• admissions,  criminology,  prospective student

    the psych/philosophy to criminology student pipeline??

    July 5, 2022

    Hi! I am considering pursuing the criminology program at this university. However, I have questions about the prerequisites. I took 2 psychology courses and a philosophy course. Do they take the marks of the 2 psych courses to make one average? Also could we, for instance, use our marks from one psych course and our marks from one SOC class to calculate an average with the other psych? course?

    hi there,

    well first of all, that’s a lot of psychology courses! at least for high school, which i assume that’s what you’re talking about, but then again that was a while ago… anyway. the first thing i do have to kind of clear up is whether those courses you’ve listed are from grade 12 or previous years.

    that’s because uoft usually calculates your average from your top grade 12 courses, including any mandatory required courses for your admission category. in ontario, for example, that would be your top six grade 12 courses. for criminology, you’d be applying for the sociology admissions category, which just lists english as a required course.

    the courses are all treated separately, so if your philosophy and two psychology courses were taken in grade 12, and were among your highest marks (other than english, which has to be included), then they would all be included as individual courses to calculate your average.

    so to be clear, your admission average is going to end up being the average of a bunch of your top grade 12 courses, which may or may not include all your philosophy and psychology courses, although english would be mandatory.

    anyway, i hope that helps and wish you all the best in your future criminological endeavours.

    Bye Wave GIFfrom Bye GIFs

    aska

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  • criminology,  subject POST

    crime specialist!

    April 15, 2021

    Hello, I wonder if an 80 average in required courses will get me into the crime specialist!

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    crime specialist!

    if you’re referring to the criminology specialist program under arts and science at st. george, then it unfortunately doesn’t look like an 80 average in required courses will get you past admission.

    the faculty of arts and science calendar indicates that 80% is actually just the cutoff to be considered for admission. to make it into the program, you’ll likely need a higher average in CRI205, CRI210, and CRI225. but as that entry average changes each year, i won’t be able to tell you what it’ll be.

    sorry i can’t provide you with any concrete assurances. i hope this helps clarify things, though!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • criminology,  es&l,  failing,  first year

    program scramble

    March 7, 2018

    Hi!

    So I’m a first year at UofT (St. George campus) and I’m almost 100% sure I’m failing most of my classes.

    I already dropped Psych100 first semester because I missed the first test due to a loved one passing away, and I didn’t do so great on the second test (40%). I took psych again second semester and most so second sem I have 3 full year courses and 2 half.
    I planned on going into Criminology and Ethics, Society and Law but now i don’t think I’m gunna meet the requirement of 70-75% I’m going to need to get in. What can i do and what might my other options be to major in?

    My grades so far have ranged from 50-75%.

    ——————————————

    hi!

    first of all, because this is a bit of a specific question, i suggest that you make an appointment with your college/ faculty registrar who’ll be able to give you more specific and personalized information.

    that being said, i’ll try my best:

    so, from what i can gather from your question, you will have 4.0FCE (full course equivalents) at the end of this semester, if you pass all your courses. if you do get all 4.0FCE by the end of this year, then you will have to enroll in a POSt (program of study). you need to be enrolled in a POSt before you can enroll in courses for next year. according to this list, crim is a type 3 program and ethics, society, and law is a 2L program. you can check this link out for what “type 3” and “type 2L” means.

    you can still apply for the programs, even if you don’t get in. you’ll find out on july 3 whether or not you got in, then you’ll have til august 8 to accept if you get in. however, if you don’t get in, then you should enroll in a placeholder type 1 (the kind with no application required) program so that you can enroll in courses for the next year. i know it sounds kinda counterintuitive, enrolling in a program you don’t wanna be in, but you need to be in a POSt to enroll in courses, and you don’t need to enroll in any courses that have to do with your placeholder/ fake POSt. after enrolling in your fake POSt, you can take the required courses for crim and ES&L, increase your average, and then apply again the next year.

    i hope that makes sense.

