Hey aska, are summer Y courses worth 1.0 credits?
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hey there,
yep! all courses in the summer are worth the same number of credits as they would be in the Fall/Winter. don’t worry, you’ll still pack in the same number of hours as you would in the Fall/Winter term, but they’ll just be SQUISHED INTO a smaller number of weeks. have fun.
cheers,
aska
How do co-op students finish their studies? Do they have to complete a year course in 4 months(study term)? I checked course schedule there?s no specific course for co-op students. I’m from utsc btw.
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hey there,
because of coop, UTSC doesn’t have any full-year courses (with a very few exceptions, like work term prep courses, independent and research project courses, and capstones; these can either be taken alongside a coop term, or are not required courses). other than the exceptions i listed, all courses are?half-year courses, so you can take any one you want and finish it in four months!
best,
aska
Hi there! Out of curiosity, what will show on a transcript if you fail a course already designated as EXTRA (e.g. say this course is your 7th 100-level FCE)? Thanks in advance!
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hey there,
yes, it shows up on your transcript, and yes, the mark also shows up on your transcript. however, the course has an ‘EXT’ next to it and the mark will not count towards your GPA or 20.0 degree credits.
cheers,
aska
I’m a utsc linguistics student, can I take german course @utm and how can I do that? cheers
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hey there,
students are allowed to take courses on uoft campuses other than their home campuses. all you have to do is sign up during course enrolment – this Fall, the date that courses opened up to other campuses was Friday, August 14th. so it’s a little bit after course enrolment opens for you at your home campus, but still during the enrolment period.
you should note that utm’s intro. to german course is a Y course, so you wouldn’t be able to start it in january. you’d have to do it in Fall 2016/Winter 2017, or maybe in the summer, if it’s offered then.
cheers,
aska
Hey!
So, I’m a first year life-sci student at UTSG, and I initially took seven 0.5 credit courses for this year, giving me 3.5 total credits. This is because I got a 1.0 transfer credit from IB for English (which means I’m done BRs!!), and I thought doing a half-credit course in the summer would be ok. Then I called the registrar’s office and they said that it is recommended that I take 5.0 FCE’s. So I added another course, but I really wasn’t interested enough in it. So I asked an upper year friend and he said it was perfectly ok to take less than 5.0 FCE’s. So I dropped that course. Later, while I was browsing through your website, I saw that anyone who takes less than 4.0 FCE’s is still considered a first-year and it could affect my OSAP funding. And now I’m freaking out. So is it ok to take 3.5 FCE’s? I was really looking forward to the smaller course load to ease into my first year (if you can’t already tell, I suck at dealing with stress). Please help a super anxious and stressed naive first year! :'(
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hey there,
you are absolutely allowed to take 3.5 FCEs. 5.0 is only “recommended” because it will allow you to complete your degree in four years, without having to take courses in the summer.
for some people, that is ideal. certainly, it is considered the standard course load by the university, and some professional schools prefer (or even require, in the case of medical school) that you complete what’s called a full-course load, i.e. 5.0 FCEs per year.
another important thing that may have been motivating the recommendation from your registrar’s office is the fact that 3.5 FCEs is the lowest number of credits you can be taking while still being under fixed program fees.
if you were to have dropped to 3.0, you could’ve been under part-time per course fees. if you’re going to be full-time, 5.0 FCEs is the best bang for your buck, because it’s exactly the same price at 3.5 FCEs, but you get more credits out of it.
finally, you can always take 5.0 credits, see how it goes, and then, if you feel overwhelmed, drop some before the deadline to drop a course without academic penalty.
so yes, there are pros to taking 5.0 – at least to begin with – financially, and academically.
