non degree - askastudent

GPA, grad school, non degree

pls guys only i’m allowed to not make sense

May 14, 2024

If I get my four bachelors degree’s ECA from university of Toronto, can I upgrade my CGPA
Which help me for further university education

hey there,

sorry, but this wording is confusing me. “four bachelors degree’s ECA”?

i don’t know if i’m having a stroke or i’m just reading this wrong, but my brain is deteriiooioutaing i can hear it.

i’m gonna try to untangle this question. so, the educational credential assessment (ECA) from u of t is an academic credential evaluation service used for things like immigration or employment purposes, getting your visa, licensure, etc. you can learn more about that here.

the bachelor’s degree at u of t is something entirely separate. from what you said, it seems like you’ve completed your bachelor’s degree, possibly even four bachelors degrees like this guy. if so, you scare me and i hope my mom never meets you.

if you have already graduated as an undergrad from u of t, there are certainly ways that you can raise your CGPA to help you apply for further university education. the main way that people do this is take courses as a non-degree student. basically, non-degree studies allow you to take courses that will upgrade your university record, which will help you qualify for grad school.

if you want to saunter down that road at u of t, you’ll need to contact your former college/faculty registrar’s office to ask whether you’re eligible to re-register or if you need to re-apply through ouac. admission consideration for non-degree students will be based on your academic record from both high school and undergrad, as well as your english proficiency, if required.

*10 minutes later*

WAIT. i was just about to post this, but i think i figured out where you’re coming from. you took your undergrad degree somewhere else and are taking your ECA to verify your degree is valid and equal to a canadian one?! and now you want to upgrade your gpa at u of t? did i get it?

option 1: (*you shake your head no. i’m crazy*)

option 2: (*you are shocked. the rumors are true, aska is indeed a psychic*)

in this case, you can still apply to u of t as a non-degree student. students who have completed their degree at another university/college have to apply through ouac using the non-degree application. just make sure to review important dates and deadlines to make sure you complete all your required documentation. once you’ve submitted your application, you’ll be granted access to the join u of t portal, where you can submit more supporting documents and check your application status.

some things to note: once you’re admitted, you can enrol in courses depending on course prerequisites and available space. you can prepare by review which courses interest you and what their prerequisites are, by looking on the academic calendar. i also highly recommend using timetable builder to look at course schedules and space available.

anyways, i hope one of these answers answered your question.

over and out,

aska

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GPA, non degree

so you wanna increase your GPA

February 14, 2024

Hi, I have graduated from Syria and moved to Canada, I would like to so an MBA and I match all the criteria but my GPA is low due to the war situation in Syria, I’m wondering if you know how can I increase my GPA with some programs at UFT so I can get an acceptance for MPA?

hey there,

so you wanna increase your gpa! ok, so the main way that people increase their gpa for grad school is to take courses as a non-degree student.

to do this, you can apply to u of t as a non-degree student through ouac. in terms of admissions, they consider you based on your entire post-secondary academic record and your most recent annual gpa. and once you get in, you would be able to take arts, science, or commerce/management degree credit courses, either in-person or online!

in terms of getting an MBA (master of business administration), i’m not sure if you want to apply to u of t or another school? but i can give you a link for a page about the requirements at u of t.

here, it outlines several requirements about grades, work experience, english proficiency, and the like. for example, you need a final year average of at least mid-B from a recognized university, and a minimum gpa of 3.0 in the final year of your bachelor’s degree.

it also might be useful for you to look into this page about international degree equivalencies, as well as this transcript guide for the MBA at u of t.

that might be a lot of stuff, but it is also stuff for later!

so i would first focus on getting your gpa up. idk why i’m looking so far ahead, someone stop me.

but anyways, if you had more specific questions about getting in as a non-degree student, you can get in touch with enrolment services. and if you want more resources, here is a page about applying in general, and here is woodsworth college’s really great guide to being a non-degree student.

i hope this helps, good luck with everything. and happy valentine’s day! i might have no plans, but i do have a sweet date with a midterm pretty soon! life is so fun.

over and out,

aska

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GPA, grades, non degree

back to school you go?