    hot james mcavoy GIF

    if you don’t finish 4.0FCE at the end of this school year, you will still be considered a “first year student,” meaning that you won’t need to enroll in a POSt before enrolling in courses.

    good luck!

    peace and love,

    aska

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  • criminology,  psychology,  sociology

    still bragging about my new soc degree

    May 31, 2017

    Hi,

    Previously I was a part-time student at the St. George Campus. I completed 4.5 credits and then left. Now it’s 5 years later and I’d like to come back to complete my degree. I did not chose a subject post before I left. Now, my preferred program (sociology) went from a Type 2 to a 2L. I  got 65% in my 100 level SOC credit. That’s the bare minimum so I’m not super competitive.

    1.  How do I get permission to retake 100 level courses to become more competitive to get into the sociology program?
    2.  In case I don’t get into the sociology program, what are other programs that I should consider?
    3.  What services are available on campus to help transition back to student life?

    ———————————————

    hello there!

    yay, a sociology question! no biggie, i just completed my soc major last month so you’ve come to the right place (yes, i know, i bragged about this in a past post, but #sorrynotsorry)

    1. if you want permission to retake 100 level courses, you would need to contact the department of sociology. i’m not sure if they’ll let you you retake the course since 1) you’ve already passed the course, 2) you do TECHNICALLY meet the requirement. in this situation, it would be best to talk to the undergraduate advisor to look at what your options are for entering the program. a nice chat with her will probably be beneficial, especially if there have been any changes to the program since you’ve been gone. dammit, kelly clarkson is stuck in my head now. i have a feeling that the fact that the program switched from a type 2 to a 2L isn’t thaaat bad, it just sucks because we don’t know exactly how limited the program is.

    2. if you don’t get into the sociology program, you could consider programs that are similar. instead of the studying groups of people/ society, you could learn to study individuals (psychology)? humans (anthropology)? criminals (criminology)? there’s always women and gender studies, equity studies, or sexual diversity studies as well! of course, all of these programs will have prerequisites that you will need to look up yourself. since you’ve already completed 4.5 FCE’s, you’ve probably already completed a first year prerequisite course for a program. you could consider going into one of those programs!

    3. transitioning back into student life after an absence is an interesting thing that not many people ask about. honestly, i don’t think there are many resources for transitioning back, but there are definitely tons of resources for transitioning into university life, if you want to relive that again! it’s always good to check in with the registrar’s office if you need help with transitioning back to academics or if you have more questions about returning!

    hope this helped! welcome back!

    peace and love,

    aska

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  • criminology

    crim crim employ my skin

    July 8, 2016

    What exactly can I do with one? I couldn’t get into the Accounting Specialist POSt and Criminology was a backup that I thought I might as well just send a request to. I’m really thinking about dropping out and going to a college for accounting instead, but I don’t want to pass up the opportunity to continue going to UofT. There’s like, no jobs for crim specs.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    wow, criminology was your backup? i mean, i respect the fact that criminology may not be your jam, but it’s pretty impressive that your backup POSt was a very popular type 3 program. maybe this is an indication that you have a talent and passion for something that you’re trying to suppress? just a thought.

    i mean, if you really want to do accounting, then by all means, switch into a college program for that. or maybe you could consider transferring universities (we’ve got lots of university accounting programs in Ontario), or completing a master’s degree in accounting after you graduate from uoft. these are options worth looking into.

    if you want to give criminology a chance, however, all is not lost. when it comes to jobs, crim is one of those POSts where you kind of have to make it up as you go along. aside from the obvious – graduate school and law school – someone equipped with only an HBA in Criminology has to be resourceful and creative in the job hunt. it’s scary and it sucks to have to carve your own path. HOWEVER, like all humanities/social science bachelor’s degrees, it’s a double-edged sword. uncertainty can also mean the flexibility to choose your own career, to fit yourself into a variety of different places, to make your career what YOU want it to be. and that can be really great.

