• first year,  Transferring

    so a chopstick and a Barbie-sized oar walk into a bar

    July 13, 2015

    Hey, so I have a few questions. I’m from Quebec, transferring in to my?second year with a Major in Religion and two minors in History and East?Asian Studies.

    Due to transfer credits, I have almost reached my limit of 100 level?classes I can take, and given it’s mandatory to take 2 100 level classes?for EAS and another for HIS, I hit my max. This is… troubling. Given I?still have breadth requirements to fulfill. So do you have any?recommendations for someone looking to fill the 4+5 Breadth requirement?that *isn’t *a 100 level? I’ve gone through probably 90% of the class?description lists and it’s all higgledypiggledy.

    Also! I have an interest in East Asian religions, but the Introduction to?Hinduism and the Introduction to Buddhism are both not offered this year. I?need one of those two to finish my degree in three years, and if they don’t?become available for next year, I’m pretty much down shit’s creek. With?like one little chopstick and maybe a Barbie sized oar. Do you know if?there’s any way to check when they’ll be offered?

    Also, what’s all this about ‘professor permission’ on so many classes in?the higher levels. Do you just go up to a professor you’ve potentially?never met and be like ‘hey, I wanna see your face for a semester, can I do?that?’/ What’s the process like?

    Thanks so much, this site is a lifesaver.

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

    hey there,

    wow, those are some incredibly specific programs that you got into. good for you. you’re on top of stuff.

    just so you know, if you HAVE to, you?can go over the 6.0 100-level courses limit. if you do, those 100-levels you take will be designated “extra,” which means that they won’t count towards your degree or GPA, but they will count towards any program or breadth requirements that you need to fill.

    however, i understand the imperative to?not?take extra courses if you can at all avoid it. fortunately, there are also plenty of 200-level courses you can take. AST201H1 is a perennially popular breadth?5 course for the non-scientifically inclined.

    for category 4, i’m gonna recommend a few off-the-beaten-track courses:

    first off, we’ve got?EEB202H1: Plants and Society. now, just here me out for a sec before you start calling?a course about plants as “boring” and “irrelevant.” this course has BIO120 as an exclusion, which means the course content is probably pretty similar to an introductory, 100-level course. also, it has no prerequisites. ALSO, wouldn’t it be cool to just know an abnormal amount of stuff about plants? distinguishing between angiosperms and gymnosperms could?be your party trick.

    there’s also ESS205H1: Confront Global Change (no prereqs), ENV200H1: Assessing Global Change: Science and the Environment (also no prereqs), and?ENV221H1: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Environment (introductory-level course).

    re: the hinduism and buddhism courses: i’m gonna guess at least one of those will be offered next year. buddhism was offered in 2014-2015, and if they’ve made them program requirements, they can’t not offer them two years in a row. however, you can always contact the department of religion to get the scoop.

    re: instructor permission: weeeell, it depends on the course. a lot of 400-level courses are E-indicator?courses, which means you need to apply through the department to get into the course. that’s handled?in different ways, depending on the department. typically, the department will send out an e-mail inviting eligible students to apply and informing them of deadlines. no direct contact with actual instructors necessary.

    the other time instructor permission comes into the picture is when you get something like ‘to take this course you need prerequisite x or permission of the instructor.’

    in which case you can, again, just e-mail the prof, present your case as best you can, and hope for the best. it’s not a super big deal; you don’t have to know them at all before making the request. just make sure that, if you’re gonna do it, your only reason isn’t “i really wanna take this course and i don’t have the prereq or any equivalent experience but i really want it so just let me pls i will pay in n00dz.” that probably won’t work.

    best of luck!

    aska

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  • law school

    i stay as far away from standardized tests as i can

    July 10, 2015

    law school / LSAT advice please? any is appreciated! Are there specific LSAT prep books that are really good or sessions I can attend on campus? What if my CGPA going into 3rd year is only around 3.2…?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i have not taken the LSATs, and i know next to nothing about prepping for them, so all this info might be stuff is just secondhand info you’ve heard already (in which case, i’m sorry):

    first, i would familiarize myself with the free materials provided by the LSAC website. secondly, this article seems to provide some really great information, and also recommends prep books.

