life science, lost, new kids, programs

crash course for incoming students

March 25, 2024

Hey! I got accepted into Life Sci but I’m having some serious second thoughts… I’m not sure if I wanted to major in something science related but I really want to go to UofT, so now I’m stressing over courses. I feel like everywhere I look, I get vague answers, so I was hoping I could recieve a clearer one here :/ are there required courses in first year that are related to the area you’re admitted into, or can you just take whatever prereqs a major has (within arts and sci)?

hey there,

well, you have come to the right place!! before you read all this, the tldr is that you’ll be fine.

when i was accepted into life sci, i was in your exact situation. i wasn’t really sure if i wanted to follow through with science and wanted to try out the arts. the rules around switching around and taking prerequisites are so confusing for incoming students, and for what? it really does not need to be that complicated, so i’ll try to lay it out as clear as i can.

1. admission categories

so when you’re admitted to u of t, you are in an “admission category“. there are six of these in arts & sciences, and they are just a way to group the 340+ program choices into general categories for incoming students. the great thing about admission categories is that they actually give you a lot more freedom to explore during your first year than if you were admitted into a specific program. (here is a list of all the programs included in the life sciences category).

essentially, what i was told for ease of understanding, was that your admission category does not really matter. a common assumption many incoming students make is that your admission category is your program and you’re already tied down and committed. but at this stage, you are not in a program yet—therefore, you can really take any courses you want and shoot for programs that aren’t in your admission category. the only thing your admission category actually has material impact on is getting first-pick during course enrolment.

2. programs of study (POSt)

during the spring of your first year, you will apply to your programs of study (abbreviated as “POSt”). there are three levels of programs: a specialist, a major, and a minor. the difference between these is the number of courses required. most often, people take 2 majors, or 1 specialist, or 1 major and 2 minors. but the maximum number of programs you can enrol in is 3. if this is confusing, sid smith commons has a page with a really great visualizer for what these combinations can look like.

some programs are “open” and some are “limited”. open programs have no prerequisites, while limited programs do. again, sid smith has a page about how to apply to programs.

3. first year pre-requisite courses

to answer your question, yes, pretty much. you can just take whatever pre-reqs a major has within arts & sciences. because remember, at this point, you are not tied down to anything.

for example, if you were admitted into life sciences because you wanted to get into biology (life sci), but now are changing your mind and wanting to major in urban studies (humanities), you could absolutely do that! all you would have to do to get in to the program after first year is take the pre-req courses listed on the artsci website under “enrolment requirements” for that program. that is, if there even are pre-requisites. if there are no pre-reqs, take whatever you want in first year and then select that program on acorn in march!

4. if you’re still confused, here is what i did

in my first year, i was admitted into life sciences, but decided going into it that i didn’t want to do sciences. so i only enrolled in arts courses for my first year. and the spring of my first year, i applied to my open enrolment arts majors. then, i decided to 180 backwards and go back into life sci. so in my second year, i took the first year pre-req courses for the science major i wanted. then in spring of my second year, i applied to my life sci major, keeping my other arts major.

a lot of people’s paths look like a bit zig-zaggy like this. some people know exactly what they want to do, but most people don’t really know! it takes some exploring to figure it out and that’s okay. it’s normal to have second thoughts!

anyways, i hope this clears things up! please drop any more questions that come up. good luck going into first year, you will be amazinggg!

over and out,

aska

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future, getting involved, lost

a spoonful of salt helps the life advice go down

March 13, 2024

I’m a second year life science student with a pretty good cgpa but absolutely no experiences – am I screwed?

In all honesty I don’t have an idea what I’m going to do with my future and I haven’t joined any clubs. I applied to a program I’ve been really wanting (MRS at uoft!) but honestly not sure if I’ll get in and have been so anxious these past few months about the future. I don’t especially have any backups if I don’t get into MRS and I’m worried that I’m wasting time.

