• fees,  first year,  money,  new kids,  textbooks

    Read it and weep.

    August 11, 2009

    Hi,

    I’m doing a budget for the coming school year (aka figuring out how much money I can spend on Thai takeout/going to shows/clothes/other fun stuff whilst still having enough to feed myself) and have general figures for all my expenses except books. Could you give me a ball-park estimate of what a first-year Humanities student should expect to spend on books? I’m taking an economics course, a german course, and three social sciences courses, if that helps.

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    Before I answer your question, I want to say that… in the first week of class you will receive a course syllabus from your Prof. This will list the exact required readings for the course, and where you can pick them up – officially. Generally, it is not a good idea to buy your books before attending your first class. It’s common for students to switch up courses in the first week. You don’t want to have spent a billion dollars on books for courses that you ain’t takin’. Then again, you could avoid bookstore lineups by going early for courses that you know you MUST take.

    But for now, for you… an estimate of book costs… yes. Let’s get down to business.

    There are two ways to answer your question:

    The standard response is… one thousand dollars. This is a very rough estimation, based on an equally approximate average of $200 per full course, or $100 per half course. Again, this is rough math (the only kind a humanities student like you really knows). Also, Humanities course books will certainly be cheaper than Science courses, namely because there are no goggles or lab coat required to read Shakespeare. What I am basing these numbers on? The word of a financial aid advisor, costs of books at the U of T bookstore, personal experience, and the positioning of the moon in the seventh house.

    If you want a more accurate estimate of your course book costs, you can try to find out the prices for each course. I did some investigative work based on what you said you’re taking.

    ECO100Y: Intro to Economics: for the Summer offering of this course, the U of T bookstore sold the course pack for $145.50.

    GER100Y: Intro to German I: the German Department actually publishes its 2009-10 course syllabi online (amazing). The required textbook is listed there, and costs $45 on amazon.com. If it is sold at the Bookstore it will cost more. I promise.

    POL103Y: Canada in Comparative Perspective: the Bookstore sold this book for $100 for the Summer offering of the course. Amazon.com is selling it for $95. Wooo. There is also a course reader (a bound collection of journal articles) that is required and typically costs around $100.

    POL108Y1: Global Networks: last year’s course had three required readings that are available at the U of T Women’s Bookstore (where all the cool books are). Online they cost $10 + $10 + $15. Weekly readings are actually posted (for free) on the course website. Double wooo.

    SOC101Y: Intro to Sociology: Prof. Brym actually designated a series of his OWN books as required readings. This is a moderately irritating cash grab, but then again, if you ain’t a Rotman Prof you ain’t exactly ballin’. The costs on the publisher’s website are: $104 + $60 + $23 = $187. You also need to buy an “iClicker” from the Bookstore for $35 – which is all the rage in Con Hall these days.

    Okay! I’m exhausted. The point in doing all of this research is less about giving you exact monetary sums, and more about showing you the different ways of finding out what + how much your books are. Got it Watson?

    Now, that was an “official” response to the issue of buying books… but the starving student response is… considerably cheaper. Below is a list of alternative methods/tips for getting your course books without succumbing to the inflated prices of the man.

    a) Check out the library system: U of T’s library collection is friggin huge (the plus side of being at a massive university). Depending on how large your course is and how frequently the readings are required, you may be able to get by signing them out. Typically, Profs will put a few copies of a course reader in the “course reserves” section of the library. This limits your sign-out period to a day or two, or maybe the books can’t leave library. You can photocopy select readings from these if you want too.

    b) Differentiate between required and recommended readings: when you’re poor… the word “recommended” takes on a new meaning – if you catch my drift. Usually these books are only useful if you are totally struggling, you are an ultra-keener, or for when you are writing essays.

    c) Locate second hand bookstores. There is one across from the bookstore on College St. They have new and used books, and they are cheaper. Just find out if the editions are the same (they change very minimally every other year or so… just to milk us for more money). The Prof will tell you if an older edition will suffice.

    d) Buy books directly from students who have taken the course last year. You will often find advertisements in res bulletin boards. Check these out even if you don’t live there.

    e) As suggested before, ordering from amazon.com, or directly from the publisher may be cheaper… depending on the shipping cost.

    f) This may or may not be illegal… buuuut you can possibly photocopy a library’s copy of the entire textbook. Here’s what you do: get your hands on a copy of the textbook from the library, gather up a bunch of friends/acquaintances in your course, take the book to a local copy centre (the less mainstream, the better), and order as many copies as required. Why is this awesome? It’s waaay cheaper. Your fellow copyright infringers and you will become instant fugitives… I mean friends. And your version will come in a coiled binding that you won’t feel bad about defacing with highlighting and scribbles.

    If I had even half of a moral in my body I would NOT suggest this on a University-sponsored forum, like askastudent. Lucky for you I don’t. So do it, but don’t go telling people I told you to. Do we understand each other?! I thought so.

    The flipside to buying cheap books is selling old books. Post ads in residences or sell them back to the bookstore. This is actually quite a viable option. Apparently you can get back up to 50% of the original cost.

    Will all the money that you save on books might I suggest spending it this way….

