• odds are that won't be asked again,  subject POST

    this week has felt like two years hbu

    October 4, 2020
    Hello there, I’m in a tricky situation that’s kinda rare. Couldn’t find any cases to reference to, so here I am. Long story short, Low CGPA, have 6 credits left to complete. But got removed from the program, since I didn’t meet the cut off. Went to the chair of the department, nothing useful came back. So should I switch a program to start fresh? Took me 3 years already in the school but it seems nothin’s worth it. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you.

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    happy october! hope you’re doing all right in this extremely chaotic world. i’ve been doomscrolling my way through the week and watching too much CNN. if ya know what i mean.

    it makes sense that, as you said, your situation is quite rare — i’m not really aware of any programs that require you to keep a certain CGPA, if that’s what you mean by “didn’t make the cutoff.” so, should you switch programs and start anew? it’s always difficult for me to provide clear answers to these kinds of questions. here are some factors i think you should weigh:

    1. is there a program similar to the one you were removed from? something you’d be able to use your current credits towards so that you wouldn’t have to necessarily start from scratch? for example, i had a friend switch from international relations to disapora and transnational studies in her third year— apparently there were enough similarities between the two that she was able to do so without too much inconvenience.
    2. is there a program that really gets you goin’? something that you’re intensely curious about, can see fitting into your interests well, or will help move you towards your goals? i know a few people who picked programs they weren’t into, just ’cause they thought they should, and it made their degree extremely difficult to complete. picking a program you care about will make finishing your degree feel doable.
    3. do you have the resources, stamina, and time to add a year or two to your degree? if you switch to a completely different program, it’s likely that you’ll need to take quite a few more credits before your degree is complete. is that a sacrifice you’re willing and able to make?

    if you answered yes to any of the above, it’s probably worth it for you to consider switching programs.

    i think it’s also worth considering what your alternatives are. were you doing a double major in two different programs, or perhaps a major and two minors? is it an option for you to take another program you’re already enrolled in and specialize in it instead? or maybe you were already a specialist and that’s why you feel like you’ve been backed into a corner. i dunno. this is a lot of guesswork,,, honestly, you might benefit from an appointment with your friendly local registrar’s office. personally, i find that it’s really helpful to talk things over with an academic advisor who has access to things like my academic record. you might benefit from the kind of advice an advisor can dispense.

    anyway, just to sling a lil encouragement your way (cause god knows we could all use some right now): i know school is tough and seems pointless sometimes. you weren’t explicit about what other options you were considering, but my sense is that you’re feeling lost and are maybe even thinking about giving up. and you know what, if this isn’t the right time and place for you to be pursuing a degree, then that’s all right! but if you want to stick around and are just discouraged, i do think that you can find a path to finishing your degree that makes sense to you. talk things through with people, if that’s something that helps you. make pro-con lists. explore your options. whatever you ultimately decide, i trust that you know what’s best for yourself. as one of my friends likes to say, this problem will have its place. things will turn out all right.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • economics,  stats,  subject POST,  UTM

    this whole enrolment/POSt thing does get confusing,,, sigh

    July 16, 2020

    Hi! I got into UTM last year for commerce, but didn’t make post. Instead of redoing courses and reapplying, I wanted to do a double major in Economics and Stats. I don’t have all the required courses for that though, so I need to take them next year. However you need to declare a major in order to be able to enrol. How do I go about that? Do I declare my major as Econ and Stats? Or do I just continue with commerce until I have the credits? I’m not sure what to do.

