applying for U of T - askastudent - Page 2

admissions, applying for U of T, polisci

good plan, my man

July 2, 2024

If My grade is 50% in Grade 11 but I have to retake it and I get an 80% can I still apply for an early admission to University of Toronto to study Political Science.

Just to let you know regarding my last question I am an out of province student.

hey there,

first of all, that’s a good plan to retake it. definitely do that.

but when you say your grade is 50%, are you referring to a single course or your overall GPA? those are two very different things. if it’s just a single course, and you’re doing fine in your other ones, you might be fine. for political science, which is under the social science admission stream, the one high school course that really matters is ENG4U. other than that, you have some leeway room because they’ll look at a group of your top grades.

can you apply for early admission to U of T?

well, yes anyone can apply for that, it’s just a matter of getting admitted. if you retake a course during the summer before grade 12, then your grades will definitely come out in time. but if you retake that course during grade 12, your new mark might not be released by the time admissions looks at your transcript. so ultimately, yeah you can apply, but having the “early” part matter depends on if your marks are also released early.

all in all, just do your best! i’m sure you will get a higher mark your second time around, you’ve got this! i hope this was helpful, good luck.

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T

my apologies, you’re not as slick as u think

June 29, 2024

Is there anything special I need to prepare for in the UofT application?

hey there,

well, it depends what you mean by special, and also on what program you’re applying to.

on this future U of T site, under the subsection “deadlines to submit supporting documentation”, you’ll see a list of all the programs that require a supplemental application.

these programs are: engineering, architecture, computer science, rotman commerce, kinesiology, and music. if your program isn’t listed here, then no, you won’t have to prepare anything other than just your transcript and the application fee.

however, if you are a canadian student and you want to be considered for scholarships, you should fill out your awards profile. this allows you to be considered for admission awards based on financial need and your extracurricular involvement.

and yeah, that’s pretty much it. other than that, have good grades on your transcript!

over and out,

aska

ps. i don’t have a problem with it, and i’m gonna hold your hand in the gentlest way while i say this but.

bro thinks he’s slick but i can see one email address asking multiple questions in the FAQ comments under 4 different names. like. it’s ok, you don’t have to be sneaky about it. just ask your questions

but sorry if i blew ur cover and you’re actually just socially anxious. if that’s the case, carry on. in any case, i’m happy to help you out, keep asking away.

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admissions, applying for U of T, social sciences

i know things i swear

June 29, 2024

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.

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!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, grades

me when my permanent record is permanent

June 28, 2024

Hello,

If My grade 11 average is not good and I do extremely well in Grade 12 is it possible to submit my Grade 12 grades to UofT without them looking at my Grade 11 grades.

hey there,

unfortunately, no, this is not possible. that really sucks though.

when you apply to U of T, you pretty much just submit the grades on your transcript, and there’s no way to erase your grade 11 marks from your transcript. U of T considers you based on both your grade 11 and 12 marks, especially since your final grade 12 marks won’t be out yet when you apply.

for more details on how your high school marks are considered in your application, i recommend you check out what i wrote in my previous answer here.

the short answer is, your grade 11 marks do need to be looked at, but they aren’t the make-or-break factor. if you aren’t shooting for an early acceptance, your grade 12 marks are more important. the best thing you can do for now is just do your best in grade 12! in the case that you do apply early and your grade 11 marks are too low, you have a chance to be reconsidered when you grade 12 marks are released — as long as there is still space in your program.

sorry for the bummer. wishing you the best! you’ve got this.

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, grades, repeating course

am i helpful or am i delusional

June 28, 2024
Hello, I am planning on going into life science (or biochemistry, health sciences) and I am currently stressing about my grade 11 grades, I am going to end up with a low 80 in chemistry and advance functions. I have decided to redo these courses over the summer (aiming to get 90s). Will universities care about me redoing 2 grade 11 courses? Will my chances of getting into the program be better vs me not redoing it at all?

hey there,

that sounds like a stressful situation! when i was in high school, i remember being confused about how much my grade 11 marks mattered for university admissions too.

but now, i know all the secrets about admissions. jk not really, but in the process of answering questions, i’ve spent hours perusing U of T websites and have cross-referenced everything they officially release. weird flex sure, but it means i can help you.

so tune in while i take some really confusing information and present it to you in a slightly less confusing way. (i hope? y’all would tell me if i wasn’t making sense right)
1. how your high school marks matter in admissions
at U of T, all applicants are considered based on their top six academic grade 12 courses. the marks of these courses are used to calculate your admission average.

meanwhile, when you apply to U of T, you’ll apply to one of six admission categories. these are basically just a way that the university sorts all applicants, because, well, when you’ve got 340 something programs, it can get complicated. instead, there are just general admission requirements in six different categories. to get into the life science admission category, you have to take two pre-requisite courses: english 12 and calculus 12. as pre-requisite courses, those are going to have to be included in the six grade 12 courses that determine your average.