Any advice to stop being so anxious about the future and to just take action?

hey there,

man, isn’t that the question of the year. you want advice on how to stop being anxious about the future and to just take action. well, ok, but take all my personal life advice with a spoon of salt, please. not just a grain. this is a proceed at your own risk typa thing.

if it makes you feel any better, i’m kinda in the same boat! and i definitely don’t think you’re screwed—like you said, you’re only in second year, and you have a good cgpa! that puts you in a good position.

when you say “experiences”, i’m going to assume you mean like, internship / research experiences relating to your programs? with that, i really don’t think you should be worrying about having no experiences in second year, since a lot of these opportunities are geared towards second years and above. i mean, in first year, everyone’s still trying to figure out what they want to do. as a result, most people don’t get involved in professional experience stuff until the summer after their second year, when they have a better idea of the path they want to take.

overall though, i completely understand feeling overwhelmed at this stage of your life, when everyone around you starts looking into research opportunities and internships. but the first question you should ask yourself is: do you even want to do research?? do you even want to do that internship? because you do not have to follow the paths that people around you are taking. just do what you want to do!!!

in terms of not being anxious about the future, i can tell you something that has really helped me recently. i used to be overwhelmingly anxious about the future, but i feel like this has shifted since i started to change the way i thought about opportunities. taking action and applying for things can seem so daunting and like such a commitment in itself, especially when the chances of getting accepted feel low. and i totally get the feeling of wasting time!! so recently, i’ve been telling myself that we get one chance at life, and every time you doubt yourself, it’s like throwing the winning lottery ticket away. you’re telling me you have a winning ticket and you’re just not doing anything with it?! tiktok might be rotting my brain, but it does give me solid motivation like that sometimes. pretend you already have the future you want! you have ONE life and you wanna spend it doubting yourself?? we don’t do that here. are you actually scared of failure, or are you scared of people seeing you try? what if you started acting like it’s impossible for you to fail?

some gentle food for thought. weaving in a little bit of delusion into your confidence can be healthy, particularly when you have worst-case-scenario anxiety like me!

ok but finally, let’s get real:

in the case that you do want to, now is definitely the time to start looking and applying for summer opportunities. if i knew what branch of life science you were in, i could probably point you towards more specific opportunities. but first, if you’re into research, a good thing to look into would be the ROP (research opportunities program). if you go onto CLNX, you’ll see that there are many ROP options listed in different fields. ROPs are popular and a lot of people i know are applying for those, so i’m pretty sure they’re good! meanwhile, if you want an internship, you should look into the ASIP (arts & science internship program), or course-based experiential learning.

your TAs are also a great resource to ask about experience opportunities! they have the connections and the knowledge to help you out with this search. sometimes, they might need assistants in the research they’re carrying out. and if you want work experience, check out CLNX under the work-study category. work-study postings should open up on april 2 for the summer session.

anyways, good luck with everything! i hope you get in to your program. maybe this was all just me projecting, or maybe this was helpful for you. i really hope it was the latter.

over and out,

aska

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bad times, lost, probation, summer, suspension

feeling terrible is terrible

June 4, 2017

Hey ???????? Summer has begun and it sucks. I’m on my first year of suspension and what should I even do on suspension? I feel like I failed my parents, wasted my tuition and I just feel terrible. What are my options now that I’m on suspension and when is the earliest that can I begin enrolling in courses again? Would I be able to enroll for summer school 2018? And what gpa do I need once I get back to school to get off suspension/probation? Suggestions? Thank you for your help. ~ the distressed kid

———————————————

hey ?????????

being on suspension may seem like the worst thing ever but it’s really a time for ~*personal growth*~

reflect, re-evaluate, regrow, like groot! (he’s so cute, i had to include this gif)

give yourself lots of ‘you’ time. try and think about what went wrong last semester and how to prevent it from happening again. make a game plan to follow for when you get back to school and set some good goals. you’ll be even more excited and motivated to return if you set goals because you’ll be like “hey, i can do this and i can’t wait to achieve these goals!”

and when i say set goals, i mean realistic goals. stuff like “GET A 4.0 GPA” are too vague and frankly, super daunting. stuff like: ‘sleep at least 7 hours every night’, or ‘take half an hour to review notes from the day’s classes everyday’ are examples of more realistic goals that won’t seem as intimidating as: “GET AT LEAST AN 80% ON EVERY TEST.” if you are someone who tends to skip classes both unintentionally and intentionally, (lol, me) set a hard limit for yourself. “i can only skip 4 classes this semester.” set some ground rules for your ‘next semester game plan’, but be realistic and thoughtful about them.