April 29, 2020
Hey Aska, so I am thinking about the possibility of upgrading my GPA as a non-degree student. Since I didn’t think my GPA for my last two years was competitive (mid B range), I decided to take a year off to work, but now that I’ve lost that job opportunity due to Covid-19, I considered doing 2 or 3 courses at UTM. The problem is even with getting a 4.0 in those 2-3 courses, the most my GPA for the last two years will increase too is a high B+. I’ve been debating if the money & time is worth it.

——————————————

hey there,

hope you’re holding up all right and sorry about your job! i know these are tough times all around.

even under normal circumstances, it sucks to have plans upended. i hope that other, even better opportunities are in your future and that you have enough to stay on your feet right now.

anyhow, if you’re asking me whether or not i think it’s worth it for you to go back to school to raise your gpa, well… that depends, doesn’t it? if you’re not going to use your GPA for anything (ie. grad school or something else??) then i’d say the answer is probably no.

sometimes people go back to school to work on their GPA just cause it bothers them so much, or because they’re worried about how their GPA will look on a resume. which, if it’s the latter, i wouldn’t worry… i’ve been told by a peer career advisor that it doesn’t even really matter whether or not your GPA is on a resume, in terms of employment. and if it’s the former reason… i dunno. i just don’t think it’s worth the resources, yknow?

anyway, you didn’t specify what your motivation was, but my guess is that it’s neither of those (included them to cover my bases in case i’m wrong lol). i think you were intending on going to grad school, given that you mentioned you took “a year off” to work. a year off from education, i’m presuming?

if i am indeed the ultimate detective slash genius that i think i am, and you are indeed thinking of doing this for grad school purposes, here are a few things i think you should note as you weigh your decision:

grad schools will be able to see that you raised your GPA by completing courses as a non-degree student, and will take this into account

like you mentioned, doing well in two or three courses won’t work miracles for a GPA that took several years to take shape.

it would be best if you check in with the grad school programs you’re considering and see how they feel about this avenue of GPA-raising, as well as whether they think it would be a good idea / give you an edge / detract from the way they consider your GPA. it’s hard for me to speak for them, given i have literally zero experience in grad school admissions.

it might be useful to contact your registrar and see what they think, as well. if you graduated recently, they should still have your info on file and may be able to provide guidance as to whether or not taking more courses is worth it.

also, just so you know, online school (so far) has actually really sucked. that might be useful to take into account if you’re planning to complete those two or three courses this summer. it’s hard to focus on your schoolwork when you’re staring at a screen for so long, many profs have no frickin’ clue what they’re doing, some online exams are truly designed to screw you over… man. if i could dodge online school without interfering so much with these glorious (read: so terribly mundane) plans i have for my life, i would.

anyway, ball’s in your court. good luck making the decision.

be Boundless,

aska
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non degree

strong mathematical background lol

February 6, 2020

Hi,

I have a four year undergraduate degree in Economics and Finance from the Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan. I have developed an interest in quantitative/mathematical finance and would like to pursue a masters program from either the UofT or any other university.

The masters program in the aforementioned fields expects applicants to have a very strong mathematical background. Unfortunately, my degree, although somewhat quantitative in nature, isn’t too quantitative and I won’t be eligible to apply for the masters program right now. Therefore, I was wondering if there is a possibility to take the following undergraduate courses in math at UofT as a *non degree applicant* and get credit for the courses so that I can apply both at UofT and other places.

1. Multivariable Calculus (MAT237) (also Calculus 1 and 2 if need be)
2. Ordinary Differential Equations
3. Partial Differential Equations
4. Linear Algebra I and II
5. Algebra I and II
6. Real Analysis
7. Probability and Statistics I and II
8. Computer Programming (R or Python or C++)

I am looking for answers to the following questions:
1. Is it possible to take the aforementioned undergraduate courses in math at UofT as a non degree applicant and get credit for the courses?
2. Is there a specific person/department at UofT whom I should directly reach out to? There isn’t much information related to non-degree students on the website so I would want to talk to someone to know more.
3. Where can I find course level fee information? For example, what would it cost to take a course in Ordinary Differential Equations.

