• life science,  priority,  programs,  social sciences,  switching

    i walked so you could run

    hey! so im a first year who was switched into social science from life science because of a grade requirement in grade 12. im taking all life sci courses currently but im worried i wont get all the courses i need for a lifesci program next year because of my admissions category. how would i switch back to life sci? is it an easy switch or would i have to jump through a lot of hoops??


    hey there,

    omg twin, where have you been.

    scenario GIF

    first off, i can tell you that it will all be ok, because i did this myself. when i was in first year, i was in the social sciences admission category, but then after getting into social science programs i decided i sorta hated it. i then spent my second year taking pre-req courses for my life sci program and got in the summer after my second year.

    you’ll be in a better position if you’re already taking life sci courses during your first year. but it would be helpful if i knew exactly which life sci program you wanted to get in to? like are you taking the first year pre-req courses this year? or does the program not have any pre-reqs?

    check if your program has pre-reqs

    because there are two types of programs — open and limited. this website does a great job of explaining the difference, if you want to check it out. but basically, some programs will have a list of first year courses you need to take to get into the program when you apply the summer after your first year, while other programs are “open”, with no required courses.

    what you’ll want to do to figure this out is search “your program” art sci calendar on google. for example, this is the art sci calendar’s page for biology. if you click on the drop-down for the biology major, you’ll see that it says “open enrolment program” under enrolment requirements. so that means anyone who applies can get in.

    however, if you look at the immunology page and click on the drop-down for the immunology major, it says something different under enrolment requirements. here, it says “limited enrolment program”, and lists courses that you have to take in order to get into the major.

    so essentially, all you have to do to get into your life sci program is take the pre-requisites (and sometimes, meet the required grade threshold of those pre-requisites). but if there are no pre-requisites, you’re literally chilling. it doesn’t matter what admission category you’re in, anyone can get in.

    Awesome Will Ferrell GIF

    to make it easier, i was told that admission category don’t mean anything, and they just make things seem more complicated than they really are. they do not tie you down in any way. the only program that i know actually requires you to be in their admission category is the comp sci specialist.

    if you haven’t taken pre-reqs yet:

    now, going back to your question of whether you have to jump through hoops. if you are already taking all the pre-req courses you need this year, or if your program has no pre-reqs, then you will have no hoops to jump through. all you gotta do is click the button to enrol during program enrolment and you’ll have switched to life sci.

    however, if you have not taken required pre-reqs yet, i fear there will be some hoops. they will be jumpable, but they will be a lil frustrating.

    the main thing that got me was enrolment priority on courses. i have an inkling this might be the same issue you also run into, since you mentioned you’re worried you won’t get the courses you need for your program?

    basically, during enrolment, some courses are restricted to certain student groups who have “priority” for a few weeks, until they open up enrolment to everyone else after. often, if the course is popular, it’ll just fill up during the priority period.

    in my case, the pre-req courses like MAT135 and BIO120 that i needed were restricted to “only first years in life sciences” during the priority enrolment period. i was worried because i literally needed them to get into my program and was watching the numbers slowly fill up as i waited for general enrolment period to come.

    Scared Jimmy Fallon GIF by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

    in the end, they did not fill up. but by the time i could enrol, all the good lectures and tutorials had been taken and i had to deal with the most diabolical schedule. (i am being a little dramatic but what else am i here on this earth to do).

    so it ended up fine, but it was super stressful. i highly highly recommend seeing an academic advisor at your college registrar to help you figure it out, because that’s what i did — i don’t think i could have done it alone.

    but yeah, that’s the only thing that made the switch to life sci difficult. still, i was pretty surprised that all you need to do to switch from social sci to life sci was take the pre-req courses and it was a lot simpler than it seemed. and now, i’m really glad i made that decision despite how scary it felt.

    so i hope this all made sense and answered your question. best of luck to you, you’ve got this!

    This may contain: a drawing of a potato with its eyes closed

    over and out,

    aska

  • admissions,  applying for U of T,  social sciences

    i know things i swear

    hi! so i’m a grade 11 student and rn i’m taking college, uni and mixed courses. what i’m wondering is that would this affect my chances of getting into uoft (specifically the social science stream) since i took college level grade 11 courses? also for next year, in grade 12, all my courses that i’ll be taking are 6 u/m so would that help or?


    hey there,

    hmmm ok. i’m honestly not from ontario so this whole ontario high school course code system bewilders me. normalize being out of the loop because what is even.. going on.

    *you remind me that i’m literally supposed to know this stuff.*

    ahah but i do know the U of T system, so i’ll try my best to answer this.

    I Can Do It Ok GIF by ION

    for admission requirements, U of T requires that you’ve taken at least 6 grade 12 university (U) or university/college (M) courses. for the social sciences stream, one of those courses must be english (ENG4U). so yes, it’s good that you’re taking all U/M courses in grade 12!

