• courses,  enrollment,  first year

    you can’t really understand course enrolment until you’ve lived through it

    June 1, 2015

    Picking my first year courses and I was wondering do a lot of first years not get into the courses they want due to the amount of people signing up? I don’t really have backup courses….

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    as with everything at uoft, that question depends on a tangle of finicky little conditions. because why would things ever be simple at this university?

    i’m gonna try and give you a general sketch of how course enrolment tends to go down, and then you can make your game plan from there.

    the lowdown:

    the faculty of arts & science, in their infinite wisdom, knows very well what courses first year students need to get into subject POSts. there’s a group of regular suspects: BIO120+130, CHM138+139, MAT133/135+136, PHY131+132, PSY100, CSC108H1, SOC101, ENG140, CLA160, POL101. and i didn’t even have to look at the course calendar for that. come at me, faculty registrars.

    because everyone needs to take the same handful of classes, they try to set it up so that there’s enough space for you all. they do this by 1) making the classes MASSIVE, and 2) giving certain students priorities. a priority is basically a restriction on a course that lets some students enrol in it before others.

    let’s take CSC108H1 – introduction to computer programming – as an example to see how this works.

    if you take a look at CSC108 on the timetable (tip: bookmark the timetable now; it’ll by your absolute best friend for course planning), you’ll see that there is a ‘P’ under the column ‘Enrolment Indicator.’ that ‘P’ stands for priority.

    if you click on ‘See Details,’ you’ll see that first-year UTSG Computer Science students have priority for this course. that means they’ll be able to enrol in the course earlier than everyone else. this is called the ‘priority period.’

    on July 30th, when course enrolment opens for first-year students, first year computer science students ONLY will be able to enrol in CSC108H1. then, when the priority lifts on August 7th at 6am, everyone else will have the opportunity to sign up for the course.

    what this system boils down to is this: if you’re in the priority group for a big class, you should be fine. if you’re planning on taking any courses that are smaller, more obscure, or that you don’t have priority for, i would highly recommend you get yourself some backups, pronto.

    notice i said ‘backups,’ plural. the faculty does everything they can to stop course enrolment from spiralling into a hunger games-esque nightmare, but there’s only so much they can do.

    ALSO: make sure that you’re ready to start enrolling in courses the MINUTE YOUR START TIME HITS. have all the course codes of the classes you want to take (including backups) ready to go. if your start time is at 6am, you best be at your computer and ready to go at 5:55. too early? need to sleep? too bad. i promise you this won’t be the first time uoft forces you out of bed.

    keep in mind that first-years are the last people who get to sign up for courses, so you’re at a bit of a disadvantage already. don’t’make it worse by showing up late to the party.

    finally, remember that loads of people will drop out of classes after the first week, so it’s a good idea to enrol in place-holder courses while you wait for a class you absolutely NEED to become available again. waitlists are a great way to do this easily.

    as long as you unquestioningly follow all of aska’s advice, you should be able to get into most of the classes you want.

    do as i say not as i do

    cheers,

    aska

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  • courses,  enrollment

    S is for summer (NOT)

    May 15, 2015

    Hey,

    I’m coming back to U of T after being suspended in 2005. I want to take a summer course if it’s possible. I went to my registrar and in addition to paying the $25 re-registration fee I also paid a $19 late registration fee.

    Now I’m trying to sign up for a summer course on ROSI. I can see that the deadline has passed but I thought that’s what the late fee was for. I’m trying to get into one of the courses that start June 29th. On the enrollment page, though, the header reads “2015-2016 Fall/Winter – A&S Bachelor’s Degree Program (ASPRGHBA) Status: Invited”.

    The problem is that when I try to enroll I get a message saying “NMC277H1 S is not offered in 2015-2016 Fall/Winter session. Please contact your
    college or faculty registrar’s office or graduate department for assistance.” It’s the same error for any course I try. I mean, of course an S course isn’t offered in the F/W session, right? How do I get to a page where I can sign up for summer courses?

