• probation

    block questions scare me – return of the block questions

    May 13, 2013

    Hi! Im a first year at UofT
    I’m asking yet another question about academic probation which I have been freaking out about since the exam cram session in March/April.
    I have yet to be notified that I am on probation. Is no news good news? I may just be insecure and think I’m going to be placed on probation. Anyways, if I am on probation, I have read countless times that I will be put on good standing if I have a cumulative GPA of 1.50 or higher, or less then 1.50 CGPA and a 1.70 annual GPA.
    First off, I know this may sound stupid and ignorant, but I really really don’t know. What exactly is a 1.50 GPA in percentage (of average) because on the websites I’ve checked it says a 1.30 is a 57-59 and then 1.70 is 60-62. Well where is the 1.50? Is this a really stupid question?
    Also, since I am a first year, and I know a CGPA means my average overall including every course I have taken and annual means only in one term, Well If I’m on probation with a CGPA of less then 1.50, for my first year, then that means that my last term didn’t go well either, or I wouldn’t be on probation, right? So that rule cannot apply to me. So I must raise my CGPA to a 1.50.
    I am taking two summer courses. I know this may seem ill advised but I need them to get into the program that I want to, and they are an extension of an intro course I took this year and I did pretty good on it, and I really like it. I’ pretty confident I can pull it off.
    That is all,
    Thanks!

    ?????????

    Yo.

    No news isn’t necessarily good news. At this point, CGPAs have yet to be added up/put on ROSI, so while you may very well be in good standing, you can also be in probation.

    The best way to figure this out though is to use this GPA calculator graciously given to us by UTSC to figure out what you’ve ended the year with. And just note, to avoid any confusion, that since you’re in first year, your CGPA and annual GPA are going to be the same thing.

    Now a 1.49 (because let’s just stick with that since it’s our concern) is tricky to define, but if you want it in percentage, I guess it’s around 59 or so? I know, things are a huge pain because of that lack of clear equivalent of a 1.49 between the 1.3 and 1.7 bit, but basically if you have all your grades, jot down their grade point values, and then add up the values. Then divide sum by number of courses. Then voila, your CGPA. Just don’t forget that Y courses have double the weight of H courses!

    Annnnnd uhhhh I don’t really understand what you’re asking me in the second chunk of questions, but annual, to be clear, means yearly. So it refers to the GPA of both the fall and winter semesters combined. But long story short, yeah, your CGPA needs to be 1.50 or over? to be in good standing.

    As in not on probation.

    And then summer courses.

    Oh, summer courses…

    If you’re in a place where you’re afraid of being on probation, there’s a good chance that you are. I don’t mean to be harsh, but it’s best to be realistic. If that’s the case, summer courses are NOT a good idea, largely because they’re accelerated. You’re doing twice as many readings as you normally do and you can very well have a midterm or essay due in your second week of class.

    Whatever program you’re looking at will be around next year, but if you don’t meet the requirements to pull you out of probation at the end of summer, you certainly won’t be.

    Again, I’m not saying that to be harsh. Summer school can be a bit of a hit or miss situation, and if you’ve been missing all year or barely hitting — hence the probation possibility — summer school could very well lead you to suspension.

    Anyway, if you ARE on probation, you’ll see that on ROSI by the end of the month when your sparkling CGPA tells you everything. Likewise, you’ll be mailed a letter from the Faculty explaining your probation, and you’ll be contacted by your college to discuss… things.

    Best of luck though!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • online courses

    and by “several” online courses uoft means seven

    May 13, 2013

    Does u of t offer online courses?

    And if so, can I take them and use the credits towards my degree?

    ———————————————

    Hey hey!

    Online courses aren’t really big at UofT, but after a good twenty minutes of scouring the internet, giving up, trying again, and then finally using a little common sense and checking my aska archives, I finally found the one page UofT seems to offer on online courses!

    So good job, past-aska! You da man. Or woman. Whatever.

    But yes, if you take something from that list, it can certainly count towards your degree.

    xoxo

    aska

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  • GPA

    generation y would die without calculators

    May 13, 2013

    My GPA is 3.2 right now and I have 2 years left, can I still graduate with a 3.8 GPA if i take 5 FCEs each year for the next two years and get As?

    ———————————————

    Yo.

    Oh god. A number question.

    So using this lovely calculator so graciously offered by UTSC to students from all three campuses — I’m looking at you, UTM — I’ve entered your current CGPA with 10.0 FCE’s worth of courses all with full 4.0s.

