• campus,  campus life,  time management

    doors are important, y’know

    August 16, 2026

    hi aska,  

    so for next fall, i have two classes on friday that are back to back. my tutorial for cog250 ends at 11am, and my vic145 seminar starts at 11. buildings are a thirteen minute walk apart.  

    obviously, i cannot teleport, so im wondering if you have any advice on how to not miss too much of either class. 

    heyyo, 

    ah yes, the age-old dilemma of getting across uoft’s massive campus within the supposedly generous 10 minutes of uoft time. 

    actually, considering you’re almost certainly a first year (since you’re taking a first year seminar course), you may not even know what this “uoft time” is. i guess it’s my sacred duty to inform you. basically, every class, tutorial, lab, practical, etc. at uoft starts 10 minutes after the hour. so your 11am seminar will actually start at 11:10. the point is to give you more time to get across campus, but it’s not always enough, since it can sometimes take twice that time to get from one place to another. hell, in a big enough class in con hall, you’re lucky if you get out of the building in under four minutes. 

    so until teleportation is invented, we unfortunately just have to suck it up and deal with it. sigh.  

    now, forgive my stalkerness, but i just had to check timetable builder to see which buildings you’d be travelling between. i think it would be sid smith to northrop frye? which is a bit yikes. i did see that there is another cog250 tutorial, also from 10-11, but it’s at the uc building, which is a decent amount closer to northrop frye. unless you have a particular reason to be at the sid smith tutorial, i’d switch to the uc one. also, uc is a way nicer building (i’m a sid smith hater), so why wouldn’t you wanna be in a castle instead of a glorified high school? 

    (live footage from sid smith, btw)

    if you can’t switch for whatever reason, or i’m dumb and you are already in the uc tutorial, the first step is to talk to your profs/TAs. in a bigger class, leaving early/being late isn’t a huge deal, but since both your classes are smaller, it’s good to check in with your instructor. despite what you may hear, most profs do have a soul, and they should be understanding of your plight. from there, i’d just be observant in your first week(s) of classes. if your tutorial has something important right at the end (like attendance or a quiz), or your seminar has something right at the beginning, i would prioritize being on time for the class with the important thing. similarly, if one prof/TA is understanding and the other isn’t, you’ll unfortunately have to be punctual for the less understanding one’s class. 

    i also wanna drop some other miscellaneous tips, coming from someone who has also had some very unfortunate back-to-back class locations. in first year, i literally took the subway two stops to get from one class to another, because the distance between them was insane if i just walked. 

    first tip is, if you have to leave a few minutes early from your tutorial, make sure to sit near the door. that way it’s easier for you to get up and leave, and it also isn’t as disruptive to your classmates. similarly, if you’re always late to your seminar, don’t be that person who has to bumble their way up to the front. just it in the seats closer to the door. 

    sometimes it can be easier said than done, but there’s also no harm in making friends in your classes. if you ever miss anything important, there’ll be someone who can fill you in. obviously it would be great if you, y’know, actually like them, but you don’t have to be besties to share notes. 

    aaand my last piece of advice, especially because you’re a first year, is to walk the route before the first day!! i know this part sounds silly, but when you take this walk, pay attention to the optimal doors for each building. sid smith is a really annoying square (yes, i’m hating on it again), and if you end up going out one of the doors on the west side of the building, congrats, you’ve just added an extra 3 minutes to your walk. so find and plan out those doors!!! doors are important, y’know. 

    best of luck navigating the high seas of utsg. 

    cheers, 

    aska 

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  • academic success,  courses,  first year,  keeners,  studying,  time management

    degree explorer nerds unite

    March 1, 2026

    Hi Aska, 

    I GOT MY ACCEPTANCE A COUPLE WEEKS AGO!!! I’ll be attending UTSG and studying psych (probs as a specialist)  

    So anyway, I was perusing the course catalogue and planning potential schedules for my myself because I’m a huge nerd, and it’s like a fun little puzzle to fit in all the pre-reqs and breadth requirements.  

    While I was playing around with this, I noticed that even after I fit everything in (yes, all four years of classes) I have an empty slot in my Fall 2026 term. So because it’ll be my first ever semester at uni, I want to fill that spot with a class that’ll set me up for success at uni.  

    Do you have any recs for intro-level classes I could take that help with learning how to study more efficiently/be better with time management? 

    heyyo, 

    first of all, CONGRATS ON YOUR ADMISSION!! 

    i was and am also a total nerd about course planning. i remember sitting in my high school library and messing around in timetable builder and degree explorer. yes, i was procrastinating on my assignments, but shut up, i was dealing with senioritis… 

    you prob already know but the one thing i will caution is that your plan will 100% change in some way. you may want to take a different elective here or there, there may be conflicts, your interests could change, or you might find out that the prof for a course you wanted to take has a 1.3/5 on ratemyprofessor.  

    ok, with that warning aside, as for your actual question: i did find some courses you might like, but they’re all about writing. don’t get me wrong, writing is probably one of the most skills for uni, but it does suck that there aren’t more options. the ones i found are: 

    i think any of those would be a great pick for you! you could also choose to do an elective in an area you might wanna minor in, better to test the waters in first year than realize you’re into classics in your last semester. 

    another option i’d recommend is a first year foundations seminar, since you can only take them in first year. because they’re designed for first years, they’ll focus on developing those critical skills. and they cover some super cool and niche topics: if you’ve ever wanted to do a course on the hamilton musical or the psychology of magic, this is your chance. and hey, would you look at that, there’s even one called the psychology of student success! maybe we should all be required to take that one… 

    i also wouldn’t worry too too much about learning things like time management from a curriculum. the best way to get a grasp on those skills is with experience, which you’ll get no matter what classes you take. and if you still feel like you need help, you can check out the many resources and workshops that uoft offers. 

    keep havin fun with that degree explorer of yours! 

    cheers, 

    aska 

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  • time management,  work-study

    you know yourself best

    October 5, 2017

    Hi,
    Currently, I am a 4th year neuroscience student at U of T. I have recently got a work-study job at a psychology lab. Then another opportunity came up and I could be a volunteer research assistant for another psychology lab. I have read some posts from searching on Google and most posts suggested that undergrad student shouldn’t do this because it would tired me out. Some post even suggested that researching with two different profs from the same faculty might not look the best. I am only doing 3 course for this semester (so I am not that busy) and I was wondering if I could get some advice on this matter.

