askastudent - your student life specialists

breadth requirements

this school is so confusing

January 8, 2021

Hi there! i wanted to ask about breadth requirements and see if i understood it correctly. a half course = 0.5 in the breadth requirement, right? and for all except br=4 & 5, we need 1.0 fce for the BR—by that i mean for BR=4&5, we can either do 0.5 in 4 and 0.5 in 5, or just 1.0 fce in 4 or 1.0 fce in 5 (one or the other). i hope that made sense. could you confirm for me if this is correct? thank you so much!

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hey there,

this is a valid question! breadth requirements can get confusing.

a half course (which you’d take in one semester, as opposed to one fall/winter year) does equal 0.5 full course equivalents (FCEs). you got that right.

in fact, you do technically have a correct understanding of the whole system. to complete your breadth requirements, you need:

a) 1.0 FCE in 3 of the 5 categories and 0.5 FCEs in the remaining 2

b) 1.0 FCE in 4 of the 5 categories

what i should point out, though, is that it’s not necessarily categories 4 and 5 that you don’t need to complete. you can move your courses around as you see fit! for example, you could take 1.0 FCE in categories 3, 4, and 5, and just 0.5 FCEs in 1 and 2. but if you’re a humanities/social science student who’d like to avoid categories 4 and 5 as much as you can, then it certainly makes more sense for you to take fewer credits in those categories.

i hope this helped! if you need any further clarification, feel free to get back to me or give your registrar’s office a call.

be Boundless,

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scholarships/bursaries

i hope they give you money

January 8, 2021

hey there! im a first year who did terrible in their first term and now im worried i might loose my scholarship that asks to maintain a cumulative 3.70 gpa. does anyone know if they might reduce the mark due to the covid circumstances 🙁

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hey there,

i actually don’t know if they might reduce the mark threshold! personally, i think they should because it’s so hard to be a first year right now. but u of t is often unforgiving with these things. you might try contacting your registrar to see if they know anything about this—or you could get straight in touch with whichever department/office is in charge of your award. if you have any extenuating circumstances from the first semester, you should mention those as well.

sorry, that’s all i know about this! good luck, and i hope your next semester is better.

you should also chat with your registrar and a learning strategist about how you can do better in the future. there are academic supports out there to help you make it through your studies, and you deserve that kind of help!

be Boundless,

aska

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odds are that won't be asked again, subject POST

a pickle

January 5, 2021

Hello! I hope you can shed insight on my situation 🙁 I’m in my final yr and confirmed my intent to graduate. Long story short, had a bad yr and got academic susp. Got back & my last yr I got +75s in all courses. This last fall sem I got 3.7gpa in 6 courses. The scary thing is even if I get 3.7 in my last 6 winter courses, I will be at 1.96, not enough to get into the bio major. I’m currently in psych major but i spent 4 yrs finishing bio. Its too late to start a new major/minor. What do I do?:(

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hey there,

this is a rough situation to be in! you weren’t super clear about this, but i’m guessing that you probably took all the requirements for a biology POSt without having been admitted, in hopes that you could be admitted later on.

i think the best course of action for you is honestly to get in touch with your registrar’s office if you haven’t already and book an appointment with an academic advisor. it’s really hard for me to tell you what you should do without information about your academic history—i don’t fully know what your options might be! but your registrar’s office will have access to all that necessary information, and might know about more options than i do. i’m just a fellow student, after all. plus, it’s hard for me to make a recommendation this significant without being able to chat with you and find out more about what your interests and priorities are!

it’s really cool that you were able to bounce back from your rough year, though. much respect to you, and good luck with this. i’m rooting for you.

be Boundless,

aska

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prospective student, subject POST, switching

it’s too early in the year for clever post titles

January 5, 2021

hi! i’m a prospective student and i was wondering how hard/easy it is to switch between programs (specifically in the arts and science fac)

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hey there,

just kidding, this is a good question! compared to what i’ve heard from friends at other canadian universities, it’s relatively easy to switch between programs within arts and science.

how the whole system works is that usually, after first year, you’ll apply to a program of study (POSt), or two, or three, or more. there’s a program selection period during which these applications occur, and there are several program categories that determine what you’ll need to apply.

if you think that switching programs could be in your future, you should familiarize yourself with those program categories and make sure you know what boxes your prospective programs fall into. the general rule is that the larger the number, the more intense the admissions process is. it would therefore make sense that it’s easier to switch into a type 1 program than a type 3 program, because a type 1 program will require almost nothing of you whereas some type 3s will look at your GPA, your grades in specific prerequisite courses, AND a supplemental application .

