• grad school

    do you wanna go to grad school? (c’mon, let’s go and play…)

    February 7, 2014

    Hi there,

    I have a 2.99 gpa and I’m in my technically 3rd year (this should be my fourth year, but I took off a semester for medical reasons, thus I’m behind). If I stay behind another year and graduate in 2016 instead of 2015, will my gpa reach at least a 3.3 to get into grad school considering that I take five courses in each semester?? I really want to get into grad school in England. Also, I don’t know of any professors so far. I haven’t actually put in the effort to go their office hours. Do you think another year is enough to get good reference letters?? How would I go about getting good reference letters?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i gotta say i don’t really get the first part of your question (i say that too much, don’t i? whoops). are you asking if it’s possible to bring your CGPA to a 3.3 in one more year? ‘cuz you don’t need me for that, you need a calculator.

    so if your CGPA is 2.99 and you get a 4.0 next year, your CGPA will be a 3.24. however if 2.99 is your just AGPA for this year, then that’s a different story. you’ll have to do those calculations yourself, my friend, ’cause i don’t know enough about your marks to be able to tell. or you can e-mail me if i misunderstood your question, which happens.

    also, i’m just saying, “grad school in england” could mean a lot of stuff. like, there’s a big difference between getting into oxford and getting into bangor U.

    as for reference letters, i’d say one year is TOTALLY enough time. as long as you make a diligent effort right from the outset of the year to make yourself known (by going to office hours, speaking up in class, and making appointments to discuss papers/assignments) i think you can probably find a prof willing to be your reference. when it comes around application time, just go to the prof(s) who you seem to get along with best and ask! i don’t know what else you could possibly do. bring them chocolate maybe? beg? i dunno. if any current grad students have extra tips, please leave them as a comment.

    best of luck! i hope you get to go somewhere rad in england,

    aska

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  • life science

    a stream-of-consciousness question

    February 5, 2014

    Hi there! 🙂
    So I’m currently a first year Life Sciences student at St. George Campus and I’m still not sure what I want to do with my life at this point. I did research and explore careers and I feel that nothing really catches my interest. I don’t know what I want to major or minor or specialize in Life Sciences. The reason I went into Life Sciences is because I felt there were more careers offered in this program but I’m still indecisive and sometimes, I feel I don’t know if its worth it to stay in the program. I did try thinking more of a career that reflects my personality and values, I really do like to communicate with people (especially children) and I wish to work in a field that I can provide care for people so I did gain more of an interest in nursing (hopefully in Sickkids) and I prefer working in a hospital than working in a lab or research. The thing is, I don’t want to study that long and I’m not that bright lol so a Ph D is out of the picture, 2 years of masters is fine though. The thing about nursing is that I think I have to transfer out of UofT and attend Ryersons nursing or York because my friend in 4th year life sci, (pursuing nursing at UofT next year) said they require you to finish a degree and then apply for the 2 year problem and they only accept B+ – A+ averages (I don’t think I can maintain a high GPA) whereas for Ryerson, I can directly apply and it’ll be a shorter time and they also offer placements. The problem is, I don’t want to transfer out of UofT, I really love the campus, I just checked out Ryersons campus and I realized how beautiful UofT campus is and how opened it is. I love the libraries here and I made a few good close friends here and the profs are great. I don’t know whether I should stay at UofT or transfer. It’ll be such an adjustment if I do transfer. The good part about Ryerson is the classes will be smaller, easier to interact with others and make?friends and easier to have a social life too. If I stay here at UofT, I don’t know what career I wish to pursue, I do love psychology though! What’s holding me back from majoring in Psychology is that people are always saying that it is so hard to get a job in psychology unless you have a Ph D. Sigh. Should I stay here at UofT? Or, is there any other careers you suggest?
    Sorry for the long message btw and thanks for the help! 🙂
    Oh yeah, do you reply back on the site or by mail?