4. Is there a webpage/link that explains the process to apply as a non degree student to undergraduate courses?

——————————————

hey friendo,

undergrad in econ and finance. that’s cool, you’re more accomplished than i am.

first thought in my mind was that that’s an awful lot of courses to be taking as a non-degree. i feel like you should get in touch with the admissions office(s) offering the program you’re interested in, and just make sure that none of the credits you already have will work in place of these requirements. there’s a possibility they may be able to make exceptions, as well– i can’t guarantee it, but it might be worth looking into before you drop a hefty sum of money on these classes.

anyway, because i’m a chronic overachiever, here’s the most thorough rundown you’re probably gonna get of each course you asked about.

1. multivariable calculus: MAT237Y1

you were correct that this will require as prerequisites calculus 1 (MAT135) AND calculus 2 (MAT136), which are both half-year courses. in lieu of those two, you can take MAT137 which seems to be pretty much equivalent and is a full-year course. there are a few other alternatives, as well as grade thresholds to meet, which you can look into here.
2. ordinary differential equations (MAT244)

this is just the intro course, and if you get the prereqs that i listed above for multivariable calculus you should have what you need to take this course, too. the advanced course is MAT267, if you find you need it too.

3. partial differential equations (MAT351 or APM346)

to take MAT351, you’ll need an 85% in MAT237 and MAT267. APM346 might be a bit more flexible in terms of prereqs– you’ll be able to get in with just MAT237, it seems, which you’ll be taking anyway. the two courses are basically equivalent, and i’m not aware of any major differences.

4. linear algebra i (MAT223) and ii (MAT224)

all you need is high school-level calculus to get into MAT223, and once you’ve got MAT223 solidly under your belt, MAT224 should let ya in no problem.

5. algebra i (MAT240) and ii (MAT247)

high school calc will get ya in to MAT240, which in turn will make you eligible to take MAT247.

6. real analysis (MAT337)

you have a lot of options in terms of prereqs for this one– i’d suggest taking a look at yourself. slashes are like ‘or,’ and commas stand in for ‘and.’ in short, you’ll need as prereqs at least 3 different classes, which i think will be met if you take some of the other classes you say you need.

7. probability and statistics I (STA257) and II (STA261)

if you take MAT135 and 136 and get at least a 70% in both, or take MAT137 in general, you’ll have prereqs for STA257. STA 257 should serve as a prereq for STA261.

8. computer programming (R or Python or C++)

i think CSC108 may be what you’re looking for?

as for your other questions:

is it possible to take the aforementioned undergraduate courses in math at u of t as a non degree applicant and get credit for the courses?

i believe so. i’d contact the relevant departments– math, statistics, and compsci— just to confirm. as a non-degree student, you’d have a later enrolment date than degree students as most of these courses prioritize students working towards a program.

is there a specific person/department at u of t whom i should directly reach out to? there isn’t much information related to non-degree students on the website so i would want to talk to someone to know more.

you can reach out to enrolment services, or perhaps the woodsworth college registrar? to my knowledge, non-degree students are typically issued to woodsworth, so if any registrar would be useful to talk to my guess would be them.

sorry, i dunno why this gif is so threatening.

where can i find course level fee information? for example, what would it cost to take a course in ordinary differential equations.

this link will give you a rundown of your fees– above 3.5 FCEs in the fall/winter session, you’ll be paying program fees. below that, you’ll pay per course. just click on the ‘non-degree’ option on the first page and the document should redirect you to the relevant fees. i’m making the assumption that you’re an international student– if you’re not, this document should help you out.