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    hopefully i’m getting to this question in time… the first time i read this i thought you were a second year, but now i’m not 100% sure. hopefully you’re a second year and today isn’t your enrolment date. anyway.

    these are my thoughts: you may need to continue with commerce or select other placeholder programs. from what i can tell, UTM’s econ major has a few required courses for admission, which i won’t go into here as they provide several options and i don’t want to confuse you. the statistics major also has required courses. in other words, enrolment in both your desired POSts is limited to people who’ve exceeded a certain grade threshold in the relevant intro courses. since you’ve said you don’t have the requirements yet, you wouldn’t be able to declare a double major in econ and stats at the moment.

    if i were you (which i am not, thankfully, econ is not my strong suit) this is what i would do: stay in commerce, register in the prereqs for econ and stats, get those done, and request the POSts next spring. wait to get into them before you drop your commerce program, and there you go. if you run into trouble anywhere along the way, i’d recommend that you get in touch with the utm registrar, who will be able to advise you!

    hope this helped,,, good luck.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • subject POST

    didn’t make post? you’re not (m)alone.

    June 25, 2020

    Hello! I was wondering if it is okay if I don’t make it into post in my 2nd year as well? In fall 2020, it would be my third year attending the university, but I would still be a 2nd year student because i don’t have 9 credits. Do people usually judge? I’m not on academic probation or anything but I feel like I won’t be able to make the cutoff this year as well for a different post.

    ——————————————

    hey there!

    i understand your anxieties, and want to say that it’s perfectly all right not to make POSt after your second year. what i’ve learned lately is that everyone operates on their own time– everyone’s doing school under unique circumstances, so it doesn’t really make sense to compare yourself with others. some of the coolest people i know aren’t doing their degrees according to the “average” timeline, but instead pacing themselves the way they know is best for them!

    will people judge you? hopefully not, but they may. either way, it’s not worth your time or attention, buddy. i get that it can be hard to feel good about yourself if people are giving you a hard time about these types of things, but remember that you’re not getting your degree for them. you’re getting it for yourself. they should all just go… deal with their own problems.

    for practical reasons, though, you’ll need to register in the minimum POSt combination (specialist, two majors, or a major + two minors) in order to enrol in courses for the upcoming academic year, given that you’ll be entering it as a second year. i’ve been told that your enrolment will be blocked otherwise. you can pick anything– i’d recommend type 1 programs vaguely similar to what you’re interested in– and just replace those placeholder programs later when you make POSt. if you’d like to talk to someone for advice with this, or if you have any other questions about POSt, you can reach out to your friendly local registrar who will do their best to help you!

    i hope this helped, and i wish you all the best!

    also, my sincerest apologies for the title of this post, it was the best i could come up with after half an hour of trying. this job do be hard sometimes.

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • subject POST

    very cool.

    April 8, 2020

    Hello! I am hoping to double major in Classic Civilization and Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Is that a valid combination? Or do I need a minor? can i even add a minor? (Degree Explorer keeps telling me it’s an invalid POSt combination!)

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    sorry for the long wait with this answer! it’s taken me a while to look into this, because i’m stupid about degree explorer sometimes, but as far as i can tell it… should be a valid combination? i managed to add all the NMC majors to that combination on my degree explorer, anyway, once i confirmed that it wouldn’t mess with my current degree explorer plans.

    so i don’t know what’s up with your error message. you can contact your registrar if you’re still having trouble, i guess. but the good news is that your combination should be valid! i’ve never encountered a combination that wasn’t valid, unless someone was trying to specialize AND major in the same thing (not ok, apparently).

    to answer your second and third questions:

    you don’t need a minor if you’re doing a double major. to graduate from u of t, you generally need a specialist OR a double major OR a major and two minors. that’s the minimum required POSt combination, and tbh it’s the way to go if you still wanna have any space for electives or breadth requirements. now, if you’re a chronic overachiever, super interested in too many things, or you just plain hate yourself, you can go aBoVE anD bEyOnD those requirements and add up to three subject POSts. that is, as long as the third one is a minor.

    tl:dr u doin good buddy, have fun studying your ancient civilizations! very cool.

