• computer science,  UTM

    a cross-campus migration

    July 28, 2014

    Hey aska!

    I have a small question for you, well not really small. So I’m an incoming first year going into comp sci at utm. I want to transfer to st George after this year but when I looked at program requirement I saw that some courses were different. At utm I need cs 108 and 148 and mat135 and 102. As st George I need Mat 136 and csc108 and 148 and be more cs course not offered at utm. I’m going to take 148 and 108 but what about the math course that has no direct equivalent? Should I wait until the summer and take it at utsg then transfer or take the utm requirement just in case ? And how does the transfer process work? Will you get admitted into a program or just into the university like a first year? I’m so confused and I can’t find much info on how the process work. Anything will help really!

    Thanks,
    Extremely Lost

    ———————————————

    hey there extremely lost,

    i know it’s hard to believe, but a lot could change between this year and next year. you may decide you don’t want to transfer, or your transfer app. could be refused. either way, it’s important that you make sure you’re taking the first-year comp. sci. requirements for utm, just in case you stick around there longer than you plan to.

    but let’s say you do apply to transfer. not all the courses at each campus are going to match up. otherwise it’d be…you know…the same program. your MAT134Y5/135Y5/137Y5 may (though i can’t say this with any certainty because i don’t work at transfer credit) count as equivalent to our MAT135H1/136H1, so i wouldn’t worry too much about that.

    as long as you take your req’d utm courses and your marks are competitive, you’ll be eligible to apply to st. george. i doubt it’ll be necessary to take any courses downtown.

    if you do apply to transfer, there are two possibilities. the first is that you’re accepted into the computer science specialist or major. the second is that you’re not accepted to the programs, but you are accepted to UTSG as a general, program-less student, in which case you could retake CSC148H1 and CSC165H1 to try and get a higher mark and apply again. the process to transfer follows roughly the same timeline as the timeline to apply straight from high school. you can learn more specifics here and here.

    that’s a pretty quick and dirty explanation. if you do some more research and you run into any more confusion, don’t hesitate to e-mail back! best of luck with it.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • breadth requirements,  courses,  seminars

    BIG courses and seminars

    July 28, 2014

    Thank you for answering my last question but I still have just one more 🙂 Are you able to take a BIG idea course (for example, BIG 102Y1) in second year? I would need it in order to fufill my breadth requirements because I have already chosen my 5 courses for this year. Also, would you have less of a chance of getting into the course if you are in second year as oppose to first? Thanks in advance!

    Are you able to take 199’s in second year? I am soooo worried about completing my breadth requirements but I don’t have room for any seminar’s in my timetable

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    unfortunately, BIG and 199 seminars are restricted to first year students. however, i’m not really sure what you’re worried about, because breadth requirements don’t have to be seminar courses??

    the breadth requirements are just 5 categories of content – throughout your degree, you need to take a certain number of credits in each of the categories. every class in the Faculty of Arts & Science fulfils at least one category. for example, PHY131H1, Intro. to Physics I, fulfils the 5th breadth category, “The Physical and Mathematical Universes.”

    you know, because it’s about the physical and mathematical universes.

    i hope that made sense, friend.

    good luck with your enrolment!

    aska

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  • admissions

    a deadline Q

    July 28, 2014

    Is the deadline to apply to university still January if you’re not a high school student?

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

    hey there,

    if you’re not a high school student, you apply using the OUAC 105 form. the deadlines may change a little every year, but you can go here to take a look at the general timeline. as you see, it’s pretty similar to the 101 (i.e. high school) application.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • plagiarism

    aska NEUTRALIZES that intimidating legal jargon

    July 25, 2014

    Hey there! So I hate to say it but I’ve been accused or charged with plagerism. I use Writecheck so I know it was only 8% of my paper that had a similarity. I just forgot to edit this one portion of my essay. This is my first real problem at u of t.. Can you please tell me what happens after the prof has sent in his report. Thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    assuming you’re at the downtown campus, the procedure follows section C.i.(a) Divisional Procedures (page 4) of the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters. after the instructor makes a report, the dean/department chair will have a meeting with you, and then will either impose a sanction or not.