    Annnnnnd even if you rock the next two years, you’ll only be at a 3.6.

    Which, to be clear, is still a pretty awesome grade! I’d be happy with a 3.6, so don’t sweat that missing 0.2! 🙂

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • history

    staying back for a fifth helping of history

    May 10, 2013

    Hi aska,

    I have asked so many questions of you and you have always come through; I hope you can do the same in this case.

    I will be entering my 5th year in the fall. I currently have a major in history, but I have applied to switch into a history specialist. The history specialist allows students to take up to 2.0 FCEs in courses related to history.

    I was wondering: if a student has taken more then 2.0 history related courses, is it possible for them to choose which ones can apply towards the requirement in the specialist program?

    For example, I have POL200Y1, SMC413H1 and ENG385H1 that apply towards that particular requirement; Is it possible for me to take VIC440Y1 in the next year, and have that replace POL200Y1 in the related courses and apply towards the 9.0 history credits requirement? If possible, this would allow me to take only 5.0 credits in the next year rather than 6.0.

    Thank you in advance for all the help.

    ———————————————

    Hey!

    Glad I’ve been helpful. 🙂

    Students don’t really choose what courses count for what requirement if they have a surplus of them. Basically if I took three half-credit courses in pre-modern history where I only need 1.0 FCE, Degree Explorer or whoever will be looking at your grades just takes whatever it feels like to satisfy the requirement.

    So in regards to your situation, I’m a little confused.

    Yes, VIC440Y can “replace” POL200Y (depending on how Degree Explorer feels) when looking at whether or not you’ve fulfilled your requirements, but why would taking it next year alleviate your course load?

    Doesn’t it make things worse? I mean you’re taking an extra credit which you don’t need…

    Am I missing something?

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions,  trinity college

    there can only be one… TRINITY one

    May 10, 2013

    I got waitlisted for trinity one program International Relations, what’s my chance of getting in? How long is the waitlist and were do I stand there? Is there anyone I can talk to about this specific question?

    Thanks. 😀

    ———————————————

    Hey hey,

    For starters, congratulations! Trinity One makes me think of the Slug Club with how… Trinity it is (read: elitist). It’s competitive and they’re picky so yay you for making it to the waitlist at least.

    But for these One programs, waitlists are a little tricky.

    From what my source tells me, how things work is that after the initial 25 students are chosen, the rest are waitlisted. I assume that of the, say, 75 applicants, the other 50 are ranked in such a way that if someone from the 25 decides to go to McGill, numero uno on the waitlist is contacted. So I suppose the waitlist = [number of applicants] – 25.

    That is, of course, assuming they didn’t throw out your application entirely for writing something like “I wanna join cuz it seems fun” on your statement/essay/thing.

    As for your standing… dunno.

    If you’re super keen on knowing your ranking though, I’d recommend chatting with program director or associate registrar. I know if must be frustrating to not know how many people need to be offed for you to get in, so I hope they have answers for you! 😉

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • petition,  suspension

    this week on who’s the special snowflake…

    May 10, 2013

    I got into suspension,I am in my second year at UTSG.I have got LEGIT extenuating circumstances that got me into this.Spoke to my registrar,counsellor and filed a petition.Providing them with all the necessary documents and yes I was made sure to get it through my head that petitions as such RARELY EVER get granted.

    So I want to know what are my chances of setting an appointment with the Dean?? I want to, I NEED to get of suspension.If you can please help me out with how to go about fixing an appointment with the Dean via email/office any sort of information you can provide me with at this point would be highly appreciated! Or anyone whom you think I should speak to if I really wish to influence the decision. Even anyone you know got himself/herself out of suspension.

    I am totally,completely DESPERATE to get myself out of this.PLEASE help me.

    ———————————————

    Hey hey!

    Have you ever read the Faculty’s spiel on petitions regarding suspension? It’s surprisingly… not mechanical. It’s actually kind of hilarious in this “k what are you doing look at your life choices” kind of way. Like a lot of the lines are making me laugh obnoxiously.

    I mean LOOK AT THESE:

    – “They often want to make up for lost time and promise to redouble their efforts. However, they have just spent one whole session on Probation and their results are still marginal. They are not headed in the right direction.”

    – “Th[ese steps to appealing the suspension] may sound easy enough – ‘Everything’s okay now!‘ – but it is not.”

    – “Allowing you to enrol in even more courses without having resolved your problems just means that you will be in even deeper GPA difficulty at the end of the next year – so deep you may never get up to the 1.85 CGPA needed to graduate.”

