• applying for U of T,  computer science,  GPA,  innis,  internal transfer,  Transferring,  urban studies,  UTSC

    top secret internal transfer gpa’s

    February 6, 2017

    Dear ask a student,

    I am in second year at UTSC and I am looking to transfer downtown for urban
    studies. In first year I took computer science and finish the year with a
    low GPA. Now in city studies after the first semester my sessional GPA was
    2.93 but my cumulative GPA is still below 2.5. Will they look over my first
    year since I am now doing better in City Studies and is there a chance I
    can still get in with just my recent GPA improvement?

    Thanks.

    ———————————————

    hello!

    soooooo when UTSG is looking at internal transfer students, (students who are transferring from one U of T campus to another U of T campus) they will consider your CGPA and your most recent annual GPA. however, they will also have access to your whole transcript if they notice some inconsistencies in your GPA.

    in terms of GPA cut-off, i would check with the urban studies department directly to make sure you’re within the range. for some reason admission GPA’s for internal transfers are kind of top secret. they used to post them online, but i haven’t been able to find it ever since they revamped the future.utoronto.ca website. right now, the admission GPA’s are mostly circulated by word of mouth, but for entry into a specific program like urban studies, it would be in your best interest to just ask them!

    hope this helped!

    wishing you all the best in your transfer! hope we’ll be seeing you downtown!

    peace and love,

    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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  • astronomy and astrophysics,  campus,  GPA,  internal transfer,  St. George,  subject POST,  Transferring,  UTSC

    please be the new neil degrasse tyson

    December 2, 2016

    Hi,
    I am a first year student currently majoring in the Physics and Astrophysics program at UTSC and was wondering what GPA I should strive for in order to be admitted into UTSG. I know that competitive programs tend to require 3.7 – 4.0 GPA’s, but I’m assuming competitive means engineering rather than physics.

    Also, do you know the deadline for internal transferring? I can’t seem to find it anywhere. I’m assuming that it’s sometime after, or maybe during, the winter semester since that’s when the latter half of my physics related courses are.

    Thank you for your help

    ———————————————

    hello hello!

    so first of all, we don’t actually have a physics and astrophysics program at the st. george campus so it would mean for you to find a similar subject POSt, like astronomy and astrophysics.

    there isn’t really a GPA range posted anywhere in regards to astronomy and astrophysics specifically, but i’ve been told by admin that the grade that we were accepting last year was B+~ A- (3.3-3.7) for internal transfers, but these averages do change from year to year, so keep that in mind. if you want something more accurate/ updated, you could always contact enrolment services directly!

    in terms of evaluating your GPA, they would be looking at your CGPA as well as your most recent annual GPA.

    when it comes time to apply, go see your registrar’s office to make sure you’re on track for your transfer. once that’s all settled, you’ll have to complete an online application right here.

    the next deadline for an internal transfer to UTSG is january 13th 2017 for a september 2017 start date.

    it will ultimately be up to you to decide whether you want to major, minor, or specialize in astronomy and astrophysics, but since astronomy and astrophysics subject POSt’s are all part of type 1, you can apply following the completion of 4.0 FCE’s.

    best of luck! i hope you get in and become the new neil degrasse tyson.

    giphy

    peace and love,

    aska

     

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  • campus,  internal transfer,  rules,  St. George,  Transferring,  UTSC

    sticky situation

    November 7, 2016

    Hello,

    So I originally enrolled at UTSC because I had missed the application
    deadline for SG. I decided to start in Scarborough and brave the commute (I
    live downtown) for a year to hopefully try for an internal transfer later.
    I dilly-dallied and decided I enjoyed Scarborough bc of a course offered
    (IDS) but then started to hate the commute and now want to return to my
    original idea of transferring.

    My question is about courses at another campus:
    I have the intention of transferring (again missed the deadline last year
    BC I thought I liked Scarborough) so ideally I would like to gather
    downtown courses this year so i can transfer in my third year.
    So. I currently have 3 utsc FCE’s (from 2015/2016) and took 1 FCE this
    summer at SG. As of this fall, I enrolled in 2 more FCE’s on the st.george
    campus, but have a sneaking suspicion that I am in violation of the rules
    for taking courses at another campus.

    On the office of the registrar website it states:
    “Courses at UTM or St. George
    utsc.utoronto.ca/registrar/courses-other-campuses
    You can take a maximum of 5.0 credits at another U of T campus (or 1.0
    credit if you have completed fewer than 4.0 credits) as a UTSC student.”
    I SWEAR I had spoken with a councilor who said I could only take 1 FCE in
    the first year only. NOT that I needed to also complete at least 4.0 FCE at
    utsc. What is your understanding of this rule? Can I appeal? I am enjoying
    my courses and do not want to be removed.

