• admissions,  life science

    panic! at the high schools

    January 31, 2014

    Hey, i don’t know if you remember me, but i had asked u a question earlier and your answer had made my day, when i was having a bad day. i just wanted to say: thanks so much! I am back with more questions as a result haha, please don’t be afraid to bash me and be as honest as possible. thank you in advance!

    Alright so I REALLY want to get early acceptance (into u of t life science). Can you please tell me the requirements for getting early acceptance to this program, and how uoft will decide whether to offer you an early acceptance or not? OH, and please also tell me the acceptance criteria overall, early or not, for getting into uoft life sci. How do the officials decide whether you’re in or not; what is the whole procedure? oh btw, i’ve just completed the first semester of gr 11, going onto gr 11 sem 2.

    Last question, sorry to bother you 🙁 uhm so my grade 11 first sem marks… yeah they dropped a LOT. so right now, i’m looking at the following final marks: 81 in u level math, 84 in u level bio, 95 in leadership and 93 in world religions. these are my first semester finals. next semester i definitely plan on getting 90+, especially in english, chem and physics, all of which i have next semester. do i still have a chance at early acceptance? please be honest 🙁

    thank you for doing this, you’re really a great help to us!

    EDIT: i just sent u a question and i forgot to add the following information: i want to get accepted into the st.george campus atu of t! sorry for the inconvenience! i’m the grade 11 student asking about acceptance procedure and early acceptance.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m glad i could brighten your day! i mean, it’s kinda my job, but i also just love doin’ it, so that’s handy. also don’t worry, i’ve been given complete license by the POWERS THAT BE to bash y’all just as much as i want.

    man, i’m kinda loathe to talk about early acceptance. if you absolutely need something to cling to, i can tell you that if you apply early and have a like 95%+ average in grade 11/first semester grade 12, then you’ll probably be accepted early.

    BUTTT honestly (and i wanna stress this), it doesn’t really MATTER when you get accepted. like, i don’t know what your specific situation is, but it shouldn’t make a difference if you get accepted in february or december or march; you have until june to make a decision in canadian unis anyway. d’you need to brag about it at Christmas to your grandparents? ’cause you know you can just lie to them. i doubt they’ll ask for proof.

    as for the WHOLE PROCEDURE of acceptance, it goes like this:

    1. first, the admissions people all gather around a round, oaken table, hewn by the god Spadina himself in the early days of Toronto, and preform a traditional Gregorian chant extolling the virtues of Margaret Atwood the All-Mother, and the subway system.

    2. they pray that those who don’t get accepted be sufficiently punished through holy fire in purgatory, and, if they continue to sin after that, eternal fire in HELL.

    3. they accept everyone with over an 85% average and all the necessary prerequisites. like seriously, your marks are great as they are you have nothing to worry about. just let go of allll your stress. you’ll hear from them by the end of march for sure.

    best of luck and try not to worry too much my friend,

    aska

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  • admissions,  colleges

    i’ve scared the populace

    January 30, 2014

    Hi there,
    Thank you so much for answering all those questions. It’s super helpful ! I’d like to ask if the choice of college determines whether you’ll be accepted or not accepted in Uof’T ? I chose Victoria University as my first choice and University College as my second, so if I dont get admitted in Victoria, will the other colleges look at my applications?

    Thanks a ton.
    Regards.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    aww man, it’s been a while since the last college question! have i scared you all out of asking them? i’m sorry. well, not really. that was kinda my intention. but i still like you guys. you guys are my specials.

    anyway, this is a very REASONABLE COLLEGE QUESTION, so congrats! and it has a very simple answer: first, uoft accepts you, then the colleges look at your application. so your admission to colleges is conditional upon your admission to the university, not the other way around. if you don’t get admitted to vic, you’ll be put into another college.

    but if you DO get into vic, you’ll be in the same college as aska! and that’s something to celebrate, doncha know.

    cheers,

    aska

    P.S. I’m glad you find me helpful, friend. I love being useful. It helps me deal with the fact that I never felt useful to my mother. #psych101

