• grad school

    i’ll give you one more chance, to say we change or part ways

    January 20, 2015

    Dear Aska,

    I completed my undergraduate degree at St. George in 2013. To be honest, I was a terrible student. I eventually pulled it together enough to graduate (it took 6 years) and thought I wouldn’t have to look back.

    Now, I am (a little) more grown up and after working shitty jobs for too long I have found the motivation I have been missing all this time and I want to go to graduate school. This might seem misguided but I am capable, I swear. I realise that especially for me, this will be a long process. I am interested in doing a Masters of Information at U of T and becoming a librarian in the end…so, what should I do?

    I am planning on taking some courses to boost my GPA and then eventually applying for graduate school…but how are my chances? My GPA at the moment
    renders me irrelevant. Less than irrelevant, even. But, if I take a few 300 and 400 level courses and prove that I can indeed work at the necessary level am I still screwed? Will my really shitty GPA render my admittance to a MI program at U of T totally impossible? Will I have to take a full 5.0 courses to prove my worth or will that be insufficient?

    Please help! I am desperate to do this, I must find a way.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    *puts on crotchety old man voice* listen here, sonny. in my many decades at this insti-too-shun we call askastudent, i have learned a thing or two. one of those things is that the questions people ask and the stories they tell are subjective. also, get off my lawn.

    what i’m getting at is that saying things like “i was a terrible student” and that your GPA is “irrelevant” means close to nothing, because everyone has a different idea of what that means.

    without giving me an actual number or some other kind of qualifier, i have no way of telling how reasonable a goal grad school is for you. what i CAN tell you is what uoft says.

    iSchool requires that you have a CGPA of at least 3.0 and, ideally, at least a B+ (3.3) in your last year.

    so, if you don’t have that 3.0 CGPA – that may be a problem. however, taking some 300- and 400-level courses to boost it, and get a really polished AGPA for your ‘last year’ could help you.

    like i said, it kind of depends on what shape your CGPA is in right now. if you want some more nuanced advice, i’d recommend you talk to admissions at iSchool. they can take a look at your transcript and give you the DL on your chances.

    try not to feel too desperate! it won’t help you any at bars, ygm?

    cheers,

    aska

    P.S. “ohh aska, where can i find the song whose lyrics you quoted in the title?” i hear you ask plaintively. here you go.

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  • grad school,  physics

    but an average of *what*?

    January 12, 2015

    Hey Aska,

    I’m a second-year Physics Specialist student… and I didn’t do so well as I thought during the first semester. My inquiry is about graduate school. I plan on enrolling at the Physics department at U of T, the Master’s program in particular. Do they look at my CGPA or just my 3rd and 4th year average?

    Thanks a lot!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    the vast majority of graduate programs (especially master’s programs) only consider your last or two last years of undergrad. the department of physics doesn’t specify how many years you need to have maintained the “b+ or better average” that they require.

    likely, they don’t want to advertise that they only look at the latter years of your undergrad, but it’s best not to assume these things. i would e-mail the department at grad ( at ) physics ( . ) utoronto ( . ) ca and ask them directly.

    best,

    aska

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  • engineering,  grad school

    engineering your acceptance to grad school

    December 18, 2014

    Hello Askastudent!

    I graduated from UTM with a HBSc degree in Chemistry and Mathematics and have attempted to apply to graduate school. I was rejected unfortunately, which made me question my choice to even attend graduate school even if I do eventually get in. I have a 3.0 CGPA and a 3.4 GPA for my last two years, so with more volunteer experience and possibly a college post graduate diploma, I would be able to get in. I have since been looking for other options in order to either increase my chances or find another career path. Two of the choices were an Advanced Lasers program (graduate certificate) and a Chemical Engineering Technology program (fast track diploma). I would like to ask you if you think it would be possible to complete the Chemical Engineering Technology program and be accepted into a master’s degree in chemical engineering.

