• math

    but why do we math

    July 8, 2013

    Hi aska,

    I want to get into med school and to do that i need to keep my GPA up. I think I can manage physics, but the co req of PHY131 and PHY132 are MAT 135 and MAT 136 which is a math overload. My brain cannot handle it. Still I’d like to get some preparation in physics for the MCAT. I can’t drop the courses if I do bad in them since it will leave a large hole in the amount of credits that I want. I really don’t know what to do. Please help

    ———————————————

    Hey hey

    So let’s deal with the first problem: how can you deal with all the math?

    Seek help, obviously!

    Drop into a Math Aid Centre on campus, form a study group somewhere, get some tutoring, yada yada yada.

    But if that doesn’t work, we move on: how can you deal with the “large hole in the amount of credit [you] want”?

    1) Accept the fact that there is a large hole. Fair enough. It’s good prep for real life! You’ll soon find large holes in your wallet, for example.

    2a) Take summer school courses! There an extra strain on your wallet buuuuut…

    b) Take advantage of your program fees. Basically, that dreaded flat fee you pay every August for full-time students means that you can take anywhere between 3.0 and 6.0 FCEs. 😉

    Luckily for you, I doubt you’ve actually set up your timetable yet, so just accommodate the fact you’re going to be in one hell of a math-heavy year. This means try to lighten it here and there by taking things you know won’t be too much of a struggle for you and make sure you manage your time wisely.

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • grades

    too many grades, too little time

    July 8, 2013

    Hey Aska,

    Are there set deadlines for final marks to be posted each semester? After every final I find myself frantically refreshing my ROSI every hour for the next 2-3 weeks to see how I did. I feel like if I knew a set date they had to be available by, maybe I could just relax and wait for said date (who am I kidding? Probably not).

    Thanks!!

    ~K

    ———————————————

    Hey K

    Sadly, no, there is not a set date for when final grades come out.

    I can tell you that there are internal deadlines for faculty members to submit their grades following a final exam, but even those are flexible.

    Honestly, your best bet is to wait a few weeks following your exam to save yourself some refreshing. I can tell you that for the S/Y grades of 2012-2013, the grades were set to come out “around May Two-Four weekend.”

    So by that logic, about three weeks after an academic session seems reasonable for your wait time. I know that might seem disgustingly long, but with the many, many students with their many, many grades… yeah.

    But if you’re lucky, your prof might have posted your grade on Blackboard!

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • admissions

    money suckers

    July 5, 2013

    Hello, I was just wondering if, after I accept my offer, are we required to make a payment or deposit in order to hold our spot at the University? Or will the school notify me about this if the time comes? They haven’t let me know anything as of yet, but my sister had to do this when she accepted her offer at a different University.

    Thanks!

    ?????????

    Hey hey

    Luckily for you, nope, the university does not require you to make a deposit!

    Admittedly, it is possible that an academic deposit might be required, but if that were the case, you would’ve been told in your acceptance package.

    So unless you were told to pay a little early, you don’t need to.

    And to be totally clear, if you’re asking from the arts and science side of things, you’ll be happy to know that ?no one is really ever asked to pay. And if you’re from say engineering, I contacted an engi friend of mine to give me the scoop on that faculty and it doesn’t seem like they ask you for a deposit either –?but I’m sure Tom will give us his two cents about the engineering side of things. 😉

    But all the university asks for is that you keep up the good grades — but even then, if that doesn’t happen, they’re pretty lenient.

    HOWEVER, if you plan on living in residence, that’s when you’ll have to make a deposit to hold your spot.

    sitting with soaked socks,
    aska

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  • UTM,  UTSC

    in the words of cady heron…

    July 4, 2013

    Is there a max. limit to the number of courses you can take at UTM or UTSC to meet degree requirements?

    ———————————————

    Okay so

    After checking the calendar and finding it to be seemingly correct (as it should be) but also somewhat suspicious, I had to delve in further and go about asking many people, being referred to other people, and then getting to the head honcho.

    But I found your answer:

    (I love that movie.)

    As it would seem, UTM and UTSC have their own limitations in terms of their students taking courses at St. George, but apparently, if a St. Georger wants to go elsewhere, they can go elsewhere. AND they can take as many courses as they want!