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  • admissions,  engineering

    an ingeniousely engineered engineering science safety net

    January 30, 2014

    Hey there!
    I’m a high school student in an Mississauga high school, and I’m hoping to get into the Engineering Science program…which as we all?know means 4 years of weight loss and no sleep. Its a really tough program, and I am going to try my hardest but what I want to know is,?supposing I don’t get good grades in that program, can I tranfer to one of the core 8 eng programs after 1semester/year or will I just get?booted out?
    On a side note, just wanted to know, does the student profile form really make a difference on the application?
    Thanks a lot!
    Avi

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

    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

    ???????????????
    Avi,

    You just might be the first person to make this stone cold soul laugh … ever, with your weight loss comment. I have noticed the skin and bone appearance on those engineers. that said, it seems like the faculty itself has noticed the same thing, because they actually have instructions on how to transfer?out of engineering science in the first year.

    basically, if you get at least a 60% in the fall term or 55% in the winter term, then you can transfer after either of those terms into any engineering program you want. which is good news.

    as for the student profile: yes, it does matter. it wouldn’t be there if it didn’t make a difference. so don’t slack on it, ya hear?!

    best,

    aska

     

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  • admissions,  architecture

    daniels website: the enigma of our time

    January 29, 2014

    Heya! I’m applying for the Visual Studies program in the Daniel’s school.?I’m fairly worried about this application man, I have an 85 average as of?this term and my one idea supplementary was about designing a backpack (it?was a pretty cool backpack in my humble opinion). Damn, the program looks?horribly mysterious with its minimum online presence, so I was wondering if?you might have an idea of how my marks look for Visual Studies.

    Thanks in advance!

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

    hey there,

    “minimum online presence”, talk about understatement of the century. every time i get a question related to architecture, i have to mentally prepare myself for that website. you’d think design people would know a bit about designing a functional website, huh?

    but seriously, you shouldn’t be worrying about your application. your average is about as good as it gets. an 85% at uoft is a 4.0, you know that, right? that’s like, the highest possible?GPA, so…

    also, that backpack sounds cool. you should make one and sell it to me discounted because i’m helping you out. did i mention you look lovely today? (i need a new backpack. i need a new lots of stuff, if we’re being real.)

    tl;dr: i don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about.

    yours and always open to anonymous backpack donations,

    aska

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  • askastudent announcement

    a little tip for my beloved askees

    January 28, 2014

    hey there,

    this is just a quick bit of advice for those of you who may be browsing this blog for some GENERAL UNI LIFE ADVICE. there are a lot of super-specific (and frankly weird) categories of post on this blog, but a lot of questions come up quite often, and if you wanted some different opinions from various askas throughout the years, or just a lot of information about a certain topic, then there are a few tags that are helpful to browse. wordpress tells me (me and wordpress are tight. we chat all the time) that these ones are the most commonly used:

    so definitely take a gander through those (they’re all on the left-hand side of this blog in a drop-down menu labelled CATEGORIES), but there are lots more. if you’re in grade 12, you might consider the first year and admissions tags. the subject POST tag is kind of a catch-all for program information of all sorts. st. george and transferring have a wealth of info and OPINIONS about the differences between campuses. finally – as always – colleges is always worth a browse for any of you perpetual worrywarts out there.

    happy browsing!

    aska

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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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  • first year,  residence,  woodsworth

    i [don’t] wanna [live] where the people are…

    January 28, 2014

    Hi!
    I was accepted to U toronto Woodsworth College just yesterday :’) I’m super excited! but still waiting to hear back from other unis. I really want to live in the Woodsworth residence! (I love the apartment style single rooms :), however, I did not rank Woodsworth as my first choice on my OUAC application 🙁 Instead, I ranked Innis as first, and Woodsworth as second (i think).
    When I logged on to MyRes, it told me to rank Woodsworth, University College (as UC can supply some rez for Wdw students) and Chestnut in order of preference, but next to Woodsworth there is a note that said “Because you did not rank Woodsworth as first choice…..it is unlikely that you will be placed in this residence”. But if I saved my preferences this early, is there still a tiny chance I will be able to get into Woodsworth residence, or should i just prepare to hear bad news for my own doings 🙁
    Thank you so much for your help and time! 🙂

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i mean, i don’t know if you’ve been in woodsworth, but it’s kinda small (especially if you compare it to uc). they don’t really have a lot of room to spare. if that message appeared on your MyRes, then i’d prepare for the possibility of not being put there.

