grades - askastudent

admissions, applying for U of T, grades, rotman

live laugh spiral

February 18, 2025

Hi there! I am a Grade 12 student applying for Rotman Commerce at St. George campus. I just finished semester 1, and my top 6 average is currently a 95.3, which includes Grade 12 English and Calculus completed. However, I didn’t do well back in Grade 11 and have 3 very bad marks, including Chemistry, Physics, and G11 English, but I got 90s in all other G11 courses except for Function with an 87. As I know, Rotman would look at all G11 and G12 grades when reviewing my application, therefore, I am scared these 3 grades could significantly lower my chances, especially for the G11 English mark. I had high 50s in Chem, mid-70s in Phy, and 66 in Grade 11 English, which resulted in an 83 Grade 11 avg. Moreover, despite having a fabulous Grade 12 average, I took so many Grade 12 courses outside of day school. For example, I took English in summer school and got a 93; calculus in e-learning and got a 94, and at last, MHF4U in night school and got a 96. I am also scared it could lower my chances as well since, apparently, U of T cares about night school, summer school, etc. It also shows grade inconsistency in English since it jumped from a 66 in Grade 11 to a 93 in Grade 12. I got a 95 on both the only two Grade 12 courses that I took in day school fyi. Last but not least, I completed my supp app last week, and I believe I did decently well. I would give myself an 8/10. Nonetheless, I apologize for how long it is since I just wanted to provide some context. But here are a few questions I would like to get an answer to: 1. Will my low Grade 11 avg and Grade 11 English mark significantly lower my chances? 2. Does U of T care about whether I took any courses outside of day school? 3. Overall, what are my chances of getting into Rotman? I am really sorry for bothering you! I hope you have a good rest of the day!

hey there,

first off, congrats on finishing your application, and on getting such good marks in your first semester of grade 12! those numbers are really impressive.

but i get the anxiety despite it all (you’re just like me fr).

jk. these are super valid questions, and also really common questions! so maybe i can help clarify things. just a disclaimer though, i won’t be able to give a perfectly clear answer because publicly released U of T admission rules are pretty confusing. they really gotta stop tryna act so dark and mysterious, man.

grade 11 marks

ok i can see why you’re worried if you got a 66 in grade 11 english and english is one of the pre-requisite courses for admisson into rotman.

but you may be fine. because in general, grade 11 marks are looked at mainly for early consideration and conditional admissions.

it’s true that U of T does look at your grade 11 marks, but these will matter more when your marks from grade 12 aren’t out yet. keep in mind that everyone’s term system works differently, and some schools won’t release interim grade 12 marks yet at this point in the year. so for students who get their first term grade 12 marks back late, grade 11 marks will count more. but your interim grade 12 marks are already out, so your grade 11 marks will likely not hold as much weight. does that make sense?

i’ve heard U of T admissions likes to see improvement, too! so the fact that you showed massive growth from grade 11 to grade 12 should help you out. plus, an 83 average for grade 11 is not bad at all.

courses outside of day school

i’ve been told that U of T doesn’t care whether you take courses during the summer semester. i’ve also heard that they don’t care if you take courses online. however, i have not heard anything about night school.

while i did find a statement made about day school on this rotman page, it doesn’t really provide us with anything of substance. officially, they say this:

“while there may be valid reasons for taking courses outside of your day school, we encourage students to take courses in their day school where possible. all aspects of the application may be considered in the admissions process”.

very vague, i know. but the general vibe i’m getting is that taking courses outside of day school will not be a make-or-break factor in your application, considering you already have a very high average. i think it’s usually only cause for concern for applicants who are close to the minimum admission average. but that’s not you, because you’ve got really high marks!

your chances

so yeah, as i said above, if you have a top 6 average of 95.3, you’re way above the minimum average of mid-high 80’s, shown on this rotman page. the fact that you’ve got high marks and did well on your supplemental means that your chances are pretty good.

