• psychology

    do you believe in life after psych?

    September 25, 2014

    Hi there,

    I’ve applied for a psychology major program during the second request period this past summer, and i got the results saying they refused me. i’ve completed all the requirements for the program so i had hope and it really sucks right now. they sent email to all the applicants saying, they only had space to admit approximately 1/4 of applicants for each program; thus the cut-off averages were high and we were unable to admit all of those who met or exceeded the minimum admission requirements. I planned my this year’s fall and winter courses around psychology thinking i’ll get into the program and i even planned to fulfill graduation requirement by end of summer 2015 so i can graduate in November. I’m thinking of applying to the minor program in April, but i really wanna get into the psych major and i’m very passionate about it. I’m already a 5th year student so i don’t wanna spend 6 years in school. To get into the major program do i have to take another course to even exceed the requirement so that i have a better chance? Please help, what i can do. Is there anywhere else i can take other courses to get into the program?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    man, i’m sorry you didn’t get in. psych is tough, and the awful fact of the matter is that a lot of very worthy people apply and don’t get into the POSt.

    if you’re (justifiably) saying that you just don’t want to stick around for another year, then it might be time to graduate with whatever POSt(s) you do have, and look for alternative ways to pursue psychology.

    you’ve already taken lots of psych courses, so even if you don’t graduate with that degree, you still have the knowledge. do you want to be a doctor? great, apply to medical school. grad school? great, apply there, too. maybe there’s a college program that suits your interests, or a job. the list goes on.

    most graduate and professional schools don’t require that you have a specific degree coming out of your undergrad. they may prefer certain areas over others, but there’s usually some wiggle room there.

    so maybe the best thing to do now is plan to graduate and start thinking about what’s next. how can you incorporate your passion for psychology into your future?

    as for getting into psych in april, it may still be possible. as far as i know, it’s more important that you get high marks in the required courses, rather than that you take a surplus of courses to get into the program.

    however, it may be worthwhile to take a few more psych courses, maybe to complete the requirements for a minor, or to boost your GPA for the next time you apply to the POSt (if you decide to do so).

    whether that is a good or helpful idea, though, depends on your academic history, which is why you should probably make an appointment with…you guessed it…your registrar’s office.

    the best thing is to chat with your registrar about all this, because they can advise you not only about courses and applying to psych again, but also about other possibilities for this year, and after graduation.

    best,

    aska

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  • psychology,  subject POST

    after psych

    September 23, 2014

    hey!

    I’ve been reading your is for some time now and was hoping you could help me out. I am a 3rd/4th year student and I spent all of last year taking the required courses to graduate with a major in psychology on time. Even for this year I picked courses relevant to the major in hopes that I would have enough marks to at least get into the minor. What sucks is that i didn’t get into either. And it turns out that for the last 2 years, the average threshold has been pretty high so the calendar was wrong. I just don’t know what to do. I honestly hoped that I would get in and I really wanted to graduate by next November. I basically spent an year taking courses that I didn’t,t even need. Is there even a remote chance of getting 85% in a 200-level psych course at UTSG?

    Best,

    Lost and depressed

    ———————————————

    hey there Lost and depressed,

    well, i hate to be that person, but the calendar isn’t wrong. psychology’s minor, major and specialist are all type 2L subject POSts, which means that there is a finite number of spaces in each POSt. so, even if you meet the prerequisites, you may not get in.

    that said, don’t be too hard on yourself for it. psych is insanely popular in this faculty, so the competition that you were up against was not insignificant (to put it mildly).

    i think now is the time to weigh your options and decide what you want more: to graduate with a psychology POSt, or graduate by next November.

    if you don’t want to be here over four years, it may be wise to start planning to graduate with whatever POSt(s) you’re currently in.

    as for whether there is the chance of getting in 85% in 1 200-level psych course: beats me.

    people do it, so it must be possible, strictly speaking, but one person’s possible is another person’s impossible. without knowing your strengths, i have no idea whether it would be possible for you, and that’s what’s counts.

    what i would do is make an appointment with your registrar’s office. they can take a look at your whole academic history and advise you on your options.

    based on your transcript and chatting with you one-on-one, they can tell you whether they think that 85% is feasible, and also, whether it’s a good idea to pursue a psych POSt again.

    if you had a specific question about a 200-level psych course, the undergraduate administrator at psych would be your first point of contact. you can also talk to them about the possibility of getting into a psych POSt in the next enrolment period.