(*i know that admin/ faculty people are reading the part about skipping classes and shaking their heads but hey, it’s actually super difficult for some of us to be in the right mindset to get to class. sometimes it’s an anxiety thing and sometimes it’s just a general lack of energy/ motivation. showing up to class is actually a lot harder than it seems, so no judging or angry emails pls.)

if you are looking for practicality, both financially and career wise, i would suggest that you try working full time to save up some money for school! who knows, you might find a job that you love and realize that you don’t need to finish school to excel in your field!

if work sounds like too much pressure for you, i’m a big believer in volunteer work. giving back to the community is always a great way to learn a lot about yourself and your role in society. sometimes we can get really caught up with our own lives and the seemingly terrible things that happen to us, but it’s also important to think about other people and do all we can to help people who are less fortunate.

hey, if making money or giving back to the community aren’t a priority right now, you could do an eat, pray, love kind of thing and travel! you might even FIND YOURSELF! go explore the world and experience new and wonderful things!

if you ever feel a longing for academia during your suspension, you can try getting a head start on classes you plan to take in the future. feed and enrich that brain of yours and don’t let it go dormant. if you spend your whole suspension without challenging your brain, it might be hard to get back into the groove of things when you return to school. (this isn’t a proven fact, but from personal experience, i have a hard time getting back into school mode after summer vacation because i don’t use my brain all summer)

in regards to the parental units, don’t feel like you failed them. they might make it seem like they used to be golden children, but i’m sure they’ve made mistakes too in their lives. you’re still figuring things out and they should try to understand that it takes time. they were once your age too! as for the money thing, yes, some mistakes have financial consequences, but think of it as paying for a valuable life lesson! life lessons are priceless, yo.

if this is your first 1 year suspension, you will be be able to return to school after one calendar year, so yes, summer 2018, after which you will be on academic probation. once you are on academic probation, you will need to maintain a CGPA of 1.50 or more to have your status changed to “in good standing”. read more about academic standing here!

i hope i’ve given you some stuff to think about and some ideas as to what to do with your one year off! let us know if anything else is stressing you out! we’re here for you!

oh. and go see your registrar. they’re awesome.

peace, love, and an encouraging pat on the back,

aska

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bad times, gap year, lost, petition, probation, suspension, UTM

you need some good ‘ol r and r

May 24, 2017

hello aska,

i read through a lot of your answers that were tagged with relevant terms, but I still hope I am not repeating someone’s question

im a utm student about to be put on suspension… last school year i was negligent with my studies and so getting on probation was my fault entirely. this fall semester my marks have been abyssmal (i failed 3 courses) and I know it is my fault too, but there was also a situation that happened during november (2016) that I could argue affected my marks.

im not used to persisting to get exemptions or extensions (since ive never had problems that werent at least partially my fault) so I did not do anything about it at the time. now I am wondering if it is worth/possible pursuing or if it is too late. it was stressful and time consuming situation and unfortunately I do not have any official documents regarding the situation, maybe a few witnesses or pictures and onesided attempts to a file report…

i am just grasping for any straws right now if you cant tell, just looking for a way to return to uni this september. ive read that students improved after a year off but i do not see how I will be able to cope with suspension and the burden of crushed expectations during the forced year off. needing to repay my school loans once im not full time also scares me.

if my winter semester gpa is a great deal higher than my fall gpa this year is there a chance i could file a petition to return to school in september since I showed improvement?

im probably hoping you could gauge my chances of returning in september and relay to me some good news ;; although I didnt mention it a lot, I do know how much of the blame for this situation is on me.

im scared to reflect on it too much so i am trying to keep moving by looking at my options. the only hope I have right now is to ace every single one of my upcoming exams 100%..

thank you for your time with these answers

———————————————

hello,

first of all, i’m really friggin’ sorry that i didn’t get to this question in time. sometimes it’s hard to get through everyone’s questions in time for the end of the semester, but we (yes we, i’m not alone in my efforts anymore!) are working our way through them as fast as we can.

also, thank you for taking the time to see if this question has already been answered. we really appreciate it.

when you emailed us, you mentioned that you were about to be suspended. i’m assuming that the suspension has now taken effect. again, i wish i could’ve offered you some advice earlier but it really wouldn’t have had much of an effect on your situation.

so, how do we move forward from this? it sounds like you’ve had a tough year.