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • admissions,  science,  subject POST

    yuhprobablyright,idk

    March 26, 2020

    hiya there aska! i’m from al(aska) [hehehe] and was wondering what the difference is between a specialist science program and a major science program. also what do the 300 or 400 level thingies mean on the courses? also does uoft accept AP physics taken taken in high school? probably right, idk. also does uoft require a language 12 credit for science? yuh muchthank and muchappreciate bye

    ——————————————

    hey there, from al(aska),

    what’s the difference between a specialist and major in the sciences?

    basically, you’d opt for a specialist if you:

    • heckin love the subject material so so much and want to dedicate most of your degree to it
    • are really set on doing grad school in a specific discipline and want to specialize early
    • or otherwise have a very intent and specific interest in a program (or an intent and specific disinterest in everything else, i guess???)
    • want to become a !specialist! at something during your undergrad
    • want opportunities that are only available to specialists, like specific research openings or sometimes even specific classes

    if you do a major you’ll need to do it in conjunction with another major or two minors, meaning with a major you can:

    • diversify! you’ll choose concentrations in multiple subject areas, and have a lot of leeway with what those subject areas are. you can choose one major in the sciences and one in the arts, for example, and still graduate with a bachelor’s of science; or you can choose two majors in very different scientific fields; etc etc. round your education out, friends.
    • explore your interest in a certain program by committing to more extensive study than a minor, without going to the lengths that a specialist would

    this is because a specialist will require you to take more classes (or credits) in a specific department than a major will. usually, the credit breakdown for specialist, majors, and minors is as follows:

    • specialist: between 10 and 14 FCEs
    • major: between 6 and 8
    • minor: 4 FCEs

    if you think about each credit as a yearlong course OR two half-year courses, then that means a minor would account for almost a year’s worth of courses, while a specialist would account for about two to (almost) three years’ worth. a major, then, would be about a year and a half’s worth of courses. obviously, you don’t usually complete one program in one fell swoop then move onto the next one– they’re usually completed alongside each other, in fact. i just thought that might be a helpful way to kind of account for the level of study expected from each type of program. following me so far?

    a few things to note:

    • not all programs will offer all three options (minor, major, specialist). some won’t have the capacity to offer any more than a minor. meanwhile, some bigger departments won’t have built-in allowances for minors, maybe because that level of study isn’t plausible for the subject
    • you can technically choose up to 3 programs in general, as long as that third one is a minor. this means if you really hated yourself, you could do a specialist and a major, or a double major and a minor. i don’t know what would happen if you tried to do 2 specialists and a minor, or a specialist, a major, and a minor. just like,,,,,,, don’t. i guess you could? but don’t.
    • it doesn’t matter if you’re in the arts or sciences! the number of credits required for each program type is the same.

    what do the 300 or 400 level thingies mean?

    how many minutes a day you spend doing classwork. if you do the math, 400 minutes/60 minutes in an hour = 6.67 hours.

    haha the internet already has so much misinformation on it and adding to that doesn’t make me special. the 100/200/300/400 level designations are really meant to indicate what year level the courses are designed for. for example, 100-level courses typically provide general overviews of a topic for first-years, and as you go up the chain, your class sizes will grow smaller and the topics will become more specialized. once you get to 400-level courses, you’re typically looking at very small seminars that will do a deep-dive into a topic, and mark you far more stringently than you would be marked in a 100-level course. this is because most 400-level students will be fourth years.

    in short, the “300/400 level thingies” are indicators of topic depth and coursework expectations! it’s important to note, though, that you don’t need to be a fourth year to take a 400 level course. you just need to meet the prerequisites. i took a 200-level course in first year just for the kicks, because it had no prereqs and i thought it would make me cool. it didn’t. no one cares.

    does uoft accept AP physics taken in high school? 

    heck yea. all the AP physics courses translate to first-year equivalents– you can see the full list here. as you’ll notice, not all AP courses are accepted for credit/accepted as equivalents. the physics APs are probably some of the best to take if you want u of t credit.

    does uoft require a language 12 credit for science?

    haha what. i’m not aware of one. like, if the language you mean is english then yeah, but other than that i don’t think so. i would check the high school prerequisites for the specific programs you’re interested in on this website just to be safe– it’ll vary from department to department, i think. but no, i don’t think you’ll find a language 12 among them.

    i hope this was helpful!