    (Okay okay, some aren’t THAT funny, but that “so deep” bit on the last one killed me.)

    But back to the matter on hand:

    To be clear, petitions are largely a paper process. Meaning the only person you’re dealing with in person is your college registrar to give them your form/statement/medical note/etc. There’s isn’t really someone you can talk to so that you can “influence” the decision, so you’re better off just… well, waiting things out.

    Here’s the general contact info for the office of the dean, but I don’t really recommend trying to set up an appointment. I mean you can and no one can stop but think of it like this: the dean represents the Faculty’s rules. He’s not likely to sidestep them for you — especially when you’ve already started the petition process. If you sent him something today trying to make an appointment about your appeal, he’d probably just tell you to wait until you hear a reply, meaning you’re not likely to get an appointment.

    But if your “extenuating circumstances” are legit and you really truly shouldn’t be on suspension, then there shouldn’t be anything to worry about, right?

    For now, I recommend waiting.

    Sure, it might seem like your petition is taking forever, but keep in mind how busy the petitions office is, especially at this time of the year where students are “sick” and need to defer their exams. Likewise, if your situation really is complicated and worthy of having the suspension lifted, it’ll take extra long since they’ll really need to look into matters.

    So sit tight and enjoy your time off or something.

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • courses,  UTSC

    whose requirement is it anyway?

    May 10, 2013

    Hi there, I had a question regarding course calendar changes at UTSC. I enrolled into a specialist programmed in 2011, and would just like to know if I would be able to take courses in future calendars that aren’t in my calendar’s course list. Thanks for reading 🙂

    Regards,
    James

    ———————————————

    Hey James,

    The rule of the thumb is that students are supposed to follow the calendar of the year they entered their program.

    So if I entered my English major in 2010, I follow those requirements, but if I play the fickle card and decide I want to do a Specialist and switch over in 2011, I now use the 2011 calendar’s requirements.

    But if your situation is something along the lines of “oh, they added some courses that sound totally rad” and said courses aren’t on your year’s calendar requirements but work for another, go have a chat with your program’s undergraduate adviser person thing! I’m sure they’ll be accommodating. 🙂

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • courses

    if it doesn’t count towards your degree, it doesn’t count toward anything really

    May 8, 2013

    Hey !

    On the site for subject posts it says, “No more than six courses may be 100-series.” Does the six courses include a failed course?

    Thanks,
    Janet

    ?????????

    Hey Janet,

    This is one of those questions that put me in a moment of doubt of my own basic knowledge because I’ve never been asked that before.

    But no, that doesn’t include failed courses. So you can have 8.0 FCEs worth of 100-level courses, but as long as 2.0 of them are failures, you’re good.

    Or to word that better: a failed 100-level course does not count towards that 6.0 FCE limit.

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • OSAP

    a different kind of probation problem

    May 8, 2013

    Dear Aska,

    I am stuck in a situation that has me very depressed and confused, I just finished my 3rd year on Osap at Utsg New college, during fall term I took and passed 5 courses, but in winter term I took 4 courses but was only able to pass 2, Osap requires 3 credits by the end of 8 months while taking 1.5 credits each session, i seem to have fulfilled this requirement but i am very confused if I also have to pass 1.5 credit each session, I was placed on Osap probation during first year, and if I do not meet the satisfied academic progress requirement I could be suspended for my last year, which has got me very depressed 🙁 , Can you please clarify this situation for me.

    Thanks

    ?????????

    Yo.

    Oh god. A money question. I can barely handle my own OSAP dealings…

    It’s okay. I’ve got this.

    Okay so no, you did not fulfill the 1.5 full credits per semester requirement as while you finished the first semester with 2.5 full credits you finished the second with only 1.0. Understand?

    So yes. From all that you’ve told me, sounds like you’re going to end up on OSAP Suspension, but I would recommend talking to Enrollment Services to clarify everything. They’ll probably give you a run down on what it means and what you can possibly do to fix things.

    But from what I heard from my OSAP Guy, here’s what I can advise you to do to appeal:

    1) You can continue the letter thing you’ve probably had going on since your first probation, but also include some supporting documentation to explain WHY you did poorly in second semester (e.g. extenuating circumstances, sickness, blah blah blah).

    OR

    2) You can continue the letter thing again and ALSO include a letter from an academic adviser explaining why you did poorly that second semester. This means you should probably make contact with your registrar asap.

