Hello,
I am admitted in the University of Toronto St. Michael College for studies in Humanities. I have 2 questions for you.
1) What is the difference between all the Arts & Science colleges?
2) Is it possible for me to select Criminology & Socio-legal studies as a major after my first year even though i have been admitted in the faculty of Humanities?
Thank you.
——————————————
hi!
since your question is in two parts, i’ll be answering in two parts.
1) colleges are kinda like a student’s “home base” during their time in the faculty of arts and sciences. every student in artsci belongs to a college. this is mostly for administrative reasons, as u of t and the faculty of arts and sciences are huge. so, if you needed to access any admin (ie. registrar’s office, dean’s office, etc), you would want to get in contact at the college level first. there are also a lot of different resources that are available to students at a college such as writing centres. you will also be participating in orientation week with your college and if you’re living on residence, your college is where you would live.
there isn’t really any difference between the colleges, they all serve the same basic purpose. there are some people who say that each college has their own “personality”, but you will be able to find people that you click with no matter which college you’re at. basic people will tell you all about the stereotypes associated with the different colleges, but that’s all they are– stereotypes.
2) yes, it’s possible for you to for you to enroll in criminology and socio-legal studies as a major even though you were admitted into humanities. as long as you have the appropriate prerequisites fulfilled, there’s nothing stopping you!
you just need to take 2.0 FCE (full course equivalents) in either: HIS (history), ECO (economics), PHL (philosophy), POL (polisci), PSY (psychology), or SOC (sociology). then, between first and second year (or whenever you complete 4.0 FCE), you have to apply for the major on ACORN. check out this link for a detailed explanation of the program enrollment process. criminology and socio-legal studies is a type 3 program.
you could also make an academic advising session with your registrar’s office, who would be able to give you even more information.
i hope this helps! see you on campus in september!
xoxo,
aska