    Thanks!!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you’ve got a whole bunch of terminology all twisted up there, friend. that’ll happen when you’re away from uoft for 10 years – not that i would know what that feels like. this place will never let me go.

    but i digress. lemme straighten a few things out for you:

    1. if you paid the late registration fee to get invited, you would’ve gotten invited either to the Summer session or the Fall/Winter session. if you got invited to Fall/Winter, then you wouldn’t be able to sign up for Summer courses. and it’s way too early to sign up for Fall/Winter courses at this point.

    if you got invited to the Summer session, then you need to make sure you’re enrolling in Summer courses, not Fall/Winter. (you can check which session you’re invited to by going to the home page of ROSI, opening Summer 2015, and checking your academic status. it’ll say one of three things: ‘invited,’ ‘registered,’ or ‘financially cancelled.’)

    2. NMC277H1 isn’t offered in the summer, so even if you tried to sign up for that course in the summer, you wouldn’t be able to.

    3. ‘S’ means ‘second term,’ not summer, so don’t assume that because it has an ‘S’ attached to the course code, that it’s offered in the summer. you can take a look at courses that ARE offered in the summer session here.

    and with all that, you should be set to start enrolling in summer courses!

    good luck studying on picnic blankets out in the blistering heat and stuff,

    aska

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  • courses,  enrollment,  tutorials

    don’t take any more classes than absolutely necessary

    April 24, 2015

    Hey there! I am a soon-to-be student and extremely organized becauseIwillgetsuperstressedotherwise. *nervous laughter* So I am already looking at the courses and organizing. This is probably hinted elsewhere, or you’ve answered it somehow, but I just need clarification… We only enroll in one tutorial per course, correct?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    yup! you should only ever be signing up for one tutorial per class, which is good, because there’s only so much awkward small-class interaction a person can take in a week.

    and just so you know, ROSI will tell you when you sign up for courses whether there are any lab/tutorial sections you need to sign up for – so it’ll all be laid out for you nice and easy when enrolment time comes along.

    try not to be too stressed about school starting. it’s great to organize and plan and stuff, but there’s no reason to be nervous. everything’s gonna work out fine. you’re going to have a great time, and it’ll be a lot better than the cafeteria drama and “did-you-hear-what-stacey-did-at-the-birthday-party” gossip nonsense of high school.

    see you in september!

    aska

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  • enrollment

    they will drop you like a hot potato

    April 9, 2015

    Hi,

    I was able to enroll in all my desired summer courses (and even an extra)?for the S session in the summer!? I need to take 2 half courses during the?S session, but I enrolled in 3 so I have a back up in case one seems?terrible when I get there.? The plan is to drop one during the first week?of classes. Will ROSI / the university let this stand, given that the most?you can take during one session is 2 half courses?? Will I get booted out?of one?? Will there be any financial costs for this?? I was surprised they?even let me sign up for the third.

    Thanks!

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    i like how dramatically you said “Will the university let this stand.” i can just imagine some big hotshot at the very top of the administrative food chain banging his mug on his desk and shouting, “THIS ABSOLUTELY CANNOT STAND. JIM. MAKE A NOTE OF THIS. AND THEN BRING ME MY DRY-CLEANING.”

    much as i’d hope that’s how it goes down, it’s unlikely. what i?do know is that they will drop you from the course you last added probably within the first week of classes, if you don’t drop one yourself. whether jim running hurriedly back and forth from dry-cleaning is a part of that process, i guess we’ll never know.

    your faculty will send you an e-mail letting you know that you have until whatever date to drop a course before they do it for you, so make sure you keep an eye on your utoronto e-mail account for that.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • enrollment,  summer

    down at the m-i-double-s-i-double-s-a-u-g-a

    April 7, 2015

    Hi!

    I was wondering if a St. George students take UTM courses, will the grades be counted toward GPA? Especially CGPA?

    How many courses max. can we take at other UofT campuses then?

    I’m going back to mississauga to visit family during the summer so I’m thinking about taking the summer courses at UTM to save the commute. ( also I really want to boost up my GPA T-T)

    Thank you so much!!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    1) yes. all uoft courses show up on your uoft transcript and count towards your GPA (and CGPA), regardless of which campus you took the course at (see “Courses at University of Toronto Scarborough and University of Toronto Mississauga“).

    2) no max. there is a limit for utsc and utm students who want to take courses on other campuses (5.0 FCEs), but there isn’t one for downtown students. lucky us.