overall, my personal take (as an arts and science student and not an admissions person or a rotman student) is that you will be fine. several other people have asked similar questions to these, and you have higher grade 12 marks than the rest of the crowd. grade 12 marks and the supplemental will matter the most, and you’ve absolutely got those in the bag.

finally, no one can give you a guaranteed answer except the admission letter itself. but if you wanted to hear directly from a rotman student, here’s a link to register for a one-on-one meeting with a current rotman student. you can ask them about things non-admissions related too, like student life and general rotman advice they might have. finance, finance, case comp, add me on linked in, insert business lingo here.

anyways, that’s all from me. i know it can be pretty stressful while waiting to hear back about your application, so just know that you’ve done all you can — and you’ve done it well!

i encourage you to make the most of the rest of your senior year, and try to enjoy it while you’re still there. i’m rooting for you, and think good things are coming your way!

over and out,

aska

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campus, distribution, grades

the latest scoop on grade deflation

January 10, 2025
Hello! I’m a grade 12 student who has applied to two programs at UofT: Life Sciences at St. George, and Physical and Mathematical Sciences at UofT Scarborough. I’ve heard a lot about grade deflation at the undergrad level at St. George, but not so much about the other campuses. Is it still present at Scarborough and Mississauga? Thank you!

hey there,

great question.

i go to the st. george campus, and in my experience, grade deflation is a pretty common occurrence here. however, i believe it happens across all campuses, since it seems to stem from U of T’s institutional grading policies and not from individual professors or TAs.

although i’ve never taken any courses at UTSC, i did take one course at UTM in which the grades were clearly deflated. and if i had to throw out a super rough estimate, i’d say maybe 20% of the courses i’ve ever taken were impacted by grade deflation.

that being said, personal anecdotes can only tell you so much, so i won’t say too much about the details of the grade deflation i’ve experienced in my courses. instead, if you wanted a more detailed analysis, i’d recommend checking out some articles written by the varsity (U of T’s student paper)! i’ll link them here:
- TA’s speak out about U of T grading deflation allegations
- The Breakdown: Grade deflation.
these articles argue that the grade deflation at U of T is an institutional problem. essentially, there’s a whole handbook for instructors in the faculty of arts and sciences that outlines rules about how they give out grades. as the varsity suggests, this tells us that the source of the deflation does not lie with individual course instructors.

for example, the guidelines say that for first and second-year courses, only 15-35% of the students should get A’s. meanwhile, the proportion of F’s in a first or second-year course should not be more than 10%. if not, the course should undergo review and make sure grades were given out fairly.

interestingly, these guidelines are mainly meant to apply to first and second year courses, since U of T knows that grades matter the most for grad school when you’re in third and fourth year. so if this is something you’re worried about, it seems like grade deflation might not be as pronounced in upper year classes.

anyways, to directly answer your question, i spent some time looking into the UTSC academic handbook, UTM handbook, and the UTSG handbook, and i found that the guidelines on grade distribution are consistent across all three campuses. if these guidelines really do enable certain instructors to keep deflating student’s grades, then there should theoretically be not much difference across campuses in rates of grade deflation. the only noteworthy difference is that the UTM handbook explicitly mentions that these guidelines are not mandatory, and course marks are not required to fit into pre-defined grade distributions.

overall, the data on grade deflation is super murky and there’s not a clear answer. my take is that grade deflation is definitely present across all three campuses, but whether it happens at similar rates is anyone’s guess.

i also think that if you’re trying to choose between which campus to attend, there are plenty of other factors to weigh. i’d recommend you check out this article on what makes each campus unique, and also look into the different opportunities at each campus for your specific programs!

and finally, please don’t let this get you down or make you too scared about coming to U of T. if you’re coming to UTSG for life sciences, i can tell you that none of the first year life sci courses i took were affected by grade deflation. while i know it’s widespread across different departments, in my personal experience, mainly social science courses have been the issue. all hope is not lost and it’s still possible to do well!

best of luck and hope this helps!

