Hi there!

I’m currently a first year architecture student at the University of Auckland in New Zealand and am thinking of applying for an exchange at UofT next year. Unfortunately I have been ripping my hair out for the past month trying to figure out how courses and things work over there… if it’s not too much of a bother, would you mind answering a few questions please? How many FCEs do you have to gain/complete in a session? What are the core courses for second and third year students? I have looked at the Daniel’s website (many times) but I’m still a bit confused, the core courses courses currently listed under their Bachelor of Arts majoring in Architecture tag and the courses listed in their time table don’t seem to match up. Is their an academic calendar of some sort for the Daniel’s faculty?

Thanks so much 🙂

———————————————

Hey there, future Torontoian!

Indeed, U of T’s department websites can be a bit daunting and confusing at times, but that’s why you have aska, so there’s no need for ripping out your hair anymore! 🙂

U of T’s academic year is divided into two sessions: the fall session lasting from September to December, and the winter session, lasting from January to April. According to the Centre for International Experience, if you choose to study in lovely Toronto for an entire year, you’ll need to take between 3.0 and 5.0 FCEs. If you come for only one semester, however, you’ll be taking between 1.5 and 2.5 FCEs and will only be able to take the courses available during the term you’re studying here.

Luckily for you, a good number of the second-year courses from the Architectural Studies program have no perquisites. ARC213H1 Architectural Design I and ARC221H1 Architectural Representation I, on the other hand, do require enrollment in U of T’s Architecture program. I suppose you can deem these two the core courses as without them, you’ll be limited to the second-year courses that lack perquisites. But since your program at the University of Auckland is the same as what you want to take here, you can probably work something out to get into the courses with restrictions by talking to either Barbara Muniz, the Exchange Officer for Inbound Students, or the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design directly.

For now, you can refer to the Faculty of Arts and Science calendar to see the courses that they recommend second-year students take. Unfortunately, the Architecture Studies program is in a transitional state at the moment, moving from the Faculty of Arts and Science and to its own personal Faculty, so the website may be a bit wonky right now.

I know the process does seem quite troublesome, but don’t let the currently messy faculty website deter you from any future adventures at the University of Toronto. We have a beautiful campus, a multicultural and diverse city, and, most importantly, Tim Horton’s, the world’s greatest coffee shop, so you definitely won’t regret studying here.

cozy in canada,

aska