    as for LSAT prep courses, there are a few in toronto, but not having taken any of them, i honestly feel like a fraud recommending one over the other. what i can say is that there are PLENTY of forums online discussing the merit of each one, and how they compare – and plenty of them which are just about courses in toronto. look around, maybe ask some questions on a couple boards, and hopefully you can start figuring out what’s best for you!

    the only course available on campus is specifically for low-income students, which you have to apply to. you can read more about it here.

    as for GPA: it’s pretty much accepted that you need at least a 3.7 to be competitive. BUT you’re only going into your third year. that means you have TWO WHOLE YEARS to get your marks up.

    also, most law schools don’t look at your CGPA; they look at the average GPA in your best three years. which means you?can drop the worst of your last two years from your GPA, as long as your next two years are both better rather than worse.

    all in all, things aren’t as dire as they might seem right now. if you work hard, you can have a real shot at this by the time you’re set to graduate.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • tutorials

    be nice to T.A.s and they will be nice to you

    July 10, 2015

    hey aska! im a student at UTSC, and i am taking a full year course as a pre-req. i was wondering if i could have a different tutorial for the first half of the term vs the second half (fall and winter semesters). i was planning on taking a course at UTSG in the fall but the tutorial timing is making it rlly hard to do so :// thanks for all the help !!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’ve seen people do it before, so it’s not impossible. the best thing to do would be to explain the situation to your T.A. and ask them if it would be possible.

    if you don’t know who your T.A. will be and you want an answer right now, you can e-mail the instructor and ask them.

    just make sure you explain the full situation. if the T.A. thinks you want to switch tutorials because you don’t like them, they PROBABLY won’t be as empathetic to your situation. just a thought.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • ROSI

    i love ACORN but it is testing my patience.

    July 9, 2015

    I’m a first year using ACORN right now, and every course I am trying to, and should be able to, has prerequisite exclusions, or enrolment is blocked? I don’t understand.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i wonder how many times i’m going to get this question. will this become the new “what college should i join?” only time will tell.

    the fact of the matter is that none of these terms are prescriptive – that is, they don’t tell you to do anything. instead, they’re all descriptive– they give you information about the course. basically, they just remind you of things which you should already know from having looked at the timetable.

    so really, they’re meant to be helpful, though they’ve seemed to cause more alarm than anything else.

    enrolment blocked: to quote ACORN, all this means is that “[y]ou are currently blocked from enrolling in at least one section of this course.” however, as previously noted in this post, this message is nearly useless, since whatever section you added to your enrolment cart will be a section you CAN enrol in, because ACORN blocks you from adding sections to your cart which you are not eligible to enrol in.

    prerequisite: literally just tells you what the prerequisites are. make sure you’ve completed them, otherwise the department will remove you once classes start.

    ordered exclusions: tells you know what courses are exclusions for the course in question. make sure you’re not enrolled in two courses which are exclusions of each other.

    as long as you make sure that you’re eligible to enrol in your courses, you’ve completed (or will complete by the end of the summer) any and all prerequisites, and you’re not planning on enrolling in any courses that are exclusions, you’re all good.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • law,  polisci,  subject POST

    i can polish off one specialist a year. just watch me.

