• one programs,  UTM

    do it!!!

    April 19, 2021

    Hello! I have been invited to apply to utmOne Scholars. Do you have any experience in these type of courses? Do you know if they are more difficult in grading? Thank you 🙂

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i’ve never been in the utmONE scholars program, but i was in a similar first year seminar program at st. george. based on my own experience with courses like the ones utmONE offers, i’d really recommend that you apply.

    small first-year seminars are the best investment you can make in your transition from high school to university. because of the class size, you get to know your profs and classmates much better, and have far more meaningful support in your learning. your coursework is more likely to be experiential or creative, too, which is always a plus given the heavy academic workload of first-year. the first-year seminars i took absolutely changed the course of my degree and i owe so much to having taken them.

    however, i can’t say whether utmONE classes are graded harder than other utm courses. when i took special first-year seminars at st. george, i found that they were graded much easier than my large first-year introductory lectures. it looks like utmONE has more of an intentional research focus than the seminars i took, though, so i’m not sure how that’d affect the grading system. if you have specific concerns, this webpage lists an email address that you can contact with further questions. you can try sending them a message!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • one programs

    aska has not taken every course at u of t

    April 15, 2021

    Vic One (Stowe-Gullen) vs Trin One (Biomedical health) vs SMC One (Gilson – Faith and Rome)? How are they graded/assessed? What is it like to be a student in each? Is there a place I can go to find current students for SMC and Vic One?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    unfortunately, i’ve haven’t taken these classes personally, so i’m not able to give you a complete rundown! i’m also not sure how they’re graded because i’ve never seen the syllabi.

    here are a few ideas of things you can try to get more information:

    1. get in touch with the program coordinator who oversees each course: victoria one, trinity one, and smc one. you can ask them if they’re able to pass on past syllabi or even put you in touch with previous students. i’d be surprised if a program coordinator doesn’t know a person or two that they can reach out to.
    2. check out the videos on this webpage if you haven’t already — there are a few student and instructor testimonies that might help you
    3. if none of those work out, you can also try contacting the student unions of each college with a ones program that you’re interested in. there’s a chance they’ll have someone on their team that’s been in the relevant ones class. here’s the contact info for vusac, st. mike’s, and the tcm. i can’t guarantee that you’ll get a response since it’s finals season, but it’s worth a try.

    good luck making your decision! i hope i was able to point you in the right direction.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • first year,  one programs,  seminars

    first new admit of the year!!

    March 11, 2021

    hello! recently got admitted to utsg under socsci. 90% sure i’ll accept. i was thinking currently i’d like to possibly double major in bio and psych once first year ends. i am considering applying for vic one bc it seems super cool but my question is, would it be foolish of me to apply to a vic one stream that doesn’t relate to my intended major (life sci ig)? for ex: applying to vic one frye? would i be better off just taking a couple regular courses that interest me along with my prereqs?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    i love this time of year because of all the good news about admissions that pours in — and you’re the first of 2021! congrats on getting in. i’m so excited for you!

    i don’t think it’s foolish to apply to a vic one program that doesn’t relate to your intended majors. here are some good reasons to still take vic one:

    vic one will offer you smaller, discussion-based (i think) classes, which means it’ll be a great way to make friends. many people i know made the friends that got them through their degree in a ones program, like vic one, trin one, or innis one. this is true for me too! u of t can be isolating, so an investment in friendships is worth it. a lot of the coolest people i know now were actually in vic one.

    speaking of getting to know people, since class sizes are smaller, it’ll be easier for you to connect with your instructor and make sure they know your name and face. who knows — they might be a valuable connection for you down the road.

    apart from that, first year is a great time to explore subjects of study outside what you think you’re interested in. you might find a new interest or learn something that will supplement your growth as a person! programs like vic one will be closed off to you once you become a second year, so if you’re interested, now is the best time to take the plunge.