    ———————————————

    hello. this is an old question. if you’d like to see why i am answering these BLASTS FROM THE PAST, please go?here! thanks!

    aska

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    wow…i feel like i just read a transcript of the entirety of one person’s thoughts for a whole month. first of all, sorry this wasn’t answered earlier (please refer to my explanation and a more elaborate apology here), but i hope you don’t mind my (attempting) to answer your (very long) questions (seriously i’m in awe of how long this is) for any first-years who might be feeling the same as you were about a year ago (like i don’t think i’ve ever written one thing this long without being forced to by a prof).

    now, there are a lot of questions implicit in that novella you’ve written, but i think i’ve boiled it down to just a few: 1) is it worth it to transfer? 2) should you do nursing or psychology? and 3) are there any more careers in health/medicine i can suggest?

    first, you can’t make transfer decisions based on how pretty campus is. if that happened, then paris or kingston, jamaica would be the most academically dense cities in the world. if ryerson’s campus isn’t as fancy and old-looking as uoft’s, then just come back and visit trin on wekeends or something. if you like the idea of a nursing degree that’s shorter and lets you do work placements, then that’s the degree you should get: end of story. a social life and pretty buildings are secondary.

    as for just getting a B.Sc. in psych without any kind of graduate or professional degree afterwards, you’re right, it’s probably not the most lucrative idea. but if you really want to do it, then that shouldn’t stop you, is what i say. still, you seem pretty lukewarm about it, and it looks like you’re thinking more seriously about nursing, so i’m just gonna discourage you from the whole psychology path.

    are there any careers i can suggest? no, not really. especially if you’re interested in working with children, becoming a nurse might be one of the best ideas. if you really want to go down that route, i’d suggest taking a look at this to learn a bit more about what you can expect (also i always advise students to do their own research because you never know what kind of helpful career info/advice you can dig up).

    i hope that helps, my friend.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • Transferring

    maybe next time they’ll think before they transfer

    February 4, 2014

    Hi there,

    I was a student at an Ontario university. I’ve completed 10.5 credits, and?was majoring in Biology. Unfortunately, I have experienced some traumatic?and personal events that have truly affected my performance in school, and?therefore have been required to withdraw from my school for one year. I am?currently seeing a therapist for my issues, and I was wondering if at all?it might be possible for me to possibly transfer to UofT with special?considerations?

    Thanks for your help 🙂

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

    hello. this is an old question. if you?d like to see why i am answering these BLASTS FROM THE PAST, please go?here! thanks!

    aska

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

    hey there,

    I’m not really sure what you mean by “special considerations.” transferring to uoft is a process only slightly less rigorous than applying to first year. you?usually need a B average to transfer?in – and i say usually not because it can sometimes be lower, but because sometimes (like utm commerce for example) ?you need an even higher average.

    seems like you’ve been put on what we uoft folks like to call “academic suspension.” that means that you have a chance to go back to your school after the suspension, and that’s what i’d advise you do. take as much advantage of the therapist as possible (by which i mean learn and heal from the experience, not, like,?mess up your therapist’s car), then go back after a year and improve your marks.

    transferring over ain’t gonna solve anything, my friend.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  life science,  UTM

    life sigh

    February 4, 2014

    Hi Aska,

    I just wanted to ask how many round of acceptances are there for utm life sci since our school distributed our second semester midterm in late april. Also i know the cutoffs for this program are about mid 80’s, but what if my average is exactly an 85%, will i still get in? Is utm only concerned with the overall average when accepting people into the program or they also look at individual grades for the top 6 courses?

    If you can help me out, that would be great

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i don’t know specifically how many “rounds” there are since, though it pains me to say it, i am not the ENTIRE ADMISSIONS committee at this or any uoft campus. i guess uoft just hasn’t realized yet that i’d do a fantastic job of deciding the next generation’s world leaders. it’s ok.

    anyway, i know that GENERALLY SPEAKING, there’s like three or so times that the university sends out offers – there’s early acceptance in december-ish, then late february/early march, and late may/early june. most people hear back in late february/early march, but it’s a really general timeline. you can get an idea of that here.