    however, most of uc’s accommodations are single rooms as well, so if you really want to be placed in a single room, i’d say ranking your choices as 1. woodsworth 2. uc and 3. chestnut should give you a pretty good shot at a single room.

    i also get that you like the apartment style because it’s bigger, and you don’t have to share a bathroom, etc. etc. but you know what? if you get a non-apartment or non-single type room, it’s not that big a deal. honestly, the more you have to adjust your style of living in first year, the better prepared you are for the rest of your life.

    you’re not going to be living with mum and dad for much longer, and the sooner you adjust to the necessity of roommates, shared washrooms/eating spaces, malfunctioning toilets and maybe having to live above a daycare for demon babies (i’m exaggerating. am i exaggerating? let’s not talk about my first year experiences), the sooner you’ll be prepared for life outside of school.

    i know, it’s not what you wanted to hear. but you know what? the university’s gonna be giving you some tough loving every once in a while, so it’s best you hear it from me first. alright? we good? cool. now put on a brave face and don’t let first year push you around, ‘kay?

    aska out.

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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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  • St. George,  Transferring,  UTM

    everybody, everybody wants to be downtown (yeah)

    January 27, 2014

    Hello,

    I am a first-year student currently attending UTM. It was my plan all along to live at home and attend UTM for my first-year, and then switch over to UTSG (where my program of interest is) for the remainder of my undergraduate degree. I’m just about ready to submit my transfer app.

    The site says that for transfer students in their first year (They also said this when I contacted them) They look at your first year marks, as well as your grade 12 makrs from highschool. They do not look at transfer credits as first-year students aren’t eligible to use them.

    To the best of your knowledge, is it very easy to transfer, since it is just between campuses?

    Please get back to me!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    “please get back to me,” as if i ever DON’T get back to people. c’mon guys, doncha know by now that you can TRUST me? i’m like the friendly neighbour down the hall who always talks with you in the laundry room even when you’re pretending really hard to read a book: dependable. chatty. always there. regular in my laundry habits.

    now, about your question. one, what ‘transfer credit’ are you referring to? do you mean ib/ap credits from high school? or transfer credits from first year? because i transferred to the downtown campus after first year and i got transfer credit for both those things. you gotta be specific in your questions, peeps.

    anyway, is it easy? i mean, yeah, bureaucratically speaking. you just use the internal application that i’m sure you’ve already got in order, follow the instructions and voila! i don’t think it’s any more or less easy than transferring from another canadian university.

    obviously, if you didn’t do very well in your first year, you’re going to run into some problems (i’d say that a first-year average of 5% lower than the cut-off your program uses to admit students from grade 12 will give you a good shot at getting in), and it’s harder to get into some programs than others (i’m lookin’ at you, commerce) but i think that goes without saying. you should hear back from them in late march/early april. it’s all pretty straightforward after that: you just, y’know, get on the train to a different school.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  architecture

    building your future (by aska, architect of puns)

    January 27, 2014
    So, Im a UTSC student but I want to transfer into the architecture program at UTSG. I’ve only been here one semester and my gpa wasnt great – a 1.7. What are the odds that I would be accepted. Is there anything I can do to get accepted? I really want to do architecture but it’s not offered on this campus.

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

    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,

    welllll, architecture doesn’t supply a specific mark that they require, but a 1.7 is like the lowest mark you can get without being put on probation. i can’t lie to you man, that’s pretty low. however, it’s not the end of the world. you’ve only done one semester, right? you can still turn it around, if you really want to (notice i said if you WANT to – meaning i want you to think a little bit about if that’s what you really want). if you can pull it together and do REALLY WELL this year AND next year, you might be in a position where you can transfer in by the end of second year.

    after you’ve completed 10.0 credits, you’re no longer eligible to transfer to architecture at utsg. so, let’s say you get a 4.0 in your next three semesters – that would put you at a 3.4 CGPA (which is alright) and a 4.0 AGPA, which might just be good enough to tip the scales in your favour. that said, it’ll be tough to make such a drastic change from one semester to the next, but hey, crazier things have happened.

    in summary: you have one and a half years to FIX YOURSELF UP. if you can pull your grades up right away, i think you might be at uoft architecture in two years’ time. but make no mistake, it’s not gonna be easy. good luck.

