• computer science

    how much can you really trust reddit

    February 26, 2016

    I have a couple of things I would like to clarify as I go forward in my Comp Sci education. So according to this
    https://www.reddit.com/r/UofT/comments/40txeo/important_changes_to_cs_post_in_2016/ some things have changed this year for people like myself who look to enroll in the CS POST. So I am in my fourth semester here at UTSG doing whatever I can to get into the CS POST since around last year. Basically first and second semester I took last year I went through csc108, csc148, and csc165. All fine and dandy. However, I didn’t do so hot in csc165 at all (52%) and I went through csc148 very uneasy with this in the back of my mind. So I did all of 148 outright to the end but dropped it because I had the option to from the TA strike that occurred. So I “retook” 148 last semester and did fairly well, falling just shy of an 80. Now I also have 165 enrolled this semester as an EXTRA course (so labeled EXT on my acorn/rosi). Now with this change that has taken place as mentioned in the Reddit post, and knowing that I am still a student in the Faculty of Arts & Science CMP1 according to my rosi, if I just do basically what I did with 148 and get a solid grade in 165 close to around 75-80 range, will I get accepted once I apply as the CS update implies?

    Thanks if you respond and thanks for running such an awesome resource.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    the important distinction made in the reddit post you cite is between people admitted into the university in the computer science stream, and everyone else.

    if you were admitted out of high school (or wherever you were before uoft) into computer science, then yes. the way that i read the e-mail quoted is like this: if you meet those minimum requirements, you would definitely be admitted into the specialist or major (whichever you applied to).

    if you were admitted into another stream though (life science, physical/mathematical science, social science or humanities), then the POSt would still be competitive. that means that achieving the minimum required marks will not be enough to be admitted. you’ll have to achieve a mark high enough that you earn one of the limited spots in the POSt.

    so far, so good – i do have an important caveat for you, though. since i’m not in comp. sci. and i never received the e-mail that the reddit post quotes, i have no way of verifying whether it is real. i mean, it seems like a remarkably specific thing to make up, but i still can’t confirm it, because i can’t find the same information anywhere in the calendar or on the comp. sci. website.

    what i would recommend is that you verify the information with the computer science undergraduate office. they can also advise you about any nuances that may not be entirely evident (or mentioned at all) in that e-mail. they’re also good just for some general advice about moving forward. all around, it’s probably a good idea to stop in or call for a chat.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • failing,  petition

    changing an F to a WDR

    February 24, 2016

    Hi aska!

    I have somewhat of a sticky situation that I’m not sure how to handle. I’ve been talking with my college registrar, but still feel … well, stuck!

    Back in 2011, I started my first year at UofT in EngSci. I completed two full semesters, not doing extremely well, but passing/failing my courses at a pretty even ratio across the board. At that time, I had some err mental health issues, that really started to spiral out of control. I won’t go into details here. Essentially, at the end of my second semester in EngSci, I decided to transfer into LifeSci to try approaching my goals from a different perspective. I started my first semester in this new program September 2012…

    Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to even get passed a few months into the semester before being admitted into CAMH. To be honest, I was hospitalized for about 2 months there, and really don’t remember anything from the time (institutions seem to rely on solely pharmaceutical treatments, at least at the time –> highly medicated!) but there seems to be some records of contact between myself and my registrar in efforts to withdraw from my courses – it still would have been late withdrawal as it was past the drop date for the course. Because I didn’t complete the courses, my grades were extremely poor – all Fs.

    Having said that, my treatment went sour, things went terribly, and I never ended up following through. The past four years, I’ve been trying to recover and get back on my feet. Finally, this September I re-enrolled into LifeSci and am starting all over again. Looking at my transcript, my cGPA is shot, I’d say even 6 feet below. I’ve been trying to access health records from the hospital, to no avail just yet.

    What are the chances I’ll be granted a LWD if I petition at this point?

    Thank you!!