HOWEVER. that absolutely does not mean that you should feel pressured to take on five courses per term if you feel unprepared to do that. if you think you will do better by taking 4.0 credits, 3.5 credits, or going part-time (3.0 FCEs or fewer), then that’s what you should do.
obviously, keep in mind that you may have to take courses in the summer, or take an extra year to complete your degree, if you choose to do this. every choice you make will have certain consequences. that does not mean, though, that certain choices are bad.
regarding OSAP: as long as your course load is at least 60% of what OSAP calls a full course load (which is 5.0 FCEs in the fall/winter at uoft), then you’re still eligible for full-term. 60% at uoft would be – get your math caps on – 3.0 FCEs in the fall/winter.
you may want to follow up with your registrar’s office to have a more in-depth chat about your situation. keep in mind that you can no longer add F and Y courses, but you can add S courses until January, if you want to up your course load at the end of the fall term.
these are your choices. it’s important to research and consider all your options, but at the end of the day, the best choice is the one that will make you the happiest and most successful.
cheers,
aska
okay so I really need this class and fortunately I got off the waiting list! problem now is, there is only one space left for the practical and it conflicts with another course that I really need. is there any way I could ask someone to squeeze me in on another prac time? should i contact my registrar about this or are there other authorities who can assist me with my request? thank you thank you thank you
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hey there,
unfortunately, the registrar can’t put you into the course. HOWEVER, you can talk to the department about it. they may be able to put you into a practical section.
keep in mind, though, that you have until September 27th to add or change F and Y section courses – including labs. make sure to check if there’s a lab with space left before going in to the department, because you can still add a lab yourself on ACORN! power to the people, and all that.
cheers,
aska
I plan on doing grad school (in a social science) and would love to (need to?) have a senior thesis or some other significant work to submit. I worry about finding a prof to supervise me- most of my classes are big, required courses unspecific to any topics I’d like to research/pursue further in grad school. In 3rd and 4th year if I want to do research, can I just contact profs I’ve never actually had and ask them to supervise me (specifically if they specialize in topics I’m interested in)?
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hey there,
already thinking about research, huh? good for you. you’re a model student, unlike myself. just thinking about the idea of doing research is sending a shiver down my throat and to my gag reflex – and class hasn’t even started yet.
for the keen and eager student such as yourself however, there are opportunities available. but not to fear – you don’t have to just contact profs out of the blue. there are lots of courses geared specifically towards doing research and working closely with a professor on a project.
for?third year, there are the 397/8/9 research courses, which are available in many departments. other 39*?courses will involve a research component in a different way – for example,they might be “special topics” courses, which
each class will have different application processes depending on the course, but all the details will be posted on the course calendar.
you can use the course calendar to take a look at what’s available this year, and get an idea of what might be in store for you once you get to your third and fourth years. some examples of 39* courses include SOC390Y1, POL397Y1 and ABS398H0.
some of these courses (specifically, the 300-level independent studies courses) will require that you find your own supervisor. other courses, like the 497/8/9 advanced research courses, will already have an instructor attached to them (examples of 49* courses include CJS499H1?and SOC498H1).
again, just browse the course calendar to see what’s available, and see what the usual deadlines are. then you just apply and see what happens!
cheers,
aska
Which month for the 2016 year would I apply to a summer course ?
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hey there,
course enrolment in the summer began april 1 and ended may 18th this year, so have your spreadsheets out and your ACORN open for April 2nd (probably), 2016: The Final Showdown TM.
if you’re interested in an E-enrolment indicator course (i.e. a course where you need to apply to the department to get in), then just keep in mind the specific deadline to get into that course. you may have to apply in february or march, prior to course enrolment on ACORN, to get in. those deadlines will be on the calendar and/or the department website.
enjoy those summer courses, man. hope you have a cool, fun time like demi lovato (probably less inflatable ice cream cones on top of buildings, though):
cheers,
aska
Hi There! I have a question in response to your research post. In order to do research in third year (399) is doing research in second year (299) a prerequisite. Also are there new research projects being added frequently?
