• admissions,  grad school

    wrote you an essay

    February 12, 2021

    hi, i’m looking into speech pathology for my masters at UofT and it’s such a dream to go there but i’ve heard a lot of bad things about it,,? specifically the over the top strain regarding work load; university is hard, duh, but people have been telling me it’s worse than other unis regarding this but i don’t know how true that is. in addition, i’m not sure how much you know about the speech pathology program there (i’ve done a considerable amount of research on it myself) but i was just wondering if there was any insight you might be able to offer? thanks <3

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    thank you for waiting for this answer!

    i feel like i’ve gotten questions about speech pathology in the past, but unfortunately, u of t is such a huge school that it would be impossible for me to be familiar with every program.

    i can write a little in response to what you’ve heard about u of t, though, in hopes it will help you in your deliberations.

    in many ways, getting to attend u of t really is a dream. before attending here, i experienced a dilemma similar to what you’re weighing now — i wanted to become a u of t student so bad, but i’d heard such terrible things about the school. one of the smartest people i knew said they wouldn’t be able to pay him any amount of money to choose u of t. my friends at other canadian universities are convinced that no matter how bad they have it, u of t students have it worse.

    in some respects, it is really important to acknowledge the strain that studying at u of t can create. the workload is demanding, the expectations are high, and your peers are brilliant. in certain programs more so than others (think super-exclusive ones likely to attract ambition), there’s an atmosphere of competition. many students, especially those who are racialized, LGBTQ, and women, experience pretty intense impostor syndrome here. u of t is also many years deep in a student mental health crisis. i don’t want to paint this school as rainbows and butterflies, because it’s not. it is absolutely true that some people have a deeply difficult time at this school.

    with that said, that’s only one potential side to the u of t experience. while my experience does contain some of the difficult things i’ve mentioned above, i am incredibly happy with my choice to attend u of t and am glad that the horror stories didn’t scare me away. for starters, u of t is an innovative university — my course material regularly blows my mind, which makes learning here so much fun. i’ve gotten a boost to my career here that i don’t think i would have elsewhere — being a u of t student comes with so many opportunities and valuable connections. i have had to study hard, but alongside that i’ve met some of my favourite people ever, felt supported by most of my professors and TAs, and got to be involved in some really cool extracurriculars. u of t has so many offerings, and if you’re willing and able to invest in your learning and your community, you will get a lot out of studying here. i should also note that there are a lot of student supports available to help you succeed, like writing centres and learning strategists. 

    actually, i took a semester of courses at a different canadian university, and actually got lower grades there. go figure. i think to a certain extent, university is just university and you have to grind no matter where you are.

    if you’re worried about what you’re hearing about u of t, i’d take a step back and consider yourself as a student. what kind of support system do you have? what do you value from a university education? what are the pros and cons of all your options? if you have the passion to engage in rigorous study and the support system to see you through challenges in your personal life and degree, and if this is truly a good option for you, then i wouldn’t shy away just because you’ve heard bad things. my experience here has been good. yours can be, too.

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • enrollment,  enrolment,  summer

    summer school here u come

    February 4, 2021

    when is enrolment for summer courses? how do we go about doing that? is it different from normal semester enrolment?

    ——————————————

    hi there,

    thank you for waiting for this answer! i hope it’s still of use to you.

    assuming you’re in artsci, by february 24, you should know your summer enrolment start time. you’ll be able to find that on ACORN, just like normal!

    summer enrolment is pretty much the same as the fall, only you can’t enrol in as many courses. you should also be aware that there’s a different timetable for the summer — last year’s was https://timetable.iit.artsci.utoronto.ca/summer2020, so i’d assume this summer’s will be the same but with the year changed. that’ll be up when it’s ready.

    i hope this helped! good luck with your midterms.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • admissions

    don’t we all wish i was the admissions average fairy

    February 4, 2021

    hey i was wondering what average is needed to get into utm forensic science program 🙂

    ——————————————

    hi there,

    unfortunately, the admissions average changes year to year depending on the batch of applicants. so as much as i’d love to give you a concrete answer, it would be impossible for me to say!

    as far as i’m aware, no admissions average is published anywhere.

    if you’d like, you can always try getting in contact with the department, but i wouldn’t be surprised if they also can’t tell you.

    sorry i can’t be more helpful! best of luck with your (potential???) application, though.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • jobs

    1-800-hire-me-please

    February 4, 2021

    Hiiii! I’m a first year right now and I was wondering if you have any tips on applying to internships. I know things like that are probably weird because of covid, but any tips/advice is appreciated 🙂 Thank you!!