    ———————————————

    hi,

    you, my friend, are in a sticky situation! i honestly wasn’t sure if i should answer this question because i thought you would be removed from your courses by now, but since i haven’t heard anything about you being removed, i’m going to assume you’re still in your st. george courses.

    you are, indeed, in violation of a rule at U of T, but at the same time, getting kicked out of your courses this far in would suck.

    giphy

    first, go back to your counsellor and be all, “yo wut?”

    okay, but seriously.

    in regards to your inquiry, i called the utsc registrar’s office and asked what they thought about your situation. based on what they told me, it seems like you have two options.

    first, (10/10 would recommend) you can call admissions at st. george to let them know about your intentions to transfer. in this scenario, you would probably have to tell them the number of FCE’s you have completed at scarborough and st. george. they may even subsequently remove you from your courses if they ask for your student number.

    on the other hand, it is also possible that they may make an exception for you if they know you’re thinking of transferring to st. george eventually. you’ll still have to wait until the next deadline (january 13th),  of course, but you may be able to keep the courses you’re in. you could definitely mention that you heard from your counsellor that it would be okay. i can’t guarantee that you’ll see this outcome, but you never know until you call!

    your second option, (1/10 would not recommend) is to not call at all. the course-remover people will eventually do their rounds and remove you from your st. george courses. after that, if you want to argue this, you’ll have to open up communication with the university and explain why you broke the rules. i can’t speak on behalf of the course-removing people, but if i were in their shoes, i would be less forgiving if it seems like you knowingly broke the rule and didn’t seek out any guidance or resources.

    if i were you, i would call admissions to see what they can do for you. you may be surprised at what they have to say. if they end up removing you from courses because you called, that blows, but remember, it would’ve happened sooner or later.

    giphy-4

    just be honest and come clean about your intentions instead of living in fear!

    i hope you do the right thing.

    cheers,

    aska

     

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  • transfer credits,  Transferring

    askastudent.yorku.ca

    October 3, 2016

    hi i finish grade 12 in december and im planning to come to uoft from overseas but the thing is uoft intake is in september!! that’s like 9 months! york has an intake in may and i was planning to enrol there as it would be sooner. would i be able to transfer to uoft from york? and if so, when would the earliest and latest i could transfer be?

    ———————————————

    hi,

    first of all, chill.

    having 9 months off is great. if i were you, i would take that time to get some rest. lie on a beach somewhere. read trashy magazines. drink fruity drinks with squiggly straws. eat some papaya. but enough about me. this is about you.

    i could tell you about the whole process of transferring from York to U of T, but in my humble opinion, it’s really not in your best interest to do this. i realize that you may have a motive to get ahead, but after consulting many academic advisors, we all think this is a very bad idea.

    sloth

    behold, a list a pro’s and cons about transferring from York to U of T

    CONS:

    -the deadline to apply to York for january intake is dec 7th, while the deadline to apply to U of T for september intake is jan 13th. you’d basically be applying for U of T and york at around the same time.

    -some of your credits earned at York may not transfer equally. also, even if your credits end up transferring, your grades will not.

    -the whole process of transferring is just super complicated and it’s really not worth it

    -you’ll establish a friend group/ community at York, and then have to leave it.

    -first year is tough enough; it’s not going to help if you’re stressing about getting into another school or figuring out how your credits transfer

    -in an effort to get ahead, you may even delay your education if you aren’t able to transfer all your credits

     

    PROS:

    ______________________

    do you catch my drift?

    if you really want something to do in the next 9 months, you could consider getting a job, volunteering, travelling, or taking a class at your local university! the possibilities are endless. once you start university, it’ll be hard for you to take time off to do these things. plus, you should really give yourself a break after completing high school. you deserve it!

    if you really want to go ahead with this plan, i recommend that you make an appointment or send an email to a registrar at York (doesn’t necessarily have to be in person) and look at your options.

    some things to consider from our end:

    -make sure you fulfil the general requirements for transfering to U of T from another canadian university.

