• credits,  polisci,  transfer credits,  Transferring

    ur not special (said in solidarity)

    May 5, 2023

    Hi aska, I’m a transfer student from UTSC and I only took 4 credits thinking it was full time but apparently 5 credits is full time — im gonna take some courses for english and PoliSci in the summer (I took POL101 and 106 to make the FCE) so I can get into the Polisci post and get access to 200 level English courses. I’m planning to take summer courses for my whole 4 years — would it be possible for me to graduate in 4 years even with the transfer (and credits that are now just extra/breadth) and the only 80% courseload in year 1? Thanks!

    hi bestie,

    trying to graduate in 4 years after taking an 80% courseload in first year? sorry bro, but. you’re not special.

    You And Me Both Fake Laugh GIF by The Roku Channel

    i think you have a chance here, assuming i understand your situation right and haven’t lost my marbles yet. overall, you need to check off completion requirements in two areas to graduate: degree requirements, and program requirements. using degree explorer is a great way to check your current status on the requirements in both of these areas.

    Both Is Good The Road To El Dorado GIF

    technically, 4 credits per year is a full time course load, since 3 is the minimum to be a full time student according to the academic calendar. but, it’s true that it is recommended to take 5 credits per year to complete the minimum of 20.0 credits within 4 years. with that said, i know several people who take 4 credits during the school year and then take 1 credit during the summer to make up for it, adding up to 5 credits per year. depending on how many courses you take, it could be possible to complete 20 credits by your fourth year—during the summer, there is a max of 1 credit (2 courses) per term, so you could complete 2 credits through the 2 summer terms. if you do that each summer as you’re planning to, that would help a lot.

    meanwhile, you should also keep track of what courses you need to complete for your polisci program. here, i can’t give you specific advice since i don’t know what courses you’ve taken towards your degree.

    overall, it’s hard for me to say anything definite on your situation since your timeline here is a bit unclear and i’m not sure how many transfer credits you have. i would highly recommend that you visit your registrar to get a more specific answer, and spend some time mapping things out with them.

    Always Sunny Reaction GIF

    over and out,

    aska

     

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  • programs,  transfer credits

    give us priority enrolment!

    August 25, 2020

    hey! really appreciative of what you’re doing here 🙂 I’m a UTSG student and I need to take PHL281 (biothetics) as part of my program (health studies). But, no priority so the waitlist is super long (40% would need to drop lol). PHLB09 at UTSC shows up as transferable to 281 on transfer explorer, and it has lots of space and a great prof. does that mean I can take it and have it count towards my major reqs? i should email the dept, but I don’t know how to write that email/what to say :/

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    this is one of the most annoying things about course enrolment at u of t, tbh… i wish they’d provide priority enrolment for all program requirements. it makes things so hard when the school doesn’t give you priority for courses that you actually need in order to complete your degree.

    as far as i know, if PHLB09 at UTSC is transferrable to the PHL281 at UTSG, you should be able to take it. it might be even easier than normal this year, with hybrid/online classes. i agree that you should probably email the department and double-check. you can keep the message pretty brief. here’s a suggested email from me if you’re not sure what to say:

    “Hello (name of person),

    I’m emailing with a question about a Health Studies program requirement. My name is ______ and I’m a student in the Health Studies major. My student number is _______.

    I haven’t been able to get into PHL281 for this upcoming academic year, but according to Transfer Explorer, PHLB09 at UTSC has been accepted in the past as a transfer credit equivalent to PHL281. I’m wondering whether or not I’d be able to to take PHLB09 in place of PHL281 and have it fulfill the program requirement.

    Thank you for your time and I look forward to a response!”

    i’d also shoot a quick email to your registrar, just to check what else you need to do in order to take a UTSC course and have it count towards a UTSG degree. i’m not sure if this is a letter of permission situation or not, but there are likely other hoops you’ll need to jump through in order to be 100% certain you can get credit for the UTSC course. i think you’ll almost definitely need to interact with the transfer credit department at some point. your registrar will know what to do. don’t forget to include your student number in the email so that they’ll get back to you sooner!

    i hope this helped and good luck.

    be Boundless

    aska

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  • internal transfer,  transfer credits

    transfer explorer are u ok

    June 4, 2020

    Hi! I applied to transfer from UTM to UTSG for my second year and I just finished up my first year. I’ve been planning to do this since around the beginning of my time at UTM and so I planned my courses in a way that I knew they would transfer to UTSG. I made sure this was the case for ALL the courses I took. The problem is, checking on transferex now, it’s not showing some of the courses as transferrable to utsg even though it did at the beginning of the year. Do you know what this means?