    Indian takeout from Banjara

    Muchos nachos at the Green Room (beware of funky draught beer)

    Performances by the Drama Program at the Helen Garpheghasdfhgeklfns Playhouse

    Streetcar + ferry ride + bike rental + picnic on Toronto Island

    Get fancy and have one drink at Panorama (a better view than the CN tower will offer… because you can actually see the CN tower)

    Classic/Alternative/Delayed movies at the Bloor Cinema (get a membership)

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  • deferral,  fees,  important dates,  OSAP,  registration

    Waiving to REG.

    July 29, 2009

    Please help! This year’s OSAP deferral date is August 19th; Since I will be out of province until September 1st, I cannot go into the admin and awards office to officially defer me OSAP fees.

    I’ve emailed the OSAP staff at admin and awards several times in the last month with no response!

    Do you know of any options to defer my fees without having to fly back to Toronto?

    Thank you so much.

     

    First, a lesson: emailing or calling Admissions & Awards is futile, my friend. Don’t hold your breath waiting for a response. You really can’t hold it against them either – they are insanely busy at this time of year. One’s best bet is to go there in person. But that advice doesn’t do you a lot of good, does it?

     

    I hope you didn’t try too hard, because they won’t be able to defer your fees anyway.

     

    For those of you who don’t understand… deferring your fees is like waiving the fee payment deadline (19 August). Well, it’s not “like” that – it is that. You are registered in your courses, without having paid the minimum installment, under the assumption that you will pay your fees whenever your OSAP money gets dumped into your personal bank account. Which, by the way, is one of the greatest feelings on Earth – a fleeting reprieve from the weight of student poverty.

     

    But don’t get too excited, you will have to pay your outstanding tuition balance eventually (before you can pay for NEXT year’s fees). 1.5% monthly interest will also start to pile up beginning on 15 November.

     

    There are two methods for deferring your fees. One, a laborious and traditional approach that forces interaction with your Registrarial staff. The other, a brand new and slick approach that requires the most minimal of energy inputs (the rest of your energy being spent lugging around the Calendar and Timetable, and tweeting).

     

    Sounds nice, right? The institution is actually enabling our generation’s chronic laziness (…it’s sooo not our fault).

    What is this new fangled fee deferral method, you ask?!

     

    Beginning in the middle of the first week of August, an option will appear on the ROSI main page (near the bottom) that links you to a fee deferral request. Just follow the subsequent steps, and – if you have applied for OSAP and are eligible for some kind of funding – then you will soon be registered in your courses automatically. If you get an error message along the way, that’s either because you are ineligible, you’re not doing it correctly, or (more likely, in my opinion) the system is malfunctioning.

     

    If everything seems to run smoothly, then periodically consult your “registration status” (indicated below your Personal Timetable on ROSI). It will change from INVIT to REG. REG is good. You want to see REG. Reg is your real friend. Invit is just a flake who will leave you… on August 20… taking all your courses with him.

    If you can’t defeat some sort of error message on ROSI then resort to the old-school fee deferral method:

     

    Locate your Notice of Assessment (or print the screen that shows your name and the chart with your funding breakdown). Bring it to your Registrar’s Office. Fill out a Fee Deferral Request form, and you’re done. If you can’t be bothered to come downtown (cause you’re a lazy generation Y member – or you live in Wawa), then fax/email a scan of your Notice of Assessment to your Registrar’s Office and follow up with an email with explicit instructions to defer your fees. It can’t hurt to call them to make sure they received it, but give them a little time first, k?

     

    Do these options make sense? Good. Have fun “outside of the province” – unless you’re in Alberta.

    Then I’ll just offer you my condolences.

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  • fees

    go get’em!

    December 19, 2008

    hey I’m transferring out and need to know if it’s possible to get money back for the various fees which covered the whole year.? I’ve dropped all my registered classes and got a cheque back for tuition, but how about the other fees?

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  • auditing,  fees,  part-time

    I’ll take Boring for 2000, Alex.

    August 12, 2008

    I’ve decided to take a stab at completing a course at U of T.? I am planning to come in to pay the re-registration fee and get all set up to begin.? Since I’ve attended the University before, I have a general idea of what to expect, but I’ve been a little overwhelmed with the amount of information I need to know before I even attend my first day of class!!

    I will choose a course that I don’t think will be overly impossible and one which I am interested in: MAT135Y1Y.? I know calculus might not be the first choice on everyone’s list, but I’d put some thought into it, and I’ve decided this will be the course I’m willing to start with.

    If I am only taking one course, which things will not be available to me as a part time student that I should know about?? (For example, it’s good to know that as a part time student, my OSAP payments will still have to be made and I will still accrue interest, as opposed to if I were a full time student — I know that is a financial aid question which is not dealt with by you so much, but I think you understand what I mean by part time vs. full time now.)? Another example:? full time students have free access to the athletic centre with their T-card.? Will I get free access as a part time student?

    I’ve been told to get a move-on in registering since courses are filling up fast. I’d like to take an evening section.? I’d like to get an email response from you, at least, before I jump into this again.? I’d like to be at least a little reassured or prepared.? Do evening sections fill up within a day’s difference?

    What’s the ‘catch’ with taking a first year seminar — I remember there being one. Is it that it doesn’t count toward my GPA, or is it that it doesn’t count toward my distribution to complete the BSc degree?

    It doesn’t cost anything to register as a visitor, right? As a visitor, I won’t have to pay, and I won’t get a credit, but what WILL I have access to?? ROSI? SWS? Tutorial sections? Free tutoring?

    ?

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