    July 9, 2015

    Hi! I am going through a rough time with picking subjects posts. I really like Peace, Justice and Conflict, Criminology. Ethics, Society and Law and Political Science. I want to study all of them, but I know that is not realistic. Is there a way I could combine these majors. Which one is higher in ranking or better for maybe pursuing law school/graduate school. Thanks a lot and Happy Canada Day!!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’ma get the easy question out of the way first: there is NO PROGRAM out there that is going to “prepare” you for law school.

    pretty much every law school across the continent prides itself on accepting students from all academic backgrounds. yes, the “rigour” of a certain program can sometimes give your application an edge, but the best thing you can do is go for a program (or programs) which give you the best chance of doing well.

    bthe difference between criminology or political science is not going to make or break a law school application.

    as for graduate school: it depends on the graduate program. if you’re thinking about political science, then a poli sci undergrad would be the best idea. if you want a master’s in crim., then you should probably go for – you guessed it – criminology major.

    think seriously about what kinds of graduate programs you might like to pursue, and then you can figure out which programs would best prepare you.

    k, now about your POSts:

    you’re right, there’s probably not a way to study all those POSts, because you can only have a maximum of three POSts active at any time. HOWEVER, you can do three out of four. ethics, society & law, peace, conflict and justice and criminology are all only offered as majors or specialists. so, if you wanted to, you could do a double major in two of those and a minor in political science.

    as for which POSt you should drop – i would go through the program requirements for each program and highlight which courses you feel most excited about.

    make a hypothetical plan for your whole degree and figure out which combination of POSts will allow you to take the maximum number of those courses. (not that you will or have to stick to this plan for your whole four years, but it’s a good way to make decisions based on concrete FACTS).

    at the end of the day, they’re all pretty similar programs, so there will be overlap between required courses. singling out the unique courses – like ethics or criminology courses – that you might be especially excited about is a great way to figure out which POSts to prioritize.

    good luck with it,

    aska

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  • subject POST,  UTM

    have you considered: being an underachiever

    July 9, 2015

    Hey Aska, is it possible to do two specializations or one specialization and a major etc. I’m looking towards forensic psych specialization and a biology/health sciences major, or forensic psych specialization and microbiology specialization. Thanks for all your help (:

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

    hey there,

    UTM, eh? yeah, i can read y’all like a map.

    well, you can enrol in up to three subject POSts, only two of which can be majors or specialists (see page 3 of this guide). so if you wanted to do a specialist and a major, or two specialists, that would be fine.

    i mean, i’m not sure it would be?fun, but it’s allowed.

    peace & harmony,

    aska

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  • enrollment

    tick tock!!!!!

    July 8, 2015

    I know that rosi/acorn gives us each a specific enrollment time but i’m wondering how they decide what time to give us?? Are they decided by POSt or simply the number of FCEs you have? (going into 2nd year if that makes a difference!) 🙂

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

    hey there,

    bless you for telling me what year you’re going into. it doesn’t?really make a difference, but it’s always best to include too much information than too little. that sends me into Crabby Snappy?Sleuth mode, and that’s no fun for anyone. though i do get to bring out my P.I. badge.

    so, the more credits you have?within your year, the earlier you’ll go. meaning that?if you’re a second year with 8.5 credits will go first, and a second year with 4.0 credits will go last. people with 8.0 credits go second, 7.5 go third..you get the gist.

    have fun enrolling in approximately 25% of the courses you actually want!

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • courses,  law school

    ethics, society & law & law

    July 8, 2015

    Hi aska!
    I have a couple of questions I’m hoping you can answer for me:
    1. I’m planning on taking a couple bird courses related to my program throughout my undergrad years. What do you think about RLG232H1 (religion and film), PHL235H1 (philosophy of religion), and HPS100H1 (history and philosophy of science)? Have you heard other students claiming that these courses are easy?
    2. I know this may be a far stretch, but would you happen to? have any course suggestions for Ethics, Law and Society majors? I’m going into my second year and I’m scared that I’ll do very poorly due to the intensive program courses, so I’m wondering if there are any courses that can help me ease my way in this major while allocating the courses towards my major program?
    3. I’ll be applying to U of T and Colombia law school and I want to know if I’d be giving a bad impression by having my courses scattered all over with disregard for my particular year of study and its misalignment with lower course levels? I’ve planned my courses for the current and upcoming years, and though I have 3rd year courses in my 2nd year, in my 3rd year I’ll have 2nd and 3rd year courses, and in my 4th year I’ll have one 1st year course among some 4th year courses, but I’ll mainly have 3rd year courses. Do you happen to know if it’s bad to be so inconsistent with my course levels? Will law schools assume that I’m disorganized and not evolving as a student?
    4. Over the past few months, I’ve been think about starting my own research plan and developing my own publication. How do undergraduate students go about doing this in a successful manner? Who or which professor would I have to approach and how could I ask for the help if I don’t even have a Masters or Doctorate?
    I’d really appreciate your help! I know this was a long message so thank you for taking your time in answering my questions.
    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    thanks for ordering your questions! i’m going to stick to it in my answer, ’cause there’s nothing i like more than a GOOD LIST.