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, engineering, grades

wait for me

May 16, 2024

I’m currently in grade 11 and have a 85 average and in HOSA (and going to be president in my club soon), I want to get into uoft for mechanical engineering, I want to try to get higher grades for grade 12, but will my grade 11 marks be considered a lot for my admission or will they wait for my grade 12 marks?

hey there,

ok, right now, i think all you can do is just stick to your plan and try to get higher grades for grade 12. because, the weight that your grade 11 marks hold against your grade 12 marks just depends on a whole bunch of factors.

first, i’d recommend reading through this faq page, which details a lot of important need-to-knows about admissions! i’ll be drawing some info from there.

as you can see on this important deadlines page, there are two rounds of admissions decisions: students who submit their OUAC application by nov 7 and their engineering application by dec 1 are considered under round one (aka. early consideration). meanwhile, those who submit everything by jan 15 are considered under round two.

the answer to your question depends on which round of admissions you’re considered under, and how soon your school releases your grade 12 marks. in my experience, it makes a difference whether you go by the quarter semester system or the three term system. if you’re considered during round one, there’s a chance you won’t have many grade 12 marks released yet, so they’ll mostly look at your grade 11 marks and whatever grade 12 marks are available. so basically, from the way i understand it, it all really depends on your school’s term system.

however, it is all going to be okay if you’re not admitted under round one due to unavailable grades. you will just be considered again in round two as more of your grades come out.

nothing is really set in stone, but ultimately, you don’t have to worry about applying early if your grade 11 marks aren’t as high as you’d like them to be. after all, the admission committee say they “may hold applications to wait for more information” if you applied early. so overall, yes. they should wait for your grade 12 marks to be released ~~from depths of the underworld~~.

(if you don’t get this reference, you are simply uncultured)

also, i found on this same page that canadian students’ admission averages for mechanical engineering is within the high 80s to low 90s. i think you have a good chance if you succeed in getting those good grades in grade 12! they also say that extracurriculars are considered, so good on you for being extracurricular-ly involved! that will help you out.

sooo good luck with everything, reach out if you have more questions!! you’ve got this.

over and out,

aska

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admissions, grades, prospective student

grade 11? i don’t know her

September 16, 2022

hi, i just finished grade 11, and i ended with mid 70 to high 60 for my courses. i recently moved here from alberta and in albertian uni’s, they check both gr11 and 12 marks, but here, i’ve been told that they dont look at gr11 marks as much. i was wondering if that was true, like if they dont really care about gr11 marks unless you pre-enroll(which i am not). also, is there like a certain average i should have in gr12 to sort of ‘cancel’ my gr11 marks? the course i wanna get into is bio-med, ty

hey there,

welcome welcome! yes, it’s true. most ontario unis only care about your grade 12 marks, not grade 11. each uni posts their own admissions requirements (the uoft one is here) but they usually only judge you on six of your grade 12 courses, which include any required courses for the program you’re applying for, and other electives where you got the highest marks. pretty sweet, i know.

Bless You GIFfrom Bless GIFs

grade 11 marks only really matter for early consideration, if the marks for your required grade 12 courses aren’t available yet, and scholarships. even for really competitive programs, i’ve rarely seen ones that use grade 11 marks for admissions (at least for regular acceptance).

the admissions averages can vary for different programs and unis but if you’re interested in something like uoft life sciences (biology etc), you should be aiming for at least mid to high 80s, which is pretty similar to biomed type programs at other unis from what i remember. so don’t sweat it, just focus on working your ass off this year because the past is (mostly) in the past.

