• admissions,  biology,  prereqs

    broaden your horizons, or whatever

    February 28, 2020

    Questions! (I was recently accepted into the faculty of arts and science! Yay!) *deep breath* Here I go: I hope you won’t judge me but I didn’t take any science or math courses in Grade 12 simply because I thought majoring in English would satisfy me. (I severly limited myself, I know, and I’ve been regretting everything) The thing is, I’m now looking at all of these awesome programs that require math, bio, etc. and I was wondering if uoft let’s students take the classes required for those programs that you don’t have the high school prerequisites for. ie. You need to take a bio course for a genome major, but that bio course requires you to have taken grade 12 bio. Is it possible to still get into a more science and math oriented programs? It sounds impossible just typing it out because I don’t know if I would even be able to catch up to university level courses.

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    congrats on your acceptance!

    honestly, you’re thinking about these things pretty early on– you’re in a much better position to catch up than, say, someone who realized the same thing in september of your first year. it’s really cool that your interests are broadening and you’re thinking about what will fulfill you. genomes? dang, dude. that’s some cool stuff.

    i wouldn’t say the game is over for you. as far as i can tell, these are your options:

    • contact the biology department

    i looked up the requirements for the genome major, even though i don’t know if it’s really what you’re interested in or if you just mentioned it as an example. it looks like you are correct and they will be looking at the high school courses you took to determine your eligibility for required courses like BIO120 and BIO130. but both course descriptions mention that you can get in touch with the course office if you don’t have the required prereqs. i’m guessing this means that they have some form of policy for dealing with students lacking prereqs. while i’m not sure what that is, i’m hopeful that they’d be able to provide you with some guidance on this issue.

    if you’re interested in programs other than genome biology and run into the same issue, i’d follow the same path and contact the department. they’re usually the ones who will know whether exceptions can be made for you, and/or what your best course of action is. department contact info can usually be found under the program listing on the artsci calendar. 

    • take summer school

    if your summer is unoccupied and the thought of spending the lovely months of july and august in a classroom doesn’t make you want to soak your pillowcase in tears, then covering those science/math prereqs in the summer is always an option.

    i still think you should contact the relevant u of t departments first, just to make sure that you don’t unnecessarily pile on schoolwork in the summer. i also don’t really know how many prereqs you think you need, and whether those could plausibly be completed over your break. i don’t know how it works for you, but what i remember from taking summer school in high school was that you were limited to two courses at a time???? obviously, that’s probably different in different systems/provinces/countries etc.

    it may also be important to note that once you complete those courses, you should provide proof of completion to your registrar/the department. the department is allowed to kick you out of a course as soon as they realize you don’t have the prereqs, which can even happen in the first few weeks of school. i don’t really want you to have to deal with that nasty surprise, so this has been your heads up.

    • take online courses

    you can also consider taking your prereq courses online. if you’re in ontario, ontario virtual school will probably be able to help you out. if you’re not in ontario, you can try talking to your high school guidance counsellor– ask them to point you in the right direction re: reputable online schools. from what i remember about high school online courses, you can start them whenever and finish them whenever. that might give you a little more flexibility– if you feel up to it, you can get started now and have those transcripts ready much, much earlier.

    best of luck with everything! i wouldn’t say it’s impossible to catch up, maybe just a bit more work. hope this helped and congratulations again on your acceptance.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • financial aid,  UTAPS

    girls just wanna have funds

    February 11, 2020

    hi! are UTAPS funds given twice per school year or just once? I received ~$1500 in the fall semester, and in the invoice, it said that it’s just “Fall 2019” so I was wondering if another one is coming this winter? thanks a lot!

    ——————————————

    hey friendo,

    you should technically be able to view upcoming payments on your ACORN– to see how, go to this link and click the dropdown for “how do i view what awards i have received?” it’ll tell you where to look and what you need to look for to check if you have any more UTAPS payments left.

    if that doesn’t work for you or you’re in doubt about what it’s showing you, go to your registrar’s office, and have them check for you. i am not tooooo sure but i think they’ll be able to see things in the system that you don’t have access to, or help you find info you don’t even know you have.

    hope this helped!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • internal transfer

    le big sigh

    February 7, 2020

    Hi, I am currently a first year UTSC student wanting to transfer to UTSG for second year. I applied to the social sciences program and I was wondering what the general competitive cGPA for internal transfer is. I have a 2.9 right now and I am a little nervous. Please let me know!!