4. Is there a webpage/link that explains the process to apply as a non degree student to undergraduate courses?

you can check out this link— just ctrl f non degree– or have a look at woodsworth college’s guide to being a non-degree student. the woodsworth one provides what is probably the most detailed info on non-degree students that i’ve found at u of t, and i would definitely, definitely encourage you to have a look at it.

hope all of this helped! i’m tired now, and it’s snowing, and all i want to do is take a nap. closing this post off with this rad but super unrelated gif i found while browsing for other ones to spice up this post. it’s so fluid. look at him goooo

be Boundless,

aska

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non degree, nursing

rare species spotted: a nursing student

January 30, 2020
Hi!
I recently graduated from a BScN nursing program in 2019, and am now interested in enrolling in non-degree courses to boost my GPA for graduate applications, including medicine. I am a little confused as to what courses I can enrol in as a graduated nursing student – considering the prerequisite courses that I have, will there be nursing/public health courses I can apply to? Is that all I can apply to or are there general electives that are also available with a nursing background? Do I need to apply to a certain campus – UTM or UTSC?

Thank you!

——————————————

hey there,

i didn’t realize how very, woefully little there is on the internet about non-degree u of t students until you posed this question. let’s start with what i don’t know:

i don’t know what the potential is that you’ll be able to take nursing courses. nothing on non-degree students is listed on the bloomberg school of nursing’s website, and you may need to contact their admissions office to find out. there is a possibility you can take courses in their division. i just can’t tell you for certain.

i also don’t know if there are public health courses you’ll have access to– the dalla lana school of public health only seems to offer courses at the master’s level and higher. my instinct says these probably will not be open to you???? and either way if you’re tryina boost your gpa i can’t see why you would want to be taking such advanced courses.

this is what i know: you should be able to take general electives as a non-degree student, regardless of your background. typically non-degree students are admitted into the faculty of arts and sciences, and have access to a heckin’ ton of courses, with a few exceptions that i’ll detail below. i would check this over if it turns out the bloomberg school is willing to let you in as a non-degree– i don’t know if there would be limitations on you taking artsci courses (???) but i feel like this school is generally quite flexible in terms of letting people take courses outside their division.

anyway, these will be your main barriers to doing whatever the heck you want as a non-degree:
- you’ll be subjected to later course enrolment than degree students. for fall/winter 2020-2021 enrolment, this will look like needing to wait until august 7, whereas degree students will be able to enrol anytime from july 8 to 29.
- you’ll be barred from taking certain courses, if they’re designed with restrictions (ie. if only people enrolled in the program can take them)
- if the courses you want to take have prerequisites, coreqs, or exclusions, you’ll need to show your transcript to the department that offers that course and prove to them you meet those requirements. don’t wait until classes begin to do this — they might automatically remove you from the course, which i can’t imagine would be a fun surprise.
here are some things i don’t think you’ll need to worry about:
- you won’t be able to take any rotman or business courses as a non-degree student, though i can’t imagine that you would want to given your stated interests
- as for applying to a certain campus, i don’t think you really need to take that too much into consideration. st george is the only campus with a nursing school, but if you contact bloomberg and they say you’re not going to be let in as a non-degree, you should be able to study as a non-degree student at both utm and utsc if for any reason you prefer one of those campuses.
a final note: woodsworth college has done a quick drop-down guide to being a non-degree student, which you might find useful. linked here if you want to check it out.

hope this was helpful and all the best with your ventures into non-degree studies!

be Boundless,

aska
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computer science, grad school, non degree

compSIGH

May 28, 2019

Hello! I’m a mechancial engineering graduate from Queen’s university. I realized my passion for computer science and want to pursue a career in computer science. The masters of computer science at UofT requires CSC343H: Introduction to Databases CSC369H: Operating Systems; and CSC373H: Algorithm Design, Analysis & Complexity or their equivalents. Would it be possible/feasible for me to apply and get into these courses as a non-degree student?