    BUT—

    You’re just going to have to do a lot of talking to the registrar’s office to make sure you’re properly fulfilling your degree requirements. Those are all set up in the calendar and on Degree Explorer to accommodate St. George courses, so just make sure whatever you take will suffice.

    For example, if you take BIOA01H3 which is the exclusion of BIO120H1, clarify with your registrar that it can still count towards fulfilling group 4. I’m sure they’ll let it slide, but be sure to double check everything. 🙂

    I highly doubt you’ll have any trouble though if you’re just concerned with degree requirements.

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • bird courses,  breadth requirements,  easy

    intro to ornithology

    July 4, 2013

    What are these bird courses I hear of? Are they like a two in one breadth requirement fulfiller? And if sooo, what’s an easy class to fulfill 4 and 5 considering I hate math, love history and don’t mind a little science?

    Thanks.

    ———————————————

    Yo.

    Bird courses are basically super easy courses. They’re courses people take because they have a free slot in their timetable and want something that isn’t really going to bust their CGPA.

    They certainly can fulfil two breadth categories, so long as the bird course in question is worth 1.0 FCE. So for example, if you take RLG100Y (which, according to some, is a bird course), you can satisfy 0.5 of credit requirement for both group 2 and group 3.

    Just note that it’s a bit hard to identify something as a “bird course.” It all really depends on whether or not you can consider World Religions to be a bird course, right?

    Bird courseiness is based on the content, your learning style, yada yada yada.

    But if your interest in bird courses has to do with getting groups 4 and 5 out of the way since I’m going to assume you’re a humanities or social sciences student, here are a few suggestions from myself and another aska incarnation who I nagged for their picks!

    Admittedly, a few of these aren’t quite “bird courses” so much as they are “more approachable sciencey ones” that can be conquered by the clueless humanities/social science student.

    So:

    AST101H The Sun and its Neighbours (Group 5)
    aska: “Why did you find this course easy? What did you learn?”
    Potentially high on oregano oil student: “I learned that we are all made of stardust.”
    aska: Well okay then!
    ?

    AST201H Stars and Galaxies (Group 5)
    aska: “And this course?”
    PHOOOS: “Basically a regurgitation of The Sun of its Neighbours […] Also, in the lecture, you look at these beautiful slides of the stars and the skies! It’s totally like…Big Bang Theory comes to Con Hall! OMG QUOTE ME.”

    ANT100Y Intro to Anthropology (Group 3 + Group 4)
    aska: “Amazing course. I loved it. AMAAAAAZING.”
    PHOOoS: “Linguistic and socio-cultural parts were so easy, but the bio was a biiiit tough.”

    EEB202H Plants and Society (Group 4)
    Nameless Student Who Seemed to Really Like the Course: “It was like the prof liked plants more than people!”
    2011-12 Anti-Calender: General words of praise and an 81% retake rate.

    And then some other things I’ve been told were great:

    • PCL102H The Art of Drug Discovery (Group 4)
    • EEB204H Diversity of Living Organisms (Group 4)
    • EEB214H Evolution and Adaptation (Group 4)
    • JUM205H Mathematical Personalities (Group 5)
    • CSB202H Further Exploration in Biotechnology (Group 4)
    • CHM101H The Chemistry and Biology of Organic Molecules: Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll (Group 5)

    Enjoy!

    aska

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  • life science,  UTM

    no leniency for life science

    July 3, 2013

    Hello,

    I got admitted into UTM in about April or May, I have taken Pre-Calc and Calc 12; Chem 12; Bio 12, and English 12.

    I have recently logged into my ROSI account, and I looked at my time table there, there are already some courses on there (are those mandatory courses?). Also, do I have to take English? Is English a Mandatory first year course for life science?

    Thank you very much,
    Jean

    ———————————————

    Jean,

    UTM makes your timetables for you?

    I did not know that. I am enlightened. Thank you.

    Granted, their website DOES say that all first-year students take first-year bio, chem, and math with wording that makes it seem like you don’t have a choice, so I guess those are mandatory.

    And no, you don’t have to take English. Don’t worry, you’re not in high school anymore. 😉

    What you do have to take/should take is all based on the program you’re aiming to get into, so take a look at the calendar to decide.