    finally, your degree will require you to complete breadth requirements, which i explain in this post if you’re not familiar. special first-year classes, like ones and seminars, can often be counted towards breadth requirements. you can check out what breadth reqs your potential vic one courses fulfill here.

    tl:dr vic one isn’t useless to you just because it’s not related to your programs of study! there’s a lot of value that participating in the one program can bring to your degree, and i’d really encourage you to apply. doing first year ones/seminars absolutely changed the course of my degree and university experience — that’s how impactful they were.

    i hope this post helped you, and congrats again!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • enrollment,  enrolment,  first year,  one programs

    baby’s first uni course selection

    July 6, 2020

    I’m going into first year Life Sciences this year at U of T in the fall. I know three courses I want to take because of certain admission requirements: BIO120, BIO130, CHM135, CHM136, MAT135, & MAT136. I am not sure to take PHY131 and PHY132 for first year. I want to keep my options open for other programs, but I’m not sure. I have an interest in taking PSY100, but I’m not sure if I could take it. I want to do 5 FCEs but I am not still sure. Course selection is very overwhelming. Any advice?

    ——————————————

    hi there!

    course selection. my favourite time of year. it’s like christmas.

    do i have any advice? hmm. let’s see. if you’re certain about your bio, chem, and math courses, those should occupy 3.0 FCEs. which means you have a few course slots to play around with, even if you choose not to take 5.0 FCEs. i found the adjustment from high school to university a little challenging, so i didn’t take 5.0 FCEs and found it helpful. whether or not that’s the right decision for you is something only you know. i will note, though, that uni can be quite different, and taking a lighter courseload will give you more space to figure things out, like how to prepare for exams and how to use the libraries.

    if you’re undecided, you can always register for 5.0 FCEs and then drop courses later on. u of t has pretty generous course-drop periods, so you’ll have a good amount of time to decide whether or not you want to stay in your classes. plus, that’ll give you a chance to sus your courses out to see if they’re actually worth taking — if you decide to drop down from 5 to 4 courses a few weeks into the semester, you can just drop the elective you like the least.

    regardless of courseload, i always recommend that first years take either a first year foundations seminar or something in the ‘ones’ program, just because i personally had really good experiences in both. the idea of these courses is that they’re meant to help you transition from high school to university. the classes tend to be smaller, the program material is specially selected to be super interesting, and the assignments are more fun/less difficult. you can only take these courses in your first year, so they’re definitely something to take advantage of now. something to note, though, is that you won’t be able to apply the credit/no credit designation to these courses — i assume because they tend to be easier to do well in.

    here’s something else for you to consider: first year is a great time to get your breadth requirements out of the way. if you’re a life sciences kid, chances are you’ll have breadth 4 and 5 knocked out, but you’ll need to take a few classes that are breadth 1, 2, or 3. you can use the calendar to filter through different breadth requirements, in order to find the relevant courses for each category.

    here are my personal recommendations, either drawn from experience or conversations i’ve had with other students. none of these have prerequisites, so you should be able to take them in first year:

    you can also check the u of t reddit or the first year foundations seminar listings for other ideas!

    other than that… first year is a good time to explore different interests and take a few risks! i wish i’d done that more when i was in first year. it’s easy to be drawn to the big, generic classes like PSY100, and miss all the quirkier offerings like “introducing religion: blood, sex, and drugs” or “how to study video games.”

    you mentioned keeping your options open for other programs, and that’s a smart consideration to make as well. if you know what backup programs you might want to take, it’s a good idea to squeeze some of their prerequisites into your schedule, especially if they overlap with some of the courses you’re already taking.

    i know course selection can be overwhelming, but if you use the tools at your disposal— the timetable, the calendar, degree explorer, etc. — hopefully it will be a little easier! that’s about all the advice i can think of right now. i hope this helped, and feel free to send another question in if you’re confused about anything specific regarding course selection!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • first year,  FLC,  one programs

    tfti to first year courses :(

    May 27, 2020

    Hello, I hope whoever reads this is doing well! I will be joining Physical and Mathematical sciences at UofT this fall, and I wanted to ask about the One’s program vs. FLC! I heard FLC was pretty suitable for those doing LifeSci, so I don’t know if the same would apply to someone not doing LifeSci. So, my question is: which one is better? And, can I do both? Also, is there a cost to the One’s program? How many times do they meet up? Thank you!