    best of luck (hoping you feel a little less lost and depressed),

    aska

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  • psychology,  stats

    too many stats to keep track of

    September 1, 2014

    hey! i was just wondering if you know if it is acceptable to take STA215 (applied statistics) as the requirement for the a psych major, because on the degree explorer on ROSI it says that I can either only take STA220/ STA218 or STA219, however in the details of STA215 it says that the course qualifies for the program. So i am a confused on what I should take. Any thoughts?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    this is an student-sponsored PSA: pleaaaaase tell me what campus you’re on in your questions, y’all.

    you’re right, this is confusing. the listing for the psych major says the only stats courses you can take for that requirement are STA218H5 or 220H5. however, PSY215H1 lists 218H1 and 220H5 as exclusions, which might lead you to believe they’re equivalent.

    in this case, I’m inclined to say that you can’t take STA215 for the major (especially if degree explorer agrees with me). the course seems to be one in a list of intro. to stats courses which focus on a different field or difficulty level.

    just from the description, STA220 looks more involved than 215, while STA218 is obviously geared towards management students. each course is slightly different. while they may be exclusions of 215, they might cover things that 215 does not, and that could be why psych doesn’t include it in its list of acceptable stats courses.

    i mean, this is just my guess. i highly recommend you call the psych department to double-check, but generally, i would stick to what the academic calendar’s listing for the major says to be safe.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • psychology

    a follow-up on a stats requirements

    July 29, 2014

    Hi aska,

    I hope to apply for psych specialist next year, so I just enrolled the STA220 course, which is not prioritized, to replace PSY201 (as you suggested earlier).

    But I found L0301 of STA220 is special for Health and Life Science. I wanna ask whether I am okay to enroll L0101 of STA220 as the replacement?

    Thanks 🙂

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    (previously on aska advising people about psychology).

    from what i can see on the calendar, the L0101 section is not geared towards any stream in particular, so you should be okay taking it! the credit you get won’t change by lecture section, so if you get the credit, you’ll get the PSY201 equivalency (just make sure to double-check with the psych department that it is in fact an equivalency if you haven’t already – i called them a while ago, but this is a new term, so i’d call again just in case!)

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • enrollment,  psychology,  subject POST

    sighcology

    June 20, 2014

    Hello aska

    I just checked the results of the subject post on rosi. I got refused by all specialist, major and minor of psychology… I thought I could be invited by at least psy minor, so that I would have priority when enroling courses in jul.
    Here’s my question: if I I don’t have priority, is it hard to enroll those psy courses I need to reapply specialist next year?

    ———————————————

    hey,

    geez man, i’m sorry about that. if it helps, psychology is by far the most popular subject POSt in the Faculty of Arts & Science (based on the completely legitimate and scientific fact that aska feels like she gets asked about psych more than any other subject POSt), so you were facing a lot of competition.

    PSY201H1 and 202H1 have P enrolment controls and might be tricky to get into, but if you go on ROSI as soon as the priority lifts, you just might manage it. also, STA220H1 and 221H1 meet the same requirement and have no enrolment controls.

    assuming you took PSY100H1 (which, i mean, how else would you have applied for the POSts this year?) you only have one more 200+ level PSY FCE to worry about. i know it’s a bit daunting that they all have at least a P control, BUT there are lots of PSY courses at the 200-level. there’s bound to be one that doesn’t fill up in the priority period, right? right??

    i think you’ll be okay. however, i would come up with a couple contingency plans, just in case ROSI decides to play the big villain on the day of your course enrolment.

    best,

    aska

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  • courses,  psychology,  UTM

    admissions psychles

    April 1, 2014

    Dear Friend,

    I hope you don’t mind, this will be half ranting along with the question.

    I was accepted into the Commerce program at UTSG. I was unable to fulfill the first year requirements for the program, hence I was declined my place in the program. I unfortunately did not have a backup plan, I ended up making last minute decisions and end up in the Mathematics specialists program. After taking mathematics courses, I realized it was not my field. In the meanwhile, I took electives in anthropology, religion and psychology. I soon realized I was very into the psychology program, hence decided to get into psychology.

    Currently, I’m taking Psychology courses at UTM, even though I am not officially in the program. I am with high hopes of getting my transfer approved (touchwood). So far, I have 12 credits at the end of this year, as in April 2014.