    ——————————————
    hello hello,
    i don’t have a ton of experience with transfer explorer, and it’s a bit tough for me to check this over without any specific course codes. it does sound like you planned well ahead though, which makes this situation pretty strange.
    have you reached out to anyone about it? i know the transfer credit departments in general usually take a heckin’ ton of time to respond, but maybe an academic advisor at your registrar might know what’s happening. transfer explorer itself recommends that you speak with an academic advisor, so that’s probably your best course of action right now.
    sorry i can’t be more specific! i hope for your sake that it’s just an error, but i do know that on occasion, course equivalencies do change without warning. not to scare you without reason, or anything. don’t panic before you find out what’s going on!!
    be Boundless,
     aska
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  • other schools (boo!),  transfer credits,  Transferring

    we got ourselves a transfer!

    August 9, 2018

    Hi there! This September I will be entering my first year at York University (Biomed Student). However, UofT has always been my dream school and unfortunately, I didn’t make the cut for Life Sciences in Grade 12. I’ve been thinking of transferring to UofT SG in my 2nd year. I did my research online and it said I had to apply through OUAC 105D and pay a fee of $30. My problem is that I used Transferex and some of the courses I’m taking at York apply as half credit, no credit or aren’t courses at UofT SG at all. This concerns me because some people are telling me I might have to spend an extra year at university to complete these courses (a total of 5 years).

    Just wondering what I should do, thanks a bunch!!

    ———————————————

    hi!

    good job for doing your research! you have no idea how many vague and uninformed questions i get (hint: a lot).

    it’s possible that you will have to take more time to finish your degree if you transfer. though that is a bit of a bummer (especially if you were planning on finishing in four years), just remember that it’s totally fine (and normal!) to take more time! go at your own pace! if finishing in four years is super important to you, then that’s possible too. you may need to take summer courses and/or more than 5.0 credits one year (5 is the standard amount of credits that u of t students take, though it’s a lot!) to finish in four years. it’s doable, but may be a little difficult. but if it’s what you want, then i’d say go for it!

    have you looked at the programs available at u of t? i suggest that you take a look at the programs at u of t, find a few that interest you, and see what their entry requirements are. that way, you can see what if your york credits would transfer and fulfill the requirements of the program(s) you want to enter when you’re at u of t.

    i highly suggest that you go see some sorta academic adviser at york. they should be able to give you more information about transferring and help you with next steps. i can’t really point you in the right direction since i don’t know what resources are at york (this is askastudent u of t, not askastudent york!!!) but hopefully you figure it out.

    unsure kristen wiig GIF

    hope this helps!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • sociology,  transfer credits,  Transferring

    the long journey from western to u of t

    January 10, 2018

    Hi, I am currently a Western student that wants to transfer to U of T sg campus. I am a music student at Western but i am wanting to join arts and science sociology at u of t since I have decided to go to a different career path. The main reason for me to consider transferring is for prestige reasons since u of t’s reputation is very high globally. I have read most of u of t’s transfer section but still have some questions about the system. First of all how difficult, competitive is it to join arts and science dept at u of t as a transfer student? On the website it says that i need at least a ‘B’ average but I want to know if this is 100% true. Also since I decided to join the music dept, I do not think I have finished the six grade twelve courses at my high school (in BC). Is it still possible for me to even apply for transfer to u of t? If I am eligible for transfer, would you guys recommend for me to take some socio courses at Western before considering transfer? or would it be possible for me to just have the music course credits to transfer over and start fresh in socio at u of t if i do get in.

    ——————————————

    hi!

    first of all, let me apologize for this very very late response. this school year has been (for lack of a better term) kicking my ass so far. but i’m back now!

    i can’t really comment on how “competitive” admissions are (as i’ve stated time and time again, read my blog before you ask questions!) as that depends on every year’s roster of applications. if the website says a B average is usually what is required, i would trust that information.

    you should have finished six grade twelve courses, as that’s the minimum requirement for all ontario universities. and since you were at western, i’d assume that you had those credits.

    if you want to come to u of t as a transfer student, you’d want to check what transfer credits you’re eligible for. use the transfer explorer and input the courses that you’ve taken at western. it will generate a list of the equivalent u of t courses. according to the department of sociology’s website, you’ll need to have achieved a 65% (for the major program, which means you’d be taking 7 FCE (full credit equivalents) to complete) or an 80% (for the specialist program, which means you’d be taking 12 FCE) average in SOC101Y and at least 3 FCE (full credit equivalents) in other disciplines. they also have some other requirements that you can check out in more detail on their website.

