• courses,  enrollment,  tutorials

    don’t take any more classes than absolutely necessary

    April 24, 2015

    Hey there! I am a soon-to-be student and extremely organized becauseIwillgetsuperstressedotherwise. *nervous laughter* So I am already looking at the courses and organizing. This is probably hinted elsewhere, or you’ve answered it somehow, but I just need clarification… We only enroll in one tutorial per course, correct?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    yup! you should only ever be signing up for one tutorial per class, which is good, because there’s only so much awkward small-class interaction a person can take in a week.

    and just so you know, ROSI will tell you when you sign up for courses whether there are any lab/tutorial sections you need to sign up for – so it’ll all be laid out for you nice and easy when enrolment time comes along.

    try not to be too stressed about school starting. it’s great to organize and plan and stuff, but there’s no reason to be nervous. everything’s gonna work out fine. you’re going to have a great time, and it’ll be a lot better than the cafeteria drama and “did-you-hear-what-stacey-did-at-the-birthday-party” gossip nonsense of high school.

    see you in september!

    aska

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  • extracurricular

    cross-campus activity

    April 24, 2015

    Hello,

    I am wondering if it is against the University’s rules to be a student at one campus but be president of a student organization on a different campus. Is there any policy against this? Just wondering.

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m gonna say…no. some clubs do specify who exactly can be a member (students at a certain college, in a certain faculty, or at a certain campus, for example), but often i feel like it’s just implied who the group is for.

    so if the organization you have your eye on has no specific rules about membership, i guess it’s not an issue. however, i would advise that you take a look at your campus and see if there are any similar groups there that you could join instead.

    if you want to be be involved with leadership on your campus (and possibly be nominated for some leadership awards down the line), it’ll be a lot easier if all your activities are local to where you’re a student (speaking from experience here).

    all the best with your presidential duties,

    aska

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  • repeating course,  subject POST,  summer

    math in the summer? heaven forbid

    April 24, 2015

    Hello,

    I am a first-year actuarial science student, so I have to reach 65% to get to my subject post program. I am not sure about my MAT137 mark for this term (it might be not good enough). However, I cannot stay in Canada during summer time, so I wanted to ask: is it possible to retake a course during the fall/winter 2015 term instead of summer 2015 term? Thank you in advance!

    Best regards

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    it is totally possible to retake it in the Fall/Winter term! however, you are required to enrol in a subject POSt after completing 4.0 FCEs, so if you’ve already completed 4.0 FCEs, you’ll be required to sign up for a subject POSt before the next term starts.

    meaning: if you haven’t retaken MAT137 by the end of the summer, you’ll have to sign up for some other POSt as a place-holder until you can apply to the actuarial science major in the next subject POSt enrolment period (April-September 2016).

    so just make sure you’re in either one specialist, two majors, or a major and two minors. then next year, you can apply to actuarial science and drop those place-holder POSts.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • one programs

    *smacks your hand* NO, that first-year seminar is NOT for you

    April 21, 2015

    Are you allowed to take one programs and first year seminars at st. george at the same time?

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    hey there,

    you are allowed to take both college one and 199 courses with TWO exceptions:

    1) if you are taking a vic one course, you are not eligible to take a 199 course?(sorry ’bout that, vic one folks).

    2) if you are in trinity one, you?can take a 199 course, but they advise you to talk to your registrar’s about it before deciding to do so (see the ninth question from the top).

    so if you’re in any other one program (i.e. Woodsworth?One, SMC One, New One, etc.) you’re able to take a 199 as well.

    have fun taking your super teeny-tiny course about, like, new media in the cosmopolitan city or contentious health policies or whatever crazy-cool stuff the profs are teaching these days.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • courses

    what do i gotta do to take 2nd year courses?

    April 21, 2015

    Can I sign up for second year courses with only 3.0 credits? Sorry if this a dumb question, but I only earned 3.0 credits throughout this year. I can’t go to summer school, but I plan on signing up for one more first year credit for the fall, along with second year courses if that’s allowed. So, how does that work with the subject posts and everything? Thank you.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    unless a course states in its course calendar listing that you need to have completed 4.0 courses already, then it’s not an issue.

    as for POSts, you don’t have to be in a subject POSt to enrol in second year courses, though some courses do prioritize or are completely restricted to certain students via these things called ‘enrolment indicators.’ you can see which courses have these enrolment indicators on the timetable.*

    other than that, you should be able to sign up for second-year courses without any problem! (in fact, i know a few screwball first-years who took a few second-year courses in their first year…kids these days! but hey – if you can do it, then why not?)

    all the best,

    aska

    * just to clarify: once you?have completed 4.0 credits, you are absolutely required to enrol in an acceptable combination of subject POSts. if you?don’t enrol in a POSt after completing 4.0 credits, THEN you wouldn’t be able to sign up for courses.