so, to sum that all up: there’s a specific time of year during which you can apply to programs (and therefore switch into a new program), and there are specific requirements to get into some programs. it’s easy enough to switch as long as you (1) time your switch well or plan for it ahead of time, and (2) have the required prerequisites and grades to be admitted into a program. if you have a specific program in mind and want to find out what those prerequisites/required grades are, look that program up in the calendar!

if you’re a prospective student, though, try not to worry too extensively about POSts right now! once you’re admitted and join u of t as a student, you’ll have access to academic advisors who will be able to talk you through all things program-related. you’ll be able to get much better advice through a phone conversation with them—advice tailored to your specific interests and situation. if you’re particularly keen on getting things sorted out, you can even schedule an appointment with them the summer before you begin your studies.

good luck with your application! happy new year.

be Boundless,

aska

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academic offense

i didn’t do it!

January 5, 2021

hi i was accused of plagiarism and now they have accused me for similar answers in exam. I knew all the answers but my friends cheated from me and i left my 7 masks question because of them and now i am being accused for cheating even though i didnt do it

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hey there,

i’m not really sure what you mean by ‘7 masks question’ (7 marks? you lost all of them? you left the question blank?) but i get the gist of what you’re saying. this must be a stressful and frustrating situation for you.

since you didn’t leave a question for me, i’m not really sure what i can do to help you apart from referring you to some supports—you shouldn’t have to deal with this alone! i think it would be a good idea for you to contact your registrar’s office and book an appointment with an academic advisor there. they’ll be able to advise you on what to expect moving forward, as well as what steps you can be taking to make this situation turn out as favourably as possible. trust me, they’ve seen a ton of cases like this and their experience will be invaluable. you can confirm this with them, but i don’t think anything you tell an academic advisor can be used against you by those investigating your case.

if you’re curious about what procedures you may be facing to get this sorted out (and what consequences are possibilities for you and your friends) you can check out the code of behaviour on academic matters. that code does get pretty confusing to decipher, though, so if you’d like i can help you figure out what your specific situation might mean. just shoot me another question with more details!

like i mentioned, this must be a stressful situation for you, so please don’t hesitate to reach out to a student support like mySSP if you need someone to chat with. if you have access to a don or mentor through your college, you can also consider reaching out to them for help.

wishing you luck with this!

be Boundless,

aska

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odds are that won't be asked again

i had to google ‘MBP’

January 4, 2021

hello. I just wanted to know how can I attend to MBP students seminars while I’m not a student at UofT?

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hey there,

this is the first i’m hearing of these seminars, so i’m not 100% sure if that’s possible. i managed to find a calendar of MBP student seminars here, and it looks like when you click on a specific event, a contact email is listed on the page. i’d try emailing that person, explaining your interest, and asking whether you can be admitted to the zoom call where the seminar is taking place even if you’re not a student! maybe you’ll get lucky and they’ll let you in.

happy new year and thanks so much for your wait with this answer.

be Boundless,

aska

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dropping courses, seminars

the fine art of murder :O

January 4, 2021

Hi! i hope you had a great new year! i was hoping you could clarify how dropping a course works. i may drop a course next semester after the first week, since i’m taking on a course load of 3.0 and figuring out which one to drop after the first week haha! is it as simple as going into acorn and un-enrolling? also, i’m a part of vic one! i want to take ITA197, and it says that it’s restricted to first years, which generally means that it’s a first year seminar course. that shouldn’t be a problem though, will it? i hope you can help out! 🙂 thanks!! xx

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hey there,

happy new year to you, too!

yes, dropping a course is as simple as going into acorn and clicking ‘drop course.’ there’s nothing more you need to do beyond that. you might want to just chat with someone at your registrar first if you’re worried about anything to do with funding or scholarships (or any other repercussions for dropping a course). but otherwise, you should be good to go!

ITA197 (the fine art of murder) sounds very cool!

i looked it up on the timetable and it seems like you’re not excluded from registration if you’re part of vic one—as in, there are no exclusions at all. the only restriction on enrolment is that you need to be a first year student, which i’m assuming you are since you’re in vic one.

best of luck with your semester and i hope this helped!

be Boundless,

aska

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breadth requirements

mathemagic!