    you may not have the courses or transfer credits needed in order to directly enroll in sociology right after your transfer. what you can do is to transfer to u of t, use your first year at u of t to take the required courses and pull up your GPA. then, in the summer between your first year at u of t and your second, apply for sociology. i know it might be frustrating to be unable to enter the program of your choice directly after transferring, but unfortunately, that may be your only option.

    again, i am so sorry for this extremely late response, i hope it was still helpful!

    harrison ford wink GIF by Star Wars

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • internal transfer,  transfer credits,  Transferring,  UTM

    adventure from utm to utsg

    November 20, 2017

    Hi!
    I’m currently a first year student at UTM and I was wondering if it’s possible for me to transfer to UTSG. I haven’t been able to find much information about this online. How competitive is it? If one of the required courses for the program I want to enroll in at UTSG isn’t offered at UTM what do I do? Can I do that course after I transfer?

    Thanks

    ——————————————

    hi!

    it is possible to transfer to UTSG. here is a link to the transfer page with all the information needed. just scroll down to where it says “transferring from another u of t faculty or campus”.

    unfortunately, i have no idea how “competitive” it is as it is dependent on each year’s roster of applicants. try getting in contact with enrolment services, who would have the most up-to-date and accurate information about other applicants and enrolment.

    if one of the required courses for the POSt that you want to enrol in at UTSG isn’t offered at UTM, you could check out the transfer explorer. some of the course codes may be different between campuses, so you may actually have the required courses. basically, type in the course code at UTM and it will show you what the equivalent course is at UTSG, if there is one. if there isn’t one, it will show you what you can get for it instead (for example, a breadth credit).

    if that doesn’t really work out and you still need to take the required course, you can definitely take it after you transfer.

    i hope this is helpful! good luck on your transferring adventure.

    excited the lord of the rings GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • transfer credits,  Transferring

    another coy transfer answer

    July 24, 2017

    If I get good grades in my second year though I have a really low first year GPA, would I be able to transfer to u of t? I’m a student at another uni. Or do I need high GPA’s for both my first and second year?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    i can’t really say for sure whether or not you’ll be able to transfer (aska makes no absolute guarantees, only educated guesses and estimations). logically, though, it would make sense that you’d have a better chance of getting in if you had a high CGPA (cumulative GPA).

    before you apply to transfer, you should also hit up the transfer explorer to see how many credits you can transfer over to u of t and what the equivalent courses are here.

    hope this helps! good luck.

    effects hqg hot damn GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • exchange,  transfer credits

    wan-der-lust

    April 12, 2017

    Hey aska:) When do people usually go on exchange? Is third or fourth year too busy for it? Oh and I have 5.5 transfer credits from Western last year, can I still get more credits from exchange?

    ———————————————

    hey,

    you can go on exchange whenever! there isn’t really a time that is better! third or fourth year won’t necessarily be too busy for exchange, it really depends on what works for you.

    the only condition about going on exchange in your fourth year is that you won’t be able to convocate in the same semester that you go abroad, you’d have to wait until the next semester because transfer credits will take a while to process and they might not process in time for convocation. it might be a deal breaker for some, but you’ll just need to convocate at a later date.

    in terms of credits, i contacted the people at the centre for international experience (a place you should definitely check out) and they said:

    “The Faculty has a residency requirement.  10.0 FCEs must be completed in the
    Faculty. Hence, a student can receive up to a maximum of 10.0 FCEs.  A
    student might have 10.0 FCE at the time of admission, hence, they will not be
    eligible to receive any post-admission transfer credits. The maximum
    post-admission transfer credits is 5.0 FCE (one year of study).  Without
    knowing who the student is, I am assuming based on the correspondence that
    the student received 5.5 on-admission from Western.  If this is the case,
    then the student can participate in the exchange program.  If they decide to
    participate for one term they can receive the full 2.5 FCEs.  No problem.  If
    the student decides to participate for two terms the maximum we can award
    back is 4.5 FCEs.”

    it’s a little confusing, but if you have any more questions, you should email the CIE or the transfer credit contact at the CIE directly!

    going to see your registrar is also a good idea because you can talk to them to see if going on exchange is right for you!

    hope this helped- have fun and be safe! here’s a cheesy tumblr post for ya

    peace and love,

    aska

     

     

     

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  • credits,  exchange,  french,  transfer credits

    je m’excuse, je ne parle pas le francais

    January 31, 2017

    heya aska. this is a question that is not u of t-specific necessarily, but i can’t seem to find the answer anywhere online, so thought i would ask here first before resorting to talking to whomever in whatever administrative position that would know. i completed the explore program in summer 2015 (at a u of t-approved university) but still haven’t transferred the credit (for ~complicated reasons~); i’m just wondering if anyone knows if it counts for 1.0 FCE or just 0.5. thanks !

