• admissions,  life science

    why won’t life sci. be my wife, sigh?

    February 23, 2015

    Hey!

    Lemme cut to the chase, cause I know you’re busy. I got a 63 in Advanced Functions, and I want to get into UTM’s Life Sciences program. My question is, if I bust my chops and do really well on my 5 other courses and manage an 85 average, do you think I’ll be able to make it into the program? They don’t look at individual marks, do they?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i mean, i don’t REALLY know what they do at admissions. maybe they just toss all your names in a cup, and then whatever names the cup spits up are the ones they accept.

    however. given that utm’s life science program requires certain specific courses, i would say that it’s not entirely based on admission averages. that works for you and against you.

    it works against you in that they will notice that your math mark is somewhat weaker than your other ones, because they will be looking at individual courses. however, if you can manage to pull off very strong marks in all the rest of your classes (and especially in calculus) they might be inclined to treat advanced functions as an anomaly.

    tl;dr: the 63% is in the past, and having an 85% average wouldn’t hurt. so do keep trying. you can do it.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • UTM

    managing utm management

    February 23, 2015

    I’m worried about whether or not I will get into the upper year management program, do you know any people who got into it with moderate gpa’s? My GPA is currently 2.5 and I don’t know if that’s enough. Also, what happens if you don’t get in? Can you retry by just essentially doing your first year again?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    today on, ‘hey, what campus are you from?’ aska makes a WILD GUESS that you’re in utm management. if you’re NOT in utm management, then, well, you should’ve told me that.

    utm’s department of management website doesn’t make any specific statements about what GPA you need to be competitive – mostly because, like with most things in life, it all depends on how good everyone else is, and not so much on how good you are.

    i don’t know if a 2.5 will be enough. you can talk to a management advisor and your registrar about it – honestly, i think it would be smart of you to come up with a back-up POSt or two, in case it doesn’t work out this year. management’s pretty competitive, and while i have a firm no-admission-prediction policy, a 2.5 is not great, for such a competitive program.

    you should be able to repeat all three prerequisite courses if you didn’t get a 63% in any of them – they’ll just appear as extras on your transcript next year. however, i would definitely recommend you discuss this option with your registrar before taking it.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • grad school

    so shall work, so shall grades

    February 23, 2015

    Hi there,

    I had a question regarding UofT’s distinction policy. I’m currently in the advanced standing Master of Social Work program at UoT. It’s a one year program for me and the course load is equivalent to 8 Half-Credit Courses [H=0.5 credit; Y=1 full credit course]. So if I wanted to graduate with distinction or high distinction, what GPA would I need by the end of the year? Please let me know.

    Thank you,
    Sharon Philip

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’ve had a bit of difficulty reaching someone at the faculty of social work who can answer your question. it’s almost like university staff are super busy and important people. who knew???

    the person you need is Sharon Bewell (416-978-6364), so if you can reach her, she’ll know the answer.

    i’ll give you my most educated shot in the dark, but i can’t promise i’m right, so just keep that in mind.

    since the faculty of social work’s grading scale is the same as the faculty of arts & science’s, and since that grading scale is regulated by the university of toronto’s policies about graduate schools more broadly, my best guess is that distinction and high distinction – if that exists at factor inwentash – follows the model set up by the faculty of arts & science. the grades are the same, so, likely, the distinction is the same, too.

    again, since i wasn’t able to reach anyone at the faculty, this is just my BEST GUESS, alright? the best thing to do is try your very best to reach Sharon Bewell and confirm.

    xoxo and happy day back from reading week :'(,

    aska

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  • st. mike's

    SMC1

    February 12, 2015

    I applied to SMC one and only had to rank my programs.. It said there was a personal statement? Does that come after or something?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    did you apply following through the steps in this link  if you didn’t, do it now.

    if you did, and you weren’t given the opportunity to fill out the personal statement, i would call SMC’s registrar and ask them what’s going on, and whether you’ve made a mistake or missed something somewhere along the way.

    hope you have FUN with ONE!

    aska

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  • OSAP,  part-time

    but i FEEL like i’m here all the time

    February 12, 2015

    Hey Aska,

    I am currently taking 4 courses, one full year and three half year courses, for a total of 2.5 FCEs. I would like to drop one of the half year courses but if I have only 2 FCEs will I become a part-time student? I am on OSAP so will this affect that as well?