    However, if neither of these work and you have absolutely no way of paying, sadly, all I can tell you is take a year off and… well, work. Or apply for a ton of scholarships. Or work in the summer. Whatever works for you!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • pharmacy

    from near failure to pharmacy

    May 8, 2013

    Hello aska!!!

    I’ve finished my second year for life science at UofT St.George and have always wanted to get in to Leslie Dan pharmacy. My grades 1st year were all 50s and 60s 1st semester and 70s 2nd semester and I did not even take a full course load (3.5 credits instead). I was horrified after my 1st semester and barged into my registrars office for the 1st time, without an appointment, in tears. I’m upset at myself for not trying harder, sucks that I wasn’t able to wake up and pull myself together. Personal stress had a lot to do with it, and I also kept a weekend job that hurt me time wise. I’ve driven myself crazy about my low marks because I feel like they’ve hindered me for pharmacy and they’ve made me feel stupid as hell compared to others that have higher marks. In second year my marks were mostly 70s, a couple 60s and a couple high 80s, and I took a full course load. I’m keen to try my very best in my 3rd year to get high marks.

    I’m wondering if my chances of getting into Leslie Dan are disrupted by my low marks? Also, does the faculty get rid of any low marks when considering you (as Med School does)? I heard somewhere that they take off your 1st year marks if you apply in 3rd year?

    Thanks a lot for your time, I’ve spent a lot of time reading your replies to other people’s questions and you’re awesome.

    Laurel-is-sad

    ———————————————

    Laurel-is-sad

    Since you’ve read past posts — most likely the most recent ones — I’m sure you’ve already seen me tell people over and over that your first year grades don’t make or break the rest of your academic career. Everyone has a horrible first year and the grades to prove it, so fret not!

    Seriously. October of my first year, I was considering transferring to Seneca, and I thank my lucky stars every day that I did not.

    So do those early 50s and 60s disrupt your chances for getting into Pharmacy? I say not at all!

    I mean, what reaaaally matters is the later grades (which I’m sure you’ve also read many times before). While yes, those first year marks DO contribute to your CGPA, you seem to be working toward the greater goal now, so I think you should be on a steady rise!

    But do be careful to not slack off or get distracted because all of your grades matter — especially if they’re part of the academic requirements.

    Although Pharmacy says they just want a 70 average, remember that this IS a competitive program and just a 70 isn’t going to be enough. According to their FAQ, they only take 240 students a year and usually get about 600 applicants. Likewise, know that they want you to be able to handle a full course load of 5.0 FCE and still maintain some good grades, so keep on track.

    Best,

    aska(-is-sleepy)

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  • philosophy

    an insistant inquiry

    May 7, 2013

    Hi aska,

    I thoroughly messed up my first year with a GPA of 2.0 (if Rosi decides to round off my average to its next integer that is, my percentage average is a 62.7) some serious labouring is in order and I’m willing to work my rear off to get myself out of this Black hole I’ve managed to put myself in, thanks to chronic procrastination. I’m pursuing the philosophy specialist and eventually hope to get into law school (of course that dream took a bullet after seeing my results). I guess I would be able to salvage my final GPA if I get straight 4.0’s in the next three years.

    However, I’ve heard that Philosophy is hard to score in, and also one of my friends who is in her 4th year told me about how she had dropped her own Philosophy course after it was dragging her GPA down. I took Phl100 and thought it was not so bad in terms of the level of difficulty, even with my chronic procrastination. In terms of the essays in that course, I would end up doing it the night before, usually with help from the lecture notes since I hadn’t read the text itself, and would usually end up with a B- to a C-.

    So, considering I’m pursuing a Philosophy specialist, realistically, how much can I score? Has anyone at UofT actually graduated with a 4.0 in a Philosophy specialist?Should I start considering alternative career paths? I haven’t just killed off chances at a good final GPA and law school with my damned 2.0, have I?!

    THANK YOU!

    Sincerely,
    -Guilt-ridden and Hopeless, now wishing she’d attended all those lectures.

    AND

    Hi aska!

    I’d actually sent out a similar question earlier, but I’m not sure if it got lost in your inbox which I’m sure is full of other questions from similarly desperate students…

    anyway, how good of an idea do you think it is to pursue the philosophy specialist if I’m aiming for a really good GPA at the end of university? I’ve heard that Phl usually drags your gpa down. Do you know how other students who have taken the Phil specialist have fared in general? Is a 4.0 cgpa in phl possible at UofT? I tried googling this as much as possible, but to no avail, so I came here in hopes that you would have the answer! 🙂

    Thanks!