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • sociology,  subject POST

    slight major confusion

    February 7, 2020

    hi! I had a question about switching majors. I’m a first year and I’m not sure if I want a major in sociology or something else. how hard would it be to switch to soc in 2nd year if I originally chose something else?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i’m not really sure what you mean by switching in second year. do you mean, like, before your second year starts? midway through your second year?

    if you’re currently in your first year, you’re technically not even in a major yet. dunno if you’re aware of this, but u of t runs on a subject POSt system– which means you apply to be admitted to a program of study in the early summer right after your first year. until you’ve completed that procedure, you don’t even technically have a major to switch out of.

    you might be referring to your first-year admission stream (which i doubt, because you said something about a major) or the program of interest you declared on your ouac? u of t’s not gonna hold you to that program of interest, nor did getting admitted to u of t mean you were guaranteed access to that major. as for the admission streams, those are mainly done for the purpose of giving priority enrollment to students who are most likely to need certain courses as prerequisites for majors in that stream. if that makes sense.

    if you’re hoping to find out more about how to actually choose your programs of study and what that process looks like, i’ve written that up in a previous post and you can view it here. updated deadlines– so you can get a sense of a timeline– are here.

    and, well, if you’re asking about how to switch your major halfway through the year, technically you can’t. what you can do is drop the courses related to the major you don’t want anymore, and start taking prerequisites/program requirements for the major you’re more interested in beginning in the winter semester. then, if you have everything you need, you can request a new program and then drop your current one during the program request period following your second year. might wanna note that you should drop after being accepted to your new program, just in case things don’t pan out.

    for soc specifically, i don’t know that you’re gonna be able to request it without taking a summer course in the first summer semester and then requesting soc as your major during the second program request period that begins in july. this is because to get into soc, you need at least 65% in SOC100 and SOC150, but you can’t take SOC150 without having already taken SOC100.

    tl:dr — switching before second year starts? easy peasy lemon squeezy, as long as you have program prereqs. switching midway through second year? difficult difficult lemon difficult — if you haven’t already taken those first year soc courses, anyway. if you have it should be as easy as requesting soc as a program in the summer.

    hope this helped!

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

     

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  • anthropology,  subject POST,  UTM

    tis a learning process, i am learning

    January 9, 2020

    I posted this before but didn’t make it clear I go to UTM, which made it confusing for you, I’m sorry. I would like to apply to the Anthropology Major (Science) program at the end of this school year. I am in my final year and will have completed all the requirements for the program by April 2020, however my CGPA is below a 2.00 at the moment and they require a 2.00 for program enrolment. I am not planning on doing any post-graduate studies, I just want to graduate.
    Would I still have a chance in any way to make it into the Anthropology Major (science) program if I were to apply today? Is there a letter I can write? What can I do? I am slowly bringing my crap average up from what it use to be, but it may not be above a 2 by April. It is a type 2 post, but has some requirements.

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    got it! everything makes sense now. if a campus isn’t mentioned, my default is typically st. george, but i guess i should be looking things up for all three campuses when something doesn’t make sense. will keep that in mind for the future. thanks for being patient with meeee 🙂

    i see the 2.0 CGPA requirement you were referring to now. mainly, my answer remains the same: you will still need to wait until march 12 at the earliest to request your program. should you get admitted, you’d accept your enrolment between may 10 and july 26. so you still wouldn’t be able to graduate in anthropology for june.

    your best option is still to get in touch with the department and see if there’s anything that can be done. they’ll be the ones to advise you whether there are letters you can write, and tell you to whom you should be writing. i think you should also hit up your registrar— book an appointment with them and explain your situation. they might be aware of more possible avenues you can take, beyond what i can offer you.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • admissions,  subject POST

    i also have major questions tbh

    December 12, 2019
    double major questions: do I need to take certain prerequisite courses for BOTH majors I want to take in my first year of uni? would I apply for both majors using ACORN after my first year? I’m struggling to figure out how the degree combinations work with the 4.0 credit requirements and all that. thank you in advance!
    ——————————————
    hey there,

    i’m not too sure what you mean by 4.0 credit requirements– does this refer to… a program requirement? a course requirement? i know i’ve registered in courses that were only available to students with 4.0 credits and above, which basically just means they’re not available to first years. or maybe what you mean is the 4.0 credits of overlap you’re permitted between two majors that each require 8.0 credits each? i’m wracking my brain here, man. i can’t figure out what you’re gettin at.