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    congrats on accepting your offer of admission, that’s some pretty cool stuff. let’s unravel your question:

    Cat Fumbling GIF by Originals

    are FLCs suitable for people who aren’t in lifesci?

    yes! i suspect you may have heard that they’re good for lifesci students because there’s lifesci first year learning community (FLC) group at every college, making lifesci the most common FLC. but the thing is that there are all sorts of FLC groups to match a range of interests. you can join a humanities group, or a social sciences group, if that’s the kind of thing you’re into. want to hang out with a bunch of actuarial science, compsci, math, psych, or econ kids? apparently there are enough of them that those programs get their own FLCs.

    Matt Leblanc Wow GIF by Friends

    in short, if your interests line up with one of the FLC groups offered, whether lifesci or otherwise, joining an FLC in your first year is at least worth considering. since you mentioned that you’re going into the physical and mathematical sciences, you can probably look into the mathematics FLC.

    which one is better? can i do both?

    which one is “better” honestly depends on what you’re interested in, experience- and outcome-wise. i think FLCs may be better for meeting other first years with similar academic interests to you, and growing a sense of community in that way. you also get some pretty solid guidance if you’re part of an FLC, since you have access to senior-year student mentors as well as staff/faculty advisors. however, with FLCs you’re bound to a specific set of courses for your first year, which can feel a little restrictive. it’s great if those courses serve as prereqs for programs you’re interested in anyway, as i assume is probably true for FLCs with a more specific focus. however, if you were registered in a humanities FLC but planed to take a super niche humanities program with different prereqs, i can’t imagine that would line up very well. it may also be important to you that FLCs offer CCR recognition, while ‘ones’ and first-year foundations seminars (FYS) do not.

    the ‘ones’ program, though, lends you quite a lot of flexibility in terms of subject matter depending on which course you choose. registering in a ‘one’ won’t take up more than a single slot in your timetable, and there’s no extra meeting on top of the courses, unlike with an FLC. it’s true that you’re less likely to meet first years with similar interests because all sorts of first years tend to register in ‘ones,’ but they’re still great places to make friends! in my first year, i chose the ‘ones’ program over a FLC for its flexibility, and ended up meeting some of the people i’m now closest to at u of t. plus… honestly, in terms of how cool the subject matter is, i would rank ‘ones’ above FLCs, and FYS courses over both of them.

    can you take both? i know that there are exclusions for FYS courses and the ‘ones’ program, but i’ve never run into any exclusions for FLCs and ‘ones.’ i’m relatively certain that you can do both, but if you wanna be 100% certain i’d check it over with your registrar. 

    is there a cost to the ones program?

    jerry maguire money GIF

    not unless you take a course with a travel component, like this seminar that involves a trip to california. i think the only ‘ones’ with a travel component are the SMC ones, though– if there’s a fun, expensive field trip involved, usually you’ll know just by looking at the course page. and anyway… who even knows if those field trips are gonna be able to run for this upcoming school year?

    how many times do they meet up?

    not sure which one you’re referring to here. generally, outside of regular classes, FLCs meet up 13 times over the academic year. on the other hand, ones operate like regular classes (you meet for the designated class time every week for either one semester or the full year).

    anyway, hope this was helpful and you have a great first year! good luck making a decision.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • one programs

    [confused screaming]

    June 27, 2019

    help the ones program page is down and I can’t find the deadlines for the different programs