    🙂

    ———————————————

    Impatient Inquirer,

    Yes, I got your other email. Your two emails were a grand one day apart. Sometimes most of the time aska gets an influx of emails and takes a day or more to answer. It’s almost like aska takes time to eat and sleep and stuff! 😉

    So:

    • How well you do in philosophy comes with a number of factors: how much you actually work, attending lectures, doing readings, actually caring. That’s all on you, but you seem to have some sort of aptitude for it so give it a try if you’d like.
    • A full on 4.0 in any humanities program is difficult since they’re largely essay-based, meaning your prof or TA will require a loooot of wowing for you to score that high.
    • Has anyone ever gotten a full on 4.0? Not sure. Probably.
    • You haven’t killed your law school dream. For the most part, almost all post-grad programs really just look at your last two years of university, although they do consider your CGPA as a whole. Likewise law school apps come with a lot of other components like your LSAT scores, recommendation letters, yada yada yada.

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • science

    in need of an internal transfer for immunology

    May 7, 2013

    Hello again. So aside from that english course that I failed, I have another painful thorn currently stuck on my bottom. I’m a first year science student in UTSC and is in the psych program. However, I am planning on perhaps transferring to immunology or pathobiology in UTSG. I’m fine with psych, just that my mum will probably kick me out of the family once she knows I didn’t do any biology program or something to get to med school. And I also really wanted to get into immunology. Anyhoo, I took biology, psych and chem and is planning to take calculus this september. We just got our marks on rosi and my bio mark did not look good at all. I honestly thought I did better than that as I did well in my midterms and I believe I did really well on the finals.

    Immunology wants a minimum of 65% in bio, chem and calculus. I know I can’t take the course all over again as I’ve already taken the final exam but is there any other way to undo this? Should I pray a thousand times tonight to hopefully change this or should I just forget all about immunology?

    Sincerely yours,
    Ian.

    ———————————————

    Ian,

    To be clear, you can take courses at other campuses, but not enroll in their subject POSts. So you can take random Bio courses at St. George, but you can’t enroll in Immunology unless your actually a student there (read: internal transferring).

    Now I’m not really sure by what you mean by “undo this.” Like, erase your grades? Ha. If only. Yeah, that’s not gonna happen.

    But if you’re below the required grades, you can certainly retake the courses. This just means that they’ll be deemed as extra credits — meaning they won’t count towards the 20 FCE you need to graduate and the grades won’t toward your CGPA, but they’ll be considered for program requirements.

    So yeah. If you’re set on Immunology, you can transfer and retake the requirements since it’s a really competitive program, or you can look into other Life Science programs. Really, there are tons, so no need to worry.

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • courses

    determining levels of difficulty

    May 7, 2013

    Hey aska,

    I am going into my 2nd year, and am enrolled in an Environmental Major (Arts) program. However, all except about 2.5 credits (I have checked) of the required subjects for this program are in the 300-level courses. And when I try to fit those 200-levels into my schedule, I could only fit about 1.0 200-level credits into my schedule.

    Of course, I am now freaking out on whether or not I should take some 300-level courses in my second year. I was wondering, since I have taken some 200-level courses this year, are the 300-levels more difficult? How are they different from the 200-levels?

    And, do you have any information on any 300-level english courses since I need to take one of the 300-levels next year too in order to fulfill other requirements.

    Thank you,
    scared-for-my-gpa

    ?????????

    Like-Every-UofT-Student-;)

    If you’ve taken some 200-levels already and think you’re ready, then power to ya and get on the 300s! I mean if you’ve tested the 200-levels and you’re okay with them, then might as well move on, right? My recommendation would be to save the 300s for the second term if you really want to take them now, but it’s all up to your comfort level.

    I’d say that yes, naturally, they’re more difficult, but they’re also more specific and a lot more fun in that you’re in a class that you chose because you’re interested in it, so that tends to make you a little more enthusiastic about doing the work for it, right?

    Likewise, they’re usually a lot smaller than 100s and 200s, so you get to engage a lot more with other students and your prof if that’s your cup of tea.

    As for 300-level English courses, take a look at what’s offered next year and be wary of the requirements. You’re going to need 2.0 FCE in English to be able to take them. But a recommendation? Anything by Vikki Visvis! Basically greatest prof ever. Ever. 😀

    Cheers!

    aska

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