    Thank you.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    alright, i’m gonna preface this by saying that you should definitely, definitely follow up on this with the department of chemical engineering and/or the school of graduate studies. grad schools operate kind of on their own, so it’s hard to know what the best move would be in terms of trying to get accepted. even aska, in her infinite knowledge and wisdom*, doesn’t know the inner working of every graduate program admissions committee at this school.

    i think the major problem here is that you have a Bachelor of Science instead of a Bachelor of Engineering, or a Bachelor of Applied Science. because of that, there may not be much you can do to affect your chances – however, you should run it by the department to see how much of an issue it is.

    let’s just assume for now that the degree isn’t an issue.

    since GPA and references are the only things that’re used to determine admission, there’s a limited amount of things you can do to boost your chances. i’d recommend thinking about taking another year and taking some courses to boost your GPA.

    if your third year wasn’t as strong, you can increase your chances by taking another year. that way, your admission this time around will be based on your fourth and fifth years, instead of your third and fourth.

    i don’t know whether having a diploma would help you much. however, like i said, it’s worth asking chem eng. about it. ask about doing an extra year, ask about how helpful the certificate and diploma programs would be, and if there’s someone you can talk to about what specifically was weak about your first application, that would probably be the most helpful thing.

    good luck!

    cheers,

    aska

    *and charm and beauty

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  • grad school

    getting to work in social work

    October 28, 2014

    Hi aska!

    So I have officially completed my credits and will be graduating in November. Yay! I decided third year that I wanted to do an MSW and I didn’t want to be taking a full course load and working on applications, so here I am. I decided to take one more credit this year (two f courses) because I am so use to being in school and I can’t imagine working extra hours at my part time job, its brutal! So I saved up money to be academically involved in something for a year.

    Anyways, I prepared to apply for my MSW I was aiming at UofT or either Laurier. I got my recommendations and everything! I actually volunteered A LOT over the past 6 years because I never really gave anything up after I did my 40 hours for high school, I am VERY involved in the community, kind of made me realize my aspirations for the field. So they look at your last year for admissions. I have A’s and B’s and then I have a C- … in a course that I clearly should have dropped. Yet, my final year GPA stands at 3.15, and admissions ask for a 3.0 so I figured I was okay.

    I also have to work and go to school to pay for tuition… it really sucks but I have always been able to clearly manage a B average which is what I THOUGHT I always needed. One of the social workers at a site I volunteered at went to UofT and she told me she got in with the 3.0 cutoff range. So I went to see the psyche department head to make sure I have all the necessary credits after I checked on degree explorer because there were some changes in the new catalogue that freaked me out. He asked me what my plans were and I told him and he basically told me I won’t get in because my grades were too low…

    I understand the program is competitive and I do have other aspects to my application, for one thing I’ve been extremely involved in the community and have a part-time job where I manage 20-25 hours a week. He told me I should apply outside of Ontario to other provinces because I will have a better chance of getting in. I can’t afford the move, the move to Waterloo would be costly enough. He recommended that I do not work and take a few more courses to boost my final 10 credits but credits cost money that I get from working…

    So I guess this is the end for me?

    Lost and hopeless

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    first things first: get a second opinion.

    i’m not saying the head of the psych department doesn’t know what they’re talking about – they definitely know more than i do* – but as a rule of thumb, i always like to get advice from the source.

    so, the first thing i would do is talk to someone at factor-intenwash, preferably someone who works admissions, and see if you can get a feel for how competitive a 3.15 GPA would be. then, at least, you have a second opinion and you can make a decision that’s a bit more informed.

    if you meet the requirements, i would apply. what have you got to lose? you don’t know for certain what will happen until you actually get the admission result, right? as 2013 me would say, #yolo.

    however, i do think that it’s important to consider alternatives, whether that be taking a few extra credits next year to boost your GPA, applying out of province, etc. the faculty of social work also recommends possibly completing a B.S.W. and applying to uoft from there.

    i completely get the concern about money. being a student and working and trying to do well in school and volunteering and blah blah blah is really, REALLY hard.

    unfortunately, every option you’re looking at is going to cost some money. some of the options will be more expensive than others, but if you want the master’s degree, you may have to bite the bullet and go for a pricier option.

    if you don’t have the money now, i would look into alternative financing. consider applying for osap if you’re not already getting it, and take a look at the funding options available at some of those out-of-province schools that offer M.S.W.’s.

    there are ways to get around the money issue (at least partially). osap lists a few of them, but if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by that list and don’t know where to start looking, i’d highly recommend you talk to your registrar’s office. they can help you come up with some definite plans that you’re comfortable with.

    best of luck with everything,

    aska

    * not that it’s hard to know more than i do. i’m just a chicken suit that got hold of a computer. fear me.

