• failing

    FAILURE (but not really)

    January 27, 2015

    Hello,

    I’m a first year here at UofT. This first semester I failed a course that is required for my POSt. I’m really worried; I’ve never failed a course before.

    If I retake the course this semester and pass all my other courses with good marks, it shouldn’t have a huge effect, right? I won’t be expelled for one F, will I?

    Thank-you

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    no, you won’t be expelled for one F. you wouldn’t even be expelled for two, or three F’s. it’s very hard to get expelled at this university, actually. you get quite a few tries before you’re denied further registration.

    assuming you’re on the downtown campus and in the faculty of arts & science, your academic standing is going to be assessed for the first time in april. if your GPA is above a 1.50, you’ll be in good standing. if it’s below 1.50, you’ll be ‘on probation,’ which means you’ll have the next term (summer or fall/winter) to try and get your CGPA above a 1.50.

    a failing grade is definitely going to impact your GPA – there’s just no way around that. but if you pass and do well in all your other courses, it’s TOTALLY feasible to stay above a 1.50 (that’s about a 61%, if you need a reference).

    i’d recommend looking into some academic resources available on campus to make sure you stay on the right track for the rest of the year.

    and just so you know, if you retake the course you failed, both attempts will be listed on your transcript and weighted equally (so, for example, if you got a 40% the first time and an 80% the second time, it would be like having two marks of 60% on your transcript).

    all the best,

    aska

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  • failing,  prereqs

    try try and try again

    December 18, 2014

    Hey,

    I failed a course that is a prerequisite for my program ( I got a 45) and the next offering of the course is not until the next school year, i.e 2015-2016 fall semester. Will I have to wait an entire school year to retake the class or is their possibly anything I can do during this school year?

    PS: How long does it generally take for people to complete their undergrad? I don’t think I’ll be finishing in 4yrs and I’m pretty bummed about it tbh.

    Thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    ahh man, i’m sorry. that’s never a fun experience. you can contact the department to see if there are any other options (like taking an equivalent course at utsc/utm, taking it during the summer – the summer timetable isn’t out yet, so it still may be offered, etc.). but it’s possible you’ll have to wait until next fall/winter.

    you also may want to reflect a bit about whether the subject POSt you’re interested in is the right one for you. maybe contact your college registrar to make an appointment and chat about it.

    as for how long it takes, i have two things to say about that:

    1) lots of people take more than four years to complete their undergrads. people take breaks to work, people do make-up years to boost their GPA, people sometimes want to take more courses at the undergrad level about something that really interests them…the list goes on.

    also, one failed course does not automatically add a year to your degree. don’t resign yourself to a fifth year yet.

    2) even if lots of people DIDN’T take fifth years, that shouldn’t stop YOU from taking one.

    listen, the earlier you learn this lesson, the better it’s gonna be for you: do what you feel most comfortable with. one of the best things about uoft is how flexible it is (EVEN BETTER than the cold, the old buildings with wonky heating, the huge first year classes and the fact that there’s no subway station midway between Queen’s Park and Museum).

    it’s in your best interest to take advantage of that flexibility and make your university experience make sense for YOU. i know failing is never fun, but there are lots of options for you, and if an extra year is something you WANT to do, you shouldn’t let anything stop you. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! or person. singular or plural.

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • bird courses,  failing

    don’t send me your personal documents ffs

    July 24, 2014

    hey,

    as you can see i did terrible

    i received 5 credits, and failed 4 credits! so my cgpa is 0.76. I do want to come back this fall 2014 to complete my degree by improving my grades.

    I think i will do religion major as it is the only high grades.. also do geography minor and biology minor (science stream) to receive a Bachelor of Science degree.