first: i cannot stress this enough. go to your registrar’s office as soon as possible. even though it might seem too late, they may be able to help you file a petition to lift your suspension. please keep in mind that these kinds of petitions are reserved for very special circumstances will only be approved if the committee on standing believes that there were extenuating circumstances affecting your ability to meet the demands of school. your chances of continuing school in september will depend on whether or not your registrar believes there are sufficient grounds to file a petition. don’t lose faith, there is still hope!

i’m not 100% sure about the timeline/deadlines on these types of petitions since they are very rare, but i would go the registrar’s office as soon as you can.

regarding asking for extensions from profs: this is definitely hard. it took me a long time to get used to doing it, but you really need to think about it like this: you’ll never know until you ask. at least do the bare minimum and ask. if you don’t feel comfortable with asking for extensions from your profs, registrars are also capable of sending emails on your behalf.

on the other hand, taking a year off might seem like the worst thing right now, but maybe it’s just what you need. you can get a job doing something you like and work towards paying off your student loans. the time off could be valuable for you in terms of re-evaluating your goals. a year without school might be good for your soul. think about it. a year of no readings, no essays, and no assignments sounds pretty nice tbh. relax and recuperate. it seems like what you went through was a little traumatic to say the least. don’t beat yourself up if you need some time to get back in the groove of things.

wishing you all the best,

aska

*we are always here for you if you need us for (somewhat delayed) support* <3

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bad times, depression, gap year, grades, health, lost, probation, stress

solidarity sister

May 4, 2017
Hi Aska,

I’ve come to you in the past to ask an important question that you answered spectacularly, and I’m returning to ask yet another question in hopes your answer for this will exceed how great the previous one was. Whereas my last question sent nearly a year ago was excitement and anxiety meshed into one about trying to figure out my second year courses, this one is about giving up those second year courses. Or just giving up period. Idk, basically, I’m in a deep and dark hole that I can’t seem to climb out of.

I’m a second year student at UTSG, I am in “good academic standing”–not necessarily meaning I’m doing “good,” but the school hasn’t sent me a threatening email about putting me on academic probation, so in that case I’m golden. I have dropped 2.0 FCEs, and am currently about to fail another full year course which I sadly no longer can drop on ACORN according to the 2017 Calendar. (idk i read about talking to my registrar’s office about dropping it, idek pls confirm).

I’m just in such a rut. I had my life planned out since my first day of senior year in high school, and now I’m barely getting by because I am so unhappy that I’ve been seriously considering professional help to get me through (although I probably won’t because of embarrassment issues). I have no motivation–the path I had planned for myself was a plan I loved, but now I’m so unsure. (I’m an English and History Major btw; was planning on getting my Masters of Teaching from OISE after completing my undergrad and then becoming a teacher. But my marks are too low, let’s face it, so I was planning on getting my Consecutive BEd from YorkU after.)

What I’m saying is, I need advice. I need a break from life. Because I swear, just a few more weeks or days or hours on campus and I will crack.

If I end off this year, I’ll only have 2.0 FCE’s fulfilled for my second year. Almost like it didn’t even happen and I just wasted 7K+ on my tuition. Sigh. Can I take a year off? What will happen when I ask to come back after? Can I even ask to come back after? What should I do, Aska? I’m hopeless.

Sincerely,

A distressed and mentally drained soul that feels like giving up on everything in the world.

(aka probably a lot of students that go to UofT)

Thanks.

———————————————

hello friend,

thank you so much for reaching out. i wish i could’ve gotten back to you sooner! it has also taken me several hours to craft a response to this so i apologize!

since the topic of mental health is super super important to discuss, i’m going to try my best not to sound cliche and just be honest about my own experiences and try to give you advice based on what worked for me. (cliche’s are cliche’s for a reason though, so apologies if many are used)

to preface all of this: i’ve been through exactly what you’re going through, and dude, i feel you. the past four years have not been smooth and i continue to deal with depression and anxiety everyday. it was really awesome of you to reach out about this topic this because it encourages people to talk about it. keeping things bottled up is never a healthy option. i am a firm believer in letting it out. anyways, please know that you’re talking to a kindred spirit and that even though i might not know you personally, i’ve been there.

transitioning from university is a huge jump and you’re definitely going to be under a lot of pressure. deadlines, commitments, terrible profs, and newfound independence are pretty much a recipe for disaster if coupled with sleep deprivation and lack of general nutrition.