    1. i haven’t taken/heard much about any of those courses, unfortunately. all i can do is suggest you look up the course evals (they’re posted on blackboard under ‘Course Evals’ in the bar on top). also, check out what other people think of the profs teaching the course (using a website that aska can neither endorse nor mention since it’s not affiliated with uoft, but which you have almost definitely used before).

    a previous aska has recommended browsing PHL235 as a guest on blackboard (which you can do by clicking ‘Browse Course Catalogue’ on the home page of blackboard). that is generally a great piece of advice, but neither PHL235 and RLG232 seem not to be available there anymore. boo-hoo.

    i was able to find an old syllabus for PHL235 – it’s from the mississauga campus, but you’ll at least be able to get a general idea of what the course might look like.

    2. since i don’t actually know you, it’s hard for me to guess what courses you might find easy. again: just try and get some info about the profs for courses that pique your interest, see if you can find previous syllabi and check out the course evals.

    also, if there are any courses that logically follow a 100-level course you took and really liked, prioritize those.

    and keep an eye on the drop deadline so you can ditch courses you don’t end up liking like a hot potato.

    3. this is a VERY TRICKY question for me to answer, mainly because i don’t KNOW the answer. all i can do is extrapolate from the information that’s already public to us.

    uoft law does explicitly state that “we examine the pattern of the intensity of the course work taken across an applicant’s undergraduate career (light versus heavy, full-time versus part-time, co-op versus regular, introductory versus upper-year courses, courses on exchange, courses during the summer term). We also examine the patterns of results the applicant achieved in that coursework (increasing trends, sustained periods of strong performance, short-term deviations, cumulative results, etc). Moreover, we take into account the nature of the program and the undergraduate institution (or institutions) at which an applicant has studied.”

    colombia law makes a similar statement: “Applications are holistically reviewed by the Committee, a process that thoroughly considers each candidate’s intellectual and academic qualifications, performance on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), and an examination of the personal qualities considered requisite to scholastic success, professional distinction, and public service.”

    so yeah, the kinds of courses you take will have some impact. however, if you take on a course load that you can’t handle and your GPA isn’t competitive, then you may as well not apply in the first place.

    plus, that bit about “increasing trends” is important – if your GPA is going in the upwards direction, that is very promising. if you have to take a few 300-levels (or even 200- or 100-level) courses in your fourth year, and a couple of 200-levels in your third year, to make that happen, it’s not the end of the world. in fact, at uoft, it’s probably the norm.

    so: try to challenge yourself, but don’t shoot yourself in the foot. give yourself the opportunity to succeed. let them determine how difficult your program or institution is – your primary focus, in my opinion, should be making your GPA as competitive as possible.