    U of T will look at your grades in ENG4U, plus five other of your top grade 12 marks in academic courses. based off this, i think would give you a better chance if you took a lot of U/M courses, because then you’ll have other marks to send in if you do badly in some, right?

    meanwhile, based on the way that U of T describes how they consider applications, they don’t consider the difficulty of the courses you took in high school. i know that some other universities say they do, like UBC, who says they look at the range of your courses and how challenging they were. but i haven’t seen anything that implies U of T looks at this. the general vibe is that U of T mainly looks at your grades.

    so overall, yeah. take U/M courses, that’s good. based on vibes again, i think taking college courses in grade 11 is also good, compared to taking workplace or open courses.

    if you really want to know, like, specifics about admissions, something not a lot of people know is that you can literally ask a recruitment officer how to make your application really good. the name “recruitment officer” makes them sound so, institutional? but like they’re just people who have the actual inside scoop on this, so don’t be afraid to reach out!

    hope this was helpful and good luck, i hope you have allllll the success!

    Happy Will And Grace GIF by HULU

    over and out,

    aska

  • admissions,  applying for U of T,  social sciences

    no, no, and no

    hello,
    i am currently a grade 11 student. last sem i failed the functions u level course with a 40%, so i’ll be retaking it this summer. i’m worried that i won’t be accepted to the social science program because of this. also, i think my current average right now is around 74%.
    so my questions are that would failing functions affect my change of acceptance?
    i am aiming to get better grades in grade 12 so will uoft look at my grade 11 marks or my grade 12 marks?
    my last question is regarding supplementary applications, i am planning to choose the political science stream so would i need to submit my extracurriculars, volunteer hours, etc? because currently i only have around 45 hours of volunteering and no extracurriculars, would this also affect my acceptance?

    thank you,
    hope this makes sense.


    hey there,

    Season 1 Friends GIF

    i like you. finally, questions that are within my realm of expertise.

    1. will failing functions affect your acceptance?

    no, it shouldn’t. as you can see here, U of T only looks at your top 6 academic grade 12 courses, which they use to compute your admission average. among those courses, one must be english 12. depending on the admission category you apply to, there may be other pre-requisites included — such as functions if you were applying to, say, computer science.

    however, you are applying to the social sciences admission category, which only requires english 12. this means that U of T will only look at your english course + five other of your top grade 12 marks. so if you’ve failed functions, it won’t be included in your top marks and U of T won’t look at it! so like, moving forward, um wdym, you didn’t fail! that tOTally did not happen!

    Awkward Smile GIF by Chicken Shop Date

    2. will U of T look at your grade 11 or grade 12 marks?

    so again, U of T will only look at your top 6 grade 12 marks. however, if those marks haven’t been released yet, they will look at the corresponding grade 11 marks to make conditional early offers.

    check out this answer i posted recently where i talk more about the weight of your grade 11/12 marks. the tldr is that if your grade 11 marks don’t make the cut, U of T will consider you again when your grade 12 marks are released.

    3. will you need to submit extracurriculars for political science?

    The Office gif. Rainn Wilson as Dwight carefully considers the answer to a question as he speaks to us. Text, "Let's put it this way..." He gently shakes his head. Text, "No."

    you will not need to submit extracurriculars to get into your program of study, thank GOD. as you can see on the arts & sciences calendar, admission into the political science program only concerns pre-requisite classes and your grades. i’ve never heard of a U of T undergrad arts & science program that required extracurriculars, or volunteer hours. so you’re good to go!

    4. will U of T look at your extracurriculars/volunteer hours for admissions?

    finally, U of T also does not look at your extracurriculars or volunteering hours for first year admissions. when you apply on OUAC, there isn’t even an option to put these in! if i remember right, you pretty much just upload your transcript lol.

    anyways, university applications can be super hectic and so confusing. so i hope this was helpful and that it took a bit of stress off your back! good luck with everything, you’ve got this!

    over and out,

    aska

  • admissions,  applying for U of T,  averages,  polisci,  social sciences,  St. George,  subject POST,  UTM,  UTSC

    a polisci question on election day

    Hi, what are the approximate averages needed for ontario students to get into BA political science at St George, Mississauga and Scarborough? Thanks

    ———————————————

    hello there,

    first, let’s break this down. at U of T, political science falls under the category of social sciences. if you want to pursue political science, you might consider applying to the social sciences stream after high school.

    once you are accepted, you’ll first have to complete a total of 4.0 FCE’s (full course equivalents, or credits) until you can be accepted into a political science program, be it a major or a minor. 4.o FCE’s just means that you’ll only be able to apply after first year. keep in mind, you don’t necessarily need to get into your program after first year, you can enter in second year and on!

