Hi aska, first off you are hilarious and I have spent the past hour just reading your answers to various questions.
I have a few questions today to ask. I am a grade 11 student and i want to apply to the UTSC International Development Arts Co-Op program. However I have not taken any advanced levels of math apart from workplace to get my final required math credit. In grade 12 I will be taking 6 different social sciences courses. How do you think the lack of math will affect my application because from what i’ve heard it is quite a competitive program? Also, how does the year at U of T work, when do semesters start and end?
Mostly, I am just worried that I won’t get accepted to this program and then if I do that the workload will quite literally kill me. Any advice for preparing myself for university and U of T would be nice.
Thank You
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hey there,
ME? hilarious? in this economy??? as a taxpayer, i find that irresponsible and unacceptable.
if your top 6 4U/M courses (including English) are strong, then i don’t think that the lack of math will affect your application, since IDS does not require calculus. as with this person, that only is my best guess, but i don’t know for sure because UNFORTUNATELY, i am not responsible for admitting students. if i was, punny stream-of-consciousness personal essays would probably determine whether or not people got into their programs. and i know rotman and computer science would have a problem with that.
the one thing i will caution you, though, is that MGEA01H3 and MGEA05H3 are required for the IDS specialist. neither of these courses require calculus, but “algebra and graphs are used extensively,” and that kind of thing is not covered in workplace math. if i were you, i would consider taking grade 11 mixed math, or perhaps even functions, so you can have a basic understanding of this kind of mathematics before you’re thrown into it in first year.
UTSC is a strictly semesterly campus. the fall semester goes from September-December (with exams in December), the winter semester goes from January-April (with exams in April), and the summer semester goes from May-August (with exams in June and August for half-credit courses, and August for courses worth 1.0 credit).
my advice for preparation is that you 1) really do consider doing as much math as you can stomach. it will help you in the long run. 2) some people have good experiences at university and some people have not-so-good experiences, but i think that the following advice is helpful for pretty much anybody:
- do not feel like you have to only do school while you’re in school. lots of first-years drop extra-curriculars, jobs, and hobbies in first year because they feel like they need more time to adjust to school and can’t do as much as they did in grade 12. it is true that you’ll need to use first year to adjust to university, but i’ve found that getting involved makes it easier to adjust, not more difficult. you can always drop things if you’ve taken on too much, but don’t hesitate to even try. getting involved helps you feel like you’re part of a community, which can make you feel more invested in your school work – and that’s good, not bad, for your academics.
- sometimes you will fall asleep on your commute. don’t beat yourself up about it. you can’t always be doing readings on the train/bus.
- ask questions!!!!! no one else knows what the heck they’re doing, either. you will not look stupid if you ask a question. this applies for classes but also just generally: if you have a question about university policy/procedure, ask it. do not just listen to what your friends are saying, because they are probably wrong. ask your registrar’s office. Google things. double check stuff.
- take pride in your work. university is hard. you are doing a great job – even if sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.
- plan ahead. listen, if you got through high school without an agenda or a calendar and you think you can pull the same thing in university, you are wrong. you will 100% for certain be more successful if you have some method by which to schedule your time, so find one that works for you, pronto.
- let your plans change. medical school and law school are not the only options for your future. there are lots of challenging, fulfilling, well-paying, well-respected jobs that you’ve never heard of and that YOU CAN LOVE. and no one will think you are a failure for doing them. they will think you are an adult.
- don’t give up. you will get a mark that you never got in high school. maybe you will get a lot of marks that you didn’t get in high school. firstly, that does not signal the end of your university career – first year does not have to foreshadow your second, third and fourth years. secondly: even if you do decide to leave, or transfer, or take a break from school, you are not giving up. as long as you are doing what’s right for you, you’re doing alright.
- con hall classes suck, but they’re not forever.
cheers,
aska