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  • grad school

    i just want undergrad to end…please just let it end…

    October 21, 2014

    I am taking 5th year right now to raise my GPA and I want to go to graduate school this year. If I apply this year by the deadline, will they look at my 5th year grades as well as my previous years? Or do I have to apply next year in 2016 if I want my 5th year marks to be considered for admission?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m afraid i’m not gonna be much help to you since i don’t know which graduate school/program you’re applying to. i’ll take a few stabs in the dark, but this kinda stuff varies from school to school, so it would be a good idea to double-check this.

    if you were to apply to grad school straight out of fourth year, then decisions would be made based on midterm fourth year marks, as well as third and sometimes even second year grades.

    so if you’re applying out of fifth year, they’ll almost certainly do the same thing. they’ll probably consider your in-progress marks for fifth year, as well as the rest of your transcript.

    using a fifth year to boost your marks for graduate school is a fairly common thing at uoft, so i think you’re okay. i definitely wouldn’t wait to apply in 2016.

    but each school and program has its own finicky little differences, so again, make sure you check with the actual program you’re applying to. better safe than sorry, is what i always say.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • architecture,  grad school

    come to fall campus day! – a sneaky plug

    October 7, 2014

    Would you know if Daniels is having a separate “fall campus day”/open house other than one one that St George is having? Or if there is a separate such day for grad students?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    lucky for you, fall campus day is your one-stop-shop for all things uoft. every college, all five undergraduate faculties, student residences, and graduate studies will throw open their arms (or doors) for you on october 18th.

    during fall campus day, daniels will be having two info sessions about undergrad admissions and one mock lecture, both of which i would highly, highly recommend. it’s not every faculty that will allow you to simulate a lecture before you actually get into the program.

    daniels will also be having a graduate studies open house on november 4th and 5th.

    if you’re interested in any of the other bazillion graduate programs offered by uoft, you can visit “almost all” of them at fall campus day.

    oh, hey! speaking of, your very own aska will also be lurking around at fall campus day. do you think you can find me?

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  engineering,  grad school,  international students

    a very exhaustive examination of admissions to grad school (whoo!)

    September 29, 2014

    Hey aska! I’m very keen on getting into either Mengg or MS in CS at UofT. I’ve done my Btech in electrical and electronics with 66.76% from a tier 1 college of India. I have a 1.3 year work ex with a big data analytics firm. What are my chances of getting into the program. Gre 312. Toefl 104+ expecting.

    ———————————————

    Hey there,

    so. you’ve got a Bachelor of Technology and now you want to continue the roller-coaster ride that is engineering at UofT. great!

    admissions says that you need a four-year Bachelor’s degree, which you have. You also need to have attended a 1st. div. college, which you did. finally, your TOEFL score is comfortably above the minimum requirements for admission.

    the only thing i’m not sure about is your average. to get into engineering, you need to have completed your degree with at least a B or B+ average in the final two years of your degree.

    i’m not sure whether that 66.67% you mentioned is a) reflective of your four years, instead of just the last two, and b) works on a different GPA system than ours.

    the uoft website doesn’t allude to any different GPA scale in Indian universities, so i would contact the faculty of applied science & engineering to ask them whether your GPA scale matches theirs. also, make sure that the average you’re using to calculate your likelihood of admission is the average of your last two years of school.

    if that average is at least a B+, then you’re an eligible and competitive applicant.

    finally, make sure that you check the admissions requirements for the specific department you’re interested in within the faculty, because some of them have extra requirements like letters of reference (that’s where your work experience could come in handy).

    the M.Sc. in comp. sci. also requires a B+, but only in your LAST year of study.

    the TOEFL requirements are the same as those for engineering, and they don’t specify a preferred GRE score.