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    lmao i love the panicky tone of this question because that’s exactly how i felt when artsci went down and i had all these admissions questions pouring in a few weeks ago.

    what i soon found out is that a lot of pages appear to be broken, but if you plug what you want into the search bar, you can usually dig it up.

    anyway, to answer your question (or at least the one i think you’re asking), this page on the ones program should be functional. so should this one– and hey, look, deadlines! i didn’t know this page existed til now. basically, the gist of it is:

    vic one: march 17

    smc one: may 31

    trin one: july 1

    munk one: july 12

    innis one, new one, woodsworth one, uc one: enrol during course registration (in short, a free-for-all)

    hope this helped, and that the deadline for the one you’re interested in hasn’t passed! i’d encourage you to apply to any of them, though– they all offer a fantastic experience.

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • one programs

    one one two ones three ones four

    June 19, 2019

    Do most people apply to multiple ones in the hopes that they’ll get into just one or the programs? Or should you only apply to one that you’re really interested in

    ——————————————

    hello,

    this one is totally up to you! i know some people have their sights set on a specific one program– that was the case with me– so they only apply to that one. others go for more than that, then have their pick later on. just be aware that you can only register for one ‘one’.

    i don’t think there’s any harm in applying to multiple one programs. especially since some of the applications are easier than others (mine probably took ten minutes), it can be a good way to make sure you’ve got options for your first year. at the same time, admission to ones isn’t terribly competitive. of course it depends which one and which stream you’re interested in, though. the more prestigious (and thereby popular) ones seem to be vic, munk, and trin. that said, there were some streams of trin that weren’t too full either, from what i heard from a friend last september.

    if you decide not to apply to too many and ultimately don’t get in, keep in mind that first-year seminars are still an option you have for small classes. you won’t need to apply to those– just register during regular course enrollment. as i’ve written in the past, they’re pretty similar to ones. 

    hope this helped!

    over n out,

    aska

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  • one programs,  seminars

    another one

    June 17, 2019

    how many first year seminars or ones can you take?

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    there doesn’t seem to be any official rule on how many ones you take, but because of technicalities it seems like there is a limit. you can only be registered in one ‘one’ at a time, according to the exclusions placed in the timetable. for example, innis one’s exclusions are munk one, new one, st. mike’s one, trin one, vic one, uc one, and woodsworth one: in other words, literally all the other ones.

    however, you should be able to take both a ‘one’ and a seminar– from my personal experience, at least, it’s definitely doable. not a bad way to go, either. that way you can hit a few different breadth requirements in your first year through small classes. i’m not aware of any limitations on the seminars, but from what i know it doesn’t matter too much anyway since you likely won’t have enough room to take a crap ton of them. still gotta meet those POSt prereqs, am i right?

    on an unrelated note– hope everyone downtown at the rally today came out all right! i know it was kind of a crazy, terrifying time for anyone around bay as well as eaton. please stay safe, my friends.

    over n out,

    aska

     

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  • colleges,  one programs

    no restrictions! none!

    June 14, 2019

    can i apply for vic one if im not part of vic college, apply for uc one if im not part of uc, etc?

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    hey friend,

    you definitely can! i had friends in innis one from trin, vic, and all sorts of colleges. while the college system does kinda sort you into smaller groups, it places no restrictions! none! on the courses you can take.

    i have no idea what this gif is from, but it was the first result under ‘go for it’ on giphy. represent, i guess.

    keep in mind that only some of the one programs require an application, though– you should be able to get into uc one without applying. hope this helped and feel free to reach out if you need any other answers!

    be ??oundless,

    aska

     

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  • one programs,  seminars

    potato, potato

    June 14, 2019

    do you recommend first year seminars? how do they compare to the ones programs? (tbh i still don’t quite understand the ones programs) thanks so much!!