Were Past It Lets Move On Danni King GIFfrom Were Past It Lets Move On GIFs

good luck,

aska

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grades, writing centre

how 2 write good

February 18, 2021

Hi! So I’m a first year who’s taking a lot of English/literature/writing courses. I knew that my marks would drop a lot coming to uni, and I’m proud of myself for the marks I’m getting. However, I was wondering if you have any tips for improving our writing. I always get somewhere in the low 80s for my marks on my essays, and the highest I’ve gotten is an 85. Again, I’m super happy with myself, but I’m just genuinely getting confused on how to improve. I’ve gone to my profs/TAs office hours for feedback, and also go to the writing centre for each assignment. But it seems like regardless of whether I take in their feedback or not, I’m always stuck in this little range of grades. So, I was wondering if you have any tips or advice. Thanks 🙂

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hey there,

i hope your first year has been going all right given the circumstances, and i’m glad you reached out about this! you should be proud of yourself, you are doing great during a particularly difficult time to be adjusting to the academic demands of university.

it’s great that you’re going to office hours for feedback and visiting the writing centre — those are really the two best things you can do. you can also find some really great resources for papers at writing.utoronto.ca, or book an appointment with a learning strategist if you’re interested in improving your paper-writing process.

i do wonder if there’s a more effective way you could be asking for feedback.

if you’re able to consistently book time with the same writing centre instructor, for example, they’ll get to know your writing style better and might make stronger recommendations. i’ve been working with the same instructor for over a year now, and during my appointments, i feel like i’m actually receiving really valuable lessons. she now takes the time to explain sentence structure and grammar to me, where she mostly would’ve just made corrections when we didn’t know each other quite as well. if you’re able to try something similar, that might improve the quality of the feedback you receive.

alternatively, you can try bringing old papers to office hours during the first few weeks of a new class, and ask your instructor to look over your writing style and make early recommendations for things you can work on. if you let them know that you’re really keen on succeeding in their class and improving your skills, i can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to help you.

you may also want to look into the english students’ union, and see if they run any mentorship or peer help programs. in my experience, most upper years at u of t are really kind and happy to help you succeed, so if you can find someone who’s been studying english for a while, you might be able to get some good pointers that way.

apart from that, i truly think the best way to become a better writer is to become a more critical reader. if you can learn to deconstruct an essay that you think is particularly well written, figure out why it works, and apply that to your own writing, you’ll be in a much better position. i don’t know if you know this, but i believe the writing centre can actually help you with learning to read more critically. you can bring a reading from class in and go through it with an instructor.

i’ve actually never taken an english course at u of t, so i don’t feel like the most qualified person to give you tips on this.

plus, it’s really hard to tell someone how to improve their writing without reading a paper that they’ve written! but i hope something in here has at least given you an idea of how to move forward.

good luck with the rest of your semester! i hope you’re able to achieve your grade goals soon.

be Boundless,

aska

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grades

what even is a bell curve

January 13, 2021

hi there! I was wondering if you could maybe explain bell curves. I don’t really understand what these are but they sound daunting haha. one of my profs mentioned it and it made me confused so :’)

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hey!

it’s totally fair to be confused by bell curves. honestly, i don’t really understand them that much either, and from what i understand, the effects of bell curving can vary depending on what average is selected for the bell. this western gazette piece explains bell curving and its complications better than i can, so check it out.

anyway, according to this varsity article, bell curves aren’t even allowed in the faculty of arts and science.

so if you’re taking an artsci course and your prof is bell curving you, try getting in touch with the ASSU and see if there’s any advocacy they can do for you and your classmates. i’m not super sure what the rules are outside artsci, so if you’re part of a different faculty i’d suggest emailing your registrar’s office (or faculty) to find out.

be Boundless,

aska

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grades

schrodinger’s grades

January 3, 2021

Where do we check our grades. I swear i never hear back after finals for weeks

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hey there,

happy new year and thank you for your patience with this answer! i took a few days off at the end of the year because exhaustion lol.

you should be able to check your grades on ACORN when they’re up. after you log into the platform using your UTORID, you should see a bar on the side divided into different categories.

the fourth option under ‘ACADEMICS’ should be ‘academic history,’ and all your final marks will be posted there after they’ve been submitted by your instructors and approved by the department. you should also be able to see the course averages for those classes, and the number of credits you earned for the semester.

sometimes it can take a while for those grades to be posted. most of my classes are still “IPR” right now, or in progress. are my final grades good? are they bad? in my head, they’ll be both until i see them and find out for sure. i expect all grades will be out before january 15, given that that’s the CR/NCR deadline for artsci.

i hope this helped!

be Boundless,

aska

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GPA, grades, non degree

back to school you go?