——————————————

hey friend,

yes, from what i know it should be possible to do that! u of t easily allows recently graduated students to enrol as a non-degree student for the purpose of getting those grad school prereqs down. this is true even if you completed your studies elsewhere– you’ll just need to apply. compsci as a program is considered to be under the faculty of arts and science, which makes it much easier to get into those courses as a non-degree student (with faculties like music and engineering, you’d have to contact them).

the only thing i can think of that might be a barrier to you is if those three courses are particularly in-demand. i looked them up on the timetable and they’ve all got priority enrolment controls, which essentially means only compsci degree students can get seats until a certain date. then, artsci students and utm/utsc students have second and third priority respectively. i’m not sure where non-degree students would fall in this priority order– possibly with utm/utsc, or after?

if you’d like to know for certain what the likelihood is that you can get in, i’d suggest you contact the department directly. even though i can see the class sizes and enrolment controls, it’s pretty hard for me to give you a concrete answer as a fellow student myself.

hope this was helpful though! all the best with your possible future at u of t.

over n out,

aska

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grad school, math, non degree

brave potential grad student

August 23, 2018

Hi Aska!

I’m currently getting a computer science bachelors with a math minor from another Canadian university, and I want to apply for a masters in mathematics at uoft. I think my GPA is high enough but I’m not sure I have an “appropriate bachelors degree” and haven’t made connections with any of my math professors for letters of reference.

So I changed my plan to:
– apply as a non-degree student
– take a year to do a bunch of math courses
– get letters of reference from them
– apply for masters
– ???
– profit

I’ve also emailed the graduate unit to ask for application requirements, so I thought as long as I could get the specifics cleared, ie. what courses do I need to take to prove I can do a masters in math as a computer science undergrad? things would go smoothly. However, I was looking at this and it says that full-time non-degree special students need at least two letters of reference. Are non-degree special students the same thing as non-degree students? Does this mean I need reference letters to apply as a non-degree student? Am I basically screwed because I need letters of reference to get my letters of reference? If yes, do you know of any alternatives? I don’t want to do another bachelors but I’m not really sure how I can get in otherwise.

——————————————

hi!

when i got your email i was immediately delighted. i. LOVE. plans! alrighty, lets get down to business (to get you into a math masters at u of t) (which sounds absolutely terrifying you brave brave soul math sucks)

according to the math department’s graduate program’s minimum admission requirements (which i think you’ve already taken a look at, but i’m just gonna regurgitate some info for you here), applicants must hold an “appropriate bachelor’s degree” with a final year average of at least a B-average, at least three reference letters, a letter of intent, and a CV.

as you mentioned, you aren’t sure if you have an “appropriate bachelor’s degree” nor do you think you have anyone who you could put down as a reference. in that case, applying to u of t as a non-degree student first in order to get some math credits under your belt/ meeting some profs for reference letters may be a good idea. the link that you had sent me is actually the info for applying as a non degree GRADUATE student, but if you wanted to just take some math courses in order to get into a masters program, you’d actually want to apply as a non-degree undergrad. you can check this link out for the application process, just scroll down to “non-degree applicants.” totally understand the confusion though, since you ultimately wanna be a grad student here.

i also took a closer look at the master’s admission requirements. they list some informal “suggested prerequisites” in this pdf. while they do list u of t courses, they also say that “there is no fixed or rigid list of prerequisites” and they describe concepts and topics that you should be familiar with, rather than strict course equivalents. take a look through their suggested prereqs and see how many of the topics/ concepts that you have covered with your math minor. maybe you already have all the requirements fulfilled. it would probably be a good idea to get in contact with the math department directly for more information.

so basically, tldr; you should look into applying as a non-degree undergrad student and look into the informal prereqs the math department has. then, decide your next move, whether that be coming as a non-degree student or applying for the grad program directly. it’s up to you!

i hope this helps!

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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commerce, french, near and middle eastern civilizations, non degree

an especially confused mood

July 19, 2018

Hello ASKA!

Hope your summer is going well. I’m going into second year at UTSG, doing my BComm in Public Accounting. The thing is that I also planning on a major in French Lang & Lit, which y’know, is nbd, but uhhh I was also interested in minoring in NMC? I’m cool with not doing the full minor and just getting the language certificate for Arabic but I think that I’d be going over 20.0 FCEs no matter what? PA is 15 and French is 7, and a minor, as you definitely know, is 4. Req 1 for my specialist says “At least 20.0 Credits from”University Course(s)”” (Not sure why university courses needed to be in quotation marks but ok, degree explorer.) which makes me think that it’s cool if I go over, but would I need to pay more? What happens if I fulfill all the requirements for the B.Comm and still want to keep going? Should I finish the MAJ/MIN stuff before my specialist requirements? I know that it’s fine to go over 4 years, and I’m planning on doing summer school anyways so I’ll prob be paying for extra tuition no matter what but like, is there an additional fee for going over 20 credits?????

woW those were a lot of question marks, but I am in an especially confused mood. I had an appointment with my registrar earlier but I forgot to ask so I’m just shouting into your asks here.