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i’ve gotten this question a few times in the past, and it never ceases to frustrate me how little info there is on internal transfers to UTSG. UTM has its competitive internal transfer cGPA estimate– where’s st. g’s? geez.

    i’ve been told nothing gets published because it’s such a dynamic pool of applicants, and they can’t actually put a number out and risk being held to it in case it doesn’t accurately reflect what they get that year. which i guess kind of makes sense?? but doesn’t really help you out much. i wish i had more on this, i do. it sucks that you just kinda gotta keep your fingers crossed and wait for word. which isn’t ideal.

    you might try calling enrolment services and see if they’re willing to tell you anything. that’d be my best bet, although i only have about 38% confidence it will work.

    best of luck, though. aska is cheerin’ for ya.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • sociology,  subject POST

    slight major confusion

    February 7, 2020

    hi! I had a question about switching majors. I’m a first year and I’m not sure if I want a major in sociology or something else. how hard would it be to switch to soc in 2nd year if I originally chose something else?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i’m not really sure what you mean by switching in second year. do you mean, like, before your second year starts? midway through your second year?

    if you’re currently in your first year, you’re technically not even in a major yet. dunno if you’re aware of this, but u of t runs on a subject POSt system– which means you apply to be admitted to a program of study in the early summer right after your first year. until you’ve completed that procedure, you don’t even technically have a major to switch out of.

    you might be referring to your first-year admission stream (which i doubt, because you said something about a major) or the program of interest you declared on your ouac? u of t’s not gonna hold you to that program of interest, nor did getting admitted to u of t mean you were guaranteed access to that major. as for the admission streams, those are mainly done for the purpose of giving priority enrollment to students who are most likely to need certain courses as prerequisites for majors in that stream. if that makes sense.

    if you’re hoping to find out more about how to actually choose your programs of study and what that process looks like, i’ve written that up in a previous post and you can view it here. updated deadlines– so you can get a sense of a timeline– are here.

    and, well, if you’re asking about how to switch your major halfway through the year, technically you can’t. what you can do is drop the courses related to the major you don’t want anymore, and start taking prerequisites/program requirements for the major you’re more interested in beginning in the winter semester. then, if you have everything you need, you can request a new program and then drop your current one during the program request period following your second year. might wanna note that you should drop after being accepted to your new program, just in case things don’t pan out.

    for soc specifically, i don’t know that you’re gonna be able to request it without taking a summer course in the first summer semester and then requesting soc as your major during the second program request period that begins in july. this is because to get into soc, you need at least 65% in SOC100 and SOC150, but you can’t take SOC150 without having already taken SOC100.

    tl:dr — switching before second year starts? easy peasy lemon squeezy, as long as you have program prereqs. switching midway through second year? difficult difficult lemon difficult — if you haven’t already taken those first year soc courses, anyway. if you have it should be as easy as requesting soc as a program in the summer.

    hope this helped!

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

     

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  • non degree

    strong mathematical background lol

    February 6, 2020

    Hi,

    I have a four year undergraduate degree in Economics and Finance from the Lahore School of Economics, Pakistan. I have developed an interest in quantitative/mathematical finance and would like to pursue a masters program from either the UofT or any other university.

    The masters program in the aforementioned fields expects applicants to have a very strong mathematical background. Unfortunately, my degree, although somewhat quantitative in nature, isn’t too quantitative and I won’t be eligible to apply for the masters program right now. Therefore, I was wondering if there is a possibility to take the following undergraduate courses in math at UofT as a *non degree applicant* and get credit for the courses so that I can apply both at UofT and other places.

    1. Multivariable Calculus (MAT237) (also Calculus 1 and 2 if need be)
    2. Ordinary Differential Equations
    3. Partial Differential Equations
    4. Linear Algebra I and II
    5. Algebra I and II
    6. Real Analysis
    7. Probability and Statistics I and II
    8. Computer Programming (R or Python or C++)

    I am looking for answers to the following questions:
    1. Is it possible to take the aforementioned undergraduate courses in math at UofT as a non degree applicant and get credit for the courses?
    2. Is there a specific person/department at UofT whom I should directly reach out to? There isn’t much information related to non-degree students on the website so I would want to talk to someone to know more.
    3. Where can I find course level fee information? For example, what would it cost to take a course in Ordinary Differential Equations.