    criminology’s department page has nothing on their alumni page but a mysterious ‘coming soon‘ notice (what’s coming soon, i wonder? the web page? or the alumni?), but you may find some comfort in this page, which features little biographies on various uoft sociology alumni, all of whom HAVE JOBS. woo-hoo! truly inspirational. and none of them have to dress up as sandwiches or something similarly degrading. i assume so, anyway.

    hopefully these bios can begin to give you an idea of the different options available to a social science grad. this may be another helpful resource.

    as you can see, there are a lot of different directions in which you can go, including correctional services, law enforcement, or something completely different. so go! do it! live it! you can do anything you want to do (yes, even in this debilitating economy that’s probably only going to get worse due to the stupidglobaldecisionsbeingmadebypeoplefartoorichtounderstandtheimpact).

    cheers,

    aska

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  • criminology

    guesstimating admissions odds is never something i’m gonna do

    June 7, 2016

    Hello. I am unsure if this e-mail or website is still ongoing…I’m not using my UofT E-mail as I’m pretty embarrassed over this speech down here. I have just received both my final grades for the 2.0 FCE requirements to be eligible for UofT’s Criminology program. I’m going in the battlefield with a *drumroll* 73% average for SOC + PHL. I had hoped to enter the safety line of at least 75%, however I hit a blue period around March…where every.unholy.assignment.is.due. The SOC research paper, being worth 20% really knocked me a few pegs off. Although I was surprised that I actually passed with a mark of 53 by spending roughly 5 hours to finish as much of that assignment as possible…starting 7 hours from the submission

    time and with 2 hours to commute XD Ah…I’m an idiot. Welp. PHL was straightforward and one could easily pass the midterm, tests, and summaries with just tutorial participation. Nabbed a decent mark of 76% and got away with skipping a bunch of the lectures. o-o So, if anyone in Criminology is there. What are my chances of getting into this major? Safe to say. First year at University really took a toll on my motivation levels. In high-school, I loved playing the “perfect” student, however, with 1000 other students in a lecture, that game is as easily played as a ghost is seen during daylight. I did struggle this year, but I am pumped by the new experience and willing to pour everything into next year. I plan to specialize in Criminology, but I am using Ethics/Society/Law or Sociology as a backup major until I meet the 80% average next year. Any suggestions or prediction into how safe is 3% above the minimum for Crim? If you’re a program student, what mark got you in?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    so, they do list 70% as a minimum threshold this year. you are safely above that minimum threshold, though i do have to admit that criminology is a pretty popular (and therefore competitive) program, which means that the minimum cutoff isn’t gonna cut it.

    that being said, i have no (either official or anecdotal) information about how high off the cutoff you would have to be to realistically expect an offer. what you can do is call the criminology department personally. they may (though i can’t guarantee it) be willing to chat about your odds one-on-one over the phone. they would probably be less willing to talk to me about it, since i publish everything on a website with over a hundred thousand hits per year. so.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • criminology,  sociology,  stats

    if statistics tests throw you a curveball with 98% frequency…

    June 7, 2016

    Hey!! So I wrote to you earlier and here I am again 🙂 so a little back ground info before I ask my question. Three years ago I hit a really rough spot and failed three courses, because of this I was academically suspended for a year. My CGPA was at a 1.07… Yeah, it was bad. However, last year was my first year back and after this past semester I am at a 1.46 🙂 which is obviously really low ahahah but I’m just proud of myself for turning things around. I brought myself up and by the end of this semester I should be above a 1.50 🙂 anyways, for anyone out there who asks if you can bounce back after a suspension, yes you can!! So here’s why I’m telling you this, I’m going into crim (I’m not in it yet but I’m bringing up my grades so once I reach 2.0 hopefully by next year I’m applying!)… And I’m calculating all my credits right now and I’m currently at 5.0 credits. However what I’ve noticed for BOTH crim and sociology you have to take stats. Me, being the idiot that I am, decided to look up some notes for it on ONEclass (a site for notes) and I pretty much just freaked myself out :/ I worked so hard to try and get into crim and graduate with what I’ve always wanted to pursue and I’m scared that I won’t pass the stats course. I haven’t taken math since grade 11 :/ that was five years ago…. Do you have any advice?? Should I hold off before taking it and maybe wait till my other courses are finished and take it last?? I’m sorry if this seems weird considering I’m not even in the program yet haha but sociology courses is what I’ve mostly taken so I don’t really have a choice and I don’t want to major in anything else. Help! Thanks 🙂