    ——————————————

    hey hey,

    i absolutely would recommend first year seminars! my first year, i was lucky enough to take both a ‘one’ program for a full credit, as well as a half-cred first-year 199 seminar. in both cases, i had a great experience and even got to bump my gpa up a little bit. i do a pretty detailed plug for the specific 199 i took in this post, if you wanna check it out.

    what’s the difference? i find that most of the ones are targeted more so towards humanities/social science breadth requirements– we’re talking global innovation, literature, cinema.don’t let that stop you if that’s not what you’re into: trinity has a few global health/environment streams, and meanwhile a stream of st. mike’s one works with tech. vic one is the only program i’m aware of that has a straight-up mathematical and physical sciences stream. however, for the most part i don’t find that ones gear themselves heavily towards math/science/physics etc. you’ve definitely got more options among the first-year seminars.

    ones are also all run out of specific colleges, as you can tell pretty easily from their names. what? you’re telling me uc one runs out of uc? yes, that’s exactly what i’m telling you. meanwhile, first-year seminars aren’t affiliated the same way. they tend, instead, to be organized by breadth requirement. you’ve got your ones (not to be confused with the other ones u of t whY), your twos, your threes… you know how to count ’til five.

    something else i’ve found differentiates the ones is that they tend to have some type of central idea or theme organizing their offerings. this tends to follow along the lines of what the college in general is known for. st. mike’s, a former catholic institution, offers ones that explore the intersection between faith and other subjects; innis’s ones cover either writing or cinema, which makes sense as that college runs those programs; trin tends to run more ir/ethics-tinged programs for a similar reason. if you check out this page, you’ll see that each one program has a clear focus/mission statement.

    one other difference is that some of the ones, like munk one, can count towards POSt. meanwhile, seminars just…don’t. they count towards breadth req and your 20 credits, but that’s about it.

    format-wise, i found that both the one and the seminar that i took felt pretty similar. both weighed participation 10%, didn’t send too much coursework home, and had fantastic instructors willing to go above and beyond. they were also pretty small classes that forced us to talk to each other– i ended up making good friends in my one program in particular, just because it was a yearlong thing.

    that’s the main reason i’d really encourage you to take a one or seminar, actually! u of t does have its big n’ scary reputation of being hella antisocial, and truth be told it’s next to impossible to make friends in con hall classes. i actually tried, my first day, being the eternal optimist that i am — the girl beside me turned out to be a fourth year. i asked her if she was a TA. that was the end of that.

    anyway, if there’s anything specific you were wondering that i didn’t speak to, feel free to let me know! otherwise, hope this helped, friend.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • one programs,  seminars

    ones again

    June 9, 2019

    are first year foundation seminars or ones full year or half year?

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    hi there,

    it depends on the course! most first year foundation seminars, as far as i know, are half-year, but there are the odd ones that run for both sems. you should be able to tell according to the course code– i explain how that works in this post.

    ones, from what i know, are typically comprised of two half-year courses that add up to one FCE. i took innis one, which worked this way– you could choose two half-year courses from a group of four. it seems like now that there’s no application for innis one, you can take just the half-year as well. i wasn’t aware of that option when i registered for it– maybe it’s new? either way, though, i did know people who dropped the second half anyway. seems like new one works the same way– you can choose up to two of their half-credits, with the recommendation that you max this out. uc one lists all its courses as half-credit, which i’m assuming means it, too, is one such one. 

    i think st. mike’s one is similar, with the difference being there’s no explicit option to only take a half credit. their site advertises the program as two half-credit courses, with a !field trip! to some snazzy exotic destination. we’re talking rome, or the silicon valley.

    woodsworth one’s site is down right now, so i’ll update this post with that info if i remember.

    trin one is a bit more complicated, in that it’ll eat up 2.0 FCEs from your required 20. it looks like depending on your stream, you either take a full year of trin one in both first and second year, OR take two full-year seminars in your first year. munk one is also a 2.0 credit program.