let’s try to tackle this step by step.
1. your academic standing and dropping courses: regarding your academic standing, as long as you are still “in good standing”, you are, in your own words, golden. failing a Y course isn’t the end of the world. just make it up in a different semester! in the future, (again, i wish i had gotten back to you sooner) i would recommend that you consider this wonderful thing called LWD (otherwise known as a late withdrawal). i’ve taken advantage of this many a time when i’ve hit rock bottom, and it’s super helpful for times when you know you’re going to fail but you’ve missed the drop deadline. read more about LWD here.
2. getting help: admitting that you need help is pretty hard to do but it’s the first step to feeling better. i can tell you from personal experience that reaching out to a professional is definitely hard but once you do, you’ll feel so much better and you’ll feel super accomplished. you don’t need to be embarrassed about your mental health. there are more people out there than you think that are going through the same thing. how i got help: i reached out first to my friends who urged me to see a doctor on campus. i made an appointment (really the hardest part) to discuss my mental health with a physician at health and wellness and she referred me to a psychologist. with my doctor and psychologist, we developed a treatment plan to help me gradually feel better. at around the same time, i was missing deadlines, skipping classes, and staying in bed all day. it was really hard for me to come to terms with getting zeroes on assignments so i went to my registrar’s office to ask for help. i will never stop singing praises for my registrar’s office because they’ve helped me in so many ways. my registrar wrote letters to professors for me when i needed to ask for extensions but was too embarrassed to ask. they are also knowledgeable about the various campus resources that are available for students, whether it’s accessibility services or health and wellness. making my profs aware of my condition also yielded some very comforting responses. i had profs who said to me: “please let me know if you’re struggling, don’t hesitate to come talk to me if you ever need someone to talk to”. i even had profs who went above and beyond their role as a professor to make sure i was still caught up with my work by emailing me what i had missed. profs are humans too and chances are, they’ve probably gone through some dark times themselves, but you’ll never know until you reach out to them. if you only get one thing out of this post, i hope i’ve encouraged you to get help. you are not alone in this battle and there are tons of people and resources out there that can help you lessen the weight on your shoulders. trying to crawl out of the dark whole is hard but it’s easier when you have the support of other people.
3. a change of plans: your life is constantly shifting. every factor in your life is fluid and sometimes it’s really difficult to have a set plan for the future. just look back on your life 2 years ago: how much has changed? did you think you’d be where you are today? you learn new things, try new things, and meet new people everyday, all of which could drastically change your whole life course. while sure, it’s good to set goals for yourself to work towards, don’t sweat it too hard if your goals may need to change. there really isn’t one way to do anything. going on a completely different path doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t end up at the same destination. you could switch your majors, take a gap year, decide you don’t want to go back to school, get certified for teaching languages abroad and end up teaching english in japan! same end goal, different path. it’s not the end of the world if things don’t work out right now because the possibilities are endless. *askastudentstorytime* things have an odd way of working out. i actually wanted to go into the same teaching program at OISE but found out that my grades were too low. i went to the registrar’s office one day to talk about how my grades sucked and i ended up getting a job there a couple of months later. since i started working here, planning for my career has completely changed. i may not ever become a teacher, but i’ve found something else that i also like doing, and you will too!
4. gap year: if you feel like you’d feel better taking a year off, by all means, do it! your health is your number one priority because a degree is pretty much worthless to you if you end up destroying your soul to procure it. if you do want to take a gap year, don’t enrol in any courses in the semesters that you want off, and the school will get the hint and financially cancel you. if you are an international student, contact the CIE to double check the consequences of going on a gap year with a study permit. don’t worry, nothing bad will happen while you’re gone and you are always welcome to come back and finish your degree at any time. all you’d have to do is to re-register and pay the $25 re-registration fee at your college. see? not so scary!
you wanted some advice for what to do so here is the tldr version of it all.

dropping/ failing courses won’t sabotage your whole university career. it happens all the time. next time if you know you’re going to fail but you’ve missed the drop deadline, consider using one of your LWD’s.

talk to someone/ anyone about your struggles. someone out there will be able to help you or at least relate to your struggles! take advantage of the registrar’s office and the resources available to you on campus.

goals may change and that’s okay.

take a gap year if you think your health would benefit from it. a break from school and some time to recuperate might be exactly what you need right now!

i’m really sorry that you’re going through this and i hope that the summer is a lot less stressful and more enjoyable. bask in the warm sunlight and drink it all in before things get dark and gloomy again. feel free to write again! while i can’t guarantee that i will get back to you in timely fashion, i guarantee that aska will always respond eventually to any emails we receive. thanks for taking the first step to email us. be proud of your efforts.

i know it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel at this point in your life but i can assure you that it’s there! it’s always easier to walk through a dark tunnel with the help of people who’ve seen the light. idk, i’m trying to come up with a good metaphor but i’m not sure if it’s working.