    i know legal language can make you feel a bit like this, but if you’re in this position, i’d highly recommend reading all of section C.i.(a) of the Code, because it explains exactly what happens in every step of the process, and that can actually be really comforting and helpful, if you peel back the intimidating jargon.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • graduation

    fast & furious

    July 25, 2014

    Hey,

    I’d really like to do the Arts Management Program at UTSC with a double major in Theatre and Performance studies. I’m just wondering: is it at all possible to fast track? I know U of T has discontinued the three year degree 🙁 I’m just wondering, if I took courses every summer, could I somehow graduate under 4 years? …. It’s just, I am late coming to university (20) and I feel like I’m quite behind, if that makes sense. So..graduating early even possible? Thanks.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i guess you could. if you did a full course load every year and every summer, you could finish in the summer after your third year. however, as far as i can tell, there is only a specialist offered in the arts management program. just to complete the requirements for that specialist and a theatre and performance studies major would require 21.5 credits – assuming you never took any electives. that means you’d have to take a full course load every Fall/Winter and Summer, and one of those years, you’d have to take 5.5 FCEs instead of 5.0.

    i’m not gonna lie to you; that’s really rough. i know you feel as if you’re behind, but this would be really tricky to pull off. despite being an incredibly intense course load, this is all assuming you get into every course that is required, and never have to take a course that isn’t a program requirement – which is almost impossible when you take into account breadth requirements and any general interest course you might want to take.

    i think that finishing a semester early would be a more reasonable goal, but if you did that you’d graduate in june anyway, so…maybe just settling in for four years would be the sanest way to go. you won’t look super old, i promise.

    godspeed,

    aska

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  • subject POST,  UTM

    lmgtfy

    July 25, 2014

    Ok. So im currently enrolled in the forensics program at utm. My question is for forensic science specialties subject post prerequisites. Do I have to take physics before applying for forensic subject post or it can be done after first year. Plus if I change my mind and apply for other biology and chemistry related subject posts do- which classes are required in the first year for applying into the post. For example in comparative physiology program- what are the mandatory prereqs before applying in subject post. Besides bio, chem and math.
    Thanks – I hope u understand my question.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i understood your question; you’re basically asking me to read the course calendar for you and spoon-feed you the information. well. you can probably guess how i feel about that.

    i’m not sure exactly which POSt you’re talking about. the Forensic Science (Science) POSt is only offered as a major, but it is also the only Forensic Science program which requires physics. you don’t have to do it in first year, but you do have to do it at some point, so you may as well.

    the rest of the specialists require a certain number of ‘science credits’ which are either unspecified or don’t include physics. you can see all that on the course calendar.

    for comparative physiology, “[s]tudents wishing to enrol at the end of the first year (4.0 credits) must obtain a grade of at least 65% in both CHM110H5 and CHM120H5 and a cumulative grade point average of at least 2.50 to qualify.” you should probably also complete BIO152, 153, MAT134/5/7, and 1.0 FCEs from either CLA201H5, ENV100Y5, ERS120H5, PHY136H5, PHY137H5, PSY100Y5, WRI203H5, or WRI307H5 in order to keep up with the pace of the program, though you don’t have to do it all in first year.

    i hope that helps. i’ll give you a pass this time because you’re a first year who maybe doesn’t know about the calendar and the world is bigger and scarier than ever and life is rough for you right now – but please don’t ask me to do that again.

    ttfn,

    aska

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  • other schools (boo!)

    this should be fun

    July 25, 2014

    Convince me on why I should choose Toronto over McGill or UBC

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m so torn about whether to answer this seriously or not. um. ummm. ok i’m just gonna do both.