    to answer the questions i feel like i can answer, in general, yes, you do need to take certain prereqs in first year for whatever programs you’re considering. that’s true whether or not you’re taking a double major. they’ll be considered for admission to whatever programs you apply to at the end of your first year. you can find those prereq listings on the arts and science calendar— just search for the programs you’re interested in, or browse the alphabetical directory.

    i say in general because there are exceptions. for example, certain programs (usually type 1 programs) don’t have first year prereqs. you can register in english, forest biomaterials, or diaspora and transnational studies without any first year prerequisites, for example. although, i should note, if this applies to you it would certainly be helpful to take program courses in first year, even if they’re not necessarily considered prerequisites. doing so will help you get a feel for what that program is like, as well as allow you to start counting courses towards program requirements earlier on.

    check out this webpage to find out what program type your prospective majors would be. this one, meanwhile, is supposed to tell you what your application periods are– it hasn’t been updated yet, but i anticipate it should be soon. and yes, you will request/apply for programs on ACORN once those application periods open up.

    if you’d like help figuring out how your degree requirements work, feel free to send the specifics my way and i can try to help make sense of it! i’ve spent a lot of time doing that kinda stuff because my own programs are a little whack and require a heckin’ lot of forethought to be able to complete in 20.0 credits. otherwise:

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • admissions,  english,  psychology,  subject POST

    you’re doing amazing!

    December 3, 2019

    Hello! I am applying for U of T soon and I was wondering about the degree combinations. If I complete two majors (I believe you pick your two programs/majors after the first year on ACORN? Please feel free to correct me) how long does it take? Is it the standard 4 years as a double major? I’m planning on taking English and Psychology, if that helps 🙂 Sorry if this is a dumb question! I’m a very confused high school student

    ——————————————

    hey friendo,

    it’s all right to be confused, and this isn’t a dumb question at all! some students get to this school not even knowing program selection after first year is a thing. trust me, you’re ahead of the curve on this one, and it’s super great that you’re taking this into account now.

    u of t basically only offers honours degrees. what this means is that to graduate with a bachelor’s here, you need to undertake one of the following program combinations:

    • a specialist
    • two majors
    • a major and two minors

    what you ultimately decide on, among these three options, won’t affect how long it’ll take you to graduate. u of t has set this system up so that all three can be completed within 20.0 credits. each course you take for a semester counts as half a credit, so if you take five courses in fall and five in winter, that adds up to four school years. in fact, you can even add a minor to a double major and still finish in four years, if there’s enough overlap between those programs. keep in mind that there is a limit of three programs total, though.

    tl:dr a double major in english and psychology is fully doable in 4 years, if that’s how long you’re planning to take to complete your undergrad! an english major is a type 1 program, which basically means anyone can enrol in it– a psych major is a type 2L, which indicates that there’s a specific grade threshold you need to meet in order to be considered for enrolment. type 2L programs have a cap on how many students they can accept, so it would be best to aim for a grade higher than that threshold to make your chances of getting in better. in fact, the department recommends that you come up with a backup program, just in case admission doesn’t work out for you.

    since you’re looking at two different program types, you should be aware of two different program enrolment periods. typically, you can begin requesting programs at the end of winter semester– the dates vary a lil every year. i’m linking you here to last year’s program request periods, just so you have an idea of what they might look like. this year’s have yet to be posted, but i’m sure if you check again later on, they should be up by february at the latest.

    best of luck with your application! you know where to find me if you have any other questions.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • anthropology,  subject POST

    “i just want to graduate” me too, bud

    September 30, 2019

    i would like to apply to the Anthropology Major (Science) program at the end of this school year. I am in my final year and will have completed all the requirements for the program by April 2020, however my CGPA is below a 2.00 at the moment and they require a 2.00 for program enrolment. I am not planning on doing any post-graduate studies, I just want to graduate.