    -make sure you meet the requirements for whatever program you’re thinking of pursuing

    -you will also need to request an assessment of your transfer credits upon admission

    -hey, actually, this link pretty much says it all

     

    in conclusion, please don’t do this. if not for yourself, do it for us, your friends at the innis college registrar’s office. apply to U of T for september intake. we wish you all the best in all your endeavours and hope you end up here some way or another!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • other schools (boo!),  transfer credits,  Transferring

    :-(

    August 18, 2016

    Hello, so I’m currently on academic probation after my first year and due to personal family issues, my father asked me to transfer for a year to St Marys university in Calgary, and then come back to utsg. Will I be able to get transfer credits for the courses I do at the other institution and do I have to reapply or can I just re-register for courses for the semester I come back for?

    Sincerely, a very sad confused person

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    as long as you have a mark on your transcript (and you must have, because you can’t be put on academic probation if you don’t have any marks), you’re officially in uoft.

    wow, how vague. what do you mean by that, aska?

    i mean that once you’ve received a mark at uoft (specifically, in the faculty of arts & science), you can come back to uoft anytime you want. so if you leave, get into another university, and come back after a year (or two, or five), all you have to do is get re-registered (and cough up twenty-five bucks) and sign up for courses.

    that being said, if you are on academic probation at uoft, you cannot receive transfer credits from another university. that means that if you were to follow through with your plans to transfer to St Mary’s, none of the credits you received there could be transferred back to your UofT degree.

    a little bit of unsolicited advice for you: don’t plan so far in advance. if you think it’s a good idea to transfer to St. Mary’s, do it. maybe you’ll really like it and decide to stick around there. that’s great! maybe not. maybe you decide to come back to uoft. that’s great, too! try to take life as it comes to you. changing schools is always a scary thing, but it’s going to be ok.

    and uoft will always be here (very like another ancient school), if you ever decide to come back. i hope that makes you a bit less sad and confused.

    best of luck with all of it,

    aska

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  • Transferring

    transfer^2

    August 5, 2016

    Hey aska! This June I transferred to UTSC from York University and got admitted as a second year student, if I transfer to UTM next year will my credits took at York be accepted by UTM?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    wow, you really can’t decide on a university, huh? you’re like a frog, hopping from one academic lilypad to another.

    i called the scintillating folks at the Student Recruitment & Admissions Office at UTM, and they let me know that both your UTSC and York U credits would be assessed all over again, and then you would receive a certain number of transfer credits towards your UTM degree. your previous transfer credits would be disregarded.

    hope that helps. have a swaggy weekend.

    ribbit,

    aska

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  • other schools (boo!),  Transferring

    a Parent Post

    August 2, 2016

    My son finished his first year of Humanities at McMaster with very decent marks, high 80s and higher. He applied to McGill and even though his marks are apparently good enough, it’s seeming more and more likely that he won’t be accepted. I’ve suggested that he return to McMaster ( where he wants to specialize in Philosophy and History ) but he’s convinced it would lock him into McMaster for the next three years. He’s sure it’s too difficult after two years to switch schools. He’d consider another year at Mac if it meant he could then transfer to U of T.

    Could you enlighten us as to how possible this would be?

    Many thanks,

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i think this is the first time i’ve ever received a question from a parent! it’s kind of exciting. what rabbit hole of the internet did you have to go down to find me? i kind of feel like a bartender at a run-down pub on the bad side of town, and some person wearing tails and a Rolex has just walked, bewildered, through my front door.

    lucky for you, i’m a nice bartender. have a scotch on the house, just because you’re new. that’s the aska welcome.

    as for your question: yes, it’s possible to transfer to uoft after two years at McMaster. transfer students can receive a maximum of 10.0 transfer credits, which typically takes two years to complete. for that reason, it usually makes the most sense for students to transfer after year 1 or year 2 of their studies at another university. after that, it’s still possible to transfer, but it makes less sense, since you won’t be able to transfer over all the credits from your first university.

    other than that, your son needs to have a competitive GPA (at least a ‘B,’ which shouldn’t be a problem if he’s getting 80s and 90s), AND completed prerequisites for whatever program he’s interested in applying to, in order to be considered for admission to uoft.

    as someone who transferred to uoft after their first year, i completely understand that sometimes, you just have to get out of your current school. i’m curious though, about what else may be going on here. why does your son want to transfer? what can’t he get at Mac that he can at McGill or uoft? if it’s just a prestige thing, i would advise you to do the Parent Thing and talk with your son about his expectations. McMaster is a good school, and the opportunities for a grad from Mac will probably be very similar to those offered to a McGill or uoft grad – and he wouldn’t have to do the whole transferring thing, which is not overly difficult, but can be a bit lonely sometimes.