    4. what kind of publication, chum? depending on the project you have in mind, the process could be different. however, generally:

    if there is a professor you have a good rapport with, you could definitely approach them about it. there are also a few avenues for carrying out research within the faculty as an undergraduate: 389/399 courses are offered by most departments, as are independent study courses.

    there’s also the undergraduate research fund and the trinity comprehensive paper. you might also consider getting involved with Mindful, the ethics, society & law undergraduate journal, and using that as a springboard into other projects.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • fraternities & sororities

    sorting out sororities

    July 8, 2015

    Hi ! I was asking myself : how do we make a choice between all the houses ? Can we visit them ? Also, will my chances (to join a sorority at the university of Toronto) decrease if I am already a member of another one (in another city) ? Thank you in advance

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i like how you said “houses” and automatically assumed i would know what you’re talking about. you’re probably from the States, huh? are ya? do we got a yank in our midst?

    i haven’t been able to find any information about the possibility of getting a tour of any sorority house. what you may want to do is research each chapter’s website, and then e-mail the ones you’re interested in to see if you could arrange a tour.

    or you can just be like me and walk past them on your lunch break, wondering how much money these sororities could possibly have stored away that they can afford to buy these huge, old Annex estates.

    (but seriously, online research and visiting the house/neighbourhood in person are the best ways to make these kinds of choices, in my opinion – though i’ve never joined a sorority, so i could be missing something).

    i’m not sure how being in another sorority might affect joining a uoft sorority. do note that you do have to be a uoft student to join a uoft sorority.

    finally: keep in mind that these sororities are not formally affiliated with uoft. they’re integrated into the fabric of uoft, kind of like the Museum and St. George subway stations. but, like the subway stations, they are part of their own, separate organization. if you have any other questions, they’d probably be best directed to join ( at ) uoftsororities ( . ) org.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • online courses

    the cybersphere

    July 7, 2015

    Hello. Do you know if the CSC108H1 online course is an archived one? Is there a starting time or can it be accessed at any time? Thanks.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if i’m understanding your question correctly, then no, it’s not archived. the course will run in real time, just like a regular course, with assignments and tests and an exam that you’ll have to complete, all by the assigned deadlines. the only difference is that your lecture materials will be online. (keep in mind that the exam and lab sections will take place in person.)

    i’m not sure what you mean by “starting time.” lecture materials will be released as you progress in the course (the first day of classes is September 14th), and you’ll be able to log into blackboard and look at whatever the prof’s put there for the duration of the course.

    oh, and a tip: make sure to sign up for L0101, because that’s the only lecture section of the course that’ll be online.

    peace,

    aska

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  • ROSI

    ACORN is driving me NUTS

    July 7, 2015

    Hi aska! I’ve been accepted into the social science department at utsg, and I was putting courses into the enrolment cart on acorn, but soc101 & psy100 have “enrolment blocked” and “ordered exclusions” under them. What does this mean?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    now, ACORN is new ’round these parts, so i’m not gonna be too harsh on it while it’s just getting its sea legs. it’s so new, in fact, that i don’t even have a tag for it yet on this website (eventually, i’ll get around to changing it from ‘ROSI’ to ‘ACORN.’ eventually).

    however, i’ve gotta admit that in its initial stages, ACORN does have a few buggy little things about it that are making it a bit confusing. and the FIRST of these buggy things is this: a lot of the stuff related to the enrolment cart makes it LOOK like you’re not allowed to enrol in a course, when you actually are.

    first up: “enrolment blocked.” “what the everliving f$&* does that mean?” you might ask.

    well, if you hover over the words “enrolment blocked” on ACORN, a message will pop up that says: “you are currently blocked from enrolling in at least one section of this course.”

    why they put this message up really puzzles me, because ACORN won’t allow you to enrol in a section that you’re blocked from, so whatever section is already in your cart, is a section that you ARE allowed to enrol in. obviously. because you just added it to your cart.