    I know I need 20 credits for graduation in my program. I was wondering, I wanted to take extra courses in psychology, would I still be able to Do you know if I go pass my 20 credits by taking psychology, will they accept my grades?

    I would ask my registrar, however every time I come out of there, I always feel gloom for some reason.

    Thank you for taking out time to read out my rant. I appreciate any sort of help you can give me.

    Sincerely,

    ~ A student attempting to regain control in her life.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i haven’t been able to find any concrete information about this online. the fact is that each campus and department does things a little bit differently with respect to this issue, and osap also may become implicated if you take more than 20.0 credits as part of your degree, so it’s best that you speak to…yeah, i’m gonna say it…

    …the registrar’s office. it might be time to get over that feeling of gloom, buddy, ’cause the registrar is hella helpful. they should know exactly how your school/program handles going above 20.0 credits. and just so you know, i work in a registrar’s office. and we have an absolute WHALE OF A TIME*.

    if it’s really stressful for you in there, just bring a sippy cup of warm milk in with you or something, idk.

    sorry friend,

    aska

    *that may be because i always bring an inflatable whale to work with me. but you know. i can’t be sure.

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  • admissions,  psychology

    one more time (we’re gonna celebrate)

    March 27, 2014

    Hello,

    I am currently a second year student studying psychology. But the the thing is I’m not officially studying psychology because I am not in the subject post. I took PSY100 during the summer and got a mark of 81. I applied to the second round of enrollment and got rejected for both specialist and major. I really want to do a specialist in psychology. I took 1 credit of 200-level psychology and got an average of 77 for both. All I need to do now is take PSY201 and PSY202. Assuming I get a 75 average for both, what are my chances of getting in? I know you can’t give me a proper percentage or odds but do you happen to have some anecdotal references like a friend per se that got in to the specialist with similar marks or maybe even a different type 2 subject post? I also took a 300-level psych course and I’m planning to end the course with around a low 80, do you think this would be taken into consideration? My whole situation is really killing me right now because I’m planning to go to summer school to take both statistics but if my chances of getting into the specialist isn’t great then I probably wouldn’t go on with summer school because I would rather just transfer schools. But I really don’t want to transfer schools because I am really beginning to like U of T. I don’t mean to be pushy but realistically am I in a good position?

    Thank you

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    this is a super respectful question, which i really appreciate. unfortunately, i don’t have much anecdotal info to help you out. since i’m part of the HUMANITIES SCUM, all my informal/non-registrarial knowledge is related to humanities, and specifically language and classics, programs. however, i’ll try to just reason it out and give my own opinion, though, like i say, i’m not admissions, and this is really just my opinion based on what you’ve told me.

    just to get everything in order for myself, this is how your marks stand:

    PSY100: 81%

    PSY2**Y: 77%

    PSY201/202: 75% (projected)

    alright, so given admission requirements after second year, i’d say that, even if your chances aren’t great, i think they’re better than when you applied in first year. firstly, i’m sure waaaay fewer people are applying after second year. by this point, most people have either realized they’re not actually interested in psych, or they’ve just given up. the fact that first year applicants have to have finished PSY100 with an 80%, and second-year applicants just have to have passed it, makes that crystal clear for me.

    secondly, there are probably fewer people in second year who have completed the requirements and still qualify to apply. the number of people who take PSY100 and have a shot at getting into the POSt is staggering; by second year, that number is much smaller.

    as to the 300-level course, i really don’t know. i mean, they say they don’t consider that. would it give you an advantage? maybe, but it’s hard to say for sure without any hints from the department.

    so, realistically, I’d say your acceptance is not certain – psych’s still a really popular subject POSt – but i think you’ve got a good shot. besides, transferring to another school after second year is rough. take it from a transfer veteran: even if you don’t get in, you’ve got a better chance carving a new path for yourself here in third year than trying to adjust to a completely new environment and system of classes.

