• anthropology,  major,  minor,  programs

    if they don’t say no, it’s a yes

    April 9, 2024

    I’m from an Ontario high school, can I double major in Anthropology and Archeology and minor in Indigenous studies? Like is that a thing?

    hey there,

    well, have i got good news for you. *fishes in my pocket* here it is: to my understanding, yes, you can absolutely do a double major in anthropology and archaeology while also doing a minor in indigenous studies. i think that’s a really great combination, those programs compliment each other so well!

    below is my explanation. there are a couple reasons why i think you might have asked this question, and i think i’ve got them covered.

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    1. are anthropology and archaeology too similar?

    there is nothing i can find on the department of anthropology website or on the arts & science calendar that says you can’t take both anthropology and archaeology together. i get how it might be confusing because they’re both in the same department, and require several of the same courses. but if they don’t say otherwise, i’m pretty sure you can take them at the same time. because usually, if you can’t take two programs together, they’ll clearly say it on the program pages that i linked above.

    and, it’s actually a good thing that archaeology and anthropology are similar. if you do choose to do a double major and a minor, you may be worried about fitting in all the courses into four years, since that minor adds on extra credits to fulfill. but you should know that you’re able to take courses that count towards both of these programs.

    for example, if you took ANT100Y1, it would be counted towards both your archaeology and anthropology majors. hitting two credits with one class! that’s not the only one, too. there are many other courses i can see that overlap between these programs. work smarter, not harder.

    TV gif. Think about it guy, Kayode Ewumi points to his temple mischievously and looks into the camera. He's practically begging us to think about it.

    2. can i take 2 majors and a minor?

    another reason you might have asked the question is because it initially seems like you only have 3 program combinations to build your own degree with: one specialist, or two majors, or one major and two minors.

    but these options are just the minimum that you need to graduate. some students choose to do more than this, and it’s great! the maximum number of programs you can take is 3, as long as one of them is a minor.

    3. 12 distinct credit rule

    keep in mind that there is a rule about having 12 distinct credits. this means you need at least 12 different credits that aren’t overlapped, and it kind of just makes sure that people don’t overlap their entire degree. like, there is a limit.

    finally, i’d recommend checking out one of my recent answers to a similar question. and if you’re ever unsure about anything programs-wise, or need an Official Answer TM, literally just send an email to the department you’re looking at. they’re so helpful and will have answers, too. (it’s literally their job! take advantage of that!)

    good luck with everything, hope this clears things up!

    over and out,

    aska

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  • major,  programs,  specialist

    doin the most

    March 26, 2024

    hiiii!! I’m a high school student looking at uoft programs, do you know if it’s possible to do a specialist and a major at the same time as part of the build your degree? thank you!!

    hey there,

    great question! yes, it is possible to do a specialist and a major at the same time. you wouldn’t catch me trying that, considering i took too many electives in first year, but all the power to anyone who wants to!

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    as you can see on the “build your own degree” page, it’s true that the common program combinations are one specialist, or two majors, or one major and two minors. but those are just options that are the minimum needed to graduate. you can absolutely do more, up to a maximum of three programs. but if you do three, one of them has to be a minor.

    if you’re doing a specialist, you won’t have to worry about the 12 distinct credit rule, according to the arts & sciences page on program requirements. the 12 distinct credit rule basically says you need 12 credits that don’t overlap and count towards multiple degrees. this rule only applies to majors and minors. so while taking a specialist and a major, it might seem overwhelming to complete all your credits, but you are able to take courses that will count towards both your specialist and major! assuming they’re somewhat related.

    for example, if you were doing a specialist in psychology and a major in books & media studies, you could take PSY427 “media psychology” and it would count towards both programs! isn’t that super convenient? i was excited when i found out about that.

    just make sure that your programs can be done together, since there are some exceptions where two programs can’t be done together. to my knowledge, this is the case with collaborative life science programs. you can check that out with this short list of program exclusions for the collaborative life science programs under the tab “acceptable combinations”.

    and just to be safe, you should also check the specific pages on the arts & sciences calendar website for your programs to see if there are any other exceptions. these pages should be easy to find, but if not, just google “program name uoft” and click on the arts & sciences link.

    finally, i’d encourage you to reach out to a recruitment officer if anything else is still confusing! it likely will be, because everything about uni is so confusing at this stage, and we’re just expected to know it all and have it all together? actually, scratch that. everything about life is confusing right now and we’re just expected to know it all.