    SERIOUS VERSION

    uoft, mcgill and ubc are all world-class institutions of roughly the same size. in fall 2013, uoft had 42 693 undergrad students on the downtown campus (plus 24 443 at UTM and UTSC) , ubc had 49 896 on its vancouver campus (plus 8 388 at okanagan), and mcgill had 39 349. all pretty big schools.

    however, i would say in uoft’s favour that we divide our Arts & Science students by college, which is a great way to encourage small communities within a big school and bigger city. i’m sure both mcgill and ubc have some kind of similar organizing principle, but i’ve been to my fair share of universities, and in my opinion, uoft is especially good at encouraging small community.

    whatever you’re interested in is probably offered as a program at all three schools. that said, feel free to browse uoft’s course calendar for a list of all the programs we offer. maybe one of them will strike your interest in a way that mcgill or ubc’s programs won’t.

    when it comes to programs, uoft is pretty unique as canadian universities go in that you’re only required to pick a program after first year. also, you’re able to switch programs pretty much until graduation. it’s an atypical flexibility.

    finally, you’re gonna have to move provinces for at least two of these schools. interprovincial fees are really expensive. seems like a no-brainer to me to take the cheapest option. like obviously if you live in B.C. don’t come to toronto, unless you want to live here after school.

    that said, if you do come to uoft, there are lots of opportunities to work here, either on campus or in the city. something like 20% of canada’s GDP comes from toronto, so if you want to work in this city (which most people do, though i understand if you’d rather be in Vancouver), going to school here is probably a smart idea.

    UNSERIOUS VERSION

    1. everyone at uoft is a dinosaur.

    2. every wendesday, uoft students scale the towers of UC like the cornish pixies on that skeleton in harry potter.

    3. if a uoft prof makes a grammatical error, every classroom has a bucket of tomatoes with which students can pelt them.

    4. you may have heard uoft students talking about ‘ROSI.’ that’s uoft’s local demigod! he usually lurks at the bottom of ponds and will grant you wishes if you throw pennies into them.

    5. upon graduating from uoft, alumni are granted the power of invisibility.

    6. all three uoft campuses are connected underground by a series of chutes and slides.

    7. uoft has askastudent, and that’s all you need, to be honest.

    hope that helped you get closer to a decision!

    best,

    aska

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  • enrollment

    prioritize meeee

    July 25, 2014

    Hello aska (o knowledgable one)

    I?m a first year student year doing biophysics. This lumps me in with the life science program, which (I think) gets a different start time than the physics program students on july 30. Problem is, I want to take a few courses in physics (PHY151Y1, PHY152Y1 and a popular limited enrolment course), and only one bio this year (BIO130H1). Will the physics students get priority enrolment over the life science students for those courses?

    PS. ASAP response appreciated as it?s time sensitive, but you probably have lots of questions this week

    thanks,
    jon snow?s brother

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

    hey jon snow’s brother,

    this whole question is just a LITTLE SKEWED. you’ve almost understood everything, but not quite understood anything. which is how everyone goes into first year, i guess. so lemme straighten them crooked misconceptions:

    1) if you’re a first year student, you’re not “doing” anything. you’re just a general first year life sci., physical/mathematical/chemical sci. or humanities student. biological physics?is a specialist program?you can enter after first year.

    2) every single 1st year physics course has a priority for first-year life science AND physical/mathematical/chemical sciences students. a few of them include 1st year computer science in there, but as long as you’re in one of those streams, you’ll have first pick at the courses. neither life sci. or physical/mathematical sci. students will have a higher?priority than the other. BIO130H1 also has a priority for 1st year life sci. students.

    you can see which enrolment indicators every course in the Faculty of Arts & Science has, and, if it has a priority, who the priority is for, on the timetable. if you use that, you’ll be?ahead of the pack when it comes to course enrolment, trust me.

    cheers,

    arya stark’s asthmatic sister

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  • first year,  odds are that won't be asked again

    tryna impress family i.e. running up a downward escalator

    July 25, 2014

    Hi aska,

    I’ve had this question for a long time now, but everyone else seems not at all bothered by it so I guess it must be a silly one.

    So here it goes,

    Since we won’t apply for POSTs (or a major if I understood correctly) until the end of first year, as a frosh, when someone asks you “what do you study?” what should I say? Some of family friends have asked me the same thing, and I was like.. “uh, I’m an art&science student?” which sounds incredibly vague & I-don’t- know-what-I’m -talking- about. I did get accepted in Life science, but if I were to say that I give the impression I want to be a med student or something, which is not the case at all. The thing is I haven’t decided what I want to study for major, I thought first year was for explore, is it just me? Does everybody else already know what they want?