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  humanities,  psychology

    apparently hard work pays off in this life

    March 25, 2014

    I just got accepted into University of Toronto for Humanities and I’m super duper excited! :DIt’s amazing to know that my hard work pays off in the end. However, I do have a question that I didn’t think of before I applied…I got accepted into the Humanities program and I don’t really know what that means for me.I am going to major in English/History/Linguistics.. but I may want to major in Psychology.Am I able to do that even though I was only accepted in Humanities? Am I able to take the Intro to Psychology course? Thanks so much for helping me out and making my experience at UofT a lot easier 🙂 you deserve a gold star- Excited Accepted Student

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    yeah…hard work totally, uh, pays off in the end…*coughs* *laughs nonchalantly* *trips over a mountain of lies*

    but good job on getting in. no, really, that…yeah. that’s great. i’m glad you’re excited. try and maintain that as long as possible.

    as for PSY100, you can take it regardless of your stream, but if you want to actually major in psych, you need to have taken, along with intro to psych, grade 12 calculus. that’s pretty much non-negotiable, but they will accept people who have taken uoft’s PUMP program instead, which is basically a grade 12 catch-up calculus course in university. so look into how hot you are about doing that (slash night school slash summer school slash whatever other acceptable alternative you can dream up) before you set your heart on a major in psych.

    also, i hope that when you say that you want to major in english/history/linguistics, you mean like, you want to major in one of them in addition to psych but you haven’t picked one yet, because four majors is just CRAZY TALK! tbh, any combination of those three POSts might make a great double-major combo; english/history is a particular favourite of a lot of my english major friends. i personally am an english specialist because i’m HARDCORE, but that’s just me.

    however, if you really are set on psych, like i said, you’ve got options.

    and by the by, i ALWAYS have a gold star. always.

    best, my blissfully excited froshie bestie,

    aska

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  • psychology,  UTM

    psyder

    March 17, 2014

    Hi, my name is [redacted] and I am a first year student at UTM. Currently I am in Life Sciences? and have taken Economics and Philosophy as my electives to complete my groups. I am planning on majoring in Biology and minoring in Chemistry and I really like Psychology and want to minor in it, but I didnt take it this year. So my question is, can I take Psychology next year and minor in it?

    Thank you

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m slightly worried that you’ve said “currently you’re in life sciences?” as if it’s a question? and you’re not quite sure? maybe you’re in divinity school at harvard, it’s kinda hard to tell? or possibly a boggy marsh in denmark?*

    alright, i’m gonna trust that you really are a utm student in life sci and go from there. so [redacted], (if that’s your REAL NAME), this is gonna be a bit tricky for you, since you haven’t taken PSY100H5. if you want to enrol for the psych minor in 2nd year, you need to have completed PSY100H5 with at least a 63%. so looks like you can’t request the minor this summer to be active for next year.

    HOWEVER, if you take PSY201H5 (which does not have PSY100H5 as a prerequisite) and at least 1.0 more 200+ level PSY courses in second year, and you have at least an average of 63% in those courses, you can declare a psychology minor at the end of second year, and officially be in the minor by third year. whoo! just make sure you meet all the other high school and general requirements, which you can read about here.

    best of luck, man. and stop questioning yourself, eh? you just gotta believe. you are an majestic butterfly who doesn’t need to end all its sentences with question marks.

    aska

    * an easy mistake to make, to be fair. the smell is the same as in the city.

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  • psychology

    psyduck

    March 5, 2014

    Hi,

    I’m pretty set on doing a major in Psychology – but how likely is it that I will get into psychology??I know they say the average to get in is 75% in psy100, but how accurate is that?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    now children, here we see a question that sharply contrasts with the one below it, in that it provides almost no contextual information for aska to work with. there are a lot of mysteries here. is the askee a first year student? are they talking about the major only? their question says they’re set on doing a major, but the subject line of their e-mail said “Majors and Minor.”

    i don’t mean to be catty, dear askee. it’s just that it’s gonna be tough for me to be very helpful if i don’t know a lot of this information. fortunately for you, aska is more or less a wizard when it comes to deciphering these kinds of mysteries. so let’s work some magic.

    i’m gonna assume you’re a first year student. if you’re not, then you just need to have completed PSY100. if you are in first year though, you need to have completed PSY100 with AT LEAST a 75%. that’s an important distinction. it’s not an average of 75% for people who are accepted. you need to have a 75% to be considered – but how high above that you need to get to actually be accepted depends on the competition in your year, i.e. how many other people have applied and what they got in PSY100. as for how many people applied, the school doesn’t publish those numbers, but you can take a look at how many other questions about psychology i’ve answered to try and get a gist of it. same thing goes for the minor, except the cut-off is 73%, not 75%.

    i wish i could give you some more precise numbers as to how likely you are to get in, but unfortunately, they just don’t tell me that kinda stuff. just do as well as you can and prepare a backup in case it doesn’t work out.

    good luck,

    aska

    P.S. i get a lot of questions about psych and i am running out of clever title ideas that relate to psychology. please consider this a formal invitation to send me psychology-related punny titles at askastudent ( . ) innis ( at ) utoronto ( . ) ca. because aska’s a collaborative experience. yeah.