April 29, 2020
Hey Aska, so I am thinking about the possibility of upgrading my GPA as a non-degree student. Since I didn’t think my GPA for my last two years was competitive (mid B range), I decided to take a year off to work, but now that I’ve lost that job opportunity due to Covid-19, I considered doing 2 or 3 courses at UTM. The problem is even with getting a 4.0 in those 2-3 courses, the most my GPA for the last two years will increase too is a high B+. I’ve been debating if the money & time is worth it.

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hey there,

hope you’re holding up all right and sorry about your job! i know these are tough times all around.

even under normal circumstances, it sucks to have plans upended. i hope that other, even better opportunities are in your future and that you have enough to stay on your feet right now.

anyhow, if you’re asking me whether or not i think it’s worth it for you to go back to school to raise your gpa, well… that depends, doesn’t it? if you’re not going to use your GPA for anything (ie. grad school or something else??) then i’d say the answer is probably no.

sometimes people go back to school to work on their GPA just cause it bothers them so much, or because they’re worried about how their GPA will look on a resume. which, if it’s the latter, i wouldn’t worry… i’ve been told by a peer career advisor that it doesn’t even really matter whether or not your GPA is on a resume, in terms of employment. and if it’s the former reason… i dunno. i just don’t think it’s worth the resources, yknow?

anyway, you didn’t specify what your motivation was, but my guess is that it’s neither of those (included them to cover my bases in case i’m wrong lol). i think you were intending on going to grad school, given that you mentioned you took “a year off” to work. a year off from education, i’m presuming?

if i am indeed the ultimate detective slash genius that i think i am, and you are indeed thinking of doing this for grad school purposes, here are a few things i think you should note as you weigh your decision:

grad schools will be able to see that you raised your GPA by completing courses as a non-degree student, and will take this into account

like you mentioned, doing well in two or three courses won’t work miracles for a GPA that took several years to take shape.

it would be best if you check in with the grad school programs you’re considering and see how they feel about this avenue of GPA-raising, as well as whether they think it would be a good idea / give you an edge / detract from the way they consider your GPA. it’s hard for me to speak for them, given i have literally zero experience in grad school admissions.

it might be useful to contact your registrar and see what they think, as well. if you graduated recently, they should still have your info on file and may be able to provide guidance as to whether or not taking more courses is worth it.

also, just so you know, online school (so far) has actually really sucked. that might be useful to take into account if you’re planning to complete those two or three courses this summer. it’s hard to focus on your schoolwork when you’re staring at a screen for so long, many profs have no frickin’ clue what they’re doing, some online exams are truly designed to screw you over… man. if i could dodge online school without interfering so much with these glorious (read: so terribly mundane) plans i have for my life, i would.

anyway, ball’s in your court. good luck making the decision.

be Boundless,

aska
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GPA, grad school, grades, graduation, health

this post has been brought to you by my last half brain cell

December 11, 2019

So basically I really really messed up last year I filed petition for not writing exam due to health issues.. I was diagnosed with spinal cancer and things were just really hard… and I read the petition form has to be
signed within the day of the exam or the next day but because I was unwell it ended up getting it after a couple days and I got scared and changed the date by 3 days I did this for 1.5 credits …. I was super honest about my mistake and they said from May 2019-December 2019 I’ll be suspended and the 1.5 credits will be a 0..