    they will use the average of your top 6 courses, including prerequisites, to consider you. and if that average is an 85%, then (disclaimer of me not being affiliated with admissions because i am just a hobo at a computer blah blah blah) yeah, you’ll get in.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • scholarships/bursaries

    is free money worth it, he asks

    February 3, 2014

    So I’m apply to U of T and they’ve been telling me to fill out this awards profile to be eligible for certain scholarships. The thing is, all these scholarships that it would make me eligible for require like a 90-95 average to be considered, which I’m sadly not going to get. So, is it worth my time to spend a few hours filling this thing out if I’m fairly certain I’m not going to get these scholarships? Will admissions look at me and see that I haven’t done it and think less of me? Will it affect my chances of getting in at all? Will the Leafs win the cup this year?
    Thanks loads

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if you’re like definitely sure you’re not going to have over a 90% average, then i think not applying is a sensible decision. admissions definitely won’t think less of you, and it won’t impact their admission decision – it’s just for your own benefit.

    but you know what, it does only take a few hours, and most of uoft’s scholarships aren’t entirely based on academics, so if you have the time, may as well fill out an application, right? the worst that could happen is that you don’t get free money. plus, the year’s not over yet, and you could surprise yourself with your marks.

    leafs…that’s hockey, right?

    best,

    aska

    P.S. my MAN FRIEND has informed me that there is not a chance in hell the leafs will win. soz.

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  • non degree

    RETURN of the STUDENT (dun dun DUNNNN)

    February 3, 2014

    Hi there,
    U of T was the first school I attended out of high school and I dropped out in my first year. Since then I’ve attended and graduated from another school, but now I’m wondering if it’s possible for me to take some courses there again. I’m not necessarily looking to earn another degree with U of T, I’m just interested in picking up some courses on weekends and evenings to better myself in my current field. Is that at all possible? What might be standing in my way if I attempted to return? Would there be any issue with my former transcripts that could keep me from enrollment? Will they need my transcripts from the school where I earned my undergrad degree? Is the cheese pizza at the Robart’s Library cafeteria still incredibly cheesy?
    Thanks much.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    it is possible! what you’re talking about is becoming a non-degree student (apply here). since you already have a degree, there shouldn’t be any problems with your returning.

    if by “former transcripts” you mean the ones from uoft, i don’t think that should be an issue, unless you did really poorly in your first year. but i think the fact that you have a degree already pretty much seals the deal.

    they don’t say anything specific about needing transcripts from your undegrad, but they do talk a lot about “documents,” so i’m thinking maybe. still, i wouldn’t worry too much; it’s not like you’re competing with other degree students to get in.

    i confess i have not had the pizza from robarts! i’m sorry; please forgive me, and feel free to stop reading this blog if i have offended you on a moral level.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • international students,  summer

    summer fees mysteries

    February 3, 2014

    Hi there!

    I’d like to know how much it costs for an international student to take summer courses. Some told me it’s $200 ish per credit, others said it costs like $10,000. I tried to look up the fees on the U of T website but I’m kind of confused.

    I’d really appreciate your answer.
    Cheers.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    alright, you’re not gonna be happy with this answer, but here goes: i don’t know. and the reason i don’t know is because the university doesn’t know yet, either. student accounts tells me they don’t have the summer fee schedule up yet; it’ll be posted to the student accounts website in may, so keep an eye out there (and if you still can’t find it come may because their website is HELLA CONFUSING, call them at 416-978-2142).

    what i can tell you is that it won’t be as low as $200 and DEFINITELY not as high as $10 000 per credit. it’ll probably be somewhere between $500 and $1000 per credit, but i don’t have any precise numbers yet. SORRY. here, have a gif of a pug falling over to make up for it:

    pug falling over

    crossing my fingers for low fees,

    aska

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  • admissions,  life science

    panic! at the high schools

    January 31, 2014

    Hey, i don’t know if you remember me, but i had asked u a question earlier and your answer had made my day, when i was having a bad day. i just wanted to say: thanks so much! I am back with more questions as a result haha, please don’t be afraid to bash me and be as honest as possible. thank you in advance!

    Alright so I REALLY want to get early acceptance (into u of t life science). Can you please tell me the requirements for getting early acceptance to this program, and how uoft will decide whether to offer you an early acceptance or not? OH, and please also tell me the acceptance criteria overall, early or not, for getting into uoft life sci. How do the officials decide whether you’re in or not; what is the whole procedure? oh btw, i’ve just completed the first semester of gr 11, going onto gr 11 sem 2.