    the GRE actually seems like an asset rather than a requirement, because they say that “[a]pplicants from outside Canada are encouraged to submit scores from the GRE General Test, and are encouraged to also submit scores from the GRE Subject Test in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related discipline.”

    the one thing that might complicate your admission to the M.Sc. is that “[p]reference will be given to applicants who have studied computer science or a closely related discipline.”

    i don’t know how closely electrical and electronic engineering is related to computer science, but it may be something you can ask the department of computer science.

    and that’s it! sorry for the information dump – i hope it all makes some sense. best of luck on your application!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • grad school,  keeners

    undergrad can’t contain this level of keen

    September 22, 2014

    Hey aska, I’m wondering if you know anything about taking graduate courses as an undergrad student? I can’t seem to find anything 300 or 400 level to take and I’m wondering if I should expand into the grad courses. Thank you!!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    wow, what a keener. good for you, my friend. personally, i wish i could take a couple kindergarten courses as an undergrad. that’d really boost my GPA.

    you definitely need to find some 300- and 400-level courses that pique your interest, ’cause you probably can’t entirely replace your 3rd and 4th years with grad school courses.

    however, it may be possible for you to take one or two grad school courses, if you can get permission from the department. depending on your GPA, and whether you can get permission from the instructor of the course(s) you’re after, you could be allowed to take a couple.

    just submit this form from the FAS to the department(s) that sponsors the course(s), and cross your fingers! for my part, i hope your wish to take grad courses is granted, and that i can find my way back to Mrs. Smith’s Junior Kindergarten room, where i truly belong.

    aska

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  • criminology,  grad school,  other schools (boo!)

    UWO uwu

    July 3, 2014

    I go to King’s College at Western University (UWO). My previous grades were poor but my fourth year average is very high and I will be taking fifth year for undergrad in September to raise my GPA. I am interested in applying for graduate school in Criminology after I finish my fifth year. However, I have some questions:

    1) For 5th year, I want to retake a couple courses that I took in the previous years/summer school because my grades were low and I wanted to retake them to improve my grade. Will the new mark be still counted in my GPA and will I still have a chance of being admitted to Grad school if I repeated some courses as long as my grades are very high?

    2) For the criminology graduate school admission requirements, is there any specific undergrad courses that needs to be taken in order to be admitted? Or can it be any criminology/sociology undergrad courses, as long as the grades are very high? The UofT website did not mention anything about specific undergrad course requirements for admission to graduate programs.

    3) Also, I’m not in honors specialization of criminology. I’m in double majors of Childhood and Social Institutions and Criminology, Bachelor of Arts 4 years Degree. I have taken the required cours for the Criminology major and I will be taking criminology and sociology courses in my 5th year before graduation. Do I still have a chance of getting esin if I’m in major of criminology and my grades are very high?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    as much as i appreciate the enthusiasm, there’s no need to send me this through all my different inboxes, dude. it’s not gonna make my answer annny quicker. aska’s stubborn that way.

    1) i don’t know how UWO does it, but if the old marks appear on your transcript, they will likely be considered along with thenew marks. according to criminology, “admission decisions are based on a holistic reading of applicant files by a committee of graduate faculty. This includes grades, reference letters, statements of intent, and courses taken.”

    2) nah. “To be considered for admission, applicants must meet the minimum requirement in a four year University of Toronto Bachelor’s degree with a social science background or a law degree, from another recognized university…The courses in the program are designed with the expectation that students have a sound understanding of social science methodologies, are capable of writing research and analytical papers, and are conversant with criminological theories.”

    as long as your undergrad degree was somewhere within the ballpark of criminology, it should be fine. they do say they look at your courses as part of their admission consideration, but they haven’t specified any courses that they prefer. my guess is that they’re just looking to see whether you’ve taken any criminology courses, and how many, and also if you’ve taken courses that might be relevant to the field, like law courses, for example.