    Would I still have a chance in any way to make it into the Anthropology Major (science) program if I were to apply today? I will obviously work hard to get above a 2 (but just in case). Is there a letter I can’t write? What can I do?

    ——————————————

    heyo,

    it’s been a solid two weeks of nothingness in the aska inbox, so this question feels like a curveball. i know nothing about sports and i have no business using sports metaphors. but man. i’m not too sure where you got the 2.00 CGPA requirement information from. sometimes people throw things at me i don’t recognize.

    it does seem that the evolutionary ANT major, the science one, is a type 2, but when i checked out the artsci calendar, a 2.0 CGPA wasn’t listed under the enrolment conditions. i’ve actually not heard of a type 2 program that has a CGPA requirement, although i know there are type 3 programs like PCJ that look at CGPA.

    so as far as i know, all you need to get into ANT is a grade higher than 67% in ANT100Y1, or higher than 70% in ANT203Y1. i dunno if those are thresholds you’ve managed to make, but that’s what the department would be looking for in order to let you in.

    as for applying to the program, i dunno if that’s still something you can do today, per se. you did mention being willing to wait til the end of the school year, which you’re definitely gonna have to do if you do things the normal way– both program request periods are now over and i’m not aware of any exceptions. thing is, even putting yourself through the first of the two request periods will only get you in and enrolled by august. 

    what i’d recommend you do is contact the department. especially if you have all the program requirements down and you’re trying to dip from this school by june, it’s your best option. if anyone’s able to get ya in, it’ll be them.

    as for your question about letters. there are plenty of letters you can’t write. i can think of a few. i can also think of a few you shouldn’t. all that’s relevant for you, though, is that if you don’t meet the requirements i highly doubt a letter is going to do anything for you. but i feel like the requirements aren’t what you thought they were, unless there’s something not listed that i’m just totally not aware of.

    hope this answered your questions and best of luck!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • physics,  subject POST,  switching

    in with a new POSt, out with the old ones

    May 12, 2019

    hello!

    so i just finished my first year at utsg and i have applied to do a double major in equity studies and pharmacology. within the past couple of weeks i have been getting really really into physics (which is odd because i hated physics in high school). anyways im thinking that i want to switch into a biophysics specialist degree. the issue is, that i didnt take any physics or calculus during my first year and so i basically have to restart my four years. i was just wondering how i would go about switching to the physics specialist, do i just leave my current posts as they are and take the courses that i need for physics or do i have to drop my posts somehow or something else? not sure if this changes things but equity studies is a type one so ive already been accepted and pharmacology is type 3 so im still waiting to hear back on that one. (also do you have any tips on how to cope with the fact that i wasted an entire year and thousands of dollars)

    and thank you in advance for your response!

    ——————————————

    hey,

    nice job making it through first year! it’s a perfectly normal thing to see your interests shift at this point in your degree– i can definitely relate to that, although not to getting into physics.

    to get the tedious part out of the way first– how would you go about making the change? i wouldn’t drop your POSts now, no. you need to be registered in some kind of valid program combination to be eligible for second-year course selection, so if you won’t be able to get into biophysics before fall it’s best to keep what you’ve got. think about your current programs as placeholders of sorts– ignore their requirements, and focus on taking the prereqs for your biophysics spec. then, when the program enrollment period rolls around, apply for biophys.

    chances are you already know this, but if you took the prereqs for pharmacology, you may already have the chem requirement for biophys under your belt, at least for the most basic biophysics specialist. hopefully that makes things a little less overwhelming!

    all the biophysics specialists seem to be type 1, which will hopefully make things a little easier for you. if you were switching into multiple type 2 or 3 progams, i would have advised you to apply for them first THEN drop your previous programs once you got in. just to be safe. but since yours is a type 1 and you’re switching into a specialist, that makes things a lot simpler. you’ll be able to register in biophys before dropping equity and pharm, as ACORN allows you to be in a maximum of 3 POSts at once.