    Defeated Student.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if i’m understanding correctly, you want to petition to LWD courses that you took back in 2012. i’m going to answer your question assuming that’s what you’re asking, but if i misunderstood, just let me know so i can help out further.

    so, you wouldn’t be able to get an LWD. you are able to petition for a WDR (withdraw) which is essentially the same in every way as an LWD but it stands for ‘withdraw,’ and you would have ‘WDR’ designations on your transcript instead of ‘LWD.’

    i don’t have enough information to be able to advise you much further in this case. whether or not the petition is likely to be successful, i can’t say. the only thing i can recommend is continuing to talk with your college registrar’s office about it.

    perhaps you feel like your meeting with your registrar’s office was not particularly fruitful. that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the conversation. what i would recommend is writing down everything relevant to your story down on the piece of paper. write the points you wanted to make to your college registrar. then you can go in again and have another conversation, even with the same person, or somebody else if you’ll be more comfortable. i often find that writing things down helps to make sure you’ll cover all the points you want to cover.

    there’s never any harm in submitting a petition, but if your college registrar’s office thinks it’s not advisable, then it’s worth it to listen to them and avoid wasting your time.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • exclusions,  subject POST

    not about that linear path of life

    February 23, 2016

    Hey there aska [aka light from heaven above],

    I’m currently a 2nd year UTSC student who’s doing 2 majors and a minor (IDS, Public Policy co-op, and Econ minor). HOWEVER, I want to make my economics minor a major after finding out I really like the subject matter. the thing is, I’m missing 2 first year calc courses that are require for econ majors. I can take them in 3rd year but while I think I can manage 70s in the calc courses I know that will lower my (C)GPA quite a bit and I AM looking towards grad school eventually [maybe law school, maybe just in social sciences idk yet but that’s another problem] my question is that I’m just wondering if it’ll be worth it to risk lowering my GPA in 3rd year when grad schools look at that .. especially since they are first year courses [p.s I did the math and I could still graduate on time thanks to the 12 distinct credit rule and ids/pp/econ having overlapping courses].

    An add-on question is that I took a statistics course (stab22) earlier for a pre-req towards my other majors but it counts as an exclusion to a quantitative methods of economics class I need to take for my econ major. I did rlly well in stats (83%) so will that mark go to waste? Or can I still apply that to satisfy my IDS requirement and just uptake the other econ class to fulfill my requirements, thereby using both towards my gpa [since its different majors] despite being considered exclusions.

    My last chance to apply as an econ major will be at the end of this sem when I have 10 credits so I’m super confused!!!!!

    Any and all opinions/info/train of thought is very much appreciated!!!!!,

    Thanks a bunch ;-;

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    listen, i understand that this is a tough situation. i’ve been in a similar one myself. and i know that in these situations, ALL YOU WANT is for someone to tell you what to do. “just tell me what i should do and i’ll do it, no complaints!” i’ve begged people. but they can’t tell me what to do, just like i can’t tell you what to do. you’re in charge – doesn’t that suck?

    ultimately, you have to figure out the POSt configuration that will make you happiest. i do have a few general tidbits of advice, which you can feel free to take or leave as you like:

    i wouldn’t recommend making a decision based on tentative post-graduation plans. since you’re not sure exactly what you’d like to do in terms of postgrad, you’ll be very frustrated with your past self in fourth year if you made a decision based on a path you’re not following anymore. chances are, the POSt combination that you’re most excited about, is the one in which you’ll be most successful. even with calc.

    if you find the econ. major really interesting, then go for it. keep in mind, though, that you’re not allowed to have three majors, so you’ll either have to drop another major before you add econ., OR change one to a minor. keep in mind that while the IDS major has unlimited enrolment, the public policy co-op major is unlimited, so i’d recommend thinking on it/discussing with your registrar before dropping or downgrading from that one, because you won’t be able to easily add it back.

    also, whatever you decide to do, it’s best not to drop anything before you get into the econ major. since that major has limited enrolment, there is always the possibility that you won’t be accepted (i mean, not to be pessimistic or anything. i’m sure you will be. but just in case). wait to be accepted before you go dropping or changing around your other POSts – it’s just easier.

    as to your second question: it’s the other way around. the second course that you take will be an extra because it is an exclusion of a course you’ve already taken. that means that it will count towards your econ. major, but it will NOT count towards your GPA or 20.0 degree credits.

    you won’t be able to make both count towards your GPA. what you might be able to do, though, is convince the economics deparmtent to accept the stats course you’ve already taken to fulfil this requirement. you can contact them at ecoss ( at) utsc (. ) utoronto ( .) ca.

    good luck with everything!

    aska

    P.S. thank you for your excellent e-mail subject line – i hope you don’t mind that i’ve appropriated it as title for this post.

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  • Transferring

    from Queen’s to King’s College Circle

    February 19, 2016

    I’m a first year student at Queens University, thinking of transferring and am having trouble finding the concrete date to transfer. If the deadline past can I still apply to transfer for sept 2016?