…k what i’m trying to say is that you’re not just walking towards nothingness.

you’re gonna be okay. hang in there.

peace and lots and lots of love,

aska
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GPA, grad school, grades, jobs, lab experience, life science, lost

don’t lose hope, youngling

January 11, 2017

Hello,

I am a life science student in the second year. After completing the fall term studying, I feel that it is very difficult to get a high GPA. I wonder if I get 3.0 cumulative GPA after graduation, what can I do? what school accept me? what work opportunities do I have? Thanks.

Best,

———————————————

hello,

*as askastudentuoft, i hope you understand that i am knowledgeable about all things U of T, and that’s about it, so this post will be very U of T centric*

while a 3.0 GPA is great, many of the life science graduate programs available at U of T require averages which range from B+ to A- (with the exception of the occupational science and occupational therapy program which looks for mid B’s). but, keep in mind, these are just life science programs available at U of T. there are plenty of other schools which offer similar programs which may require different averages.

you’re only in second year, which means you don’t ACTUALLY know if you’re going to end up with a 3.0 average. you seem to have already lost hope in yourself. don’t stress out right now about what your work opportunities will be and just try your best to get the best grades you can. i can’t really tell you what kind of work opportunities will be available when you graduate because we don’t even know what program you’ll be pursuing for grad school!

a good place to start is the career learning network. it’s a great tool for current students and recent graduates. you can use it to find research positions (i hear the life science people like those) and postings by companies looking for recent U of T graduates. logging onto the career learning network website is definitely the first step you should take when looking for work opportunities for students like you!

for now, focus on school and building up your resume with work and volunteer experiences. they can be relevant or irrelevant to your field, but having experience is definitely an asset when applying for any kind of job. volunteer at a hospital from time to time or make some money tutoring kids grade 10 science! whatever it is, just make sure you work hard and build up a good collection of references in case you need them for grad school.

in all seriousness, i’m graduating later this year and i don’t even know what work opportunities will be available to me! i can’t even see into my own future, let alone yours!

anyways, hope this was somewhat helpful!

good luck, work hard, and try your best at everything you do.

peace and love,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, keeners, lost

vague and subjective question

October 29, 2016

Hello Aska!! I know you hate vague and subjective questions, so I’ll apologize in advice for what I’m about to ask. Sorry! I’m the definition of indecisive, so I have come to you. I’m a senior in high school and there are only two goals I have: 1. Go to UofT 2. Get a high paying job. Now this may be a fool’s dream, but what can I say? Anyway, I have only taken data as my one uni math course, but my English marks are always spectacular. What should I do in UofT?-

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hello there,

just to clarify, i only despise questions that demand answers to things that i couldn’t possibly know, like “am i going to get in if i have this grade in this class?” or “i submitted this thing a while ago, why haven’t i heard back? this is my student number. pls help.”

if you just want a second opinion (or the opinion of a relatively jaded undergrad student) i’m your person!

see, you say you’re indecisive, but you clearly know what you want. you know that you want to go to U of T and that you want dem dolla dolla billz. ’tis not a fool’s dream. ’tis everyone’s dream.

i’m not going to outright tell you what you should study. (astrophysics. that is what you should do. it’s super easy.) i know nothing about you, but i can tell by your question that you think you’ll get paid more if you study a program that requires math. it’s great that your english marks are spectacular, but what do you really want to do? you may be good at english, but do you enjoy it? do you have a passion for literature?

on the other hand, are you going to be happy in a program that requires math? do you even like math? (ew who likes math)

once you get your undergrad degree, are you thinking of pursuing grad school?

you might feel like i’m not helping since i’m throwing more questions at you, but these are questions that you should really consider.

you’re a young’un. at this point in your life, as a senior in high school, the possibilities are truly endless. there are so many different paths you could take. don’t be afraid to choose a path different than the one you imagined yourself taking. heck, for the longest time, i hadn’t even considered coming to U of T for university.