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i’m glad you reached out — thank you for your patience with me getting back to you!

    it’s really great of you to be thinking about internships already.

    it’s a little difficult for me to answer this in the sense that the advice i’d give might vary depending on what types of internships you’re looking for, but i’ll do my best.

    tip #1: the career exploration centre has some resources that will be super useful for you as you apply to positions. for example, they offer a resume workbook and resume and cover letter toolkit, which are excellent guides for putting together job application materials. you can also book an appointment to have your resume/application reviewed, or practice your interview skills.

    plus, there are occasional employer recruitment sessions that you might want to keep an eye out for.

    tip #2: i’d seek out a mentorship program with your college, department, or program, and see if you can get in touch with some upper years in the same field as you. chances are that they’ll have applied to jobs in your field or might know people who have. if you get really lucky, they might even know about open positions.

    tip #3: if you’re looking for opportunities, comb the internet but be smart about it. craigslist and kijiji boards might not be your best bet for an internship. is there an industry-specific job board that might be of use to you? do the companies you’re interested in working with have a “join us” or “careers” section on their website? social media can also be useful — i see a fair number of internship postings on twitter and linkedin.

    tip #4: if you’re interested in a specific internship and can find a previous intern, perhaps one who’s posted about the internship somewhere like linkedin, you can reach out and ask (very politely!) if you can ask them questions about the job. they may be able to give you a better sense of what the internship entails and what the hiring manager is looking for in an applicant. please note that i don’t know if this tip is appropriate for all industries though, so use your best judgement!

    i hope this helped! i really think your first stop should be the career centre, because they’re 100% more qualified to give advice out than i am.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • subject POST

    dunno how i missed that

    January 26, 2021

    Hi, hope you’re doing well! I’m a first year student at utsg, hoping to major in literature and critical theory. However, there are two streams for it: the comparative stream and the cultural stream. They seem very similar and only have slightly different requirements, and I can’t seem to find anything to determine what the differences between them are, to choose the best one for me. I was hoping you could help. Thanks!! <3

    ——————————————

    hi there,

    i hope you’re doing well too, and that your first year is going all right!

    i don’t personally know anything about lit and crit, and couldn’t find anything on the internet either. i ended up reaching out to a friend who graduated from the program to see if she might know anything about the streams.

    she told me that there’s not a huge difference between the streams, but as far as she can recall, the comparative stream requires you to take more language credits than the cultural stream. meanwhile, if you choose the cultural stream, you have to take more social science/cultural studies/humanities classes, like sociology or women & gender studies. otherwise, most of the courses are the same.

    i was later able to confirm all that information here — i don’t know how i missed it the first time i was looking. i guess i didn’t quite know what i was looking for.

    click that link! it’ll give you all the details you need.

    if you have any other program-related questions you can’t find answers for on the internet, remember that you can always reach out to the department, in this case victoria college.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • law school

    what if you take summer school… haha… unless…

    January 24, 2021

    hi! do you know how law schools view full-time summer term ? ive been getting a lot of mixed answers so i was hoping you could answer/point me to the right direction. im in the 2nd term of my first year and id like to take a 4 courses over the summer bc tbh ive got nothing better to do over quarantine since its online haha. also if i wanted to talk to an advisor abt this, do i consult my faculty? sorry these are dumb im genuinely unsure who to ask/what resources i have (i go to uottawa polisci)

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i can understand why you’ve been getting mixed answers – i feel like this is one of those things.

    unfortunately, i can’t say for sure how different law schools would view full-time summer school. the best rule of thumb is always to reach out to the admissions offices of the law schools you’re interested in and ask them directly, since different schools have different policies.

    if you want to talk to an advisor about this… do you have an equivalent of the registrar’s office at u ottawa?

    maybe someone on this page might be able to help you? i don’t know much about your school, but there there have got to be academic advisors there for you. some may even have worked at law school offices or admissions offices, which makes them way more qualified to answer this than i am. if you have no luck finding an academic advisor at your school by googling it, try asking around or posting on reddit.

    good luck with your law school dreams! hope your winter semester is going well.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • subject POST

    are they even called POSts anymore though

    January 23, 2021

    Hello! I’m sure you’ve gotten this question a lot before, but could you explain how POSTs work? I’m in first year and I want to make sure I understand everything. Is it possible to take 2 programs that are both Type 1 or is it supposed to be a variety of types? I’m in humanities, in case that’s relevant to this question !