    vic one,  meanwhile, seems to be the most convoluted of them all. the schawlow and stowe-gullen streams seem to require 3.0 FCEs, all taken in first year; the gooch stream seems to be a bunch of half-creds, with nothing on how many you’re expected to take; the pearson stream  seems to require four half-year seminars, as well as 1.0 FCE in history or poli sci. i know some of the vics have mandatory yearlong plenaries as well, just cos i had a few friends in vic one last year. what’s a plenary? some kind of guest lecture, as far as i can tell.

    as for seminars, i have seen both half-cred and full-cred courses. the half-cred ones seem to be more plentiful, or at least they have been in the past.

    the tl:dr answer to your question is that you should look into the ones/seminars you’re interested in! hopefully this summary makes it easier for you to narrow things down, though.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • one programs

    ones upon a time

    June 3, 2019
    Can I still apply for ones at this point
    ——————————————
    hey,
    weirdly enough, i remember having had to apply to innis one when i took it– at the time, i think all the ones required an application of sorts. since you asked this question, i took another look at the ones webpage and it seems like now, vic, st. mike’s, munk, and trin are the only ones requiring an application.
    you should still be able to apply to the frye, jewison, pearson, and ryerson streams of vic one– more instructions here. unfortunately i couldn’t find anything about a deadline, and the application is by email which i find a tad bit strange. suffice it to say the opportunity is still available, though!
    apps for trin are open til july 1, apparently. instructions, streams, more information, and application here! as for munk one, apps are also still open! assessed on a rolling basis, so there’s no deadline but it’s best if you send yours in early.

    i didn’t get a chance to take st mikes’ ones, but they seem really freaking cool if you have the funds– looks like students get to go to either rome, ireland, or silicon valley depending on the seminar. extra cost, of course, hence funds (but there are scholarships available). these classes do seem to be faith-based if that matters to you. once again, i dunno about deadlines, and can’t find out how to apply. the thingy says to email recruit.artsci@utoronto.ca if you’ve got questions.
    the rest of the programs seem to be a free-for-all during course reg, which is definitely not how i remember things being but i guess it is what it is.
    i would definitely encourage you to go for the ones. everyone i’ve spoken to who’s taken them has had a really great experience, and it’s a good place to make new friends as the setting’s quite small. they also have some amazing topics and instructors.
    hope this helped and your first year experience is amazing!
    over n out,
    aska
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  • first year,  housing,  one programs

    on roomates and ones

    March 5, 2018

    Hello! I was just wondering if there were any websites or groups in place that newly admitted students can meet each other? I noticed the Facebook page really wasn’t filled with students posting about themselves, I am trying to find a roommate! Also, what is your opinion on the ones programs offered to first years? Thanks!

    ——————————————

    hi!

    i also just went through facebook and wasn’t able to find any class of 2022 facebook groups. usually, these pages pop up over the summer after everyone has accepted their offers of admission. keep an eye out!

    as for finding a roommate, you can check out u of t’s off-campus housing portal. they have a specific area for roommates that is only open to students. you do need to log in with your UTORid in order to access the portal, so if you haven’t set that up yet, you can do so here.

    stephen king smiling GIF

    as for the ones programs, it really depends on what kind of student you are. on the one hand, they’re a really good chance to go super in depth on one specific subject in a small class environment, something that you usually don’t get to do until higher level seminar courses. on the other hand, they can be very time consuming and the co-curricular activities (such as guest lecturers or field trips) could be seen as something that bites into precious homework time.

    from a more personal standpoint (i did a ones program in my first year!), i enjoyed the classes and made really meaningful connections with the profs and other classmates. however, i did find that the courses didn’t count towards my eventual majors/ minors took up a lot of time (and valuable credits) that could’ve counted towards that. ultimately, it’s up to you. there are pros and cons and you just need to decide for yourself if the pros outweigh the cons.

    i hope this helps. get out there and learn!

    baby book story reading GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

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