    The reason I choose biology and Geography is because it is a type 1 subject post – for a science subject! Most subjects like psychology minor is a type 2!

    do you know how hard are geography courses? my high school geography marks was easy but this is UofT!

    is there a chance in raising my CGPA to atleast 2.0? I know raising it to 4.0 will always remain a dream because I can not even transfer to any other?University – I am not in good academic standing!

    any advices?

    can you please recommend any GPA booster courses?

    or teachers name?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    firstly, do not send me personal documents over e-mail, even if it’s just a screenshot of your transcript. that’s very dangerous. i could be a goblin. i could be mojo jojo. you don’t have enough reason to trust me that you should feel comfortable sending me these things. i mean, obviously i’m actually all y’alls’ saviour, but you can’t know that for sure.

    also, i don’t care enough to look at anyone’s transcripts or marks. so don’t do that, okay?

    before you go ahead and enrol in courses, i’d recommend making an appointment with your college registrar to discuss your academic history and where to go from here – whether staying in school is the best option for you, and if it is, what you can do to improve. if you’re currently on academic probation, it’s important to get the best advice possible about how to proceed to make sure you’re not suspended.

    as i’ve said before, i don’t believe in “easy courses.” every course is hard. doing well is hard. life is hard. so you have to make the right decision for you, based on your own interests and strengths. if you did well in high school geography, figure out why! see where and how you can apply that to university.

    is there a chance of raising your GPA? sure. anything is possible, and there are many people who’ve gone through a less-than-great first year and managed to turn it all around. but the way to do that is not to figure out what?course or prof is easiest, but to make a plan about how YOU can do better.

    best of luck,

    aska

    P.S. YES i know yoda is not a goblin. who do you think i am. sheesh.

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  • failing

    a failing fact

    June 18, 2014

    heyy

    I have failed few courses last year (first year), and I was wondering if I?can retake those courses…??will my marks be replaced on my transcript? will it be an average of the?two??

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

    hey there,

    since you don’t actually get credit for failed courses,?you can retake them. the mark for the new courses will appear on your transcript as well as the failed marks, and both marks will be weighted equally.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • failing,  grad school

    moving past first year (it’s hard for us all)

    May 9, 2014

    Hey, I just finished my first year at UofT and I’m in a bit of a pickle. I calculated my GPA and, thanks to a few personal setbacks and a failing grade (half credit), I’m at a 1.8625. Now I’ve been told that first year doesn’t matter in the long run, that by the time I’m graduating and applying for jobs or a Master’s programme, no one will care about first year. However, I’m not sure if that’s true and I’m freaking out a little (a lot). Am I going to suffer as a result of this year? Also, thanks to the failing grade, I’m at 3.5 FCES and I know in order to enrol into my subject POSts, I need 4. Will not being able to enrol until next year hurt me in some way? I have all the prerequisites I need to enrol into my classes but I’m just not sure what’s going to happen with the subject POSts. Sorry if you get asked stuff like this all the time, I’m just beyond confused and worried.

    Thanks!

    Supes Confused Second Year

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    don’t worry, man, i get it: just because other people have asked the question before, doesn’t mean that it’s unimportant. if anything, you should feel better about the fact that lots of people have been in your situation. if they were able to pull through it, so can you. well i mean, probably. the odds are good, anyway. i’ve gotta be a rational optimist, y’know.

    most master’s programs don’t look at the CGPA of all four years. some do, but i’d say it’s not a majority. so you can take comfort in that.

    as to subject POSts, you can enrol in a summer course to close that gap between 3.5 and 4.0, but the deadline to register and enrol is coming up REAL SOON, so if you decide to do that, get yourself to your college registrar as soon as possible. otherwise, you can wait until the next subject POSt enrolment period; lots of POSts allow you to enrol after second year. there are some courses that are restricted to people in certain POSts, so there may be some courses you’re interested in that you won’t be able to take, but other than that, it shouldn’t affect your second year too severely.

    all practical talk aside, if you’ve finished a GPA with a 1.86, that’s not great. i understand that personal setbacks can impact school pretty severely (and first year is never easy, no matter which way you spin it), but if you are experiencing setbacks*, then support is often just the thing you need to help you along. the best people i know at this university who can provide that kind of support are the ones in the registrar’s offices. so consider making an appointment with them to talk about this past year, and make plans for improving next year.

    finally, don’t freak out about this. this is just a thing that happened, and now it’s up to you to make a decision about how to proceed. whatever happens, you’ll move past this, and as long as you’re making choices that you’re happy with, that’s all that matters.

    best,

    aska

    *that makes you sound like a computer or something. i’m sorry. i didn’t mean to imply that; you are, of course, a person with thoughts and feelings, unlike myself. i’m a 7-ft-tall android built by uoft to help students. did you know they integrated ROSI into my retinas?