    ———————————————

    hello,

    i contacted the french department’s study elsewhere coordinator (a lovely man named Paul) and he was very helpful in answering your question! i’ve paraphrased his words below:

    in short, all explore courses are worth 1.0 FCE, but there are other steps you need to take to ensure you receive the transfer credit.

    1. you need to go to the transfer credit office at sidney smith hall (100 st. george street) and fill out a transfer credit application
    2. then, arrange to have your Explore course transcript sent to the transfer credit office at sid smith
    3. after that, contact french.secretary(at)utoronto.ca to book a french placement test
    4. after the test, forward the results to the transfer credit office

    our friend Paul also included the following note: “if you have already taken an FSL course at U of T, the placement test result must show that your level has increased by the one full course in order to be eligible to receive a transfer credit”.

    hope this helps!

    bonne chance!

    paix et amour,

    aska

     

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  • americans,  gap year,  other schools (boo!),  transfer credits,  Transferring,  UTM

    inauguration day/ come back home

    January 20, 2017

    Hi!

    I completed my first year at UTM in the 2015-16 school year, in good academic standing. I had to move at the end of my first year to the U.S., and so transferred to an American University. Turns out I may be returning around Fall 2017, though! So, my question is, would my one year off just count as a gap year? Would I be able to transfer my American credits back to UTM? I checked transfer explorer, and it doesn’t even recognize my American Uni’s name, lol, so I don’t have much context for my courses.

    I hope you can maybe provide some insight here? Has this happened before?

    Any light you can shed on the situation would be greatly helpful!

    Thanks!!

    Sincerely,

    An unintentional and unwilling exchange student who regrets moving

    ———————————————

    sup,

     

    welcome back, maybe!

    there isn’t really an official term that designates a ‘gap year’ at UTM, but basically if you’ve been gone for 12 consecutive months, you’ll have to reactivate your student record.

    you can do that by going online at this link if you’ve been away for 12 consecutive months. once you reactivate, you need to make sure you pay tuition with 12 months or else your reactivation will expire.

    in terms of your transfer credits, i’m not exactly sure why your university doesn’t show up, but you’ll be applying for a slightly different kind of transfer credit: a post-admission transfer credit.

    a combination of these two actions should get you back on the right track, however, it would be best to contact your registrar at UTM to make sure you’ve done everything correctly and to confirm that you have indeed reactivated your student record.

    hope this works, and hey, you’ve picked a good time to move back to canada!

    peace and love and hope for america,

    aska

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  • applying for U of T,  grades,  other schools (boo!),  transfer credits,  Transferring

    final destination

    January 18, 2017

    For undergrad, can someone do two years at York then transfer to UofT for the last two years? Is this difficult to do? Honestly thinking of doing this as I really want to go to UofT but I’m an international student and cannot afford 40k tuition each year for four years.

    ———————————————

    hey,

    it is definitely possible to transfer to U of T from york but it’s a whole process. not a terrible process, but a process nonetheless.

    first, you need to be in pretty good academic standing, and by pretty good, i mean a solid B average. if the program you are trying to enter is more competitive, you might need to contact the department for a more accurate average.

    second, you can’t apply if you are more than 2 years into a degree, meaning if you were to transfer into the same program after 3 years of york, you wouldn’t be able to, you’d have to apply for a different program.

    third, you have to meet all the high school entry requirements as well as university requirements for your program.

    the application process will be through OUAC105 since you won’t be applying as a high school student, and after you are admitted, you will need to have your transfer credits assessed by U of T. the university can grant you a maximum of 5 transfer credits (1 full year).

    the whole transfer process is outlined nicely at this link, so take a look!

    basically, it’s not that difficult if you meet all the requirements and are in good academic standing. however, all things considered, transferring to another university is a huge change and you might want to think about whether or not you want to leave your already established group of friends and community.

    hope you make the right decision!

    peace and love,

    aska

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  • arts & sciences,  friends,  getting involved,  internal transfer,  transfer credits,  Transferring,  UTM

    honk

    January 6, 2017

    Hi

    Do you think it is easier to form a community and actually have a group of freinds much easier at Mississuaga than t St. George?