    Last question, sorry to bother you 🙁 uhm so my grade 11 first sem marks… yeah they dropped a LOT. so right now, i’m looking at the following final marks: 81 in u level math, 84 in u level bio, 95 in leadership and 93 in world religions. these are my first semester finals. next semester i definitely plan on getting 90+, especially in english, chem and physics, all of which i have next semester. do i still have a chance at early acceptance? please be honest 🙁

    thank you for doing this, you’re really a great help to us!

    EDIT: i just sent u a question and i forgot to add the following information: i want to get accepted into the st.george campus atu of t! sorry for the inconvenience! i’m the grade 11 student asking about acceptance procedure and early acceptance.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m glad i could brighten your day! i mean, it’s kinda my job, but i also just love doin’ it, so that’s handy. also don’t worry, i’ve been given complete license by the POWERS THAT BE to bash y’all just as much as i want.

    man, i’m kinda loathe to talk about early acceptance. if you absolutely need something to cling to, i can tell you that if you apply early and have a like 95%+ average in grade 11/first semester grade 12, then you’ll probably be accepted early.

    BUTTT honestly (and i wanna stress this), it doesn’t really MATTER when you get accepted. like, i don’t know what your specific situation is, but it shouldn’t make a difference if you get accepted in february or december or march; you have until june to make a decision in canadian unis anyway. d’you need to brag about it at Christmas to your grandparents? ’cause you know you can just lie to them. i doubt they’ll ask for proof.

    as for the WHOLE PROCEDURE of acceptance, it goes like this:

    1. first, the admissions people all gather around a round, oaken table, hewn by the god Spadina himself in the early days of Toronto, and preform a traditional Gregorian chant extolling the virtues of Margaret Atwood the All-Mother, and the subway system.

    2. they pray that those who don’t get accepted be sufficiently punished through holy fire in purgatory, and, if they continue to sin after that, eternal fire in HELL.

    3. they accept everyone with over an 85% average and all the necessary prerequisites. like seriously, your marks are great as they are you have nothing to worry about. just let go of allll your stress. you’ll hear from them by the end of march for sure.

    best of luck and try not to worry too much my friend,

    aska

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  • admissions,  colleges

    i’ve scared the populace

    January 30, 2014

    Hi there,
    Thank you so much for answering all those questions. It’s super helpful ! I’d like to ask if the choice of college determines whether you’ll be accepted or not accepted in Uof’T ? I chose Victoria University as my first choice and University College as my second, so if I dont get admitted in Victoria, will the other colleges look at my applications?

    Thanks a ton.
    Regards.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    aww man, it’s been a while since the last college question! have i scared you all out of asking them? i’m sorry. well, not really. that was kinda my intention. but i still like you guys. you guys are my specials.

    anyway, this is a very REASONABLE COLLEGE QUESTION, so congrats! and it has a very simple answer: first, uoft accepts you, then the colleges look at your application. so your admission to colleges is conditional upon your admission to the university, not the other way around. if you don’t get admitted to vic, you’ll be put into another college.

    but if you DO get into vic, you’ll be in the same college as aska! and that’s something to celebrate, doncha know.

    cheers,

    aska

    P.S. I’m glad you find me helpful, friend. I love being useful. It helps me deal with the fact that I never felt useful to my mother. #psych101

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  • admissions,  engineering

    an ingeniousely engineered engineering science safety net

    January 30, 2014

    Hey there!
    I’m a high school student in an Mississauga high school, and I’m hoping to get into the Engineering Science program…which as we all?know means 4 years of weight loss and no sleep. Its a really tough program, and I am going to try my hardest but what I want to know is,?supposing I don’t get good grades in that program, can I tranfer to one of the core 8 eng programs after 1semester/year or will I just get?booted out?
    On a side note, just wanted to know, does the student profile form really make a difference on the application?
    Thanks a lot!
    Avi

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

    hello. this is an old question. if you?d like to see why i am answering these BLASTS FROM THE PAST, please go?here! thanks!