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  • failing,  summer

    *sweeps previous mark hastily under rug*

    May 5, 2014

    So I did horrible in MAT136, and I failed the course. Does that mean I have to retake it in summer school to enrol in my subject post? (This is for Life Sciences Students by the way). I’m honestly also worried about my CGPA. After I retake it, will it cover up my failing mark?
    – Please post this as anonymously

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if MAT136 is a prerequisite for your desired subject POST, then yeah, definitely take it in the summer. just make sure that if the POSt is a type 2 or 3, wait until after you’ve completed the summer course to request the POSt on ROSI – otherwise you’ll be refused because you don’t have the requirement yet.

    unfortunately, the mark you get in summer school won’t cover up the failing mark from the first time. both marks will appear on your transcript and be weighted equally. sorry about that; however, if you do really well the second time around, you’ll at least boost your GPA.

    also, whaddaya mean “please post this anonymously”? do i ever NOT post people’s questions anonymously? sheesh! what do you take me for, some random stranger on the internet?

    cheers,

    aska

    P.S. in all seriousness, i never publish people’s names?or any other personal information, either on this blog or on any of aska’s other social media outlets. if you go far enough back in the archives, you’ll see that some previous askas elected to include?people’s first names when they signed their questions with a name, but no aska has or ever will publish any of your private information, anywhere, or use it for any other reason than to communicate with you.?aska is straight up confidential business, yo, so don’t worry.

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  • failing,  probation

    a probation consideration

    May 5, 2014

    Hey so basically i screwed up my first year, failed a couple of courses for my laziness and lack of work but now that it is time to apply for SubjectPost i don’t have the marks of the 4 require credits and i am pretty sure i will go on academic probation. My question is what will be my next step should i redo first year and get my 4 credits?? is that even allowed?? i really have no clue what to do, since i am not enrolled in a SubjectPost when am i eligible to choose my courses for next year. Sadly i probably be looking into 5th year but i guess i just really want to know what my options are. Thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if you are put on probation (and i don’t know whether or not you will be – you’ll have to wait for the school to tell you that), the first thing to do is something that’s maybe not so obvious because it’s not a super formal thing, but it is incredibly helpful. “what is it????” i hear you ask on the edge of your seat. well…

    take stock of your school situation. probation kind of gives you an opportunity to take a breather and ask yourself, 1) why you think you’re in this position, 2) what you wanted to get out of university, 3) whether you’re getting it and 4) what your next steps should be. probation isn’t a punishment; it’s an opportunity to make a decision about your future. so that’s what i’d do if i were in your shoes.

    if you haven’t completed 4.0 FCEs, you won’t be eligible to enter into a subject POSt. that means that if/when you come off probation (or, alternately, if you just return normally in fall 2014), you’ll have to continue taking courses, effectively as a first-year student, until you’re eligible to enrol into a POSt. those courses may not be the same as the ones you took this year, they will just be ones that you are able to/want to enrol in (i.e. because you’ve completed the prereqs or because they don’t have prereqs).

    finally, i’d highly recommend that, whether or not you go on probation, you make an appointment with your registrar’s office. they can give you some specific advice about how to deal with this past year, and what steps you can take to improve in the future. like, i’m super helpful and all, but i don’t know you. i can only do so much to help your mysterious, anonymous situation, blurring hazily in the virtual ether of my computer screen, so close, and yet so far…

    also, the registrar’s office won’t go on random, poetic* tangents while they’re helping you, so that’s a plus.

    aska

    *i’m using “poetic” in the loosest sense of the word.