    3) see above. if your fifth year bumps up your CGPA over your last 2-3 years of school to the range they’re looking for (at least an 80%) and you’ve taken relevant courses, based on the “holistic approach” the department advertises, i’d say you have a solid chance (obviously i’m not on the admissions committee, so i can’t say for sure, etc. etc., but, you know. that’s my educated guess of an opinion).

    best of luck in applying! i hope you become a master criminologist. just…don’t visit my house…once you do…

    cheers,

    aska

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  • grad school,  profs

    s IR PLeasE i jSUt am tr yiNG to wRIt e A NIce E – MAiL

    June 27, 2014

    Hi Aska,

    Let me just start of by saying I’m a little upset that I’ve been here at UofT for 3 years (going on 4), and I’ve only found your site now! SHAME.

    Anyways, I was emailing you today for some advice. I’m going to be applying to graduate school in the Fall, and of course, I will be needing some reference letters. I’m a person that HATES asking people for things, so I’m really not sure how to go about this. There’s one situation that I am particularly not sure about. Basically, there is this professor (probably one of my favourite). Last year I took two small lab courses with him, so I worked very closely with him and he definitely knows who I am. I even spoke to him about graduate school on multiple occasions. Problem is, he won’t be here in September. I REALLY want to ask him for a reference letter, but I’m not sure how to go about it, ESPECIALLY since it will have to be via email. (As a side note, he is the friendliest guy you will ever meet)

    HELP please!

    And thank you 🙂

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    see?? this is proof that shamelessly promoting yourself isn’t annoying, because people are SAD, nay, DEVASTATED, when they don’t discover you sooner. on a completely unrelated note, aska also has twitter, facebook, google+, tumblr, and pinterest accounts. flolow4follw o.

    it depends on the deadline for the reference letters, but i would e-mail the prof a few months in advance giving them a heads up and politely asking them for a reference. if you need their e-mail address, you can use uoft’s handy-dandy phonebook.

    as for how exactly to go about it? my usual way is 1) remind them who you are (just in case), 2) write a paragraph explaining how amazing they/their classes are and generally buttering them up 3) then a paragraph briefly explaining your plans and what you need, 4) then a request that they contact you for more specific information if they want to help.

    and make sure to say “dear mr. prof” and “kind regards, suzy” or whatever because if you want a favour from a fancy prof, you have to write a fancy e-mail.

    obviously there is no right or wrong way to go about it, but since trying to write a polite letter to a prof is like jabbing your eyeballs with rusty spoons, it’s nice to have a template.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • computer science,  grad school

    are you asking me for math help.

    June 11, 2014

    Hi there! I’ve visited your website for guidance and I’d like to ask a question personally. I’m a first year CS student. I dropped one course and failed 3 courses-2 of which are required to get into the CS program. I’m taking all three this summer and so far so good–I’m not messing this up again. My annual and cumulative GPA is really low…a little over 1.5. I’ve been thinking about the future and if grad school is something I’d want to do later on and now I’m worried about what I’ve done. If I do extremely well in these classes(90+), will it increase by GPA by much? And is it too late to get a GPA around the 3.5 or above area for when I graduate? Thanks a lot!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m so glad you’ve found my ramblings helpful! i like to imagine that some of you come here for Guidance capital-G, and not just for gifs or to send me into a college-question-related torpor.

    unfortunately, i can’t answer your math problem because you didn’t give me all the variables. how many credits did you finish with in first year? was the course you dropped a 0.5 or 1.0 credit course? these things will affect your CGPA and i can’t figure it out without knowing them. besides, i’m not a calculator, dude. here’s your calculator.

    anyway, while the cut-off for UofT’s M.Sc. in Applied Computing (i’m just gonna go with that degree because you didn’t specify a program) is a 3.3, it’s only over the last two years of your undergrad degree. so even if you did muck up first year, it’s not game over yet. but:

    there are two general reasons people do not-so-hot in first year: 1) they weren’t ready. uni moved too fast and they underestimated it. it takes them some time to find their groove, but when they do, it’s smooth sailing. if that’s your situation, then you should 100% go for grad school! but if it’s reason 2) you’re just not motivated because you’re not enjoying yourself, then it’s NOT WORTH IT.