    4. Is there a webpage/link that explains the process to apply as a non degree student to undergraduate courses?

    ——————————————

    hey friendo,

    undergrad in econ and finance. that’s cool, you’re more accomplished than i am.

    first thought in my mind was that that’s an awful lot of courses to be taking as a non-degree. i feel like you should get in touch with the admissions office(s) offering the program you’re interested in, and just make sure that none of the credits you already have will work in place of these requirements. there’s a possibility they may be able to make exceptions, as well– i can’t guarantee it, but it might be worth looking into before you drop a hefty sum of money on these classes.

    anyway, because i’m a chronic overachiever, here’s the most thorough rundown you’re probably gonna get of each course you asked about.

    1. multivariable calculus: MAT237Y1

    you were correct that this will require as prerequisites calculus 1 (MAT135) AND calculus 2 (MAT136), which are both half-year courses. in lieu of those two, you can take MAT137 which seems to be pretty much equivalent and is a full-year course. there are a few other alternatives, as well as grade thresholds to meet, which you can look into here. 
    2. ordinary differential equations (MAT244)

    this is just the intro course, and if you get the prereqs that i listed above for multivariable calculus you should have what you need to take this course, too. the advanced course is MAT267, if you find you need it too. 

    3. partial differential equations (MAT351 or APM346)

    to take MAT351, you’ll need an 85% in MAT237 and MAT267. APM346 might be a bit more flexible in terms of prereqs– you’ll be able to get in with just MAT237, it seems, which you’ll be taking anyway. the two courses are basically equivalent, and i’m not aware of any major differences.

    4. linear algebra i (MAT223) and ii (MAT224)

    all you need is high school-level calculus to get into MAT223, and once you’ve got MAT223 solidly under your belt, MAT224 should let ya in no problem.

    5. algebra i (MAT240) and ii (MAT247)

    high school calc will get ya in to MAT240, which in turn will make you eligible to take MAT247.

    6. real analysis (MAT337)

    you have a lot of options in terms of prereqs for this one– i’d suggest taking a look at yourself. slashes are like ‘or,’ and commas stand in for ‘and.’ in short, you’ll need as prereqs at least 3 different classes, which i think will be met if you take some of the other classes you say you need.

    7. probability and statistics I (STA257) and II (STA261)

    if you take MAT135 and 136 and get at least a 70% in both, or take MAT137 in general, you’ll have prereqs for STA257. STA 257 should serve as a prereq for STA261.

    8. computer programming (R or Python or C++)

    i think CSC108 may be what you’re looking for?

    as for your other questions:

    is it possible to take the aforementioned undergraduate courses in math at u of t as a non degree applicant and get credit for the courses?

    i believe so. i’d contact the relevant departments– math, statistics, and compsci— just to confirm. as a non-degree student, you’d have a later enrolment date than degree students as most of these courses prioritize students working towards a program.

    is there a specific person/department at u of t whom i should directly reach out to? there isn’t much information related to non-degree students on the website so i would want to talk to someone to know more.

    you can reach out to enrolment services, or perhaps the woodsworth college registrar? to my knowledge, non-degree students are typically issued to woodsworth, so if any registrar would be useful to talk to my guess would be them.

    sorry, i dunno why this gif is so threatening.

    where can i find course level fee information? for example, what would it cost to take a course in ordinary differential equations.

    this link will give you a rundown of your fees– above 3.5 FCEs in the fall/winter session, you’ll be paying program fees. below that, you’ll pay per course. just click on the ‘non-degree’ option on the first page and the document should redirect you to the relevant fees. i’m making the assumption that you’re an international student– if you’re not, this document should help you out.

    4. Is there a webpage/link that explains the process to apply as a non degree student to undergraduate courses?

    you can check out this link— just ctrl f non degree– or have a look at woodsworth college’s guide to being a non-degree student.  the woodsworth one provides what is probably the most detailed info on non-degree students that i’ve found at u of t, and i would definitely, definitely encourage you to have a look at it.

    hope all of this helped! i’m tired now, and it’s snowing, and all i want to do is take a nap. closing this post off with this rad but super unrelated gif i found while browsing for other ones to spice up this post. it’s so fluid. look at him goooo

    be Boundless,

    aska

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