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

    hey there,

    most of the deadlines – including that for the Faculty of Arts & Science, which you are most likely applying to – were extended until february 8th. unfortunately, that deadline has passed now. sorry about that. i’d recommend talking to an academic advisor at your school to see what your options are, and whether there’s some other option that may work for you, or whether you will have to stick it out for another year at Queen’s.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • failing,  graduation

    what petitions are and are not for

    February 19, 2016

    Hi,I failed a course last semester and I need it for graduating. This is my last year of school.Since I failed one course, I cannot graduate on time.I really wish to get a second chance for that course.Is it possible to make a petition of retaking the exam of redo the term work I am confused how the petition works.I’m not sure if we have to retake the failed course. Please help.
    Best

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you can’t petition to retake an exam or to redo the work. the only exam-related things you’re allowed to request are rechecks or rereads of your exam, which might result in a higher mark – though i would advise against doing these options if you don’t actually have a reason to think your mark should’ve been different.

    if you were right on the cusp of passing (i’m talking 48%, 49%), you may want to e-mail your instructor explaining that you’re graduating, and asking if there was any way they might bump up your grade.

    otherwise, you’d probably have to take that class again and pass it in order to graduate. hopefully, it’s offered in the summer, so you can do it then and graduate in November.

    if you need some more guidance on this or your options generally, i’d highly recommend talking to your registrar’s office about it. there’s something about talking with someone face-to-face that can really help you sort through things.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  rotman

    rotman hopefuls break your heart

    February 19, 2016

    Hi,

    My name is [redcated] and I am currently in Grade 11. I am wanting to get into the Rotman Commerce program but am becoming more nervous and stressed out as I get closer and closer to University applications. So, my question is: how strict are the admission requirements how steep has the competition been the last few years? For example, would I still have a chance of getting admitted if I had 75% in Calculus and what was the minimum average requirement for the past few years.

    Best

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you must be new here, my friend! as many frustrated high schoolers before you will tell you, aska has literally no information about admission statistics that isn’t already publicly available.

    that being said, here’s what i do know:

    i’ll never say never, BUT the rotman site does say that you should have received a mark in the mid- to high-80s in calculus to be considered. since they list it under “Minimum admissions requirements,” i’d say it’s pretty important.

    as for a cut-off, the closest thing i can give you to that is the anticipated admission grade average for fall 2015: for Rotman, it was in the mid- to high-80s. keep in mind, this is your top 6 4U/M courses including english and calculus.

    i am wondering, though: have you already done calculus? surely you’ve only done functions since you’re only in grade 11? you can’t have fast-tracked that much.

    if you’re freaking out about your calculus mark before you’ve even done the course: firstly, calm down. go have a hot chocolate and watch some netflix or something.

    SECONDLY: you have lots and lots of time to prevent this issue from even happening. if you’re not doing so well in functions and you’re worried about how it will impact your calculus mark, then take the time now to improve as much as you can! get a tutor for the summer. take advantage of time, wherever you can find it. you can do this.

    good luck with your application.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • fees

    no $$ for u

    February 19, 2016

    Hi Aska, for UTM, is there a certain cut-off date for full year courses where you don’t get any money back? I’m considering dropping my calc class because I don’t think that I’m gonna do well in it, so I was wondering if I was able to get some money back. Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    unfortunately we are now in the 0% refund period for pretty much every program at UTM. sorry.

    if this calc course is an S course, however, you have until March 6th to drop the course from your academic record, so at least it won’t affect your GPA, even if it will affect your bank account.

    best,

    aska

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  • law school

    you can’t escape the LSAT (mostly)

    February 19, 2016

    If I want to do the law undergrad + gradschool program (jd/phD) or a JD + MA in Criminology at the same time; do I really need to do the LSAT or there is a special way of admission to careers for the joint programs’ students?

    ———————————————

    if you’re talking about uoft’s collaborative degrees, then no, you need to write the LSAT. in fact, you need to complete all admissions requirements for BOTH programs, and then be accepted to both, in order to get in.

    you’re not going to find a law program in canada or the States that doesn’t require the LSATs. that’s why there’s a cottage industry forming around sending desperate North Americans to the U.K. – because schools across the pond don’t require the LSATs. do keep in mind though that law degrees are bachelor’s degrees over there, so it’s a different kind of degree. also, i don’t know if you could find a collaborative program in the U.K.. maybe. but i’d recommend you do your research.

    good luck,

    aska

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  • exchange,  study abroad

    a straightforward answer? OVER MY DEAD BODY!