    To add a little more info, I suffer from anxiety so this is the norm for me! I freak out over stuff. I guess because I’m not good at math at all I’m scared I’ll fail and my grades will drop resulting me in never graduating. Hopefully you don’t think I’m crazy. 🙂

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    this is going to be such a let-down after i made you wait SO LONG for your answer (sorry about that – i wish you never have to deal with the kind of inbox aska’s tackling), but i feel like this is something you have to sort out for yourself.

    obviously, you’ve proven that you can improve and do well even after being suspended. you’ve gotten used to university, and worked on improving your study skills. you have a goal in mind. all of these things are good signs! if you are absolutely determined to do either or both of these POSts, then believe in yourself! you are gaining the skills you need to accomplish this stats course. you are – in colloquial parlance – killin’ it.

    some strategies to make it a bit easier on yourself might include taking the course in the summer (all by itself) so that you can focus on it fully, or take it in a semester with fewer credits than you would normally take. may i also recommend the Math and Statistics Aid Centre at new college, in case you need some help along the way.

    on the other hand, if you feel that this is too big of a task and will send your GPA (and motivation)back down the rabbit hole, then maybe you can consider some other POSts that are similar to soc and crim, but don’t require you to do any math. consider, for example, the ethics, society & law major.

    also, you can always test-drive the course by signing up for it, seeing how it goes, and, in the event that it’s too much, dropping it before the deadline to drop courses from your academic record.

    i hope that’s somewhat helpful. congrats on how well you’re doing so far!

    best,

    aska

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  • criminology,  stats

    which stats should i stan?

    January 13, 2016

    Hi,

    I have to take a statistics course to fulfill a Criminology major requirement. Im not a math person, so im really dreading it and wondering which course would be the easiest for non-math ppl: soc200, soc202, psy201 or cri350? Any advise?

    Thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    unfortunately i haven’t taken any of these courses and so i can’t be too helpful in recommending one of these courses over the rest. CRI350H1 seems to be the obvious choice, since it’s for crim students, but since all of them are acceptable, you probably won’t be completely lost in any of them. since they are all exclusions of each other, the course material is probably pretty similar.

    at this point, your best bet is to get into whichever one is still available, to be honest.

    cheers,

    aska

    P.S. i apologize for how woefully late this answer was. i didn’t have a satisfactory answer so i kept putting it off until i did…i don’t think a better answer is coming, to be honest. but let us know what you ended up picking.

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  • criminology,  subject POST

    Ethics & Society & Law & Criminology

    June 25, 2015

    Hey! I am invited for the Criminology and Ethics, Society and Law major. I have not applied for any minors other than just majors. What do you think about a double major in Crim and ES&L. Is it doable? Are there any resources where I can get more information on these majors. Do you know any other students who are doing the same thing as me? Thank you so much for your help 🙂

    ———————————————
    hey there,

    sounds totally doable to me! criminology and ethics, society & law are both areas in social science which complement each other nicely. i can’t think of anyone off the top of my head who’s done it, but i’m sure it’s a common combination.

    both POSts have broad requirements including courses POL, PHL and/or ECO, so you’ll probably be able to use some of the same courses to fulfil requirements in both POSts – which is a bonus. gives you more space to take obscure interest-based courses like basket-weaving and visual arts.

    ethics, society & law requires 7.0 FCEs, and crim requires 8.0. assuming no overlap, that’s only 15.0 required courses, which is pretty typical for a double major. keep in mind that you would’ve completed some requirements in first year already, so doing the rest in three years is 100% feasible.

    as for the level of difficulty, you’ll either like it or you won’t. both POSts deal with similar subject matter, so if you enjoyed/did reasonably well in your first-year POL, SOC, or PHL courses, then you’re likely on the right track.

    and hey, it’s better than signing up for a philosophy specialist, right? at least you might actually get a job with these POSts.*

    all the best,

    aska

    * i’m just KIDDING. none of us will have jobs. we’re all screwed. thanks a lot for this wonderful economy, baby boomers.