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  • fraternities & sororities

    SISTERHOOD AND STUFF

    April 21, 2015

    do you know how sororities work? like how do you join one…what do you have to do?

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    hey there,

    well, you have to attend formal recruitment, which takes place one week after frosh week. you have to pay a $20 fee to register, and then there are further fees to remain a member. these further fees are determined by each sorority individually, so you can take a look at the specific sororities you’re interested in for more details about that.

    if you’re asking about hazing or whatever, they’re pretty clear that they don’t stand for that kind of thing. you’re not forced to do anything during the the initiation ceremony that you don’t want to do.

    once you’ve joined, you just start getting involved! you attend meetings, spend time with your sorority sisters, participate in charity work, etc. after you’ve been a member for a while, you can even move into the sorority house.

    and that’s pretty much how it works, from what i can tell as a plebeian outsider. for more details, i’d highly recommend you attend their formal registration week, and ask all the specific questions you’d like.

    i’ll just note that the sororities at uoft aren’t affiliated with the university, so they do sort of operate on their own. meaning that all these fees and regulations and rules about housing, etc. isn’t run or regulated by uoft, but by the sorority itself – so they’re the best people to go to with questions, concerns, etc.

    all the best,

    aska

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  • biology,  courses

    BIO120

    April 21, 2015

    Can I take first year bio120 without having taken grade 12 bio?

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    hey there,

    Grade 12 Biology is a prerequisite for BIO120H1, but you can contact their office at bio120 ( at ) utoronto ( . ) ca if you’d like to discuss the possibility of taking it without the prerequisite.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • extracurricular

    writing sux

    April 21, 2015

    do you need to have any experience to get involved with one of the school’s newspapers or blogs? i don’t have any specific experience for that but in my free time i love reading and writing and so im thinking the newspaper or the school blog would be a good way to get involved!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i think it kinda depends on the newspaper/blog! blogUT, for example, just requires that you send a little e-mail application – no previous writing experience required.

    for the varsity, you can basically just drop into their office/send them an e-mail and let them know you want to start writing for them.

    as for college newspapers, look on their website (if they have one) to see if they have any application procedures. otherwise, just shoot them an e-mail and go from there. at the end of the day, all these publications are run by students, so they tend to be pretty lowkey in terms of how to get involved.

    finally, here is a list of a bunch of different publications at uoft, if you’d like to start browsing opportunities (because i’m nice like that. and i have far too much time to spend linking stuff):

    student newspapers on campus

    1. The Varsity

    2. the newspaper

    3. UofT Magazine

    4. The Innis Herald

    5. The Mike

    5. The Gargoyle

    6. The Strand

    7. The Howl

    student blogs on campus

    1. blogUT

    2. ~~~ ASKASTUDENT WHOO!!!!! ~~~

    3. student life blogs (these blogs have a more concrete application process, which you can read about here)

    college-specific student literary reviews on campus

    1. The Innis Review

    3. acta victoriana

    4. The Grammateion

    5. The Trinity Literary Review

    6. The UC review

    academic student literary reviews on campus

    1. The Idiom (English department’s undergraduate academic journal)

    2. Anthropology Undergraduate Journal

    3. ImagiNATIONS (Canadian Studies undergraduate academic journal)

    4. Saeculum (Christianity & Culture undergraduate academic journal)

    5. Undergraduate Journal of Political Science

    6. The Foolscap (Book and Media Studies academic journal)

    …and the list goes on. hopefully this will give you a chance to start looking, and see what you like!

    happy writing,

    aska

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  • repeating course

    if you pass, you pass

    April 20, 2015

    kinda similar to a question you just answered, but if you retake a course and pass the second time, but your average for the 2 marks is less than 50% do you not get the credit? cause last year i was a fucking idiot and completely ignored one class, i ended up getting a 15 in it (i gave up all hope and didn’t write the final, don’t judge me) i retook it this year, and i’m thinking all probably come out of it with about 68, does that mean my actual grade will be 41.5 and i won’t earn that credit?

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    hey there,

    now, now, we don’t judge people here on askastudent. we’re all just exhausted, kinda soggy, usually hungry students trying to get through four years in one piece. there’s absolutely no place here for judgement – just so you know.

    to answer your question: if you passed the course once, then you passed it, which means you got the credit. both attempts will be reported on your transcript and contribute to your GPA (the question i answered previously which you’re referring to is not exactly the same case as yours), but you got the credit if you passed the second time. not to worry.