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • library,  money

    to break the bank or break the back?

    July 3, 2013

    Hi again, a quick question for you,

    I am going to be taking two 0.5 courses this July/August and with intensive work that means a lot of print off slides – for me anyways, I don’t bring a laptop to school.

    Anyway, I was wondering if you guys have any insight on where there is to print for less than it is at the libraries, although the location is so convenient. If I can print pages for less that be great. Any ideas?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    Hmmmmmmm.

    I’m cheap and have been saving all my money by bringing my laptop or just… writing my notes so I don’t have much personal experience on this matter, but some places I do know you can check out are:

    1) The Students’ Union Office — $0.03/page

    Personally, I think this is too good to be true.

    Like I just don’t understand. But yeah, the limitations of this one is that printing has to be in black and white, brought in by USB, and paid for in cash. Also, the service is only available Monday to Friday from 12 to 4. Still, those are normal waiting-between-classes hours, so definitely check this one out for me and tell me if it’s real!

    And 2) Kelly Library — $0.08/page

    Yeah, yeah. I know it’s UofT still, but I love em. Basically if you print double-sided on black-and-white — which is their default setting — then it costs 8 cents a page. But if you need it single-sided, then it’ll cost you 10 cents.

    I don’t think going off campus will really do much for you. The university DOES try to be as economical as possible…

    But why don’t you just, you know, write your notes? I get that slides can be important if you need to memorize formulas for example, but if it’s for say key sociological concepts, that’s something you’re better off writing down and learning as opposed to reading off a slide and barely recalling.

    And if that doesn’t float your boat, then invest in a printer!

    It’s easy to whine that you ~*~don’t have the money~*~ but I’m sure if you consider its long-term use and cut back on daily frapps or whatever suits your fancy, you’ll get by. But if you really don’t have the funds… well let’s face it, if you can afford to print the slides, you can probably afford a passable printer.

    Still, I do stress the whole pen and paper thing! 😉

    (Also, take a look at this hilarious post by blogUT about the dos and don’ts of using slides.)

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • graduation

    ignoring the seductive call of senioritis

    July 2, 2013

    Hey hey

    I’m a fourth year and am hoping to graduate in june 2014, BUT the GPA ain’t that great.. So I’m just wondering what happens when you request convocation in November. ?Do they wait till May to approve it orrr is it based on your marks in that semester?

    Did I even ask a question? Anyways, graduation (y)

    Class of 2014 WOO (I hope)

    Thanks a bunch!

    ?????????

    Sup

    When you request convocation, you don’t actually hear from anyone until that request period ends. At that point, you’ll get an email from your registrar or someone telling you that you’re on their list and that you best not botch that year up. Then you get added to a listserv that sends you periodic updates about the whole convocation process (e.g. when are photos taken?).

    But your convocation is based on ALL of your marks.

    Including those of your fourth year so do try fighting the call of senioritis.

    It’s not all that uncommon for students to suddenly fail a course in their last semester because the whole “omg it’s over no more studying wooooo” mindset has kicked in and then exams happen and then grades come out and then there are resigned FMLs. Trust me. ?I awkwardly patted the back of one of those people in the middle of a vacation.

    So yeah. Work on those grades!

    And if you CGPA doesn’t meet the required 1.85… well, go talk to your registrar’s office. I’m pretty sure these things work on a case by case basis, but it’s possible that they might allow you to graduate with a Bachelors Degree (as opposed to one with honours) if the only thing holding you back is your CGPA.

    Cheers!

    aska

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  • summer

    if i barely attend a class, does it still count?

    July 2, 2013

    Hi Aska,

    I was wondering if the GPA for summer courses has an affect on the cGPA?

    Thanks a lot
    JJ

    ———————————————

    JJ,

    Yes, your summer courses have an affect on your CGPA.

    Basically all your courses do — unless, of course, you’ve made them CR/NCR, you did a late withdrawal, they’re transfer credits, or they’re EXTs (e.g. exclusions, extra 100-levels, yada yada yada).

    So don’t take summer school thinking that it’s just a joke!

    The grades do still count. 😉

    xoxo,
    aska

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