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  • criminology,  grad school,  other schools (boo!)

    UWO uwu

    July 3, 2014

    I go to King’s College at Western University (UWO). My previous grades were poor but my fourth year average is very high and I will be taking fifth year for undergrad in September to raise my GPA. I am interested in applying for graduate school in Criminology after I finish my fifth year. However, I have some questions:

    1) For 5th year, I want to retake a couple courses that I took in the previous years/summer school because my grades were low and I wanted to retake them to improve my grade. Will the new mark be still counted in my GPA and will I still have a chance of being admitted to Grad school if I repeated some courses as long as my grades are very high?

    2) For the criminology graduate school admission requirements, is there any specific undergrad courses that needs to be taken in order to be admitted? Or can it be any criminology/sociology undergrad courses, as long as the grades are very high? The UofT website did not mention anything about specific undergrad course requirements for admission to graduate programs.

    3) Also, I’m not in honors specialization of criminology. I’m in double majors of Childhood and Social Institutions and Criminology, Bachelor of Arts 4 years Degree. I have taken the required cours for the Criminology major and I will be taking criminology and sociology courses in my 5th year before graduation. Do I still have a chance of getting esin if I’m in major of criminology and my grades are very high?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    as much as i appreciate the enthusiasm, there’s no need to send me this through all my different inboxes, dude. it’s not gonna make my answer annny quicker. aska’s stubborn that way.

    1) i don’t know how UWO does it, but if the old marks appear on your transcript, they will likely be considered along with thenew marks. according to criminology, “admission decisions are based on a holistic reading of applicant files by a committee of graduate faculty. This includes grades, reference letters, statements of intent, and courses taken.”

    2) nah. “To be considered for admission, applicants must meet the minimum requirement in a four year University of Toronto Bachelor’s degree with a social science background or a law degree, from another recognized university…The courses in the program are designed with the expectation that students have a sound understanding of social science methodologies, are capable of writing research and analytical papers, and are conversant with criminological theories.”

    as long as your undergrad degree was somewhere within the ballpark of criminology, it should be fine. they do say they look at your courses as part of their admission consideration, but they haven’t specified any courses that they prefer. my guess is that they’re just looking to see whether you’ve taken any criminology courses, and how many, and also if you’ve taken courses that might be relevant to the field, like law courses, for example.

    3) see above. if your fifth year bumps up your CGPA over your last 2-3 years of school to the range they’re looking for (at least an 80%) and you’ve taken relevant courses, based on the “holistic approach” the department advertises, i’d say you have a solid chance (obviously i’m not on the admissions committee, so i can’t say for sure, etc. etc., but, you know. that’s my educated guess of an opinion).

    best of luck in applying! i hope you become a master criminologist. just…don’t visit my house…once you do…

    cheers,

    aska

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  • criminology,  Transferring

    cross the country for criminology

    May 7, 2013

    Hi askastudent,

    I am currently enrolled in an university in Vancouver, and I want to transfer to U of T (St. George) Criminology. Is it easier to transfer to social science than to other departments? Do you know how many people apply for criminology and how many people does U of T accept each year? My first term GPA is 3.17, second term is 3.4 and CGPA is 3.3 (all on a 4.33 scale). I was wondering what are my chances of getting in?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    Hey hey!

    According to admissions, most things that you’d be transferring to all call for the whole “solid B average,” so you SHOULD be fine. If we do the conversion, your CGPA becomes the equivalent of a UofT B/3.0, so yeah!

    Now the hard part would probably be getting into the criminology major specifically. So on your application, as a transfer student from another university, criminology requires you to indicate them as your program of study. Then they ask for an overall average of 76%. You also need to have been granted at least four full transfer credits, half of which must be a combo of intro level courses on economics, history, philosophy, poli sci, psych, or sociology.