January 4, 2021

hello, i was wondering if you know about MATA02H3 The Magic of Numbers ? i need to fulfill my quantitative breadth course and was wondering if this was a good option for someone who almost failed high school math lol

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hey there,

unfortunately i’ve never taken that course myself, so i’m not really sure. the one comment i could find on it, here, says that it’s quite easy, but i’m always a little wary of basing a decision on one redditor’s point of view.

if you’re able, i’d join the class anyway and wait for the syllabus to be released. you could also just attend the first class and feel things out. usually if a class is a good breadth option (ie. easy for people who aren’t good at the subject), you’ll be able to tell very early on just based on those two things.

you can also directly email the prof and ask—i’m sure whoever’s teaching this course will be able to tell you what to expect.

if you have any doubts about the course and aren’t sure it’s worth the trouble, dropping it or applying the credit/no credit designation is always an option.

be Boundless,

aska

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subject POST

lmao imagine u of t choosing your major

January 3, 2021

Hi,
If I fail the major I am currently studying, will I be able to shift to a major I prefer or will the university decide that for me and give me a different major?

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hey there,

thank you for waiting for this answer!

to my knowledge, you can’t exactly fail your major—what can happen is that you may be placed on academic probation if your CGPA is less than 1.50 at the end of either fall/winter or summer. following being placed on probation, if you don’t manage to raise your CGPA, you may face suspension or be refused further registration down the road. you can read more about that here.

perhaps there’s a specific major that you have in mind with a grade threshold you need to maintain, but i’m not aware of what that might be.

if you don’t do well on the prerequisites for a major you’re interested in, though, you will need to choose another program. i’m not sure how familiar you are with u of t’s system (you may be a prospective student, after all!) so i’ll just elaborate a little. to be admitted into most major, specialist, and minor programs, you’ll need to take specific prerequisite courses, and sometimes achieve a certain grade in those courses in order to be considered. you can find out more about program selection here.

it’s always best to have a backup program or two in mind when you choose your first-year courses, so that if you don’t make it into your program of choice, you have the prerequisites necessary to study something else you’re interested in.

even if i’ve somehow misunderstood this whole thing and you’re a current student in danger of somehow getting kicked out of your major, you’ll just need to apply to a new one of your choice during the next program application period. the university won’t make your academic choices for you!

i hope this helped, and happy 2021. congrats on making it to the new year! may this one be better than the last one, lol. i miss leaving my house.

be Boundless,

aska

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grades

schrodinger’s grades

January 3, 2021

Where do we check our grades. I swear i never hear back after finals for weeks

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hey there,

happy new year and thank you for your patience with this answer! i took a few days off at the end of the year because exhaustion lol.

you should be able to check your grades on ACORN when they’re up. after you log into the platform using your UTORID, you should see a bar on the side divided into different categories.

the fourth option under ‘ACADEMICS’ should be ‘academic history,’ and all your final marks will be posted there after they’ve been submitted by your instructors and approved by the department. you should also be able to see the course averages for those classes, and the number of credits you earned for the semester.

sometimes it can take a while for those grades to be posted. most of my classes are still “IPR” right now, or in progress. are my final grades good? are they bad? in my head, they’ll be both until i see them and find out for sure. i expect all grades will be out before january 15, given that that’s the CR/NCR deadline for artsci.

i hope this helped!

be Boundless,

aska

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admissions

you guys never tell me what you’re applying to :(

December 21, 2020

I was looking at program admissions and unfortunately it requires Grade 12 Calculus, I was only able to take the 3 Pre-Calc classes as regular calculus interfered with my science courses. In university, I only made it through half a year before a car accident and could not complete my calculus class. I am currently enrolled in a college engineering program, but I am unsure if my math courses are fine. I fear I will be rejected right off the bat as TLG is competitive. Is there a way around this?

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hello there,

thank you for waiting for this answer, i’ve been drowning in messages from distressed students! hopefully this will get to you in time.

i’m not really sure what you’re applying to, as you didn’t specify. my best guess is that you’re applying to UTSG’s life sciences program, since TLG is the OUAC admissions code for that. my apologies if i’m wrong! but i’m going to write this post accordingly.

i’m not sure if there’s a way around the calculus requirement for admissions into UTSG lifesci. from what i’m aware, since calculus is a prerequisite for admission, they’ll be using that course to calculate your admissions average. i don’t think you’ll be able to get in without it, although you could certainly try.

it’s possible, though, that there’s some kind of exemption for extenuating circumstances, such as your car accident. the only way to know for sure would be to contact the admissions office and ask them directly. you’d need to do that pretty much right away, as the university closes tomorrow (the 21st) and opens again on the 4th.

again, sorry it took me so long to get to this! that’s 100% my bad.

wishing you all the best with your application!

be Boundless,

aska

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academic offense

knowledge is power!