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    lol sorry for that pessimistic ending. it’s finals season. but i hope this was helpful, good luck!!

    over and out,

    aska

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  • CR/NCR,  current student,  late withdrawal,  major,  subject POST

    a little cr/ncr never hurts… (unless it’s a course in your program in which case it sometimes might)

    February 2, 2023

    Hey! I’m a first year student that wants to double major in international relations/ political science. The thing is, I have cr/ncr 1.5 Credits and I also LWD a class. Will this affect my chances of getting into the program, even though I’m doing well in all my other classes? Basically, will my transcript look bad for entry into the program?

    hey there,

    in my experience, the departments only really look at the courses that they state are required to apply for the program. it could matter for things like grad school or professional school applications later on, but honestly for something like POSt, i don’t even know if they have the time to scrutinize every part of your transcript and take note of everyone’s cr/ncrs and lwds.

    i know friends who’ve gotten into relatively competitive programs with 60s or 70s in some electives, but they aced the required courses for their programs. as long as you’re doing well in the courses for the international relations and polisci majors, i’d say you’re in the clear.

    N B D GIFfrom No Biggie GIFs

    some programs might also look at things like your supplementary application or overall gpa (i think? not even sure if there are any that do that, actually), but if they do, it’ll be clearly listed in the program requirements. the one other thing is to make sure that you’ll have completed 4.0 FCEs by the end of first year, which is a common requirement for pretty much all programs i think. just remember that if you got an ncr or lwd, those would not count as completed credits, so you’ll have to be careful about that.

    good luck!

    aska

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  • current student,  major,  programs

    emailing the program director might make you feel like a karen but it’s ok… just be nice

    August 10, 2022

    hi there! I recently got declined from my major and wanted to try again in the second request period. I was wondering if it was worth emailing the program director to introduce myself and outline reasons to be in the program. Is it worth it and do you think it would help/hurt my chances? Thank youuu

    hey there,

    honestly, you beat me to this — usually i do recommend for people to try emailing their departments about stuff like program admissions or course waitlists, because they’ll be able to give the most accurate answer.

    i really don’t think it’d hurt your chances, as long as you do it in a courteous way. in the best case scenario, it could get the department to take second look at your file and perhaps improve your chances, and in the worst case scenario, you’d get a no, as in, “this doesn’t count, we’re still gonna review your application the normal way”, or no response (fair enough, i’m sure they get a loooot of emails…) but from my experience no one would hold it against you for sending a brief friendly email.

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    also, i’m assuming that the major you’re applying to doesn’t have a supplementary application already, so that your email is actually adding something above and beyond. but if it does, you should probably hold off on the email so that you’re not just bombarding the department with multiple versions of “reasons i should get into [insert competitive major]” because, well, they know, or will eventually after reading your application.

    other than that, try to be respectful — and imo, that also includes being respectful of time. a straightforward email describing your interest in the program (you can back this up by mentioning a few relevant future goals/extracurricular involvement) and marks from prereqs will get the point across.

    it might also help to end off on a specific question/concern you might have, like asking for feedback to improve your application, or if there were truly extenuating circumstances (cliche, i know… try “unprecedented times”? “never-before encountered conditions”?) that affected your application, this could be your chance to explain things — not in a guilt-trippy way of course, but more to show that despite all this, you’re still very interested, and would like to know if you still have a chance/what you could do to make up for it, etc.

    anyway, i hope this post has had the effect of helping you in some way (besides making you overthink about email etiquette).

    best of luck!

    aska

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  • current student,  major,  programs

    major changes

    August 2, 2022

    Can you change or decide to double major in your 3rd year?

    hey there,

    yup, speaking from experience, you definitely can. honestly, this is probably one of the most redeeming qualities of POSt (especially for us indecisive students).

    The Good Place Indecisive GIFfrom The Good Place GIFs

    you can switch between programs in the “program change groups” directly on acorn without any application or approval (see the list here), and for other programs you can try to request the change on acorn or contact the department for approval.

    program changes are usually available on acorn in march/april and july/august each year. in fact, this year’s program change deadline is august 23rd, so if you already have a program in mind, you might even be able to get it done this summer!

    of course, the success of your program change may depend on the courses and programs you’ve completed so far, and how related they are to the programs you’re switching into. competitive programs would also still be evaluating you by their POSt criteria.

    anyways, hope this helps. be free! go find the program of your dreams!

    It Is Not Too Late To Change Your Mind Still A Chance GIFfrom It Is Not Too Late To Change Your Mind GIFs

    good luck,

    aska

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