    SO i guess it’s just letting you know that if you want to try enrolling in a different section, you might not be able to.

    next: “ordered exclusions.” hovering over this tab will give you the definition of an exclusion (“Courses with content too similar to each other to be taken for credit”), AND it will handily list every exclusion for that course. which is super helpful.

    in sum, you don’t have anything to worry about. they’re just messages that are meant to make course enrolment easier to understand (whether they were entirely successful on that front is…debatable).

    happy acorning!

    aska

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  • psychology,  PUMP

    be warned: toronto is not as pretty as montreal

    July 7, 2015

    Hi Aska! I forgot to ask you something! Is there any preparatory year to sciences at the university of Toronto? because I would like to study psychology and I didn’t have a lot of maths and sciences in high school. I know there is this option at the UdeM but it’s only available in french and I reaaaally want to study in Toronto

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    ok, i have to go through a few things before i answer your question:

    i’m gonna assume you’re coming from Quebec. most students admitted to uoft from Quebec are admitted as second year students, because their CEGEP transfers over as the equivalent of a Year 1 from uoft.

    however, if you want to study psych, then your admission becomes a bit more tricky. once you were admitted to uoft (let’s assume that you were admitted as a second year student), one of two things might happen:

    1. you would be admitted directly into a psychology program, since you have the equivalent of Grade 12 calculus and PSY100H1 in transfer credits.

    2. you’d be admitted to uoft as a general student, since you DON’T meet the prerequisites for psych, and you’d have to pick a subject POSt to stand in lieu of psych until you can fulfil the prerequisites to apply for psych (second year students HAVE to enrol in a POSt – any POSt – in order to be able to enrol in courses).

    ok. now we come to your question: assuming you don’t yet have the math and the psych, how can you go about completing those prerequisites in your first year at uoft, so that you’re eligible to apply to a psych program (either a specialist, major or minor)?

    there’s no such thing as a “preparatory year” here, but we DO have a preparatory course which students can take in the place of grade 12 calculus. that course is called PUMP. PUMP is a preparatory calculus course that you can along with your regular studies at uoft. you can use PUMP to fulfil psych’s calculus requirement.

    you’ll also need to take PSY100H1 (again, assuming you didn’t take an equivalent course at your high school/CEGEP).

    once you’ve got your calc and your psych, you’d be all set to apply to a psych program as you enter into your third year (second year at uoft).

    i hope that was somewhat clear. i tweaked it like 17 times, so it better make at least a bit of sense. don’t hesitate to lemme know if you need further clarification, though.

    a bientot,

    aska

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  • grades

    we don’t talk about grade 9

    July 6, 2015

    Hi, I kinda had bad grades in my first two years of high school. (like 70-68 %) And I was wondering, is that going to have an impact on my future? I would very much like to be a surgeon or an engineer. Or a biochemist or a scientist or an anthropologist…You get what I want to say

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    in the simplest terms: no. grades 9 and 10 are not considered in university applications. only your top 6 grade 12, university-level courses (including any program prerequisites) will be considered for an admission decision. your grade 11 marks may be used for a conditional offer of admission while you’re still completing your grade 12 courses. however, your grade 9 and 10 marks will not be considered.

    and here it is in more complex terms: just because they’re not considered for admission, doesn’t mean grades 9 and 10 won’t “impact your future” at all.

    engineering, medicine, biochem – these are all very challenging disciplines. you need to be on top of your game in grades 11 and 12 to get into university, and to do well in your first year.

    not that grades 9 and 10 will necessarily dictate how well you do in grades 11 and 12 – definitely not. aska herself wasn’t doing so hot in grade 9, and NOW look where she is! writing for an anonymous blog and looking forward to her three oreos she’s got saved up for dinner. holla.

    but if you didn’t do so great in grades 9 and 10, you might want to look into how you might do better in the coming years. identify the areas where you need help. is it math? writing?

    then figure out what you can do to improve. maybe that means getting a tutor. maybe that means de-prioritizing a few things to make room for school.

    it does NOT mean freaking out about your grades and giving yourself a heart condition at the age of 17. i’m not saying any of these things to SCARE you. aska would never want to cause anything but happiness to the wee youngins reading her posts.

    all i’m saying is that you may want to invest some time in figuring out 1) what you really truly want to do and 2) how to get there, so that once you do get to uni, you’ll be ready.

    i hope that helps!

    xoxo,

    aska

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