so what does that mean for you? well, that means your grade 11 marks shouldn’t be the make-or-break factor, and they’re generally considered alongside your grade 12 marks. eg. if your grade 11 courses are low, you can have your application re-considered using your grade 12 marks when they come out. according to the general admission requirements website, grade 11 marks are mostly considered in pre-requisite courses for early or conditional offers of admission. (note that chemistry is not included in your pre-req list!)

the way i understand it is that the balance of your grade 11 and grade 12 marks really just depends on the space the program has, and how soon your grade 12 marks in pre-requisite courses come out.

i hope that all makes sense, it’s a bit of a complicated process to understand and nothing is clear-cut. but it really helps to know all this when making your decision.

2. repeated courses

meanwhile, does UofT care about repeated courses? officially, the site on admission decisions says that “while we recognize that there may be valid reasons for repeating a course, we urge you to do as well as possible on your first attempt. in some instances, repeated courses will not be accepted for competitive admission categories”.

wow, that was sO clarifying of them.

but yeah, this doesn’t really tell you that much. i believe life sciences lands kind of in the middle of the spectrum for competitiveness — it’s harder to get into than social sciences and humanities, though it’s not as bad as computer science or rotman. personally, i think it might be fine to repeat courses if they’re grade 11 courses, since grade 12 courses seem to matter more. but if you do repeat them, just make sure that you disclose the repeated courses in your application.

anyway. that’s it from me. i hope this helped, convoluted as it was. good luck with everything, i’m rooting for you!

over and out,

aska
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admissions, applying for U of T, polisci

first steps first

June 26, 2024

What subjects do I need to take in Grade 12 to study Political Science

hey there,

oooh political science you say? very nice, U of T has a great poli-sci program, i fully support you in that.

here’s what you need to know:

at U of T, all programs are sorted into general admission categories for incoming students to apply to. if you want to study political science, you’ll apply to the social sciences admission category when you send in your application through OUAC. later on, after taking the first-year poli-sci courses, you’ll be able to enter the actual poli-sci major or specialist.

but, first steps, first.

according to the general admission requirements, you’ll have to take six 4U/M courses in high school. among these, the only required course you’ll have to take is english 12 (ENG4U). so it looks pretty simple for you! other programs require calculus, but you won’t have to worry about that.

just keep in mind, the recommended admission range is mid to high 80s and U of T will consider your average based on your top 6 academic grade 12 courses.

anyways. good luck with everything, reach out if you have any more questions!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, social sciences

no, no, and no

June 5, 2024

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,

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!

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?

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

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admissions, applying for U of T, extracurricular

everyone is always doing too much. like, do less pls?

December 6, 2023

Hiii! Out of curiosity, does UofT value extracurricular during their undergraduate admission? Here’s the thing, my consular told us that extracurricular is super important so I believed him and really focused on that. After doing some research UofT become dream school of my life but I heard UofT don’t ask for extracurricular. This makes me super stressful since I devoted so much time into those things & Im a BC student, not a Ontario. With an avg of mid 80 is there anything I can do to+the odd

hey there,

so, it kind of depends on what admission category you’re applying for. for general arts and sciences, uoft does not look at your extracurriculars during undergrad admissions. you pretty much just send in your transcript through OUAC when you apply, so that’s all they look at when considering your admission. but if you’re applying to rotman, they require a supplemental application that goes beyond your grades. (rotman is always doing so much).

on that topic, sometimes i feel like everyone is always doing too much. like, please. no. what do you mean you’re involved in clubs and councils and intramurals and have a 20hr job and are taking 5 courses and are still sleeping at night? did you steal hermione’s time-turner? where are you hiding the room full of people getting your work done for you?

anyways, ignore my exam-week-induced rant. if you’re from BC, i think your consular was telling you that extracurriculars are very important because they are, at least for most schools in BC. ubc admissions rest very heavily on extracurriculars, because of a personal profile that some say is more important than your grade average.

every school prioritizes grades and extracurriculars differently, so your consular wasn’t lying. their advice just wasn’t universally applicable. because while extracurriculars are make-or-break for ubc admissions, they aren’t like that at uoft. here, extracurriculars are mostly just important when filling our your awards profile, which is how you would apply for scholarships going into your first year.

something to note is that uoft will mostly just look at your top 6 academic grade 12 grades to compute your admission average. and with an average of mid 80s, i honestly think your odds are pretty fine. most art and sciences programs require top 6 averages of mid to high 80s.