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • jobs

    internship, shminternship

    April 20, 2015

    how do internships work?

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    hey there,

    i love how general this is. no specifications whatsoever. super exciting.

    if you’re doing an internship through a department at the university, then it works however they say it does, i guess. there’s no university-wide internship program (on the downtown campus, anyway), so i can’t give much more detail than that.

    if you’re just applying for internships out there in the world, then apply, cross your fingers and go out for drinks afterwards, because applying for any job is entirely too much stress.

    finally, here are aska’s Top Tips about making your internship experience the BEST it can be: don’t take any internships that are unpaid (that $h1t’s not worth it), make sure that whatever internship you take works with your school schedule (and yes, you do have to factor sleep into that schedule), and scope out coffee places close by BEFORE starting your job.

    all the best,

    aska

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  • subject POST

    a post about POSts

    April 20, 2015

    heya. I have to take 1.5 credits (MAT135 and something else) in the summer to meet the 4.0 FCE requirement for subject POST enrollment. I know the courses in the summer are at a quicker pace so should I just take 1.0 credit in the summer? Can you enroll in subject POSTs during second year? What happens if you don’t get accepted in the POSTs you applied for? Thanks a bunch!

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

    hey there,

    you have to enrol in a subject POSt once you complete 4.0 FCEs. if that happens in the 2015-16 fall/winter term, then you’ll have to wait until the next enrolment period (August-September 2016) to enrol in a POSt. if it happens in the summer, then you’ll do it in the summer.

    you?can definitely take 1.0 credits in the summer to catch up. yes, they do move quickly, but they’re definitely not impossible. it’s sort of up to you to figure out if you’re up to it (though, as always, you can talk to your college registrar’s office about it if you need someone else to look at your transcript and offer an expert opinion).

    if you don’t get accepted to the POSt(s) you applied for, you need to have a backup, because you *must* be in a subject POSt once you complete 4.0 credits. (just a tip: type 1 POSts are handy backups in this situation).

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions

    finally, someone catches a break

    April 16, 2015

    Hey Aska!

    i received my offer of admission from UTSG for Life Sciences recently and just received the official package through mail. I’m extremely excited and I am 99.9% sure I will be accepting this offer, barring any last minute epiphany, but I’m doubtful of that.

    Anyways, on the letter, detailing the terms and conditions of my admission, it states ‘You have been given a clear offer of admission with no additional conditions.’ However, I would expect that it’s safe to assume that UTSG would revoke my offer if my average drops significantly?

    My friends who also received offers of admission from UTSG for Life Sciences said that their packages have stated they are expected to retain at least a 75%. So should I look to retain at least a 75%? My admission average is right in between low 80s to mid 80s so I am a little suspicious as to why I was given a ‘clear offer of admission’ without given any specific grade conditions.

    I might be reading a little too much into this, but I’m not too confident about my exams and I don’t want to do anything that may jeopardize my admission to UTSG.

    Thanks for your help! You rock!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if you’ve been given a clear offer of admission without any conditions, then that means that you have already completed the requirements that the university used to determine your admission. i’m not sure exactly what those requirements were, so i can’t say what you did to warrant a condition-free acceptance, but if that’s what the university is telling you in your offer of admission, then there’s no reason to question it.

    so technically, your offer isn’t conditional and can’t be revoked, BUT that’s no reason to slack off and not do the best you can on your exams.

    if you want any more information about your admission offer specifically, feel free to contact your college registrar’s office.

    see you around in september!

    aska

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  • courses,  repeating course

    doing math a second time *shudder*

    April 16, 2015

    Hi 🙂 I was wondering if you know exactly how they calculate repeated courses? I mean I didn’t receive the required mark for math and I am allowed to repeat it however, their procedure for calculating is averaging it out or do they just count both as is?

    Thanks so much!

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    hey there,

    in a rare and heartening case of reading the university website, i can answer this question with words straight from the horse’s mouth:

    “When students need to achieve a minimum mark in a course for entry to a limited-enrolment program or for meeting a prerequisite to take another course in their program, they may repeat such a course once. The repeated course will be designated “extra”: it will appear on the academic record but it will not be included in GPA calculations or in the degree credit count.”

    so it’ll show up show up on your academic record, but it won’t count towards your degree, or your GPA.

    good luck with taking math again (yeesh!),

    aska

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