As an aside, I really love your post titles! Thanks for your patience with our questions.

——————————————

hello!

THANK YOU FOR NOTICING MY TITLES. tbqh, they’re the hardest part of every response and i (sadly) spend an inordinate time making them up.

anyways, the answer.

first, for something this long-winded, complicated, and specific, you really should get in touch with your registrar’s office. as you mentioned, you’ve already had an appointment with your registrar, but this really is something that is worth going back for. they can actually dig up specific info for you that i don’t have access to (i’m powerful, but not that powerful).

you’re right when you say that it’s fine to go over 20.0 credits– that’s just how many you need to graduate. basically, you don’t get to graduate until you actually request graduation. also, there’s isn’t any additional fee for going over 20 credits, just the tuition fees you would be paying anyways.

something that you could also consider is coming back as a non-degree student after finishing your bcomm. non-degree students are students who’ve already earned a degree from the university and are taking courses without working towards a degree. you could be taking courses to get into a graduate program or self-interest. i don’t know why you wanna do both a bcomm and a major/minor in arts programs, but i respect it. i see you. game recognize game.

anyways, if you’re just looking to take french language and literature and nmc courses out of self-interest, looking into coming back as a non-degree student after finishing your bcomm may be a good option.

if you want to do the french and nmc programs at the same time as your bcomm, then i suggest going back to your registrar to discuss your options.

hope this helps!

xoxo,

aska

PS- i literally couldn’t come up with a title for this–i got performance anxiety!!

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aska 1 Comment
non degree, registration

back 2 calc

March 14, 2018

Hi aska. I’m 5th year of my undergraduate life and have been slowly but surely been raising my pretty low GPA to get it high enough to graduate this coming June. Back in my early uni life I’ve managed to pass the 1st year calculus course but failed the 2nd 1st year calculus course twice. I never bothered doing it a 3rd time because I changed my programs but as graduation is approaching I’ve been regretting not finishing it. After I graduate is it possible to come back and just complete it?

——————————————

hi!

yes it is! actually, lots of students come back after graduating to update their marks in a specific course, take a pre-req for grad school, boost their GPA, etc etc etc.

if you’ve graduated from u of t and you wanna return to take courses that are in the same faculty or division that you just graduated from, you need to visit your former registrar’s office who can help you re-register as a non-degree student OR if you need to re-apply on OUAC. check out this link for more information about non-degree registration (scroll down to “non-degree applicants”).

i hope this helps!

xoxo,

aska

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aska No Comments
continuing studies, languages, non degree

ich liebe Deutsch auch

January 25, 2017

Dear ASKA!! Can undergrad of UTSC go to school of continuing studies for the sake of a German course!? I really wanted to take GER200Y but sadly it didn’t fit in my timetable, then I found they have it as a 2-month course at downtown tho I wonder how could they compress a year course into a term course rofl Merry Christmas<3

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hello! merry belated christmas to you and happy new year!

you can definitely go to the school of continuing studies, but the mark you receive won’t go towards your degree and will count for no credit, which also means that it won’t affect your GPA.

the reason why these classes are non-credit is because the school of continuing studies is usually for people hoping to strengthen their language skills, people who have already gotten degrees in the past or later life learners who are just taking classes out of interest.

for more information, i highly recommend reading the frequently asked questions section on their website. it’ll answer most of your questions!

Viel Glück!

peace and Liebe,

aska

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arts & sciences, enrollment, non degree, second degree

bottom of the enrolment totem pole

December 19, 2016

After having completed my BA in a humanities field at U of T I am considering switching directions and following a social sciences path. I know returning as a non-degree student is an option, but I was wondering if non-degree students have problems getting into class with enrolment restrictions or 400-level classes? Is there a way to apply for a second bachelors or something similar?