good luck with admissions, shoot another question if you’re still confused!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, psychology

don’t psych yourself out, you’re okay

October 30, 2023

Hi! I’m currently a grade 12 student who is about to apply to university. I was looking at the St. George campus for psychology requirements and it says that Grade 12 Biology is one of them. The thing is…my current biology mark is in the 60s. So I was wondering whether the requirement means that it’ll be included in my top 6? Or whether they are just looking or it? Or how does it really work…

hey there,

ah, a senior doing college admissions. i hope you’re taking care of yourself, that can be a stressful time. but i come delivering good news! your biology mark does not necessarily have to be included in the top 6 grades that are used to calculate your admission average.

here is why:

when applying to uoft, you’re really just applying to admission streams rather than a specific program. basically all the programs are categorized into these six admission streams, and that will be what you select on OUAC when you fill out your application. these streams are: computer science, humanities, life sciences, mathematical & physical sciences, rotman commerce, and social sciences.

here is a chart that breaks down the required high school courses by stream. you’ll see that psychology falls into the life science stream, which only requires english and calculus. i know that it’s a bit confusing because this site says psychology requires english, calculus, and bio. but in this case, bio is not required for entry to the stream. therefore, it does not need to be one of the six marks used in your grade calculation.

so if you have a seventh course that has a better mark, then that would be used to calculate your admission average instead of your biology mark. i hope this helps and that everything goes well for you!

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, you don't even go here

how hard is it to get into uoft?

September 28, 2023

hi!!

let’s just pretend like i’m not a high school student (i have no idea if you take questions from us lol) BUT uoft is one of my dream schools and i would DIE if i got in! soooo, as a senior who has the everpresent threat of college applications looming over her head… how hard is it *actually* to get into uoft?? i know it is dependent on a whoooole bunch of factors, but i was hoping to get an opinion from actual students rather than some random website!! i’d be so grateful if you could help a girl out! <3

Thanks and Regards

hey there,

“how hard is it actually to get into uoft”, you ask? let’s start this with two truths and a lie. have you ever played? it’s fun, i promise. i’ll give you three statements, and you decide for yourself which one is a lie.

1. getting into uoft was easy for me, because 2. i’m extremely talented. but luckily, 3. i know everything about uoft, so i can tell you how hard it actually is.

ok, jokes aside, let’s answer your question. i’ll keep in mind the fact that you want my actual opinion and not info from a random website.

if you want to get into a specific program:

uoft’s current acceptance rate is apparently 43%, but i would say it differs across programs and faculties. for example, admissions would look very different for a person applying to the faculty of music than it would for a person applying to the faculty of architecture and so on. overall though, getting into general arts and sciences isn’t hard.

something to note is that uoft has this thing called “POSt”, which is a program of study that you apply to after your first year. so right now, in grade 12, you’re not really applying to a program — you’re just applying to the admission category of it. later on, most programs of study require an application to really get into, so i would suggest you look into that while you consider uoft in general. (this system is really great, it lets you be flexible and makes program switches happen more smoothly than other uni’s systems do!)

if you’re a domestic student (from canada):

it also differs among domestic and international students. apparently 25% of the student population is international? personally, i was a domestic applicant, so i can’t tell you much about the international experience, but i found getting in to be doable. about 15 people from my high school were accepted that i know of, but i also knew a few that weren’t accepted. from my experience, uoft only looks at your grades and academic average. if you’re a good student and have good grades, you should be fine. i’d certainly say that getting into uoft is loads easier than getting into american schools of the same ranking. but if you’re from the US, you can look here for information on US applications.

what uoft says they look at:

there are three areas that uoft say they consider when looking at your application. the first is the ‘general requirements‘ area, which consist of english proficiency and stuff. the second are your ‘program-specific requirements’ — for example, you need calculus 12 for math programs. then third is the area that students worry about the most: your grades for the last two years. specifically, they would look at the grade 11 and 12 courses that are relevant to the admission category you’re applying to, and tend to ignore elective classes. they mostly look at your top 6 grade 12 courses, and if you’re in the high 80s, you should be good.

overall, getting into uoft is very possible! it takes hard work to get the good grades, but people have done it, and you can too! just make sure to meet all the application deadlines. i’d honestly say it’s more stressful than it is hard, if that makes sense! meeting the deadlines and keeping track of everything is important. i really hope you get in, and that this was somewhat helpful! as always, feel free to ask again if anything’s unclear or you need help with something else.

over and out,

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T

alternate offers, alternate univers(ities — well, campuses actually)

November 21, 2021

If I applied to the same program at st George and the Scarborough campus will uoft be more inclined to accept me in to one school rather than the other depending on my grades? And if I applied to st George, is it possible that they’d offer me acceptance into Scarborough or Mississauga?

hello hello,

i would assume that the admissions process operates separately at each campus — i mean, nothing on the admissions websites seems to hint at the existence of some secret network connecting all three campus’ admissions officers to conspire on your fate… although there’s nothing on the admissions websites denying the existence of such an exchange, either.