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    absolutely, i can explain POSts!

    basically, programs of study or POSts denote what subject area(s) you’re specializing in for your degree. according to this sidney smith commons page, there are three different intensities of POSts. i’ve copy/pasted that info below:

    • Specialist Program: 10 credits – 14 credits
    • Major Program: 6 credits – 8 credits
    • Minor Program: 4 credits

    to graduate from u of t, you’ll need to select your POSts according to one of the following combinations:

    • one specialist
    • two majors
    • a major and two minors

    that’s the bare minimum, at least. some keeners like to do a little extra. here are some other possible combinations

    • a specialist and a minor
    • two majors and a minor
    • a specialist, a major, and a minor

    you’re limited to a maximum of three programs, but if you add a third program it needs to be a minor. i’m realizing now that there’s no rule against taking two specialists and a minor, which is really extra. i’ve never heard of anyone that’s attempted that.

    i was just about to explain POSt types, but i looked those up real quick to double check and it looks like u of t has switched the system on us! of course it has. now, there are no more type 1, 2, and 3 programs, there are just “open” and “limited” programs. it looks like there’s no application required for open programs, but limited programs still require things like prerequisites. you can read more about the difference between open and limited programs, including deadlines and how to apply, here. to check the types of the programs you’re interested in, visit this page.

    what hasn’t changed is that there are still two request periods during which you can select (or apply for) your POSts. request periods are pretty straightforward, but those deadlines are good to be aware of.

    to answer the last of your questions, it is definitely possible to take two type 1 (open) programs — you’ll be making your life a lot easier if you do, honestly. people don’t focus so much on the types of programs you select. just pick what you’re interested in studying!

    i’m not sure if this was in-depth enough or if it addressed everything you were curious about, so if you have any lingering questions don’t hesitate to shoot me another message.

    also, this is the first time i’m realizing that i’ve never seen the acronym POSt anywhere other than this website. it’s possible that it’s now a relic of times gone by. should i keep using it? should i switch to calling them programs, like sid smith does? hmm.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • admissions,  law

    nOt LikE thE OthEr LaW sTudEntS

    January 22, 2021

    Okay feeling really silly: I asked the following question answered under “she doesn’t even go here!” without stating what I was applying to haha. I applied to UFT LAW, but am unsure how I would be perceived as (1) a commerce student interested in criminal justice/prison reform (not a conventional path), and (2) a condensed degree – that I am still completing. Any thoughts appreciated! Thanks !!!

    ——————————————
    hi!
    thanks so much for waiting for this answer, i’ve been quite overwhelmed. i don’t know how anyone is still functioning normally with *gestures at whole world* all this going on.
    it’s hard for me to say exactly how you’ll be perceived, but personally, i think what you’re doing is really cool.
    i’m glad you ended up applying to u of t law! i’m sure there’s a diversity of interests within the faculty of law, and my best guess is that you won’t be too out of place.
    i wouldn’t worry too much about being unconventional — i hope you’re not pursuing your studies to make other people happy! it sounds to me like you have a good sense of what you want from your degree, and just need a lil push of confidence to keep moving forward.
    if it’s admissions you’re worried about, though, i’m afraid i can’t provide much valuable insight into that. i’m not really that familiar with law school admissions in general, and can’t get into admissions officers’ heads no matter how hard i try.
    regardless, i’m sure the quality of your application will matter much more than whether or not your path and interests are conventional! in your last question, you were wondering whether it was even worth applying if you didn’t have strong experiences to show for your interest in criminal reform. remember that school is a good place to get that kind of experience, so don’t be too hard on yourself.
    wishing you all the best with your application! glad you’re going after your passions.
    be Boundless,
    aska
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  • academic offense

    you and a bunch of other people

    January 22, 2021

    I messed up and cheated in my final exams this fall semester. The prof called me in and accused me of the act. This would be my second offense and my first offense was that I did not properly cite my sources for a minor assignment which was less than 5%. Will this lead towards my suspension? I am about this graduate after this term.