    in terms of admission into the social sciences stream at each campus, you’ll see here that they recommend the following averages: low to mid 80’s for U of T St. George, mid 70’s for UTSC, and mid to high 70’s for UTM.

    before you choose your first year courses, definitely refer to the calendar and look at what courses you’ll have to take and what grades you’ll need to get to be accepted into the polisci program. since i am the nicest stranger you’ll never meet, i’ve linked you to the political science calendar of each campus: UTSG, UTM, and UTSC so you can see what you’ll need. you’re very welcome.

    giphy-5

    i hope you get into polisci and do some good in the world. don’t forget to thank aska when you receive a nobel prize. happy (or unhappy) election day!

    cheers,

    aska

  • admissions,  social sciences

    admissions questions are my favourite questions. really. admissions questions are m –

    I’m failing grade 12 math my average is a 48. However my other courses are 95+ will this affect me getting into U of t St George campus for social sciences

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    it may affect you to a certain extent, in that you need to pass a certain number of classes to, you know, graduate high school. and uoft kinda requires that you get your high school diploma before you come to university. crazy, right? i know.

    however, in terms of your admissions average – as i’ve said time and again – only your top six 4U/M courses (including prerequisites) will be counted (provided you’re an Ontario high school student).

    so the mark itself shouldn’t affect the average they’ll use to determine admission, assuming math isn’t a requirement for whatever program you’re interested in (which it’s probably not, because social science*), assuming you’re presenting more than 6 Grade 12 University/Mixed courses.

    now, let’s all try to move past this question, shall we?

    cheers,

    aska

    * i should add that, once you actually get to uoft, there are some social science programs – like economics – which require Grade 12 calculus (that’s MCV4U1), so math may be necessary for you down the line, EVEN IF it’s not calculated as part of your top six. just so you know.

  • admissions,  humanities,  social sciences

    humanities vs. social sciences: THE SHOWDOWN

    Two questions: 1) which area has the most admissions on the st george campus 2) which is easier humanities or social sciences?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    are you asking which stream is the least competitive? because uoft is silent as a dead cat about admission stats for undergrad arts & science students.

    however, if you want to see how you may measure up to your peers, you can take a look at the anticipated grade ranges for fall 2014 in both the humanities and social sciences for incoming students. just remember that those numbers may change from now to whenever you’re planning on applying to uoft.

    as you’ll see, the anticipated grade ranges for the humanities and social sciences are the same. this leads me on nicely to your next question:

    the humanities and social sciences are, for all intents and purposes, the same. yes, they’re formally distinct in uoft’s vernacular, but once you get into first year, there’s not much of a difference between humanities and social sciences students.

    if you look at the course calendar, you’ll see that the courses are not divided by stream – they’re listed by department. occasionally, maybe there’ll be a priority for social science or humanities students for a certain course, but practically speaking, a humanities student and a social sciences student could have the exact same schedule in first year.

    the real difference is in the faculty name: arts and science. if you’re a science student or a computer/mathematical/physical science student, you will have very different courses from most humanities/social science students.

    if you’re trying decide what you want your program to be and trying to figure out levels of difficulty, the thing you want to be looking at is our subject POSTs. they vary widely in competition, popularity, and how many people they admit. you’ll be required to pick one or more subject POSts by the end of your first year, so it’s worth it to peruse them now!

    cheers,

    aska

  • humanities,  social sciences

    why is there even a distinction who knows

    Which program is easier to get into.. Humanities or social sciences at The st. George campus ?

    ———————————————

    hey there my uninaugurated chum,

    i can see you’re new ’round these parts. the humanities and social sciences are the same at uoft. same requirements, same stream, same level of difficulty getting in. it’s subject POSts you have to worry about.

    cheers,

    aska

  • social sciences

    commerce is for cool kids only

    Hi there! I stumbled upon your site while trying to figure out what I can study if admitted to the social sciences program. I applied originally for commerce, but was accepted into social sciences instead. What is social science and what would I be studying (I’m sorry if that sounds completely ignorant)? Would I be able to transfer into the commerce program eventually? I don’t want to accept the offer if I’m not sure what I’ll be studying.

    Thanks a lot for your help!

    -Sarah

    ———————————————

    Hey Sarah,

    Social science is a whole range of programs so you can study virtually whatever you want as long as you meet the requirements.

    Off the top of my head, social sciences can include sociology, anthropology, economics, women and gender studies, political science, yada yada yada. Take a look at this giant list though to get a better feel.

    As for transferring to commerce… well, take a look at this post all about transferring into Rotman after spending first year in Arts & Science. To be completely honest, chances are quite slim, but there’s always hope as long as you get the grades! 🙂

    Cheers!

    aska