    how to cope with the fact that your first year didn’t ultimately feed into your POSt? we’re fed this myth that we all need to finish our degree in four years, and that absolutely everything in our studies must count or serve a purpose or lead to a job. i’m still wrestling with this myself, because i’ve internalized that expectation. but no. everyone has their own time, their own path. this just happens to be yours. maybe it sounds wishy-washy, or cheesy, or whatever. either way, there’s nothing you can do to erase your first year and do it over, so from here all you can do is keep moving forward. i can understand if you’re bummed about it. though. i guess from a financial standpoint especially, it can be difficult to move past.

    despite not knowing you personally, i’m real proud that you’ve acknowledged where your passions lie and are willing to pursue them, even if it might not be the most convenient thing to do. so much changes when your course content gets you excited. i don’t know what this past year has been like for you, but if it’s been rough then this might be what you need for study motivation.

    i know several people who totally switched their programs when first year was over, and even one who switched faculties AND universities after her second year. everyone who i’ve seen go after something new has been really successful in their current program of study, so much so that it’s hard to imagine what things would have been like had they succumbed to inertia. i think a lot of this has to do with the fact that they followed their interests, and care a lot about what they’re studying now. maybe that’s where you’ll be in a year’s time.

    wishing you all the best, friend! i think you’re brave.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • deferral,  subject POST

    POSt prereq purgatory

    April 30, 2019

    Hi Aska!

    I am finishing my first year at UofT and have run into a bit of confusion regarding program application. Last week I was sick during one of my exams and so acquired proper documentation and am going to petition to defer my exam as soon as Monday rolls around (it’s Saturday now, my college is closed).

    What I am wondering is, seeing as the exam I need to defer is related directly to admissions requirements for my preferred program, how will this affect application? Can I no longer use that credit to apply to the program? Does this mean I will have to wait a whole semester or year to re-apply for the program? It is Type 3 so I will need to be accepted, meaning I will need to have an average GPA using the course with the deferred exam…. I am very concerned and worried that an illness will cause my entire university schedule to be jeopardized.

    Thanks a lot in advance!

    ——————————————

    hello!

    sorry it took me a few days to get back to you; i’ve got a few questions lined up and am slowly making my way through them! there’s a chance that when you went to your registrar, they were already able to advise you on this. but just in case, this is my take on it.

    i don’t believe you’ll need to wait to apply, and in any case you wouldn’t be able to wait just one semester. there’s only one time of year you’re able to apply to POSt, and that begins near the latter half of the winter session. with that, there are two program request periods, and the second request period has been designed for those completing their prereqs in summer. so as long as you’re deferring your exam to the august exam period of this year (your registrar will have told you if not), you still have an opportunity to apply for your type 3 program at that point.

    this year, the second request period runs from july 2 to august 28, and results come out by september 12. the august exam period runs from aug 15-22, so there is an opportunity for your grades to be in the system before the request period is up. it’s gonna be tight, but it is definitely possible that you will be in the program by next school year.

    i hope this wasn’t confusing and it eases your worries! one deferred exam is not gonna skew your life course. hope your exam and the application process both go well for you, and glad (i think?) you’re feeling better now.

    over n out,

    aska

     

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  • subject POST

    website down

    April 30, 2019

    hey aska!! i know this is not your area of expertise so i’m sorry if this is out of line, but I’m trying to apply for a type 3 POSt and the website has been down for over 2 weeks 🙁 just wondering if you have the inside scoop on whether or not this will be fixed before the deadline to apply?? thanks, you’re the best!!

    ——————————————

    hello and no worries at all!

    ask whatever you please (within reason lol), i have yet to read a question and find it out of line.  either way, the website should be back up and running now! hopefully it doesn’t shut back down, but i’m sure the IT people were working on reviving it so i’m unsurprised it was already working by the time i got around to this question. best of luck with getting into your type 3, i hope the application goes smoothly!

    cheers,

    aska

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