    February 16, 2016

    I’m hoping to go abroad to a university known for a very tough grading policy, and I’m a little concerned about the effect this could have on my gpa. I know many universities don’t do this and U of T doesn’t factor AP credits, but are credits from a study abroad program factored into our gpa?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    uoft has two study abroad opportunities: summer abroad, or exchange. depending on which one you’re talking about, the answer will be different.

    summer abroad is a program where you complete a uoft credit, but you just do it in another country. in this case, the mark would appear on your transcript. if you’re doing an exchange through the CIE (centre for international experience), then you would be doing another university’s courses and getting transfer credits for your uoft degree – in that case, the mark wouldn’t show up, only the credit.

    so: does it affect your GPA? for summer abroad: yes. for exchanges: no.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  international students

    international fees *sips tea*

    February 16, 2016

    Hello! I have several questions to ask you, being an international student looking to transfer to U of T. First of all, why does the application fee cost so much? It is $100 more than the cost of applying to an university in the US.
    Also, is it normal to pay the fee before turning in all the needed documents? It asked me to pay for it right after I filled out the online information portion.
    Lastly, I accidentally pressed something that said ‘thanks for submitting your application, please send pay your fee by mail’. Can I pay online instead?
    Thank you for your help!! 🙂

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    it costs so much because you’re an international student. it costs $150 to apply to up to three universities for Ontario residents. for you guys, it costs $165, plus the extra $90 fee from uoft. you’ll have to get used to paying more as an international student if you want to come here, because canada is VERY UNFAIR and the universities love to money-grab wherever they can.*

    you’re supposed to send the fee online, according to the bottom of this page on the OUAC site. i’m not sure if maybe the uoft fee can be sent separately – as per usual, the university website is of absolutely no help with that.**

    if you want to pay online and you’re not sure how to do so, what i would do is call enrolment services. they can help you out.

    cheers,

    aska

    * although, to be fair, U.S. universities do this, too. but i’m not here to judge.

    **or maybe it is and i just can’t find the right page. it wouldn’t be the first time. though i do have to say that trying to find information on the collection of disparate websites that make up uoft’s online presence is like being dropped in the middle of a foreign continent and being told, “Okay, we need you to get to Billy’s Burger Shack. It’s a favourite around here! You’ll find it in no time!” meanwhile, you’re panicking because you have no idea where this place is. who’s billy? where is his shack? what country are you in? is that an ocean or a sea in the distance? you don’t know. you may never find out.

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  • probation

    it takes a lot to get kicked out of here

    February 16, 2016

    Hi, I got my notice of probation during the fall semester of 2015. And my GPA did not improve, I haven’t spoken to anyone about whats going on, mainly because I am incredibly embarrassed and don’t want to talk about it. I just know that I am on a 1 year suspension because I cannot access my personal timetable for this upcoming semester, it says to contact the registrar. Please help, I do not know how suspension works.
    1. I would like to know if it has started as of now and if I will get a notice, or am I supposed to know that I am on suspension because I cannot access my personal timetable on rosi2. If I am interested in returning to uoft after the suspension, what is that process like? Will I have to go through an interview or something along the lines of proving that I might do better? And has there been cases of not being allowed to return? I am stressing out because I am scared my gpa and my whole academic record will prevent me from returning after my suspension.
    I think that this is an awesome forum 🙂 and i look forward to having my questions answered. thank you.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    1. you are not on suspension yet. assuming you’re at the faculty of arts & science on the downtown campus, academic standing is not assessed until the end of each term. right now, that’s the fall/winter term, which begins in September and ends in April. that means that you’ve got almost two months before you’re assessed once more, and are either designated as in good standing or on probation.
    2. if your GPA remains below a 1.7 after your final marks come in in April, then you will be put on suspension. if this is your first suspension, it will be a 1-year suspension. after 1 year, you’re allowed to return on probation – no interview needed. if your semester on probation after returning culminates in a GPA above 1.7, then you’ll be able to continue in good standing. if you finish the semester with a GPA below 1.7, you’ll be put on a 3-year suspension. repeat that process one more time, and if you still can’t get above a 1.7, THEN you may be refused from further registration. but as you can see, there are a lot of steps before that actually happens.

    i hope this helps. i know it might be confusing to sort through all this information, but the important thing to remember is: your status doesn’t change until April. you have about seven weeks to turn this around. talk to your registrar, the academic success centre, math aid or your writing centre – wherever you need to go to get the help you need to succeed. you can do this.

    cheers,

    aska

    P.S. regardless of academic status, you should be able to access ACORN/ROSI. if you can’t, i would ask for help with that at the helpdesk at robarts library.