I don’t mind I was suspended at the time cuz I had to have emergency surgery to remove the tumor because the dr said if I don’t I’ll become paralyzed and wheelchair bound sooo in April 24 I did the surgery hoping I would be able to walk again and by May 15 I left rehab walking!!! And now this winter I’ll be doing some tests just to make sure the cancer hasn’t returned so things were crazy…

But now I realize that I’m suspended cuz u tried going into my email or acorn and it isn’t working and I’m freaking out!! Cuz before I didn’t think I could even walk to school and would rather quit if that’s what happened, but thankfully I am fully recovered and now It is hitting me that I’m suspended and when I was in high school i was never the type and I’m just really sad and disappointed in myself…

I’m worried I won’t be able to enroll for Jan-April 2020 did they kick me out of uni? How do I know I can start to log in and enroll just in time for classes in January? Should I go to uni to see in December or just wait till the start of January??

And I’m actually a 4th year and barely completed any classes due to extreme fatigue and pain… but now I feel so much healthier and think I can graduate either as a 6th or 7th year… but if I were to apply for grad
schools like masters for microbiology or immunology would they see that I stayed at school for too long and not want me??

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I basically got enrolled!! so scratch that question… But since 1.5 credits are a zero i was wondering if i were to take a total of 29 credits.. would those extra 9 be added in the final gpa?? I feel if i were to do that many extra credits i would be happy with my gpa.. But is that allowed??

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hey there,

sorry for the wait in getting this question answered– glad you managed to get fully recovered and enrolled again! it sounds like the last few years have been a wild ride for you and it’s good that you’re doing better now. we love feeling healthy.

even though you said you resolved the issues in the first question you sent in, i do kinda wanna address them. you should have been able to access your email and ACORN while suspended– the only thing you don’t have access to while on suspension is course enrolment. that section of your ACORN would probably have been blocked, but everything else should have been available for you. i’m not too sure what happened, but from what you said i guess you managed to resolve it. if you ever run into similarly confusing circumstances, i wouldn’t advise waiting– always contact your registrar if something seems to be wrong. if it’s too inconvenient for you to go in person, feel free to email them or give them a call. that’s what they’re there for, after all!

as for your questions about grad school– yes, they would be able to see from your transcript how long you’ve been in school, but what you may not know is that grad school apps usually give you an opportunity to explain any academic anomalies you might have. you’d be able to let them know about your health issues (which are 100% valid) and they’d take that into account when considering you for admissions. hopefully that eases your mind a bit. you shouldn’t be expected to finish in four years if students not dealing with your level of health concerns have trouble finishing in four years, too.

as for your question about GPA — technically, yes, you can boost your GPA by taking an extra 9 credits after you complete your 20. according to the rules and regulations, the courses you take beyond 20 credits don’t qualify for exception from your CGPA. i found out today that actually, you can even graduate and continue to take courses and have them count towards your CGPA. hope that helps you out– keep in mind that the more credits you take, the less each one affects your CGPA. so it can be kind of hard to go beyond 20 and pull your GPA up significantly. but hey, if it’s the loophole you need it’s the loophole you have.

the more times i use this gif the funnier it gets. instead of one dude lifting the roof, you get several doing it in sync. here’s one more just because.

be Boundless,

aska

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grades, midterms

lol are midterms even over yet

December 3, 2019

Have all the midterm marks been sent out to the students at U of T yet?

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hey there,

this is an easy one to answer. no, they have not. obviously this is gonna vary by program, class, etc.– someone who’s been done their midterms for a few weeks may have those midterm marks already. i (who am only just finishing mine, what is UP with that) am not expecting those grades for a bit.

if you’re a current student concerned about your midterm marks not being out for some reason, i’d advise that you talk to either your registrar or your profs. i’m not really sure why you’re asking this (out of curiosity? for grad schools? i dunno) but i hope this answered your question!

be Boundless,

aska

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fees, GPA, grades, health and wellness, mental health, OSAP

mario kart ghost mode is the only mode that matters

March 15, 2019

Hi there,

I am currently in my third year at UTSG and sitting at a 2.61 GPA and I am feeling pretty shitty about myself, I had a pretty rough last semester, but am trying to get myself back on track for my last year and a half. Is messing up a semester going to set me back significantly? do you think that taking summer courses and trying to get good grades in my 4th year would be enough time for me to pull my GPA back up? I feel really bad because I went from a 2.9 in my first year to a 2.61 in my first semester of third year, because of personal reasons and I also changed programs. How do I stop comparing myself to the accomplishment of others? I know my GPA is not the worst, still a B, but it is so hard being surrounded by others who are doing so well, and is so toxic and damaging to my mental health.