    3) i realize the last bit of your question is not actually a question, but you included it so i’m gonna add my two cents: taking courses at utm shouldn’t be a problem, BUT keep in mind that course enrolment for UTSG students at UTM doesn’t start until april 21st (see page 2).

    also: taking courses at UTM is no guarantee that the courses will be easier. the earlier you break outta that downtown-campus snobbishness, the better. take it from a fellow downtown-campus snob.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • enrollment,  suspension

    calendar year = 12 months

    April 7, 2015

    Hi,

    So this takes some shame to say, but I am coming off a year suspension. This was for many reasons that I cannot excuse myself for and I take full responsibility for letting this happen. However I did have a good year. I sat in on classes throughout the year, ones that I was really interested in, and held a good job as well, and I feel prepared and determined to come back to Uoft even though I know it will be an unhill battle. Anyways, my question is, I was notified when my suspension begun that it would last a full calender school year. I assumed that meant September through to April, and I was under the impression that I could enroll in summer courses? Is that incorrect? Being out of service for a year, I’m embarrassed to say I’ve forgotten how to check my start time for enrolling? Will I be put out of priority for classes (like getting the latest start time to enroll 🙁 ) because I checked on Rosi on April 1st and it says my student account is ‘active’ but I clicked enroll just to check, and it says I am not eligible to enroll. What does this mean? Can I not enroll for summer, and have to wait for September? I know I should contact my registrar, but I wanted some background info first so I don’t look absolutely naive, even though that’s how I must look now.

    Any guidance appreciated!

    Thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    one calendar year would be from september to september, not september to april, so you’re likely not eligible to take courses until september.

    good on ya for checking in with aska first before calling in – i’m always down for saving registrars a phone call or two – but if you want to make certain that this is actually the reason you can’t enrol in courses (i’m pretty sure it is, but it never hurts to check), your college registrar’s office would be the best place to ask.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • courses,  enrollment

    sign up now, meet requirements later

    April 6, 2015

    So, I’m a first year UTM, student and long story short I pulled a complete 180 on what I want to major in, so I’m taking the first year courses for it this summer and I won’t be done until the 2nd half of summer session. My question is, can I sign up for 2nd year courses in June before I’ve finished the prerequisite courses, just so the ones I want to get into don’t reach max enrollment? Or will ROSI deny me come sign up time? Thanks.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you can totally sign up for courses before you’ve completed the prerequisites! if you think about it, that’s what happens every time a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed first-year signs up for PHY131H1 and PHY132H2 in August (and then regrets it. for a long, long time. or maybe that was just me).

    as long as you’ve completed all prerequisites for a course by the time you start the course, you’re good.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • enrollment

    taking time off and how to pay for that

    March 31, 2015

    what do i do if i need to take a semester off? do i just only apply for courses in the winter semester? (i need to take off the fall semester). do i have to notify anyone? does the payment schedule change?

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    if you only want to take courses in the winter semester, then it’s just as simple as only enrolling for courses in the winter semester. you don’t have to notify anyone – you’re an adult now, and you can do what you want. pretty exciting, eh? or possibly terrifying.

    i’d still recommend you sign up for those winter courses at your regular start time in august. even if you have until january or whatever to sign up for classes, there’s no guarantee there’ll still be spots. that’s just a little tip from aska.

    as for payment, that’ll depend on how many courses you’re taking. if you only take classes in the winter semester, you’ll likely be taking under 3.0 courses. if that’s the case, then you’ll be paying per course fees, which means you’ll be paying a certain amount for each course you take. if you take 3.0 courses or more, then you’ll be paying program fees, meaning you’ll be paying a set amount of money regardless of how many courses you take.

    you can take a look at how these fees broke down this past year in order to get a sense of how it’ll look this year. since you’ll only be taking courses in the winter semester, the deadlines that would be relevant to you are?outlined in table 2 of this chart.

    i know that’s a lot of financial gobbledegook i just threw at you, but i hope it makes sense!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • enrollment

    simpler than you expected

    December 1, 2014

    Hello,

    I was just wondering if there’s anything specific I need to do if I want to?enroll in an S course right now. When I was looking into it I found out?that January 18th is the last day to enroll in S courses, but is that all??I just enroll in the class on ROSI, pay for the single course and that’s?it? That seems a little too easy. Is there a due date for the tuition?payment for S courses when you sign up for them later? And is there a late?fee automatically added to the regular cost of the course on top of the?1.5% service charge starting in November?