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  • admissions,  first year,  psychology

    can someone e-mail me another psychology pun or something plz

    January 28, 2014

    I am a first-year student and I am planning to major in psychology. But I only scored exactly 75% which is the minimum requirement. Is it possible to get the major or I really should seriously consider other things to major in? But psychology is really my first choice..

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    well now, look what we have here. another PSYCHOLOGY QUESTION. amigo, i have answered quite a few questions related to psychology, and let me tell you: you have a better chance than you think.

    there’ve been people hoping to get in who don’t have the calculus prerequisite, or didn’t do psy100h1 at all…yeah…so believe me when i say that you’re not in a bad position.

    assuming you are doing at least 4.0 FCEs in your first year and you did Grade 12 Calculus, you have actually met the minimum requirements for the POSt. the number of people who apply every year differs, so i can’t say for sure, like, “you have a 33% chance of getting in,” but i’d say if you’re eligible, it’s worth a shot. you’ve got nothing to lose.

    should you prepare a backup? sure. apply to the minor too (it’s just 4.0 FCE required courses versus 7.0 in the major), or apply to neuroscience or basket-weaving or whatever else tickles your fancy. explore your options.

    be sensible and always have a Plan B, but don’t give up hope completely. save that for when you graduate (whoops i let my pessimism show there, sorry. *covers it up hastily with my skirt*).

    best,

    aska

    P.S. Also, if you don’t get in after first year, you can always apply after 2nd and 3rd year!

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  • admissions,  psychology,  UTM

    getting on that brain train

    January 24, 2014

    Hello! I was just wondering what the UTM requirements are to apply to do a psychology major after not initially meeting the initial requirements. On the UTM calendar it says to go to the psychology homepage but I can’t seem to find anything lol.

    Thank you for your help!

    ———————————————

    hello. this is an old question. if you’d like to see why i am answering these BLASTS FROM THE PAST, please go here! thanks!

    aska

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    the requirements are kind of the same as the initial requirements, to be honest. you still need to have completed grade 12 biology and advanced functions – no changes there – and you also need to have gotten at least a 63% in PSY201H5, as well as completed at least 1.0 FCEs out of the second or upper-year requirements for the psychology major.

    basically, they want you to be doing the major in practice, so that if/when you register in it formally, you’re not behind. i guess that makes some sense, but it also means that there’s NO SLACKING. you have to keep taking psych courses consistently and make sure you’ve got all those requirements done by the time you want to reapply. YOU THINK YOU CAN DO THAT, SOLDIER? DO YOU REALLY?

    i sometimes get carried away when motivating students. sorry. some call it a curse, some a blessing. i guess it’s up to you to decide which camp to believe. point is, it’ll be just as hard, if not harder, to get into psych after first year – so don’t stop trying now.

    aska

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  • psychology,  PUMP

    psychology’s a tough cookie, man, what can i say.

    October 18, 2013

    Hi,

    I’m a grade 12 student who is interested in taking psych in ut st.george. However, I don’t have calculus and I didn’t take Functions (U) in grade 11( I came to Canada last yr and I have no idea that the course is important). Is there any other way that I can still take psych? Such as taking Calculus in 1st yr? Or should I take something else in 1st yr and then switch to psych in 2nd?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    Basically, you’ve got two options here. Since you’re missing three math courses, there’s no way to finish them all in order to be considered for September 2014 admission. The admission decisions are made by June of every year, and after that it’s GAME OVER until the next admission cycle.

    Lucky for you, aska’s here to tell you all is not lost. What you can do is take a year off after you finish Grade 12, get your three credits at your high school during a victory lap (that is, a fifth year), and then apply for admission for September 2015. Easy-peasy, plus you get a year to work and think about your future and do all that mid-twenties soul-searching stuff.

    However, if you’re not up for any soul-searching garbage and you really want to start university right after you finish high school, you can apply to a general social science program for first year, take PSY100H1 (the only required university course for a psych major), and complete the calculus requirement through uoft’s PUMP (preparing for university mathematics) program during your first year, or through other alternative courses. Then you have your requirement by the time you apply for the psych major at the end of first year. This is a great way to meet the psych requirements, explore all your interests and make sure psych is really what you want to do, all in your first year.

    aska

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