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  • failing,  math,  stats,  summer

    your status on summer stats

    May 1, 2014

    hey, so I most likely failed my MAT137 course. I was only required to take the 135/136 combo but for some reason I opted for the full year harder 137 option. Anyways, too late now. My question is, if I retake the course in summer school, what does my transcript look like? And also I was planning on doing STA247 over the summer which has MAT135Y1/MAT137Y1/MAT157Y1 listed as prereqs. (Though there must be some error as MAT135 is an H course). Can I still take STA247?? I was really hoping on taking it so I can lessen my course load for next year. STA247 is “Probability with Computer Applications” so maybe because I got a good mark in my CSC165 Mathematical Expression and Reasoning for Computer Science course that may somewhat void my MAT137 fail?? Thanks.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if you’ve taken a course and you fail it, then you take the same course again, both marks will appear on your transcript and be weighted equally. the passed course wouldn’t cancel out the mark of the previous, failed course.

    as for STA247, if you were to take and pass MAT137 in the ‘F’ term of the summer, and STA247 was offered in the ‘S’ term of the summer, then you would theoretically be able to take it. however, i’m taking a look at the timetable for stats and it looks like STA247 is offered in the ‘F’ term of the summer. so no luck on that one.

    CSC165 isn’t listed as a prereq for STA247, so i don’t think that’ll affect your ability to enrol in STA247 in the summer. i mean, good for you for doing well, and all. that’s groovin‘. it just won’t affect your ability to get into stats for the summer, unfortunately. maybe you can consider taking another one of your 2014-2015 courses in the summer if you’re really set on lessening your course load for next year?

    best of luck, friendo, and try to remember not to stress too much about this, and to go outside this summer.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • failing,  UTM

    you’ve answered your own question, bud

    April 24, 2014

    i go to utm i started the year taking more classes but basically i dropped?out of all my courses except 1 i want to go back to utm in the fall, but
    this years been a lost cause and i want my cgpa to suffer as little as?possible?even if i aced the exam in my 1 course i’d still fail the class?is there anyway for me to not have the bad grade i get in this course show?up on my transcript? i’m pretty sure the answer is no i need to be taking?at least one course to sign up for courses next year so i just need to?study my ass off take the bad grade and do better next year right?

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

    hey there,

    utm says that “[o]nce a course has been completed it can only be removed under extreme extenuating circumstances presented through a petition to the Committee on Standing. Be aware that petitions for removal of a completed course are not normally granted,” so…basically, yeah, the chances are likely that the marks on your transcript will stay as they are.

    if you want to improve your GPA, it’s most likely that you’ll have to do it the good, old-fashioned way: by working hard in the terms to come.

    best of luck to ya,

    aska

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  • career choice,  failing,  subject POST

    ask what uni can give to YOU.

    April 22, 2014

    Dear Aska,

    I’m supposed to be going into my third year at UofT next fall but I fudged up really bad and will be going into my second year (credit wise). Last year I decided to take only political science and international relations courses. I realized as much as I loved International Relations I could not do it in a classroom setting so I had to drop all those courses (LWD). I also failed astronomy by like 5%. So this year I decided to double up on my courses and took 6 per semester to “catch up”, that backed fired. I’m about to fail a political science course (pol200) and I did awful in my other courses. Last year I was on academic probation but I got out of it after summer school, but I’m pretty sure I’m headed right back or even academic suspension. I figured out that I want to major in Equity , that’s so far a definite because there’s a variety of courses I can take which I like. I was told to do a minor in sociology by my registrar because it was the one class I did well in, and I do like sociology but again I screwed up and will just get a passing mark (50%). I’m undecided if I should stay in political science. I love it but the classroom setting isn’t working for me. I tend to fall asleep in my classes because my professors are too dry as are my readings. But most of the opportunities I want, require a BA in political science. I was also thinking about doing a major in Urban Studies but I despise economics in a classroom settings. I have really bad luck when it comes to economic teachers, it all started in high-school. And for urban studies I have to take an intro to eco course. Another problem I have is that I’m almost all out of my LWD and CR/NO CR and have probably used up most of my first year course allowance figuring out what I don’t like. So I can’t screw up anymore. I’m going to make an appointment with the academic success centre later this week to see if they have any helpful advice. But I just don’t know what to do anymore. I’m just so burnt out from school, I have no motivation. The problem is I don’t like any other university other then UofT (in Canada). Also no course sounds interesting to me anymore. Any advice? I know I didn’t really ask any specific questions, but just any input would be greatly appreciated 🙂