    Thank you so much for your help.

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    well, it’s a?little more complicated than?that, but not by much.

    the only question here is?whether you’re a full-time or part-time student. if you’re a full-time student (that is, you’re between 3.0 and 6.0 FCEs), then you can add a course and you’ll still be paying the same, full-time course fee. nothing changes.

    if you’re part-time and therefore paying per-course fees, then you will have the cost of that course automatically added to your account invoice on ROSI.

    and yeah, if you don’t pay for it by december 15th, and then january 15th, etc. that 1.5% service charge will accumulate on it.

    by the way, you can read all about your specific fee information on this handy document, which, granted, has entirely too many tables to be comfortable, but is actually very helpful, so. you win some and you lose some.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • courses,  enrollment,  UTM

    it is now open season on uoft courses

    August 15, 2014

    if i am on the missigua campus can i take all my classes at the st. george one or at least some?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you can definitely take courses at either UTSC or st. george if you’re a utm student.

    i’m doubtful that you can take all your courses on another campus. there are no rules specifically stopping you from doing so (that i can find), but if you’re a utm student, you do need to meet the requirements for a utm subject POSt, and that’s pretty much impossible to do without taking at least some classes at utm. there are three different campuses for a reason, after all.

    just a note: today happens to be the first day uoft students can enrol in courses at uoft campuses other than their own (thank you for the beautifully timed question, btw), and as you may have noticed, quite a bit of time has passed since course enrolment opened for students on their own campuses.

    so if you ever want to take a course at a different uoft campus, you will always run the risk of not being able to get into the course because it’s already full.

    but you have the schools’ blessing to try.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • enrollment,  tutorials

    no time for tutorials

    August 8, 2014

    First off, amazing on what you’re doing for the students here. Your posts about pretty much everything is very enlightening and, dare i say, fun to read even if I personally do not need the answer to the question.

    Now something I have been wondering about. I have enrolled in a few tutorials and was wondering if it is in any way possible to change tutorial times between the spring and fall terms if it better suits my schedule…. Thats pretty much it. Hopefully this won’t take up too much of your time :).

    Thanks a bunch.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    well, don’t you know how to soften a girl (read: ethereal, infinite being of the internet) up before you start asking questions. i’m glad the site has been enlightening/entertaining for you. see mom? other people read askastudent.

    it is possible to switch between different tutorial sections for a course, but it is not possible to take the lecture and its associated tutorials/labs/practicals in different terms. so, for example, if you’re signed up for a lecture in the fall term, you’ll have to enrol in the associated tutorial in the fall term on ROSI. hopefully, there are enough tutorial options that you can find one to suit your schedule.

    good luck with it!

    aska

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  • enrollment

    um

    August 6, 2014

    Why do I need backups? Am I not guaranteed a spot?

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    i don’t know if you’re an incoming student or if you’ve just been graced with unbelievable luck every time you’ve done course enrolment before, but no, you are not guaranteed a spot in any course.

    the closest the university comes to ‘guaranteeing’ people spots is putting priorities or restrictions on certain courses, so that only people in certain programs can get into the class/have first pick at the class.

    so yeah, always have backups. it’s for your own good, you know.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • enrollment

    i just want to learn about science

    August 5, 2014

    I also was wondering when classes open up that are not in your specific program? (For example when a humanities student can enroll in life sciences.)

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    coupla things.

    1) you’re not in a program if you’re an incoming first-year. you’re in a stream. that may seem like?a technicality now, but you’ll run into problems going into second year when everyone is telling you to enrol in a program and you’re like, “Wait, wha…?”

    2) priorities and restrictions and stuff don’t really work that way. some classes will have enrolment indicators, and some will not. you can see which indicators each class has on the timetable.

    if a class has a ‘P’ (priority) enrolment indicator, for example, then only certain students can enrol in the course up until august 8th at 6am, at which point all priorities lift and it’s free-for-all on ROSI. a course may have a priority, a restriction, or any manner of enrolment indicator, but it’ll always be indicated on the timetable listing for the class.

    cheers,

    aska

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