December 19, 2020

Hi. I have been accused of two offences this semester. This first one was for plaigerism however what happened was that I accidentally submitted my assignment to the wrong course and plaigerism picked it up. I was told I would be contacted by the dean. Recently I got another offence for one of my midterms for another course because my friend and I had very similar answers. I’m in a very bad state right now and don’t know what to expect. Please help me

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hey there,

it seems like academic offence accusations have skyrocketed ever since school went online.

i can imagine that you’re probably feeling incredibly anxious, so i really hope that you’re able to reach out to some kind of support. you can talk to someone in your life whom you trust if you haven’t already, or you can get in touch with one of the counsellors over at mySSP. you shouldn’t have to go through this alone.

i’m not really sure what kind of help i can offer, but i can tell you what i know about the academic offence process, to kinda arm you with knowledge about what’s to come.

so pretty much everything there is to know about academic offences at u of t can be found in this document. according to the document, an instructor is supposed to have a discussion with you and get your side of the story before reporting things to the dean. i’m not sure if that already happened to you as you didn’t mention it, but it is a good rule to be aware of in case proper procedures aren’t being followed here.

before you meet with the dean, you’re allowed to seek out guidance. i’d very strongly recommend that you get in touch with your registrar’s office and ask to book an appointment with an academic advisor. academic advisors are incredibly experienced at navigating these kinds of situations, and i don’t think anything you say to one can be used against you. going through this process without the advice of an academic advisor is really risky—don’t do it.

normally i would do my best to walk you through everything you would be looking at, but my inbox is drowning in questions and i don’t have enough details about your case (weight of assignment? first offence?) to do so anyway. everything you might be looking at is contained in the code of behaviour on academic matters, including all the different meetings you may have to attend and the types of sanctions you may be looking at. you know your situation best, so do a quick scan over the document and you’ll be able to map out your path going forward.

in total, if you didn’t do anything wrong and things just look suspicious, i wouldn’t worry too much. i know that’s easy for me to say, but all these procedures are in place to ensure that due process is followed in convicting students of academic offences. if something goes wrong, you are able to appeal whatever decision is made. i know it’s scary. but if you know you didn’t do anything wrong, then you didn’t do anything wrong. remember that for now, these are just accusations.

sending you all the support and solidarity from afar. best of luck with everything! please reach out to the supports i mentioned. i think they’ll be really helpful to you.

be Boundless,

aska

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admissions, colleges, rotman

picking a college is like choosing a cult to join

December 19, 2020

Hello, I’m an American student who would like to attend UofT. If I’m interested in business, which college would you recommend I rank first? Thank you

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hello,

an american!

if you’re interested in studying at rotman commerce, it doesn’t matter too much which college you rank first! i wouldn’t say any of the colleges have a particularly strong rotman community—i think rotman kids are pretty well dispersed.

if you’re worried about proximity to your classes (assuming you’re hoping to live in res and this godforsaken pandemic is a thing of the past by your first year), then victoria, innis, and woodsworth might all be good colleges to consider. i’ve heard that many of the first-year rotman courses are at victoria college. the rotman building itself is right next to innis, just down the street from woodsworth.

however, i wouldn’t make the location of your college the determining factor in your choice. if i were you, i’d look into the unique character of each college, the scholarships that different colleges offer, and what the residence conditions are (assuming, again, that you’re hoping to live in res). for example, innis and woodsworth offer apartment-style residences. most of the others do a more traditional dorm experience, but if you do a little digging you can find the differences between those experiences: you’re more likely to get a single room at trin than vic, for example.

each college is known for something different. trinity and innis tend to be tighter-knit communities, since they’re both quite small and only admit students who rank them first—but they both have very different vibes. victoria is another one that needs to be ranked first, and is known for being a little more literary/artsy, plus since vic charges higher student fees they tend to have more fun stuff (muji pen giveaways during finals, free pancake days etc). UC has some fantastic clubs, and is home to many of the most creative students i know. i’ll stop short of giving you a full rundown, since i don’t really want to inject too much of my own bias into things. i think if you do a little research, you’ll find that one or two college communities stand out to you more so than the others, based on your values and what you’d like to be surrounded by.

good luck with your application!

be Boundless,

aska

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