*aska storytime*

when i started 12th grade, i actually had my heart set on a university in my hometown. i went on a campus tour, located the nearest mcdonalds, and found pretty much every starbucks on campus. i was so ready.

everything changed when all my friends were applying to schools in the east. i felt some hardcore fomo and decided to apply to U of T, just for the heck of it. i didn’t think i would get in, but i did!

the moral of this story is, i didn’t end up walking down the path that i thought i would, and things still worked out amazingly well in the end.

*end of aska storytime*

dolla dolla billz are definitely important to take into account, but you need to remember that lots of employment opportunities come from knowing the right people. the most valuable piece of advice i could give you right now is to get as much work/ volunteer experience as you can. maintain professionalism and consistency in everything you do. as a result, you’ll have great references and people will be more likely to recommend you for other jobs.

in conclusion: don’t think about your program of study with your potential future income in mind! there are so many things that can happen along the way which can shape what your future turns out to be. your eventual failure or success won’t have had anything to do with this one choice you made in university. but if you don’t like what you’re studying, you’ll dread every class you sit through, and you won’t want to go to class. trust me, i know what it’s like.

anyways, i’ll end my rant here, but i just want you to know:

i hope you choose something you love. best of luck to you!

cheers,

aska

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lost, maps

i get lost here and i go here

May 4, 2015

Hi, I’m a UTM student and I am taking a course at the St. George campus. This is my first time enrolling in a St. George course and I am highly confused, as I’m used to the UTM timetable structure. Apparently my class is taking place at WO 35. Where & what does that mean? Please help!

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hey there,

the quickest way to figure this stuff out is to take the building code – WO in this case – and stick it into the search bar on the uoft map. this handy, handy map will tell you the name of the building, and show you exactly where it is. isn’t technology amazing?

(in this case, WO is the Woodsworth College Residence at 321 Bloor St. West, on the corner of bloor and st. george).

have fun trying to navigate this maze of a campus!

aska

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treasure hunt of recorders

February 15, 2012

Hello Askastudent,Sorry for bothering you with such a trivial question…I’d just like to know if there’s a Lost and Found office for Convocation Hall? …Sadly, I recently joined the team of students who lost their recorders at Con Hall. My class ended at 3:00pm last Friday; I went home without remembering to pick up my recorder next to the sound magnifier near the stage (It was my fault…I was too eager to go home…). I know the doors for Con Hall are locked for the weekend, but when I came early Monday morning to look for it, it was gone…Yeah…that’s pretty much it. I would really really appreciate it if you have any info on recovering lost items on campus.

Thanks a lot!!

Betty

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Hey Betty,

We have all had those too eager to get places moments! I frequently … very frequently forget my phone. One time I was getting out of the car and thought I had forgotten my bottoms. I didn’t, but the fact that I considered I might have shows the level of confidence I have in myself not to forget things.

ANYWAYS …

I would check with the prof first. I know a few of mine just collect them up … and probably sell them if no one claims them.

They actually have a whole building/website/probably just a room for lost goods on campus.

Here’s all the need to know.

cheerios and milk,

aska

lost, TAs

I don’t need none of that “he said/she said” business.

May 29, 2008

My TA is, simply put, hostile. His behavior is similar to bullying in that I cannot prove what he is doing and his condescending tone is discouraging me from participating because he is making me feel as though my participation or thoughts do not matter in the tutorial and that reading the textbook and going to lecture is not enough for him. Tutorial is worth 10% of my mark, and my papers will be marked by this abysmal thing UofT has hired to be a TA. I know UofT loves them, but is there nothing I can do about this? My professor has said that tutorials we choose are permanent but I don’t know if UofT professors grant exceptions regarding this matter to consider speaking to my professor for this particular course. I also do not want to be singled out by the professor or the TA and spend the rest of the year wondering if I will be deducted 70 percentages if my TA were to get hold of my exam paper and recognize from my name that I was the person who switched out of his tutorial. I need to switch tutorials/TAs if I want to do well in this course, but I feel as though (like my TA), my professor/others might think I am simply exaggerating. Any help/advice would be much-appreciated.

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