    ——————————————

    hi there,

    it’s hard to say for sure what consequences you may be facing. all the possibilities are detailed in the code of behaviour on academic matters.

    sure, suspension is listed is a potential sanction for an academic offense. but keep in mind that may not entail a full suspension from the university — you could just be suspended from certain courses, a program, or an academic division. for example, if you cheated on a chemistry final exam, the chem department might suspend you but you’d still be able to take english courses.

    there are also lesser sanctions you may be facing, like a final grade of zero or a reduced final grade. since i don’t know the details of your case (and since i’ve never presided over an academic integrity case lol), i really can’t make any solid predictions.

    what i will say is that i hope you book a meeting with your registrar if you haven’t already. academic advisors have seen a ton of cases like this, and may have valuable guidance for you as you navigate the academic integrity system. i don’t believe anything you say to them can be used against you when your case is reviewed, so that’s a plus. you deserve to go through this with some assistance!

    good luck with this! i hope things turn out all right.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • prospective student

    what’s a pep rally?

    January 16, 2021

    Hi 🙂 I’m deciding wether to attend UBC or UofT. (Provided I get in, of course. HA) One of the biggest pros about UBC for me is the sense of community. Since everyone lives in a university town separate from the city, it seems like there is a much larger “school spirit” as opposed to UofT. UBC ppl seem to like going to pep rallies, varsity games, etc. Does UofT have that as well? I would love to attend UofT but I’m moving very, very far from home & want a school with a strong sense of community.

    ——————————————

    hello hello,

    thank you so much for your patience waiting for this post!

    i wanted to give you a good answer, so i got in touch with someone who actually goes to UBC and asked a few questions to get some clarity.

    first, it wouldn’t necessarily be accurate to say that everyone at UBC “lives in a university town separate from the city”— the campus is on a peninsula a bit farther from downtown, yes, but it’s still definitely part of vancouver. plus, many students commute in from vancouver and its suburbs.

    in that sense, life at UBC would certainly be what you make of it–there are some students that head home right after class, and there are others that stick around on campus to attend social events or hang out with their friends. it’s possible that you’re from the UBC area and already know these details, but you didn’t specify so i’ve included it anyway.

    to my surprise, it is apparently true that UBC students like to go to pep rallies and varsity games!

    i don’t think u of t has any pep rallies outside of orientation week, when we’ve got the very large, very fun tri-campus parade that students of all years can participate in. varsity games exist at u of t, but i don’t think people go to them unless they know someone playing or are otherwise involved in that world.

    if you’re looking for a strong sense of overall school spirit, u of t might not be the school for you. however, i wouldn’t say that that means u of t has no sense of community. u of t is a really big, academically-focused school (as is UBC, to be fair), so it kind of makes sense that we don’t build community around pep rallies and sports.

    i was really shy when i moved to toronto to attend u of t and had lived in the same city my whole life before that, meaning that i didn’t have a lot of practice making new friends. still, i’ve managed to find my crowd at u of t just fine.

    part of that has been thanks to first-year foundation courses, which are fun, first-year-only classes with a lighter workload that cap around 20-30 people. i met some of my favourite people in those classes. i also joined extracurriculars i enjoy, and lived in residence for some time, which certainly helped me meet people.

    if you applied to the faculty of arts and science at st. george, you probably selected a college, which is where school spirit might come into play a little more. u of t students in artsci tend to identify with their college community, since their college determines what residences they can live in, as well as what college student union serves them.

    there’s stronger college spirit at smaller colleges like victoria, trinity, and innis, but a lot of people i know have made their closest friends by going to their college’s social events and getting involved with college clubs. colleges hold formals and semiformals, arts and craft sessions, open mics, pub nights, movie nights, and sometimes even clothing swaps. there’s a ton of fun stuff happening if you’ve got the time to go.

    plus, there’s a lot of appeal to u of t, location-wise. you’ve got the whole city on your doorstep. on a day off, you can go to the art gallery of ontario for free, go to a festival in kensington market, grocery shop in chinatown, or browse for books in the annex—all within walking distance of campus. if nightlife is your thing, i’d say it’s better in downtown toronto than it is in UBC’s immediate area. if you’ve made a new friend or two and want to hang out with them, you have so many options and i love that.

    moving away from home is certainly a challenge, and u of t can be an isolating school for some students. as you make this decision, i hope that you consider the strength of your support system and your mental health. if you have a difficult time adjusting, will you be all right?

    you’ll be the best judge of whether it’s a good fit for you. if you’re willing to put yourself out there, say hi to new people, and get involved outside the classroom, i think you’ll be able to build a community of your own at u of t. but if you’re drawn to the scene of pep rallies and sports games, you won’t find that kind of energy at u of t. the school’s too big for us to all get together in one stadium and yell fun things.

    tbh if you want a sense of community, i’d recommend the university of alberta. i don’t know if you even applied there, but i know some people who were in residence there, and they made the school sound like a… summer camp, or something. so many games, outings, sports leagues, movie nights, pretty much every day of the week. wow. cannot relate.