    I wouldn’t mind being a part-time student but only for this semester- I want to take 3 courses in the summer so if I do end up going for part time, how difficult would it be to do that then change back to full time in May?

    Thank you!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if i could have one wish in all my life, it would be that people told me what campus they were on before they asked a question. alas, there seems to be no genie in sight for me.

    in any case, on all three campuses, you need to be taking at least 3.0 FCEs in the fall/winter terms to be full-time (it’s articulated slightly differently on each campus, but that’s what it boils down to).

    so if you’re in 2.5 credits, then you’re already a part-time student. that may affect your OSAP, and i would recommend talking to the financial counsellor at your local registrar’s office about it.

    applying for OSAP and registering for courses in the summer term is a completely separate process from registration and OSAP in fall/winter, so if you’re a part-time student now, that shouldn’t at all affect any future semesters. all you have to do to be full-time in the summer is sign up for at least 1.5 FCEs.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • CR/NCR

    debit or credit/no credit?

    February 12, 2015

    Hey, I’ve been wondering; I’m taking a class that isn’t a requirement for my major, but it is a prerequisite for a class I want to take next year. Am I able to credit/no credit this course if it is necessary?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    rule of thumb is this: if the course is only a prerequisite, as in, you just need to have the credit to take the next course, then you should be fine credit/no crediting it. just make sure you do actually pass the course and get the credit – otherwise you may be in a bit of a pickle.

    HOWEVER if you need to get a certain mark in this course to take the next course (e.g. you need at least a 90% in MAT139Y1 to take MAT237Y1) DO NOT credit/no credit it. if you do, the department will have no way of knowing whether you actually got a good enough mark to take the next class.

    if the course calendar confuses you in any way about this, you can always contact the department that administers the course and ask for clarification.

    truly yours,

    aska

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  • commuters

    the TTC and i are in a serious relationship

    February 12, 2015

    would it be stupid for me to commute 2 hours to school at U of T? i really want to attend the school, but my parents don’t want me to move out. not sure if it would be practical, and i’d be spending a lot of time/money on transport. i plan on studying english though, so i could just read on the train. what do you think?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    as someone who has both commuted to and lived on residence at uoft, i feel uniquely qualified to answer this question.

    firstly, a lot of people commute to uoft. according to this UofT Magzine article, about 85% of uoft students are estimated to commute to school. if you’re going to commute, uoft is a pretty good place to do it. most people know how you feel, and there are lots of resources for commuters, like commuter dons, lockers and lounges for people who don’t have their own room on campus.

    that said, commuting isn’t fun, and 2 hours is a bit on the long side.

    my travel time was 1.5 hours long when i was commuting. i put it to good use – i did my readings on the train, drafted e-mails, wrote essays that i forgot about the night before. more often than not, i slept through a large portion of my morning commute.*

    so yes, you can get stuff done on your commute, you definitely won’t be alone, AND it is much, much cheaper than living in res or renting a house (unless you violate some lease agreement and stuff like eight people into two rooms).

    in my opinion, the greatest drawback to commuting – which i never hear anyone talk about – is the drain on your energy. no one ever believes it, because “how can you get tired just by sitting still???” but it’s true. commuting will sap the energy out of you like nothing else, and it just whittles away the time that you actually feel productive enough to do stuff.

    as everything, there are pros and cons. if you have some way of avoiding a long commute, i’d always recommend that. but if commuting is the most practical, financially reasonable solution for you and your family, then you will get along just fine. you might even get some work done on the train.

    good luck on your travels,

    aska

    * once you become a Level 500 Train Queen, you receive the power of being able to sleep for the EXACT AMOUNT OF TIME that it takes for your train to get to its destination. then you wake up just as the train is pulling in. you have to train for a long time before you become that skilled, though (get it? train? like sports? but also…train?)