ALSO OSAP QUESTION

I was advised by my registrar to drop the courses that I was not doing well in this year to save my GPA, which brought me to 3 courses per term, which is still a full time status, and was told that i would not get in trouble with OSAP for dropping these courses. Is this correct? I am afraid to drop the courses I want to this semester because of this and I do not want to get into any type of trouble with osap.

thanks..

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hello!

coupla questions here, so i guess i’ll break it up like i usually do.

can i pull my gpa up?

i thought about this one for a while. looked at the numbers and all, and tried to figure out if there was some mathy way i could give you reassurance. unfortunately, my brain doesn’t really work like that, but i can link you to the u of t gpa calculator that will be able to give you a more definitive answer anyway. basically, it’ll let you input your grades so far, as well as hypothetical grades for future semesters. then, it’ll calculate your SGPA and CGPA with all that considered.

the thing with summer courses is that they are accelerated, so they can sometimes be harder to do well in. so just be cautious before rushing into it, i would say.

osap!!!

ah, money issues. so for your OSAP to be secure as an undergrad, you need to have at least 1.5 credits per term– that translates to three courses. as long as you make sure you keep these three courses, your osap should be safe! keep in mind this doesn’t mean an average of three per semester– you can’t take two now and four later, and hope you’ll be okay. osap looks at each term separately. and if you do have a permanent disability of any sort, that requirement drops down to 1.0 credits or two courses.

what about my mental health?

i feel like i should start by linking you to mental health resources. i’m only really aware of the ones @uoftears_ on instagram uses: where to get free mental health help in toronto, as well as the university health and wellness centre and mental health resources. if you check these out, they’ll likely to be able to give you better support than i can, and if you’re struggling with your own mental health i want you to get the best help possible.

with that said, this is definitely something i’m sensitive to. every time i get a question along these lines i’m at once saddened that another person feels this way, but glad that we have the opportunity to talk about it a little. we go to a competitive school, and based on your program/community maybe you’ll feel it more than others might.

one way i’ve been taught to look at it– and you can decide for yourself whether this perspective makes you feel better or pisses you off– is that you never know what’s going on under the surface. it may seem like some people have it all– are doing super well, have that golden 4.0, whatever. the thing is, people with all sorts of GPAs are self-conscious about their grades, and those at the higher end of the scale often feel an insane amount of pressure that begins to impede on their mental health as well. seems like they should be happy with what they’ve got, yeah, but the happiness isn’t intrinsic to the number– it’s more about how you look at it.

basically, it can be rough no matter what your GPA is, unless you’re able to work towards the place where your grades and self-worth aren’t intertwined. obviously, this is just my take. it’s something i struggle quite a lot with myself, if that helps. i myself was raised in an environment where my self-esteem was contingent on my academic achievement, and that’s something i’d like to leave behind but haven’t yet. bad grades still feel hella personal, especially when i know people are doing a lot better than me. so i definitely sympathize there.

something i’m trying to learn is that it’s definitely healthier to focus on yourself. think about it like playing mario kart ghost mode, if you will. sure, you can try to out-race everyone else, but because i SUCK at racing games i’ve learned to be okay with beating my own record. hopefully someday that’ll transfer over to the rest of my life. but for now, it’s a start. wow, a metaphor! hope my high school english teacher would be proud.

suffice it to say that i really hope you’ll be able to pull your GPA up, but if you can’t? just work on what you can control– improving your study habits, learning the material, and reaching out when you need help. and throw some time in to take care of yourself too, man. put on a face mask. spend a lil time outside, now that it’s warming up. watch an episode of a show you like. idk, whatever works for you. best of luck, my friend.

x aska

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