honestly, admissions are kind of a mystery sometimes, so if you really want to get to the bottom of this, i’d recommend asking the admissions office directly – you can find their contact info here. aaand it looks like each campus has its own phone number for admissions… but their online “ask a question” forms all link to the same page. yeah, it’s weird. who knows, maybe you’ll find out that all three campus admissions officers are all just run by the same dude.

what i do know is that it’s certainly possible to get accepted to multiple uoft campuses, although each campus usually has different admissions criteria in terms of grades and whatnot.

and yup, according to the uoft st. george admissions website, if you apply to a program at st. george and don’t get in, you might receive an alternate offer for a different program at the st. george campus, or a program at the scarborough or missisauga campus if you qualify for those.

anyways, hope that somewhat helps you navigate uoft’s weird multiverse of campuses that are kinda connected but also kinda not. wishing you the best wherever you end up!

aska

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admissions, applying for U of T, art, getting into U of T, keeners, Uncategorized

let me in already

February 12, 2019

Hi oki so im in grade 12 and i applied for the art and art history course around a month ago, but all of my friends who applied to different colleges and universities are now getting acceptances, so like I guess my question is is how long does it take for the applications to be reviewed and to get a response? Cause all I have so far is a letter saying “thanks for applying” and a “pending review” so I’m kind of worried.

——————————————

hey hey!

i’m assuming you applied to UTM, yeah? or at least i can only find one art & art history program, which is a joint one with sheridan. two schools for the same buck. and they’re both sane campuses that close when the godforsaken floodgates of heaven decide to open and turn toronto into the depths of siberia.

mmmm, utsg can’t relate. i want a snow day that doesn’t begin in the late afternoon. but i digress.

when you’ll hear back from u of t depends on where you’re attending school right now! if you’re from ontario, the UTM website indicates that there are three rounds of offers in february, march, and may.

however, if you attend school elsewhere– whether that’s in canada or otherwise– admission looks a little different. officially the rounds are the same, but some decisions are released as early as january, which is before the february document deadline. so for some reason if you wait til the deadline to send your documents in, they probably won’t consider you til the last round in may.

if it’s not the UTM program you went for and you mean the st. george art history program, that falls under the faculty of arts and science so the timeline should be about the same.

nothing to worry about, is the bottom line. it’s only halfway through february, so really the first round of admissions have only just begun. obviously i have no idea how long it’ll take the school to review your specific application. they’re sorting through piles of stuff right now, and i bet they wish they could get through it faster, too.

man, i remember how long it could feel, waiting to hear back when it seemed everyone else was already getting news from their schools. hang in there. your time will come.

over n out,

aska

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applying for U of T, math, Transferring

u ought ta transfer!

December 17, 2018

Hi,
I’m currently a first year student in a mathematics program at the University of Ottawa. I am very passionate about maths and am hoping to pursue a career in the field, possibly in research. I am finishing the first semester with a GPA of around 9.4 or 9.6/10.0 (as uOttawa is on a 10.0 scale), which is about a 3.7-3.8 on the 4.0 scale. I decided to stay in my hometown due to the costs associated with studying in a different city and I was offered a good scholarship at uOttawa, but after one semester, my drive as been rekindled and I was hoping to transfer to UofT for the Mathematics Specialist in September, even though I would have to stay for an additional semester to graduate. Do you know if it is likely that these transfers are accepted (the site only lists a B average as required)?. Is UofT very selective about their transfer applicants? Do they simply look at grades at university to determine transfer acceptance?

Thanks

——————————————

hi!

as i’ve said time and time again, i have no effin’ clue how u of t reviews and selects their applicants!!!!! this website says that you need a solid “B” average to be competitive and that they factor in both university and your entire academic history, so i’d trust that information.

anyways…

essentially, you would be applying to u of t generally at first. if you’re admitted, that’s when you’d apply to programs within the university specifically based on your transfer credits. take a look at the math calendar for the specific program that you’re interested in to see what their requirements are. then, you’d use this handy dandy transfer explorer to see what transfer credits you’re eligible for. those transfer credits are then confirmed after you’re accepted and you get a transfer credit assessment from the faculty. depending on what your transfer credit situation is like, you MIIIIGHT (emphasis on MIGHT!) be able to transfer directly into math without having to be a “first year” student (which means you aren’t in a program). this is totally just my (very educated) guess though, so it might not actually work out like that.

i’m not totally sure what the process is like for transfer students and getting into programs (i’ve never been a transfer student) but i think that should be all you need to know. i’d also recommend contacting someone from the math department for any other questions you might have about their programs and transferring into them. their contact info can be found here.

best of luck!

xoxo,

aska

(PS- the title took me forever to come up with y’all better be grateful!!!!!)

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