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hey!

so at U of T, we have a rule that you can’t complete a second degree in the same field as your first degree. since pursuing social sciences would give you another BA, its’s not exactly allowed. you’d have to pursue a different kind of degree, e.g. a BSc.

furthermore, it’s highly recommended that you discuss all of this with an academic advisor (registrar). you can sit down with them and have a discussion about whether or not it is practical/ necessary to pursue another degree/ more courses.

non-degree students are at the bottom of “the totem pole of priorities at U of T”, so you may end up on a waitlist/ not get into the courses you want. you’ll only be able to enrol in classes after everyone else enrols. tough, i know.

for more on how second degrees and non-degree courses work, check out this post!

i’m sorry to deliver you the cold hard truth so soon to Christmas or whichever holiday you celebrate (or not celebrate).

here’s a .gif to cheer you up.

hope that helped. buddy the elf always makes me feel better.

stay warm,

aska

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arts & sciences, non degree, part-time, second degree

waffling is a great word

November 4, 2016

Hello

I am a little older, and thinking of returning to do further coursework and
possibly a second bachelor’s. But am waffling between nondegree and part
time.

For part time: is there a minimum course load per term? Or can you skip a
term or two?

For nondegree students: can you apply at some point to switch to degree
stream?

Thanks
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hello there!

i never knew that waffling was a word. thanks for adding that to my vocabulary!

doing further coursework?!! well, to each their own.

i’m kidding of course. there’s nothing wrong with furthering your education, i’m just jealous i don’t have that drive (or the GPA)… but that’s a story for another time

if you are thinking of pursuing a second bachelor’s degree, there are guidelines that U of T provides- found here, but honestly, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

the only thing to take away from the above link is the fact that you can’t pursue the same degree, meaning if you have already received a bachelor of arts, you’d have to come back and do a different bachelors (e.g. a bachelor of science).

the process of coming back for a second degree is pretty straight-forward. you should first set up a meeting with a registrar at your college (same college you were at in your undergrad). before making any big academic decisions, i always recommend speaking with your registrar first, just so you don’t get screwed over by some random rule or exception down the road.

with the registrar, you’ll discuss if coming back for a second degree is really necessary or if there are other options that you can consider (a different career path, pursuing grad school/ a masters program). if you and your registrar come to the conclusion that indeed, coming back is a practical option, you’ll have to go through a petition process.

if your petition is approved, you’ll be granted 5 transfer credits, 4.0 at the 100-level and 1.0 at the 200-level, meaning your second degree can be completed in 3 years as opposed to 4 years.

part time students can be enrolled in anything from 0.5 FCE’s to 2.5 FCE’s per fall-winter session, meaning you could be enrolled in 0.5 credits in the fall and 0 credits in the winter, and still be considered a part time student. you can also be enrolled in 1.5 FCE’s and 1.0 FCE’s in the winter (totalling 2.5 FCE’s), and still be considered a part time student. if you are registered with osap, it might be worthwhile to double check with them what their definition of part time status is.

if you are an international student, you may run into some immigration/ visa issues, so we urge you to check with the centre for international experience before enrolling in part time studies.

non degree students are typically students who are taking courses to fulfill certain requirements (GPA cut-off, required courses) for grad school or masters programs. for example, some students may need to come back for an english requirement and therefore would enrol as a non degree student.

the question of “what’s the difference between part time and non degree” doesn’t exactly apply because you can, in fact, be a part time student AND a non degree student at the same time.

the university doesn’t give you a strict timeline in terms of how long you take to complete your courses. you can technically take as long as you want, with as many breaks in between as you want! yay!

you can definitely switch from non degree to a degree stream, but again, you’ll have to petition this process with your registrar.

hope this is enough info for the time being! if you have any follow up questions, please do not hesitate to leave a comment on this post, and i’ll do my best to answer it!

good luck!

cheers,

aska

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