    OH P.S. I forgot to mention, I eventually do want to get into law school (Idk if i’m gnna stay in Canada or go abroad for that) But at this rate I
    do not have the grades.
    P.P.S. All the opportunities I find for work or volunteering or internships require a GPA that I don’t have. And these experiences are amazing and will help me discover what I like and dislike, and if it’s for me.

    Sincerely,
    Need a Spark

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you’ve got a lot of stuff going on here. i’m gonna be honest, i don’t know how much help i can be. like you said, you haven’t asked any specific questions, and since what you are asking seems to fall under the category of General School Life Advice, i’m just going to go that route, and let academic success handle the nitty-gritty details of your next steps at school (subject POSt stuff, LWDs, etc.), since they’ll probably be better at that than i will, anyway.

    it seems to me that you’re interested in a lot of things, but a lot of them you don’t like in a “classroom setting.” you said that more than once about different programs in your question, so i get the feeling that the issue here is not you finding a major that you like, but the actual atmosphere of school. if a lot of these things interest you, but not necessarily in a university context, then maybe the university’s the problem. i think maybe it would be helpful to think about what you really want out of your education, and whether uni can really provide it.

    keep in mind that i’m just making suggestions; i’m not going to tell you to drop out of school or make any drastic decisions, and of course you should definitely talk to your registrar’s office before making your decision, whatever it may be. however, i do think that every step of your education should be chosen by you, and for your own benefit. maybe sociology’s the best choice for you (just make sure you take a look at the program requirements before committing yourself to that route), maybe you need to take a year off, or maybe you now’s the time to move on from uoft.

    ask yourself why you “like UofT”; if it’s just for the prestige or the pretty buildings, then you’re in it for the wrong reasons. additionally, i’d say your academic probation is definitely a cue from the university to take a good look at your school career, and make a serious decision about where you want to proceed from here.

    finally, there are plenty of exciting, real-world volunteer opportunities that don’t have a GPA requirement at all. i’ve done my fair share of educational, rewarding, productive volunteering, and not once have i had to provide my GPA. university is definitely not the only path towards being a successful, productive member of society, and doing some volunteer work could be your entryway into a career you actually, y’know, enjoy. so take a look around!

    best,

    aska

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  • failing,  summer

    the probation equation (and summer consideration)

    March 3, 2014

    I’m gonna start by thanking you first because I’m gonna go off on a bit of an emotional rant so I probably won’t remember afterwards. So thanks for your help.

    I fucked up, I fucked up so bad. I’m a first year at UTM and I’m failing all four of my courses. It’s not even from not understanding the material
    either, I just never showed up to lectures and tutorials and procrastinated and got sidetracked by work and a family illness. Point is, it’s my fault, I was cocky and I let myself get distracted. I could have handled things better, but I didn’t and I know that and I want to fix it now.