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hey there,
great question! no, the 299 is not (usually) a prerequisite for 399s. generally, people only do one research course in their degree – a 299, 399 or 499. the courses are pretty intense, and most people don’t feel the need to do it more than once, WHICH MEANS that one *99-series course is very rarely a prerequisite for another *99-series course.
however, the best thing to do is to just check the course in question on the course calendar. different departments will have different application procedures for their 299/399/499 courses, so make sure you check that ahead of time and be mindful of any application procedures, deadlines, etc.
cheers,
aska
i’m interim in wstc24 at utsc, its a winter course. do I have to do anything for this? the timetable page just says to check rosi for updates, but idk if maybe I have to contact a professor or something. also, do you have an idea of when i’ll hear if i’ve been accepted? i know its a winter course so it might be a while but i was just wondering
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hey there,
nope, you don’t have to do anything. it’s out of your hands. now it’s up to the instructor/department to make a decision.
i took a look online and on the timetable listing for the course, but i can’t seem to find a deadline for when they have to get back to you. i guess they can just take their sweet old time. well, whaddaya expect, huh? they’re the department! they’re in charge! they make the deadlines, they break the deadlines!
the best thing to do would be to just keep checking ACORN/your utoronto e-mail address. if you’re really anxious, you can always contact the department of historical and cultural studies and ask WHEN THE HECK THEY’LL BE DONE, but make sure not to make the request in all caps. that usually doesn’t go over so well.
cheers,
aska
i have a couple of back to back classes and im kind of in the scared first year mode rn, is there any space between classes like 10 mins in which i can sneakily sneak in?
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hey there,
rest easy, my friend: i’m about to tell you about something that will change your life. it’s a little thing we here on the St. George campus like to call ‘uoft time.’
this is a special method of timekeeping that takes place in a tiny, tiny timezone hemmed in by Bay and Spadina to the east and west, and Bloor and College to the north and south. a micro-timezone, if you will.
in ‘uoft time,’ everything starts ten minutes after the advertised time. if you’re looking at the timetable and it says a class starts at ten, the class will actually start at ten past ten. it’ll finish right on the hour, though, so if you then have?another class that is advertised as starting at eleven, that one will actually start at ten past eleven.
what that means is that even if you have back to back classes, you will always have ten minutes to get between one and the other. that usually guarantees enough time to get between your classes, no matter how far apart they may be.
if you find that it takes you a bit longer than ten minutes – like twelve or thirteen, maybe – because you have not yet assumed the GRUMPY SPEEDWALK that is the preferred walk of veteran Torontonians, you can usually sneak out of your first class a couple of minutes early to give yourself a head start. most profs won’t mind, as long as you sit at the back of the class and leave very quietly.
cheers,
aska
Hi! I need to take chm110 for first year but I got a 68 in gr12 chem. With my school board going on strike it completely screwed me over and now I’m freaking out that I won’t be able to take chm110. Please help
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hey there,
sign up for the course right away (i hope you already did, because the course is full now). then contact the chemistry department ASAP and ask if you can still take it if you achieved a 68% instead of the required 70% in Grade 12 chemistry. it’s up to the department to decide how strict they’re going to be about those requirements.
best of luck, my friend. i hope they’re merciful.
cheers,
aska
hi!
Im not a native spanish speaker but i did complete SPA220 the past school year. Can I take PRT100 or do i have to take PRT120?
Thanks!!
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hey there,
my instinct on this was to advise you to contact the Spanish department, but when i tried to help you out by calling them myself, no one was available. i gave up after trying four times. so, by all means, contact them to ask, but you might have a bit of trouble getting someone on the phone. no shade, by the way – i understand that people need a break from undergraduate brats every once in a while. sometimes i need a break from myself, to be honest. i’m just letting you know you may need to try a couple of times.
it doesn’t say anywhere on the calendar or Spanish website that they would remove you from PRT100 just because you took SPA220, but again, i wouldn’t take any chances without talking to the department about it first. maybe you can shoot them an e-mail; you might have better luck contacting them that way.
sorry i couldn’t be of more help, but do let me know how it turns out!
all the best,
aska