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  • UTM

    just LEAVE

    February 12, 2015

    Hey Aska!

    I am currently a first year at utm. I have been considering to get a college diploma then come back and finish my degree. I think it works better for the field I want to get into. I am just not sure how would uoft look at the credits I have here so far. Like, do I have to let them know I left temporarily or what I did during my time off?? I don’t want the credits I have at the end of this year go to waste.. WOuld I have to reapply?

    thank you

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you don’t have to let them know you’re taking time off, and you don’t have to reapply when you came back. once you’re here, you’re here, and you can come and go as you please.

    you DO have to let them know about any courses you’ve taken at other institutions for transfer credit purposes. you can read more about transfer credit?here.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • fees

    why am i paying if i’m not even there

    February 10, 2015

    Hello! So I’ll be done all of my credits to graduate after the fall semester of 2016. My question is – how does that work? Because I will not need to continue school into the winter semester, so will I still have to pay fees for that winter semester? Or will I be done and all set and just waiting for convocation? Ideally, I’d like to not have to pay tuition for a semester during which I am enrolled in no classes. Thank you! Bless your soul.

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

    hey there,

    if you’re a faculty of arts & science student in the downtown campus who’s?NOT taking computer science or bioinformatics, then what you have been paying the university so far have been program fees.

    that means that if you are a full-time student in the fall/winter term – that’s 3.0 credits or above – then you pay one fixed fee that applies to all full-time students, whether they’re taking 3 credits or 7.

    if you will be taking UNDER 3.0 credits in the fall – which is likely – then you will be paying per course fees. that means you will get charged a certain amount of money for every course you take. if you don’t take any in the winter, you won’t get charged for the winter.

    easy as that!

    if you want to peruse an official (but much more boring and less #cool and #relevant than aska) document where you can verify this information, look here.

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • admissions

    mail??? do i get that through my google+ account???

    February 10, 2015

    Hey Aska, I got accepted through OUAC a while ago, getting into UTM’s For Psy program as well as U of T St George for criminology. I was wondering if there were any supplementary forms that they require me to send in after using the JOIN U of T website and if they send you a package in the mail regarding your acceptance and any forms of such (I got one from another uni I applied to, that’s why I’m curious!) Thanks (:

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    no, there shouldn’t be anything else you have to submit.

    yes, you do get a package in the mail. it’s very beautiful. probably the most beautiful thing uoft will ever give you, not counting the beautiful haze of simultaneous gratitude and panic that hits you like a sack of bricks when you graduate.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions

    an admissions question throws aska for a loop (for once)

    February 10, 2015

    What does U of t mean by a minimum 70 course average? DOES THIS MEAN ALL 8 OF MY COURSES NEED TO BE 70 EVEN IF ITS NOT IN MY TOP 6!?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m sorry it’s taken so long to answer this question. to tell you the truth, i’ve been looking at it every week, just wondering what on earth you’re talking about, and whether i have enough context to even give you an answer.

    despite the fact that i don’t actually think i do have enough information to answer the question, i’m gonna give it my best guess. because we answer every single question we get here on askastudent, dammit, even if they make no sense.

    any admissions average will be determined based on your best six 4U/M courses, BUT i can’t figure out which program – at any of three campuses – would have this kind of cut-off. all the ones i can think of are at least mid-80s.

    the only thing i can think of is that you found your way onto the course calendar and started looking at subject POSt requirements. if that’s the case, you should know that those apply to first-year courses, NOT high school courses. so stop panicking about it.