    so while you’re doing that trademark student move of calculating potential GPAs (“so, if i get a 76% in this course…no, let’s say 78%, i can definitely get a 78%, then…maybe…my parents will love me…“), also think about whether this is really right for you. are you overwhelming yourself for good marks or do you feel like you can handle the work? and can you see yourself working as a slave to our mechanical overlords for life’s important questions?

    cheers,

    aska

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  • failing,  grad school

    moving past first year (it’s hard for us all)

    May 9, 2014

    Hey, I just finished my first year at UofT and I’m in a bit of a pickle. I calculated my GPA and, thanks to a few personal setbacks and a failing grade (half credit), I’m at a 1.8625. Now I’ve been told that first year doesn’t matter in the long run, that by the time I’m graduating and applying for jobs or a Master’s programme, no one will care about first year. However, I’m not sure if that’s true and I’m freaking out a little (a lot). Am I going to suffer as a result of this year? Also, thanks to the failing grade, I’m at 3.5 FCES and I know in order to enrol into my subject POSts, I need 4. Will not being able to enrol until next year hurt me in some way? I have all the prerequisites I need to enrol into my classes but I’m just not sure what’s going to happen with the subject POSts. Sorry if you get asked stuff like this all the time, I’m just beyond confused and worried.

    Thanks!

    Supes Confused Second Year

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    don’t worry, man, i get it: just because other people have asked the question before, doesn’t mean that it’s unimportant. if anything, you should feel better about the fact that lots of people have been in your situation. if they were able to pull through it, so can you. well i mean, probably. the odds are good, anyway. i’ve gotta be a rational optimist, y’know.

    most master’s programs don’t look at the CGPA of all four years. some do, but i’d say it’s not a majority. so you can take comfort in that.

    as to subject POSts, you can enrol in a summer course to close that gap between 3.5 and 4.0, but the deadline to register and enrol is coming up REAL SOON, so if you decide to do that, get yourself to your college registrar as soon as possible. otherwise, you can wait until the next subject POSt enrolment period; lots of POSts allow you to enrol after second year. there are some courses that are restricted to people in certain POSts, so there may be some courses you’re interested in that you won’t be able to take, but other than that, it shouldn’t affect your second year too severely.

    all practical talk aside, if you’ve finished a GPA with a 1.86, that’s not great. i understand that personal setbacks can impact school pretty severely (and first year is never easy, no matter which way you spin it), but if you are experiencing setbacks*, then support is often just the thing you need to help you along. the best people i know at this university who can provide that kind of support are the ones in the registrar’s offices. so consider making an appointment with them to talk about this past year, and make plans for improving next year.

    finally, don’t freak out about this. this is just a thing that happened, and now it’s up to you to make a decision about how to proceed. whatever happens, you’ll move past this, and as long as you’re making choices that you’re happy with, that’s all that matters.

    best,

    aska

    *that makes you sound like a computer or something. i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to imply that; you are, of course, a person with thoughts and feelings, unlike myself. i’m a 7-ft-tall android built by uoft to help students. did you know they integrated ROSI into my retinas?

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  • admissions,  grad school

    no cookie cutters in grad school

    May 8, 2014

    Hi aska,

    For admission into graduate school to get a Masters of science or a Ph. D, do you need to do a specialist program in your undergrad?? Would you be able to complete a Masters or Ph.D if you do a double major?

    Thanks.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    well, every graduate school and program is different. i don’t know exactly which Masters/Ph.D programs you’re interested in, but generally speaking, no. not every canadian university (or international university, for that matter), is organized the way uoft is. that means that lots of universities don’t have specialists or majors or minors, so it would be pretty irrational for a Masters or Ph.D program to demand that you have any one of those.

    usually, grad schools ask that you have a degree in a certain subject, or a related area. a double major may or may not satisfy the requirements for admission to certain programs, but it doesn’t completely exclude you from getting a graduate degree at all, by any means.

    if you’d like to, you can browse through uoft’s graduate degrees and take a look at their admission requirements to learn more about your options. whoo! isn’t higher learning exciting?

    for some reason, i always find it way more fun to browse programs and courses than to actually do them. i guess the illusion of productivity and academic excellence is so much more fun than the real deal. whoops.

    anyways, happy exploring!

    cheers,

    aska

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