this a thing they do, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask!

i obviously can’t speak on behalf of enrolment services, but chances are, if your marks are still the same as they were the when you first applied, it’s likely you’ll get the same answer. it also depends on the applicant pool that you were in- maybe the averages were particularly high that year and you didn’t meet the cut-off. these are just examples, of course, and i hope you know that i am in no way assuming that your grades were too low. there are plenty of reasons why someone might not get in and low grades is just one of them!

i know this probably wasn’t the most encouraging response, but hopefully you now have some more things to think about. i wish there was more i could do!

but hey, be careful what you wish for. school may not be for you! my sage advice would be to make sure it’s 100% what you want.

best of luck!

signed,

an even more confused aska

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admissions, english, first year, homeschooling

lost in admission wonderland

September 27, 2016

Greetings, I have question that may be a little confusing. I’m a homeschooler that applied earlier this year in hopes that could get into the English program. Unfortunately I got rejected :/ I took ENG4U earlier last month because English is required in my program but I’m wondering, is it worth trying to apply again? ;;

———————————————

hey,

as someone who was not homeschooled, i’m not sure how the whole process works but i’ll try my best to answer your question regardless.

if i’m not mistaken, your question is basically asking my opinion on whether or not you should apply.

my answer is: why not?

if you want to come to U of T badly enough, the best plan of action would definitely be to apply! i don’t think i need to go into detail about what makes U of T the best school in canada. if you can handle harsh winters, competitive classmates, and an overall feeling of desperation, you should definitely come to U of T. you’ll receive an amazing education and although school will be hard, you’ll come out bulletproof.

i definitely think it’s worth a shot if you really want to come here, but you should also apply to other schools as fallback options.

if your question is whether or not you will get in, i cannot say for sure because it’s up to admissions!

you can contact them here, depending on which campus you’re applying to.

in general, even if you meet all the requirements for admission, we still can’t say whether or not you’ll get in, mostly because there are so many things that admissions will consider on your application. your best bet is to contact them directly.

good luck with your application (if you apply)!

see you around! maybe. hopefully.

cheers,

aska

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breadth requirements, english, IB

to math or not to math

July 13, 2016

Hi aska! This problem has been bugging my for a while now. The English Major Program requires completion of 0.5 FCE in BR5. I have a transfer credit from IB HL Physics. Does that count towards the POSt? Degree planner says it does but I’m not sure cause the department website states CR/NCR doesn’t count towards the program. Does the transfer credit fall under that cause technically it doesn’t contribute towards my GPA? All these requirements are hella confusing. Thanks in advance!

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hey there,

unlike CR/NCR courses, transfer credits (and that includes transfer IB credits) can count towards breadth requirements. if degree explorer is saying your IB physics credit counts towards the BR5 requirement for an English major, then you don’t have anything to worry about.

another way of checking would be to take a look at your academic history on ACORN; if the credit counts as a BR5 credit, then it will say so underneath the transfer credit. and if it’s a BR5, then it should meet that English major requirement!

as a matter of fact, i had a weirdly similar situation to you. i did an english specialist and had first-year transfer credits from another university, and my physics transfer credit (or maybe it was chem?…it’s all a blur now) was used to fill that same requirement for my English specialist!

maybe you’re like my doopleganger or something. whoa.

cheers,

aska

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english, other schools (boo!)

do you love literature or do you want a job

October 23, 2015

I wish to pursue an English degree (Bachelor of the Arts) at U of T. Any advice regarding my specific field of study? Also, I am debating U of T with Carleton, amongst others. Any suggestions?

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hey there,

i can’t really compare uoft with carleton, because i’ve never even been there, let alone taken any classes there, so it would be unfair of me to try and compare it to uoft, which i know so well.

what i can do is tell you about uoft and its english program. then, hopefully, you can find some pretentious, narcissistic shmuck at carleton who’s the equivalent of me and can tell you about their school for probably longer than anybody cares to read.

the english department at uoft is world-class. there’s no question about that. if you want to one day become a professor of english, you can’t do better in canada than an undergrad at uoft. we have world-class academics as professors, and a wide variety of interesting, relevant courses.

however, our english program is very traditional. you’re not going to get a digital/communications angle, a journalism angle, an editing/publishing angle, or a business angle to your english degree here. it is very specifically a degree in english literature: shakespeare. pope. faulkner. chaucer. other white guys who’d probably insult you at a dinner table.

that being said, uoft is very flexible in terms of programs of study. you can pair your english major with a book & media studies major, with a writing and rhetoric minor, with semiotics and communication studies, and so, so much more. or you can just stick on the straight english route and get a very thorough – if traditional – education.

everything you’ve heard about uoft being a big university in an even bigger city is true. yes, it’s possible to get kind of swallowed up by this place. however, it’s not inevitable. if you put in even the minimum amount of effort into connecting with your college or faculty community, you will be richly rewarded.

i don’t think uoft – and especially uoft english – is for everyone. however, i think that if you come here knowing what you’ve signed up for, you will absolutely love it.

also, toronto has so many literary-themed cafes, and it’s super cute to read your s’phisticated school novels in them and imagine someone will sit down across from you and begin a whirlwind romance by asking you about it.

come on. i know you think about that too.

cheers,

aska

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