    I hope you can understand my dilemma and weirdness.

    Sincerely confused..

    ———————————————

    hey there confused,

    i completely understand the question, actually. from aska’s extensive research (i.e. chatting with friends who go to school elsewhere), most universities don’t lump arts and science together in one faculty. it’s usually more logical than that. alas, you chose uoft. get ready for lots of people to be confused about the way we do things (see the ever-popular: “college??? you’re in a coLLeGe? but i thought you went to universitY???”)

    usually, people just say which stream they’re in, so “i’m in life sci.” in my experience, med school students tend to say “i’m in med school/i’m studying medicine,” so i don’t think there should be too much confusion. or you could try “i’m a general science student.” or “i go to lizard skateboarding school.”

    as for using first year to explore, you’ve got it exactly right. if everyone around you is saying “i’m in such and such program,” then they’re all wrong, and you’re right. too many first-year students come in with a subject POSt already in mind, and then if they don’t get into it after first year, they panic, because they’ve got no idea what else to do. or even worse, they think they’re already in a program, and don’t know they have to sign up for one after first year. take note: you do have to.

    there’s enough flexibility in first year that you can take the typical prereqs for most science POSts (CHEM138+139, BIO120+130, MATH135+136), and have credits left over to take some general interest courses.

    so take your time, explore, and don’t rush into a decision about programs. that way, when you actually make your decision after a year of thoughtful exploration, it’s more likely to be the right one for you.

    finally, just FYI, a major is not the only kind of subject POSt. uoft students are accepted to enrol in either one specialist, two majors, or a major and two minors (you can get ambitious like a specialist and a major or two majors and a minor, but those are the standard ones).

    cheers,

    aska

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  • bird courses,  failing

    don’t send me your personal documents ffs

    July 24, 2014

    hey,

    as you can see i did terrible

    i received 5 credits, and failed 4 credits! so my cgpa is 0.76. I do want to come back this fall 2014 to complete my degree by improving my grades.

    I think i will do religion major as it is the only high grades.. also do geography minor and biology minor (science stream) to receive a Bachelor of Science degree.

    The reason I choose biology and Geography is because it is a type 1 subject post – for a science subject! Most subjects like psychology minor is a type 2!

    do you know how hard are geography courses? my high school geography marks was easy but this is UofT!

    is there a chance in raising my CGPA to atleast 2.0? I know raising it to 4.0 will always remain a dream because I can not even transfer to any other?University – I am not in good academic standing!

    any advices?

    can you please recommend any GPA booster courses?

    or teachers name?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    firstly, do not send me personal documents over e-mail, even if it’s just a screenshot of your transcript. that’s very dangerous. i could be a goblin. i could be mojo jojo. you don’t have enough reason to trust me that you should feel comfortable sending me these things. i mean, obviously i’m actually all y’alls’ saviour, but you can’t know that for sure.

    also, i don’t care enough to look at anyone’s transcripts or marks. so don’t do that, okay?

    before you go ahead and enrol in courses, i’d recommend making an appointment with your college registrar to discuss your academic history and where to go from here – whether staying in school is the best option for you, and if it is, what you can do to improve. if you’re currently on academic probation, it’s important to get the best advice possible about how to proceed to make sure you’re not suspended.

    as i’ve said before, i don’t believe in “easy courses.” every course is hard. doing well is hard. life is hard. so you have to make the right decision for you, based on your own interests and strengths. if you did well in high school geography, figure out why! see where and how you can apply that to university.

    is there a chance of raising your GPA? sure. anything is possible, and there are many people who’ve gone through a less-than-great first year and managed to turn it all around. but the way to do that is not to figure out what?course or prof is easiest, but to make a plan about how YOU can do better.

    best of luck,

    aska

    P.S. YES i know yoda is not a goblin. who do you think i am. sheesh.