    While transferring from St George to Mississauga, if I have five credits, will all my five credits be transferred?

    Thank you very much.

    ———————————————

    hi,

    wow, another subjective question! i wish i could just say something along the lines of “put on a canada goose jacket, walk 20 steps northwest of convocation hall, do your best goose call and wait for your new friends to flock over” but unfortunately life does not work in such wonderful ways.

    regarding friends and communities: i can’t speak for utm since i’ve spent my whole undergrad at utsg, but it really doesn’t matter which campus you’re a part of, it’s all about you. i know that seems really deep but it’s actually quite simple.

    friends are easy to make if you make yourself available and keep an open mind. if you’re rude and distant to people, chances are, you won’t make very many friends. when we were younger, we were taught not to talk to strangers. i’d say now that we’re in university, talking to strangers is the only way to go about making friends. you won’t be the only one at either utm or utsg looking to make a friend. during a break in class, maybe strike up a conversation with someone who looks approachable. small talk does suck, but at least after that, you’ll know one person in your class! the easiest way to start a conversation, i find, is giving someone a compliment. i’m not saying that you should say “omg you’re so hot” to that guy who should be pursuing a modelling career instead of being in your class, but something simple like: “nice pencil case!” can be good. if they seem reluctant to continue the conversation, just move on to another person! easy as that!

    profs will sometimes even force you to talk to the person seated beside you in class. this is usually just so you can have a buddy in class to catch you up if you miss a class, but that’s also a way to meet people!

    aska story time: i once made a friend in class because she said “i like your superman shirt!” and then “i like your hair!” and then “i like you!” to me. it was a bit much, but we’re friends now and that’s all that matters.

    if all else fails, please try the goose call method and let me know what happens.

    in terms of being part of a community, we all have different definitions of communities. communities can close-knit and not so close-knit (? can’t think of a better word). joining a club or being part of a residence can automatically make you belong to a community, but it all depends on you and your willingness to participate and be involved. find a club from the ulife list of something you’re interested in. attend a meeting or an event. if you like it, continue showing up and see what happens! the more involved you are, the more close you’ll be with others in a community!

    if you’re transferring from UTSG’s faculty of arts and science to UTM, according to this link all your credits will be retained unless you’re other undergraduate divisions like applied science and engineering, music, physical education and health, or architecture. if your program is outside of the faculty of arts and sciences, you will have to apply for a transfer credit assessment.

    hope this helped! like i’ve said in the past, if you don’t make any friends, a crisp $20 bill will buy you 1 hour of friendship with askastudent.

    honk honk,

    aska

     

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  • applying for U of T,  arts & sciences,  math,  other schools (boo!),  prereqs,  PUMP,  transfer credits

    transferring + that calculus requirement

    December 9, 2016

    Hey Aska, I had a question regarding the calculus requirement for Life
    Science programs. I haven’t took high school calculus, and am moving soon
    and want to transfer to U of T. I am currently taking a first year math
    course here at York.  The U of T website says “A suitable community college
    or university course in calculus” counts,  but I’m not sure if the course
    I’m taking, “Mathematics for the Life and Social Sciences” will count since
    it’s not strictly calculus  (though it covers Biocalculus for at least 85%
    of the course.) please let me know if I can fulfill the requirement with
    the course I’m taking (and if so, what mark is satisfactory, since I don’t
    think I can pull off an A atm). If I can’t fulfill the requirement I’ll
    just take PUMP or night school.

    Thank you Aska, I appreciate your help!!

    ———————————————

    hello,

    so U of T has a great resource called ‘transfer explorer’ where you can plunk in a course taken at another institution (in your case, york) to see what its U of T equivalent would be. when you put in  ‘MATH1505: mathematics for the life and social sciences’ in transfer explorer, it states that the equivalent (last assessed in 2014) is U of T’s JMB170.

    the course description of JMB170, doesn’t give me the impression that it is a calculus course. i’m not sure what life science program you’re trying to get into, but from my point of view, MATH1505 doesn’t seem like it would carry over and be considered as a valid calculus course.

    just out of curiosity, i took a quick look at the department of psychology’s calc requirement and couldn’t find anything that would include JMB170. if i’m not mistaken, calculus courses at U of T generally have MAT course codes. my recommendation for you would be to contact your chosen life science program directly.

    contacting the faculty of arts and science may also be able to help you with this issue, since they are the ones who decide ultimately which courses transfer over.

    if worse comes to worse, PUMP is definitely a good option. you’ve done your research!

    good luck with everything and i hope you have a smooth transfer process!

    peace and love,

    aska

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