    peace,

    aska

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  • admissions

    only utsg is blessed with a college system that confuses everyone

    February 10, 2015

    Dear Sir/Ma’am,I am an international student. I have submitted the application for U of T Mississauga and Scarborough. I have a few questions regarding my application to U of T 1) I would like to know whether I could make additions to my program choices selected during the application Now I would like to add International Relations as an additional program to my application. What should be the process for the this amendment? 2) I would like to clarify on ranking the colleges. Since, International Relations is only offered by the Trinity College, how am I suppose to rank the other colleges? 3) Kindly let me know what is the admission process for Early Admission Decision. 4) On the Join U of T website, it says required documents : Secondary/High School Mid-term Results. At my High School I have been given a official predicted score sheet based on my academic performance throughout the year. Can I submit the official predicted report instead of the Mid-Term Results, because the predicted mark is the latest academic information in my case ? Also, am I suppose to submit Year 9,10 and 11 results under this space? Thank you for your cooperation and support.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    1) don’t bother. despite the program choice you put on your application, you’re not actually going to be placed in that program in first year. you’ll be placed in a general stream (life science, humanities, etc.) and then you’ll have to apply to a specific program (subject POSt) after first year.

    2) well, you SHOULDN’T rank colleges based on your program of interest. firstly, the program you’re interested in may change during the course of your first year. secondly, college affiliation isn’t really an academic thing. here are some things you might want to consider instead, when picking a college:

    – residence (if you’re planning on living in residence)

    – the kinds of activities offered by the college

    – the location of the college

    – the look of the college

    – scholarships offered by the college

    – college one programs

    – the FEEL of the COMMUNITY in the college

    if you want to know more about this, you can start by reading through aska’s colleges tag.

    3) early admission has already happened (it happens in december), so don’t worry about that.

    4) definitely talk to a teacher/guidance counsellor about that. the process of sending documents varies a bit depending on which country you’re from, so your school, not the university, would know best about what needs to be sent and when.

    finally, i just need to point this out in case i haven’t misunderstood. if you only applied to UTM and UTSC, and not to the St. George campus, then you won’t be able to apply to the international relations program (since that’s a St. George program), and you won’t be a member of a college, because the colleges are only for downtown students. so…if you didn’t apply to UTSG and you meant to, i would call enrolment services to try and sort that out.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • rotman,  transfer credits

    a specialist and a major sounds so easy in theory

    February 9, 2015

    Hi,

    I’m currently in grade 12 and have already submitted my OUAC application to UofT for Rotman Commerce. The trouble is, last year grade 11 second semester, I completely crashed all my courses due to external circumstances and (putting all the grade 11 courses aside,) there’s this one calculus mark (I fast-tracked) that Rotman actually looks at. I got a 81 in that course. However, my school calls it a AP Calc course but I don’t know how Rotman can see that or even consider that factor from OUAC as the only indicator is that the course code ends with a 9.

    I saw couple previous replies regarding Rotman’s mid-high 80s requirement for calculus. My questions are:

    Can Rotman see it is an AP course?

    If they can, do they factor that into considerations?

    Is there somewhere I can explain a special circumstance

    Do I still have a chance? (I have fairly strong extra crcs and a 92 avg from midterms grade 12)

    Thank you for your help!

    Oh, and also aside from admissions, are you allowed to have one major in Rotman and another major in general artsci e.g. Ethics, Society and Law?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    AP courses can be used as transfer credit at this university, so yes, they know if you took an AP course. HOWEVER, just make sure that it is being communicated to the university that you did actually take an ap course.

    if you’re an ontario high school student and you did your AP class through your high school, then usually, your school will just submit your AP marks automatically. that’s how they did it for me, anyway, back when i was in high school in the Year of Our Lord 1669.

    however, if you did AP independently, you should speak to your guidance counsellor about the proper procedure for sending uoft your AP results.

    since rotman does explicitly state that you need mid to high 80s in MCV4U, it might be nice to explain to them any extenuating circumstances that might’ve affected your mark. feel free to contact enrolment services to see where you could direct that kind of letter.

    do you have a chance? i don’t know. i’m just a girl in a chicken suit. you guys give me way too much authority. but given that you meet all the other requirements, and if you submit a strong supplemental application, i’d say you’re still in the running. again, i’m not the number one authority on this by any means, but – don’t stop trying.

    cheers,

    aska

    P.S. according to the university, you ARE allowed to enrol in up to two specialists and/or majors. rotman is a program within the faculty of arts & science (though they sure do seem like their own little world sometimes), so doing a rotman specialist (there are no rotman majors) and another FAS major should be fine.

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