    Seeing as you meet the minimum requirements, you have a chance to get in, but you ARE still competing with a lot of students, so I’d try to bump up that GPA as much as possible.

    Good luck though!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • criminology,  sociology

    suffering through a 62

    May 2, 2013

    So basically I wanted to apply to Sociology or Criminology which requires a 63 in socio101, but I happened to get a 62…
    Realistically what are the chances that I get in?

    ———————————————

    Yo.

    What calendar were you reading?? For sociology, you need at least a 65. And for criminology, you need at least a 70 average between 2.0 FCE in SOC and some other categories like ECO, PSY, and PHL.

    To be honest, with a 62 I don’t think you’ll be able to get into criminology unless you have a pretty fabulous grade in, say, ECO100Y, to boost your average. As much as criminology calls for just a 70, it’s a competitive program and you should at least try to get higher than that. As for sociology… I’d like to say that requirements are usually pretty rigid — so if you don’t meet the 65 they ask for, then you have to wait until you get the 65 they ask for. BUT, there’s always that “oh, just appeal to the department” option sooo.

    HOWEVER, sociology clearly states in the calendar that just having the asked for grade might not be enough, so don’t get your hopes too high.

    But yeah, I took SOC101Y myself many moons ago and bam, 67. Let me tell you what, I hated that class with the fire of a thousand burning suns. Power to you for getting through it and then deciding sociology is what you wanted to be in. 🙂

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • criminology,  keeners,  law school

    okay, ally mcmajor change

    July 16, 2010

    Dear Aska:
    I’m going into my third year, and I think the time for freaking out about grad school has finally arrived, so I have a question, albeit a rather ridiculous one. I’m currently doing a double major in criminology and psychology, and intend to go to law school, much like half of UofT. However, the international relations programme has always held a lot of interest for me, to the point where I want to switch over. Initially I was going to just demote my psych to a minor. However, I want to keep it as a second option for grad school in case my plan A doesn’t work. Now, to my question. I noticed that the requirements for the Crim major are 7 courses, which when one thinks about it, is much like the requirements for a minor programme in most other disciplines which require 4 credits (meaning around 6-8 classes since most are half classes). However, one can only specialize or major in Crim, not do a minor. Would it be possible, in any way, to convince someone, somewhere with some authority at UofT, that based on this logic, I could do 3 majors, even though one is very much like a minor?
    Also, in case your answer is a no, do you think it’s worth just saying to hell with it and only doing a minor in psych? I’ve come to understand that getting into any decent grad programmes without a research specialist is nearly impossible. I talked to the undergrad advisor but got a bunch of vague, neither yes nor no answers so I don’t want to base my decision on that, but at the same time I’d rather not waste my time if I can’t do anything with a psych major if it ever came to that.
    Thanks for your help, your input is MUCH appreciated as I feel you’re the only source for some straight answers at UofT!

    ———————————————

    Dear askareader,

    You are crazy. Seriously. You want to complete three majors – and you are going into your third year? What are you, a billionaire? Doogie Hauser? Some kind of wealthy forever student with so much time to kill?

    Since I can’t exactly go through the courses you’ve already taken on ROSI without knowing your student number, my recommendation is that you book an appointment with your college registrar, like immediately.

    Doing three majors in three years equals at least 21 mandatory credits. If you’re lucky, some of these classes (like crim and psych) might overlap. But your IR major sounds incredibly difficult to finagle, ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU ARE GOING INTO YOUR THIRD YEAR.

    Promise me that you will book an appointment your registrar to discuss course selection this year, tout suite. And remember my rule: there’s no need biting off more than you can chew if the steak’s fine all on its own. (Okay, that makes no sense.)

    The point is, consider ace-ing the programs you’re already in before committing to an entirely new one and trying to fit in all the additional credits you might need in there. Talk to your registrar and work it out. Your plan might not be impossible, just overly ambitious and ill-conceived.

    xoxo, Askastudent

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