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  • english,  keeners

    so you think you’re all that and a bag of chips huh

    July 24, 2014

    Hello! Are 300-level English courses considerably more difficult than 200-level English courses? I just finished my first year and I’d really like to take ENG353Y if some of the 200-level courses I’m interested are full. Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    the thing about first and second year is that the classes usually have tutorials where the lecture material is broken down in small groups. with tutorials, you get two passes at every lesson – one with the prof, one with the TA.

    ENG353Y1, as you can see, doesn’t have any tutorials. in a class like that, you’ll be expected to be much more independent than in a 100- or 200-level course. your essays will be longer and more intensive, and there’ll be a higher level of quality expected as well.

    that said, if you meet the prerequisites and you feel like you did really well in the first-year English courses you took, then who am i to say that you can’t do it? if you’re just thinking about taking one 300-level class, and you did very well in first year, it could be manageable.

    contact the english department if you’d like to discuss this further with an expert, but that’s aska’s humble opinion. ((if you fail the class you can’t sue me.))

    best of luck with your ambitions,

    aska

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  • med school,  physics

    shying away from physics

    July 24, 2014

    Hey aska! YES, I do read your blog regularly hehehe~ I’m having trouble choosing courses for first year Life Sci, my main problem is Physics – I hate it (no offence to anyone). I cried through 2 years of A level Physics and even my parents don’t really want me to take it. BUT, I’ve heard it’s really important for upper year courses. I’m looking forward to a degree in ANYTHING Bio related. [[[[med maybe?]]]] So…exactly how vital is it that I take physics now? A little help please? Thanks!

    Oh I forgot to mention one thing (this is the anon who hates Physics): I’m taking the Maths/Calculus courses, I don’t know if that makes a difference or not.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    A-level physics? i spy a brit in our midst! or one of the many vestiges of british education that still litter our post-colonial world. you know how it goes.

    you could get by in an entire degree in life science without taking physics, and do quite well. there are definitely plenty of subject POSts which don’t require or emphasize physics – just browse the programs offered by cell & systems biology, human biology, cognitive science, and biology.

    additionally, medical schools don’t typically require that you have any physics credits, per se. that said, the mcat does have a physics section. while most of it was probably covered in your A-levels, some people choose to take one or two first-year physics courses just to make sure they’re ready.

    physics can enhance your understanding of calculus, and of some areas in chemistry. but i wouldn’t say it’s required.

    HOWEVER, in order to make sure that not taking it won’t impact you down the line, i would sit down one day and draw up a schedule of all the courses you’d like to take during your degree. do any of them require or recommend physics? that can help you decide.

    finally, if there are any programs you’re interested in, try contacting the department to see if you can talk to an undergraduate/program coordinator and ask for their opinion. they definitely know more about these things than little ol’ uneducated aska.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • courses

    the deal with linguistics

    July 24, 2014

    Hi, I am thinking of taking first year linguitics. Is it really difficult? Everthing I read says it’s terrible. Would it be even worse for me if I did poorly in highschool math? Thanks

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i know i’m starting to sound like a broken record with this, but difficulty is SUBJECTIVE. i’d rather walk into Halifax wearing an ‘I <3 Toronto’ shirt than take another physics course, but i know plenty of people who would be perfectly happy to while away a Sunday afternoon doing unholy things to vectors.

    so i can’t tell you how difficult it really is. you can take a look at the course evaluations for some student feedback from people who took various linguistics courses. just log onto your portal, scroll all the way down and click on ‘Course Evaluation Results,’ which is at the bottom of the page.

    if you’re not interested in the linguistics specialist/major/minor, then you could take LIN200H1 instead of LIN100Y1, which would only be a term-long rather than a yearlong commitment to the class. that’s a way to play it safe if you’re concerned about how hard it’ll be.

    finally, i’m completely ignorant when it comes to linguistics, so i’m not sure how analytical/mathematical it is. high school math isn’t a requirement for LIN100Y1 though, so i don’t THINK doing poorly in math would critically affect your understanding of the course material.

    i guess you can choose to make the POSt a bit more mathematical/scientific by taking some of the science courses they list as acceptable program req’s; but you can call or e-mail the department for a more IN-DEPTH insight on how much of a choice that scientific aspect actually is.

    cheers,

    aska

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