    Thank you!

    ——————————————

    hi!

    i can’t really say whether or not you’d be able to balance 2 work-study positions/ lab positions and 3 courses as i don’t know you. my suggestion is to really think about how you work, whether or not you can commit to managing your time efficiently, and if if will take a toll on your grades, mental health, or physical health. i would also discuss these concerns with the profs that you would be working with and see if they would help you to balance your time between the two labs and school.

    i don’t really know about working with two different profs from the same faculty not looking great. i don’t know if it would really matter, but then again, i’m not a prof or someone looking at your transcript for grad school or whatever. if it’s something that you’re really worried about, i would bring it up with the profs who you’d be working with. they would have more insight onto how student placements in labs work as well as grad school applications.

    Converse reaction angry tired feels GIF

    i really hope this helps and i’m sorry for such a slow response.

    peace and love,

    aska

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  • first year,  time management

    a social life and success can actually coexist

    June 28, 2013

    Hello there,

    I will be beginning my first year at UofT in September. I’m in the Life Sciences program in the Faculty of Arts & Science. I’ve been worrying about the course load that accompanies university. I’m concerned about the stress of doing my best in my courses all the while managing to find the time to relax with friends and family. I will be commuting to and from UofT every day, which will take up quite a bit of my time. I just want to be able to have time to maintain the relationships with my friends and boyfriend, and not have to constantly be studying. I was just hoping for advice on how to manage my time to make the most of my university experience. Also, I was wondering what an average Life Sciences student’s schedule would be like. How many hours would a Science student spend in class on average? How much reading will I be expected to do on my own? Is it difficult to have a social life while in university?

    Thanks in advance.

    – Madeline

    ———————————————

    Madeline,

    I applaud you for considering time management before actually starting at UofT. I’d say the average student only considers time management following a view of their abysmal midterm grades, so yay you for considering that university is tough and will require some prioritizing.

    I’m sure you’re used to seeing things like this:

    What I’m going to tell you is that you can actually have all three — provided you don’t go straight into the habiting of dicking around and ignoring all obligations. It’s actually super easy to have all three plus a little extra money!

    My advice to managing your time?

    Get a job.

    I know, I know. You’re probably wondering “how the heck will that help me?” but if there’s anything that’s managed my time throughout these years at UofT, it’s the blessed work-study program. While having a job certainly adds hours to your weekly schedule, it also forces you to get your act together. If you know you’ll only have three hours to work on x, you won’t procrastinate because it actually occurs to you that you really only have three hours to work on it!

    My next piece of advice to prioritize.

    There are things that matter in life, fine. For some, there are friends, family, and a boyfriend. For others, it’s about tumblr, burritos, and Jon Snow. But in the end, weeeeeell you’re only in university for four years (ideally).

    Like they can all wait.

    Likewise, you have four months off between things! And then weeks off between semesters! I’m not saying you need to alienate everyone around you, but hot damn if you want to succeed, maybe taking your friends up on that offer to visit that new bar on College isn’t totally necessary. And with family, depending on how your schedule works… well they’ll understand. Who, if not you family, wants your to succeed? As for your boyfriend, I dunno, get him a video game or something to pass the time with for when you’re busy studying.

    But just plan your week accordingly and you should have time for everything. 🙂 You don’t actually need to see your bff or your bf every day.

    You have to commute. Fine. I did. Lots of people did/do! So try to use your commute to the fullest. If you don’t get severe motion sickness, do your readings on the subway. Or if you want to spend time with the boyfriend and he’s going the same way, commute together.

    On that note, a great way to still spend time with people but get stuff done is to study together! There are tons of places on campus that are quiet enough that you can get some learning done while also, if a random thought that needs to make itself known pops into your head, you can just talk.

    (Also, TOP PRIORITY, said places typically allow for food.)

    As for how many hours a life sci student might spend in class, take a look at the course calender. Beside every course title is something that actually tells you how many hours you’ll spend in lectures/tutorials/practicals/etc for that class and divide by 12 or 24 depending on length of class.

    So for BIO120H, which I assume you’ll be taking, for the semester, you’ll be spending 24 hours in lecture and 15 in practicals.

    If you’re going with the 5.0 FCE a year route, you’ll have five classes and probably spend about 12-15 hours a week in lectures et al. Then add maybe 1 to 2 hours of studying for every hour of lecture. It’s really hard to gauge though how much time you’ll have to spend on readings and how many readings there will be since there are just so many variables involved.

    I know this might seem a bit overwhelming but think of it like this: you’re about to become a full-time student. Rather than contributing 9 to 5 hours to a job, you’re contributing it to learning. So while the prospect of spending 35-40 hours a week devoted to university might seem unreasonable, in the long run… well, it really isn’t.

    And again, so you don’t freak out, always keep in mind that it’s temporary! 🙂

    But it’s not hard to have a social life. It’s not hard at all! You can meet people in your classes, in clubs, yada yada yada. You’ll still hold on to your high school friends too, so fear not. Just don’t try to over exert yourself. Going out two times a week or so is enough to not let your brain rot in academia.

    Good luck with your next year and welcome to UofT!

    xoxo,
    aska

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