    i don’t know the backstory to this question, and i don’t want to make assumptions. it’s just that my back automatically goes up when i can only hear the voice of a parent, and not of the student. i appreciate you taking the initiative to ask this question, don’t get me wrong – i just want to make sure your kid is happy with their decision in the end.

    best of luck to the both of you!

    aska

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  • enrollment,  transfer credits,  Transferring

    a particularly early panic

    June 23, 2016

    I’m a transfer student, admitted as a second year student. ACORN won’t let me enrol in any first year course (because they are restricted to first year students) and it won’t let me enrol in second year courses (because they have first year courses as prerequisites). Will I be able to enrol in ANY first year course after they lift the priority restriction? I’m worried about availability (in courses such as MAT135H, BIO120H or CHM135H). What can I actually enrol in???? HELP!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    the definition of a priority is that it does lift, which is good news for you. beginning on August 5th, all priorities lift, which means that anyone in the faculty of arts & science can get into a course, as long as there’s space and you meet any prerequisites. all three of the courses you listed have priorities (as opposed to any other kind of enrolment control), so August 5th is the golden date for you.

    yes, it’s frustrating that you have to wait so long. yes, it’s possible the courses will fill up, and for that reason you should have backups. trust me; i’ve been there. i’ve lived it. however, all of these first-year life science courses are very large, so there will be lots of space, in multiple different lecture sections (and in some instances, in both semesters).

    the other thing i would recommend you do if you haven’t already is to take a look at whatever transfer credits you may have received from your previous college or university. depending on your program over there, you may not have gotten too many relevant credits, but you should definitely check; maybe you don’t have to take some of these first-year sciences because you already have credits for them!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • bored,  study abroad,  Transferring

    sad keanu

    June 16, 2016

    Hi Aska, I’m set to graduate with my double majors in 3 years. However, since I want to do grad or law school and need to figure my life out, I want to do a 4th year of undergrad. I’m frankly miserable at UofT and am not keen on doing the whole 5.0 credits/another traditional school year. Any advice on studying at another school for a year, interning and being a part-time student,etc.? Besides registrars and my depts’ advisors (whom I’ve consulted), who can I speak to on campus? Thank you!

    ———————————————

    hey!

    honestly, most people take 4 years to complete their undergrad, so don’t feel as though you need to finish in 3 years (if that’s what you’re thinking).

    i’m sorry to hear that you’re miserable at U of T; it is definitely possible to become a part-time student, but i would highly recommend that you talk to your registrar’s office first to discuss how going part time would affect things like student loans or completing your degree.

    besides registrars and department advisors, you could consult upper years who have gone through similar experiences as well. honestly though, i know you’ve consulted registrars already in the past, but they are probably the best people to talk to when you’re thinking of transferring or going part time.

    if you do decide to transfer, i encourage you to do tons of research on the websites of other universities. they usually have a section that has information on how to transfer to their school.

    you could always think about doing an exchange at another school! it might be more interesting and not as miserable as dreary ol’ toronto. definitely look into the CIE. there are tons of exchange options available at the CIE and you can try to attend one of the many info sessions they hold during the year.

    i hope things start looking up for you!

    aska

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  • admissions,  architecture,  internal transfer,  transcripts,  Transferring

    “JOINuoft” – but WHEN?

    June 7, 2016

    Hey aska, I’m a first year student currently in UTSC’s City Studies program (technically going to 2nd year as finals are over) however I reapplied to UofT’s St.George’s architecture program for an internal transfer. I submitted my application during January and the only update I have received on the status of my application (via joinUoT portal) was that my final transcript is needed. This was in the beginning of April. I know results won’t instantly be given right after finals happened but I received all my marks and my final gpa last 2 weeks and the final transcript box in my joinUofT portal still isn’t checked in and still has the “Finals Required” note there. When can I expect a notification on my acceptance for the architecture program? I’m still on the fence on selecting courses for summer school as I already finished my breadth requirements and I don’t want to waste money on courses I won’t need in the future as architecture is still a possibility. Thanks!! An anxious student awaiting for his UofT JD acceptance

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    unfortunately, these things can take a while. according to this page, the deadline for schools to submit supplemental documents is June 15th. I can’t find anything that concretely states when you might expect to hear back by, but to be honest, that’s not surprising to me. these admissions deadlines don’t tend to be widely publicized. you can call enrolment services for that info, but i wouldn’t be surprised if you had to wait until past June 15th to hear back.

    cheers,

    aska

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