math,  scholarships/bursaries

don’t math if you can help it

Hi! So, I’m finishing up grade 11 and ending the year with a precalculus class at the grade 12 level because I fast tracked. Since that means I finished up my math requirements for high school, I wasn’t planning on taking any math next year. I didn’t think it would be that big a deal, since I want to apply for Ethics, Society, and Law and PoliSci, and it won’t be on my Top 6.
But now I’m concerned because I know that the universities at my province typically make you take at least one university level course in subjects like math, and I’m not sure if that also applies for UofT. If it does, I might retake the course again in grade 12. Will that be held against me because UofT “…reserves the right to give preference to students whose marks are a result of a single attempt at each course”?
Ohhh one last thing! When it comes to scholarships offered by UofT, like the entrance scholarship you get if you have a 92%, do they determine that percentage using all your marks in grade 12 or just your Top 6?

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hey there,

if you don’t want to take math, if you think not taking math will improve your average, if math isn’t good for your soul – don’t take math. trust aska. university is hard enough without taking courses you hate (and especially math. like, full offence – why do that to yourself?).

uoft will never force you to take math if it’s not a program requirement for you, and, as you rightly pointed out, neither ethics, society & law nor poli. sci. require any math courses.

the only thing we have that is similar to what you’re suggesting are ‘breadth requirements.’ basically, the university requires you to take one or two courses in five major areas of study which are supposed to encompass all areas of study. almost every single course in the faculty of arts & science fits into one (or sometimes two) of these categories. and yes, one of the categories is ‘The Physical and Mathematical Universes.’

however, there are lots of ways to fill this pesky requirement that don’t involve taking math. some courses are designed to be lowballs for people who…let’s say aren’t the most number-oriented of folks. one of them is AST201, and you can find plenty more of these ‘lowballs’ on the course calendar.

a caveat: by the time you get to subject POSt-application time, the summer after your first year, you may have changed your mind about what you want to study. that’s two years from now, after all. let’s say you change your mind, and decide to do an international relations major, for example. in that case, not having done calculus would prevent you from taking ECO100, one of the prerequisites for that program.

my point is that not taking calculus does close some doors on you. however, you seem not to be too interested in those doors, so if it’s a choice between keeping some hypothetical future options open that you may not care about, and preserving your grades and sanity, go for the latter.

finally: everything is determined based on your top six. that includes scholarships.

cheers,

aska

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