    xoxo,

    aska

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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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  • engineering,  grad school

    this person thinks i’m a creep or something gosh

    January 24, 2014
    Hello I am an undergraduate student at University of Waterloo and got some bad marks at Waterloo I am looking to improve all my marks for the last two years (5 year program). I am really hopeful about U of T Graduate Studies in Electrical Engineering as it is a well known university but another reason is that it close to my home.I have read online that U of T looks at the last two years GPA to be above 75% (?). I know this is a minimum requirement but what are my chances if I apply with letters of recommendation and internship experience? Should I also do a GRE? Please let me know.Please also keep my email id confidential.Thanks

    ———————————————

    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,

    firstly, i RESENT the implication that i would do anything irresponsible with your e-mail address! i’m not some kind of CREEP who, like, writes all the e-mail addresses i get on little pieces of paper and then bathes in them at midnight, or something. HMPH. i’ll have you know that askastudent is 100% normal and conforms to social standards, THANKS VERY MUCH.

    as for your question, uoft “strongly discourages” those with a mid-B or lower from applying, which is polite, university-speak for “there is no chance we’ll ever consider you if your mark is under a 75%, ever. EVER. case closed.” such is the way of the world, unfortunately. babies cry, old people trip, and undergrads with B averages don’t get admitted to electrical engineering.

    however, you have 2 more years (hypothetically speaking; this question’s already a coupla years old) to get your marks up to something that’ll give you a bit more of a chance, so make sure to focus on that.

    as for letters of reference and internship experience, both are necessary parts of your application. so yeah, they’ll increase your chances of getting in. i mean, think of it this way: you won’t be considered if you DON’T include those things. snark aside though, if you graduate with like an 80% average or something, especially strong letters of reference and CV will definitely give you more of a fighting chance.

    they don’t require you to do the GRE, but if you want to, you can submit your scores. that seems kinda weird to me, tbh. it doesn’t seem like something that really influences their decision, but they still let you submit it, for some reason. maybe just to make you feel like writing the GRE wasn’t a MASSIVE WASTE OF TIME. anyway, if you haven’t written it yet (hypothetically speaking), i wouldn’t bother. it doesn’t seem super-important.

    sorry about the belated advice, and i hope you got in, man. hope you’re doing some super cool things now, somewhere in the wide world. let me know, eh? cool.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • St. George,  Transferring

    campus hopping

    January 23, 2014
    Hi,
    I was wondering if transfer within UofT (not hard to guess from where to UTSG) is also possible during the winter session. I know the dates are already over for this year, but supposing a student wanted to transfer downtown, but missed it during Fall 2012, would he be able to do it in the next semester? Would the rules be any different for a student in second year? For a student who, like many, is considering transferring to the “other” campus location, what would be a possible source of difficulty in enrollment and beyond?
    Thank you much.

    ———————————————

    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,

    well, i’ll get the bad news out of the way first, like a merciful omniscient question-resolver: unfortunately, you can only register for the fall term. since many of uoft’s courses are full-year courses, it’s really not possible to be admitted mid-year. you can apply and get accepted for the fall and then only take winter term courses, but if you’ve missed the application date for this fall, you’ll have to wait until next year’s application dates for next fall. it sucks, i know, but that’s course logistics for you.

    are the rules different for second year? nope. everyone’s in the same boat. i mean it’s not like the university is PUNISHING you and only once you reach second year have you EARNED THE RIGHT to start in winter term. it’s just that starting in fall is the only time that it really makes sense. these “rules” aren’t just there to be arbitrary, annoying and bureaucratic. i know, it’s a shock. it’s ok. take some time to adjust to the idea.

    as for difficulties with enrolment, i can’t think of any obvious ones. as a transfer student from another canadian university, my switch into uoft was pretty smooth. as long as you meet the deadlines and requirements, you should be a-ok. there may be some kind of CONTROVERSY in transferring that i’m not aware of, and i’d suggest stalking the st. george tag if you wanna find out more about that, but for me, transferring and then enrolling/registering was actually really simple. who saw that coming, amirite? as for adjusting academically and whatnot, honestly, it won’t be that big a change. you’re coming from university to university; i wouldn’t start to panic just yet.

    good luck man (or whatever the past tense of that is – i hope you had good luck, i guess),

    aska

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