    I’ve been kicking it into high gear this past week and I plan on trying hard to at least pass. But worst case scenario, I fail all four courses, will I get kicked out of school? And if I’m allowed to stay, I know I’d have to get my GPA up next year, but I’d basically be looking at a 5th year of school right? And would a summer course change anything? I know people with low GPAs are discouraged from signing up for summer courses but I also think that if I buckled down and focused I could pass a summer course, but would getting a single credit in the summer just fuck things up, am I better off just accepting that I’ll be doing a 5th year and retaking the courses I may or?may not fail in September?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    well thank you for coming here. being proactive and seeking help is so much better than having a panic attack and crying about it (which is how i dealt with first year). so good on ya.

    first thing: they’re not gonna kick you out right away, even if you fail all four courses. if you finish with a GPA under 1.50, you’ll be put on academic probation. what that means is that the next semester you take, you will have to get above a CGPA (that’s cumulative grade point average) of 1.50 to be taken off probation. if you get below a CGPA of 1.50, but a sessional GPA above 1.70, you’ll do the next semester on probation as well. if you get below a CGPA of 1.50 AND below a sessional GPA of 1.70, you get suspended for one year. so even in the worst case scenario, you don’t get kicked out. if you don’t know what your GPA is, you can figure it out with this and this (just go to page 11 of the powerpoint).

    if you are put on probation, i would recommend that you not take a summer semester. summer school’s really tricky because it moves quickly, and if you’re trying to get above a 1.50 CGPA to get yourself off probation, you’ll want the best possible circumstances in your next semester to get those marks. if you wait until fall to do your first term on probation, you’re more likely to do well. consider that.

    if you don’t get put on probation (i.e. if you finish this year with a GPA above 1.50), then sure, take a summer course – if you think you can handle it. like you say, doing one credit over the summer can mess things up by giving you more than you can handle, so just redoing first year without trying to catch up in the summer might be the best choice. but you shouldn’t feel bad about that! a lot of people take five years to complete their degree.

    you also may want to consider if university is really for you, or if maybe you need to take some time off before coming back to uni. i understand that certain specific circumstances contributed to what’s happened to you, but i’d recommend you take some time to self-reflect, and ask yourself whether what you’re doing/studying is the best use of your time. your time belongs to you, right? so use it how you want to.

    best,

    aska

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  • failing,  first year

    failing’s not all bad

    January 27, 2014

    I’m a first-year student and I failed one course, but am doing?exceptionally well in the others, my question is basically: What happens?now?

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

    hey there,

    depends on the course. if it’s a prerequisite for the program you wanted to pursue in second year, you may wanna retake it (or look into a different subject POSt). if it’s just an elective or a breadth requirement filler, then there’s less damage control to be done. you’ll just have to make up for that course somewhere else, either by taking another course in the summer or in your 2nd, 3rd or 4th year.

    there’s nothing OFFICIAL that has to be done. you don’t have to like, write an apology letter to the university or anything. no one’s gonna slap your wrist for this. just assess the damage and plan ahead. it’s all up to you, my wayward first-year. you’re making the decisions now.

    good luck,

    aska

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  • failing,  grades

    praying for a pass

    January 16, 2014

    Hey aska!

    Just got my final marks back and unfortunately I failed bch210 by a few percentage. I’m a fourth year student who was SUPPOSED to graduate this summer… Yeah, ouch :/
    I just needed to ask what kind of official university regulation process I should go through with in an attempt to change my mark- the recheck or remark or whatever its called. The final was mostly MC and there was a tiny bit dedicated to SA questions.
    Also, on a slightly unofficial note, do you think I’d have a chance at getting my mark bumped to the 50 I need by falling on my knees in front of the prof? (: (:

    Thanks for your helppp

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    well actually, the university all but OFFICIALLY RECOMMENDS going to your professor and begging down on your knees (that’s what you meant right?? yes of course it is i know it is), but only before the exam. in the aftermath, you need to go through some extra shenanigans for a re-read (if you think it was unfairly marked) or a grade re-check (if you think there’s been a clerical error in marking), and you don’t go to your instructor right away. instead, you go to your faculty registrar’s office, pay a fee, and then your paper can get re-read/re-checked as the case may be. then you go from there.

    keep in mind though that if it’s re-read, your mark might actually go down. also it costs money that you are statistically unlikely to have. so think about it carefully before requesting a re-read/re-check!

    best of luck with it,

    aska

     

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