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  • failing

    lost and worried

    February 12, 2016

    hey aska,

    i am so worried right now, im not sure what my next step is. i failed a prerequisite computer science course (49%).
    i honestly slacked and i understand this but im just confused from where to go on from here. Credit no credit option due date passed and LWD obviously passed. ive emailed the prof asking if i can do anything for him to round up recently but i doubt it. What can i do and what will this ultimately affect?

    -lostandworried

    ———————————————

    hey there lostandworried,

    at this point, there’s not much you can do about the failed course in terms of changing the mark. if the professor refused to round up the mark, you’re kind of at the end of the line.

    as to what it will affect: it will bring your marks down on your transcript, sure. your GPA will suffer a little. however, i’m assuming that you’re in first year and this is the only course you’ve failed. if that’s the case, then every other course you pass, do well in, and add to your transcript will just make this course matter less and less. before you know it, it’ll be an insignificant blip in your academic record, as long as you recognize what you did wrong and ensure that the same thing doesn’t happen again.

    what you should be focusing on now is next steps. so you failed comp. sci. lots of people do it. i know that in a society that encourages you to base your entire self-worth on numbers (grades being no small part of that), failing a course can prompt a full-on identity crisis. what i want you to remember, though, is that you are completely in control of your future. you recognize why you failed, and that means that you understand what you have to do next time in order to succeed – and that is amazing.

    now you have a few questions to answer: do you still want to do a computer science POSt? if so, when are you going to retake this comp. sci. course (in the summer, next fall, etc.)? how will that fit in with the rest of the classes in your schedule? if you don’t think that comp. sci. is a good fit for you anymore, then what do you want to do? what prerequisites exist for that program that you’re now interested in?

    if you do decide that you want to retake this course (either to get in to a comp. sci. POSt or not), i would recommend seeking out help to make sure that you are successful this time around. the academic success centre is a really wonderful resource. whatever it is you think is holding you back from being successful, the academic success centre probably has a workshop to help you surmount that.

    if you’d like to discuss where to go from here in terms of taking courses, POSt planning, etc., i’d highly recommend you make an appointment with your college/division registrar’s office. they can help you talk through all this and come to a solution that makes sense for you.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  rotman

    econ will getcha, even in high school

    February 12, 2016

    Hey there,
    Can’t tell you how much I appreciate about the existence of this site. As you can see from my subject, I’m a current grade 12 students who is struggling with my average and considering retaking a course. My average, I would say it would be around 88-90ish. I know people have a higher chance at getting offer with an average 93-97ish, but I still have my hopes up! Anyways, my school is a 2 semesters system, and I’m taking economics 12 in the first semester. However, I’m not satisfied about where I’m getting right now for economics (84% FYI). I’m thinking to retake economics in the second semester, and I’m wondering how would u of t see my marks since I’ll be having 2 marks, one original and one retake. I heard some universities will average up between the original and the retake mark, and some universities will take some marks off from the retake mark. Thank you so
    much for answering my questions.

    Best regards.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    the subject line of your e-mail says that you’re applying to Rotman commerce, which makes the answer a little bit different from usual. rotman commerce does not consider retakes, so it probably wouldn’t make much sense to retake economics for that reason. that being said, depending on the other programs you’ve applied to at other schools, you may want to retake it if those other universities do accept repeated attempts.

    also, if you’ve applied to other streams at uoft (e.g. humanities, social sciences, etc.) then the repeated course won’t be completely discredited, but it will impact your application in that preference will be shown to students whose marks were the result of a single attempt.

    finally, do keep in mind that the only required course for Rotman (in addition to English) is calculus. that means that if your economics mark is not within your top six 4U/M courses (including calculus and English), it won’t be part of your admissions average at all. so another way of approaching this pickle you’re in might be to take another course next semester in which you anticipate you’ll do really well, and boot economics out of your top 6.

    best of luck with your application, mi amigo. i wish you a fabulous businessy future, full of tapered dress pants and not-too matchy-matchy suit jackets.

    cheers,

    aska

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