    Squidward Looking Out the Window | Know Your Meme

    i hope this helped in some way and thanks again for your patience. wishing you the best of luck with your university applications!

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • grades

    what even is a bell curve

    January 13, 2021

    hi there! I was wondering if you could maybe explain bell curves. I don’t really understand what these are but they sound daunting haha. one of my profs mentioned it and it made me confused so :’)

    ——————————————

    hey!

    it’s totally fair to be confused by bell curves. honestly, i don’t really understand them that much either, and from what i understand, the effects of bell curving can vary depending on what average is selected for the bell. this western gazette piece explains bell curving and its complications better than i can, so check it out.

    anyway, according to this varsity article, bell curves aren’t even allowed in the faculty of arts and science.

    so if you’re taking an artsci course and your prof is bell curving you, try getting in touch with the ASSU and see if there’s any advocacy they can do for you and your classmates. i’m not super sure what the rules are outside artsci, so if you’re part of a different faculty i’d suggest emailing your registrar’s office (or faculty) to find out.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • innis,  writing,  writing centre

    becky vogan fan club!

    January 13, 2021

    Hi! i’m not sure what college you’re in but was just wondering if you have any experience with innis’ writing centre, or if you know anyone who has experience with the people there! i may be going there for a class to look over a few papers in the coming months and i wanted to hear some things on how each instructor is! sorry if this is silly, thanks 🙂

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    this isn’t silly at all. i do have experience with the innis college writing centre, yes! i’ve only ever booked with one writing centre instructor there, though, so i can’t really give you much of a rundown on all your options.

    that one instructor i know is becky vogan, and i’d highly recommend her! i fully believe that her advice has bumped many of my grades up—she’s so good at her job.

    i think she actually used to work (or still does work??) in the professional publishing industry, so she’s a fantastic editor. i’m constantly impressed by how she can read a paper on a subject she’s unfamiliar with and ask just the right questions to help me draw my ideas out and strengthen my arguments. usually i try to go to a writing centre appointment with a full draft, but whenever i’ve been behind and come with only half a paper written, she’s been a great sounding board for me to bounce ideas off of.

    she’s also a great teacher: when she catches my mechanical errors, she doesn’t just correct me but is patient enough to explain what i did wrong and how i can improve it moving forward.

    on top of that, she’s such a generous and kind person and i genuinely enjoy my appointments with her.

    sorry i can’t provide much more information beyond that—i’m sure the other innis writing centre instructors are also great, i just haven’t met any of them. so don’t rule the rest of them out automatically just based on my advice, because i’m super biased! i’d recommend that you reach out to any innis, cinema studies, urban studies, or writing & rhetoric students that you know, and see if they might have any thoughts as well. these things are usually best crowdsourced.

    i hope this helped!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • breadth requirements,  UTM

    i, too, avoid math

    January 12, 2021

    Hi there! I’m currently taking psy100 to fulfill half of the science breadth requirement but honestly I am not a science student and was wondering if you had any courses you would recommend that will still fill the requirement but is less science/math heavy. Thanks! 🙂

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    you didn’t specify what campus you go to, but i’m guessing you’re a utm student because that’s the only campus with a science breadth requirement. i could be wrong, though, because it looks like utm is the only campus still referring to their breadth requirements as distribution requirements.

    it’s hard for me to recommend courses for this breadth requirement at utm, because my personal experience is limited to st. george. but from my experience and from what i’ve heard from my friends, beginner astronomy courses are great for breadth requirements because they don’t require a ton of math and are mostly memorization. obviously that’ll vary based on professors, so don’t take my word as a guarantee! geology courses might also be good for you, since i believe they won’t be as math-heavy as something like physics.

    this utm page recommends some science distribution requirement courses that generally look like solid options to me. you might try one of the anthropology options—”Fantasies, Hoaxes and Misrepresentations of the Ancient World” looks fun—since anthropology is often offered by the faculty of arts at other universities.

    to sum all this up, in order, i think your best options by subject are anthropology, astronomy, and then geology.

    i don’t know about recommending specific courses, though, since i haven’t taken any at utm. if you know any more advanced students at your campus that you can ask for specific course recommendations, do that! most people at u of t are happy to help younger students and answer quick questions.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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