    aska

    ???????????????
    Avi,

    You just might be the first person to make this stone cold soul laugh … ever, with your weight loss comment. I have noticed the skin and bone appearance on those engineers. that said, it seems like the faculty itself has noticed the same thing, because they actually have instructions on how to transfer?out of engineering science in the first year.

    basically, if you get at least a 60% in the fall term or 55% in the winter term, then you can transfer after either of those terms into any engineering program you want. which is good news.

    as for the student profile: yes, it does matter. it wouldn’t be there if it didn’t make a difference. so don’t slack on it, ya hear?!

    best,

    aska

     

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  • admissions,  architecture

    daniels website: the enigma of our time

    January 29, 2014

    Heya! I’m applying for the Visual Studies program in the Daniel’s school.?I’m fairly worried about this application man, I have an 85 average as of?this term and my one idea supplementary was about designing a backpack (it?was a pretty cool backpack in my humble opinion). Damn, the program looks?horribly mysterious with its minimum online presence, so I was wondering if?you might have an idea of how my marks look for Visual Studies.

    Thanks in advance!

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

    hey there,

    “minimum online presence”, talk about understatement of the century. every time i get a question related to architecture, i have to mentally prepare myself for that website. you’d think design people would know a bit about designing a functional website, huh?

    but seriously, you shouldn’t be worrying about your application. your average is about as good as it gets. an 85% at uoft is a 4.0, you know that, right? that’s like, the highest possible?GPA, so…

    also, that backpack sounds cool. you should make one and sell it to me discounted because i’m helping you out. did i mention you look lovely today? (i need a new backpack. i need a new lots of stuff, if we’re being real.)

    tl;dr: i don’t think you’ve got anything to worry about.

    yours and always open to anonymous backpack donations,

    aska

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  • askastudent announcement

    a little tip for my beloved askees

    January 28, 2014

    hey there,

    this is just a quick bit of advice for those of you who may be browsing this blog for some GENERAL UNI LIFE ADVICE. there are a lot of super-specific (and frankly weird) categories of post on this blog, but a lot of questions come up quite often, and if you wanted some different opinions from various askas throughout the years, or just a lot of information about a certain topic, then there are a few tags that are helpful to browse. wordpress tells me (me and wordpress are tight. we chat all the time) that these ones are the most commonly used:

    so definitely take a gander through those (they’re all on the left-hand side of this blog in a drop-down menu labelled CATEGORIES), but there are lots more. if you’re in grade 12, you might consider the first year and admissions tags. the subject POST tag is kind of a catch-all for program information of all sorts. st. george and transferring have a wealth of info and OPINIONS about the differences between campuses. finally – as always – colleges is always worth a browse for any of you perpetual worrywarts out there.

    happy browsing!

    aska

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  • admissions,  first year,  psychology

    can someone e-mail me another psychology pun or something plz

    January 28, 2014

    I am a first-year student and I am planning to major in psychology. But I only scored exactly 75% which is the minimum requirement. Is it possible to get the major or I really should seriously consider other things to major in? But psychology is really my first choice..

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    well now, look what we have here. another PSYCHOLOGY QUESTION. amigo, i have answered quite a few questions related to psychology, and let me tell you: you have a better chance than you think.

    there’ve been people hoping to get in who don’t have the calculus prerequisite, or didn’t do psy100h1 at all…yeah…so believe me when i say that you’re not in a bad position.

    assuming you are doing at least 4.0 FCEs in your first year and you did Grade 12 Calculus, you have actually met the minimum requirements for the POSt. the number of people who apply every year differs, so i can’t say for sure, like, “you have a 33% chance of getting in,” but i’d say if you’re eligible, it’s worth a shot. you’ve got nothing to lose.

    should you prepare a backup? sure. apply to the minor too (it’s just 4.0 FCE required courses versus 7.0 in the major), or apply to neuroscience or basket-weaving or whatever else tickles your fancy. explore your options.

    be sensible and always have a Plan B, but don’t give up hope completely. save that for when you graduate (whoops i let my pessimism show there, sorry. *covers it up hastily with my skirt*).

    best,

    aska

    P.S. Also, if you don’t get in after first year, you can always apply after 2nd and 3rd year!

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