• academic offense,  grad school

    this week on ‘how many unrelated gifs can i throw into a post?’ we have…

    October 22, 2019

    I am applying to graduate school this year, and one of the questions that is asked on ouac is if I have ever had an academic sanction. I had an academic offense in my first year for my class, however, I just got a 0 on the assignment (it was a 1% assignment), and it only stayed on my record for 2 years. It is now no longer on my record, and the grad school I am applying to only requires my final 2 years (which this class is not a part of). Is it fine if I check the box off as no?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    checked this over and it seems like it is fine if you don’t report your sanction!

    if it’s no longer on your record, my understanding is that it was not deemed significant enough that it should affect your educational prospects moving forward.

    you don’t try to show sanctions if you only have tiny sanctions, i guess. we really be out here tryina make absurd political gifs relevant. here are some of my other recent faves, with absolutely no context, because sanctions make me think of politics and politics right now is this:

    and the purest energy of all is this boi:

    best of luck with the graduate school applications– aska is rooting for ya!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • grad school,  law school

    you must not have trouble meeting word counts for your papers

    October 21, 2019

    Hello!
    I started as a student at UTM a long time ago (in 2009 to be exact). I was on suspension a couple of times (2012 and 2014). I was going through a rough time in my life psychologically (mainly because of family and friend deaths that affected me emotionally) when I was younger and was also a somewhat lazy and unmotivated student that skipped a lot of classes. Originally I was in the sciences (Bio and Chem) and I didn’t like these subjects which is why I think it never really took off for me when I started at university. I battled through a lot of depression and worked for some time when I was suspended.

    In 2017 I returned to UTM after my suspension and completed a Philosophy Specialist degree in two years (4 regular semesters and 2 summer semesters). I finished in August and am going to graduate in November. When I returned to school in 2017 I already had 6.5 credits completed (mostly low marks, but a couple of good ones) with some 4 credits failed.

    From September 2017 to the end of August 2019 I completed 13.5 credits. All my philosophy courses were taken in that period (so none of my crappy grades from the past are in philosophy). Overall my GPA in these 13.5 credits was fairly high. Most of my marks were A’s (6.5 credits) with a couple of A+ (1.5 credits). 4 credits were A-‘s, and in 1.5 credits I got a B. I could have probably received even higher grades if my course load wasn’t always so high. In one of the semesters I took 5 philosophy courses and received a 4.0 in that semester with one A+. I also received an award from the philosophy department for outstanding performance in a 3rd year course. In general most of my courses in that period were 3rd year courses. I also did an independent research project with an excellent grade. I did take a lot of summer courses though, because I wanted to finish my degree as quickly as possible. I’m not young anymore so time for me was very crucial.

    My question is basically two part.

    1.  I was wondering if in my case I can have any hope of pursuing a Master’s degree in philosophy. I have been looking at graduate programs for philosophy and most of them look at only your last two years (or I guess the last half of your credits which in U of T’s case is 10 credits). Will my academic history affect my chance of getting in to a Master’s Program at any Ontario University?  Should I maybe include an explanatory letter about my past bad academic history or will they not even care about it? I am pretty certain that I would be able to secure really good recommendation letters and my writing samples should be pretty damn good considering that I have a numerous amount of papers that were A or A+ to choose from and improve on.
    2.  I was hoping to maybe go to Law School in the future, but I just don’t have the courage to apply with my academic history even if I do well on my LSAT. Would doing a Master’s in Philosophy help me in that respect, by prolonging a good track record of academic history (assuming I do well in grad school and focus on philosophy of law)? Should I just try to apply straight to law school if I get good LSAT scores?

    Sorry for the long email, but if you can give any advice on this or perhaps know someone else who can advise let me know.

    Thank you!

    ——————————————

    hey friendo,

    long email indeed but it’s aight, still highkey preferable to the large stack of readings i gotta power through this week.

    the best advice i can give you, really, is to connect with the specific grad school/law school programs you’re interested in, and find out what their policies are. it’s really hard to make blanket statements about what all masters of philosophy or law admissions offices will consider, given that different institutions will place varying weight on different parts of an application, or have varying requirements. even knowing your whole academic history (lol) and being sympathetic to your circumstances, i don’t know that i’d be able to accurately gauge your chances, and am by no means an authority on grad school admissions.

    when you apply, you can certainly include a letter explaining your circumstances– i doubt it would detract from your application, but can’t guarantee they’ll take it into consideration. again, that might be a good thing to ask admission offices.

    if you’re available and interested, i can point you in the direction of fall campus day, which is happening this saturday, october 26, on campus. there should be info tables set up in the Fall Campus Day Tent to answer potential grad school applicants’ questions, and i believe they’re running sessions on “Myths & Realities” of law school admissions at Bahen 1130, at 11 and 2 pm,

    you can also consider visiting your registrar, and have them talk you through your options in person.

    best of luck!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • commerce,  rotman

    but your first year just started :(

    October 4, 2019

    I am first year student of commerce. I have question regarding CGPA requirements. I would like to know if I didn’t meet CGPA requirement this year can I improve my marks next year and apply again to the second year?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    since you didn’t specify otherwise, i’m just gonna go right ahead and answer this like you’re a first year in rotman commerce, and you’re worried about the guaranteed admission requirements.

    it might be important to note that it’s not your CGPA you’d be worried about, then– you’d be looking at the grades in your required courses, like RSM101. to make it to second year at rotman, there’s a grade threshold you’ll need to jump, which is what i’m assuming you mean by “CGPA requirement.”

    according to the rotman website, you’re allowed to retake each of the courses you need once, for a higher grade– the catch is, this needs to be done before fall/winter of your second year. as in, during the summer. any of those courses you retake won’t count towards your 20 credits to graduate or your gpa, either. they’ll just be your way back on track, i guess.

    if you did want to retake your requirements during the next fall-winter semester, you’d have to request an extension. apparently these are only granted in special circumstances, like if you dealt with significant and unexpected difficulty during your first year. if that’s the reason you’re asking this question and you think you qualify, you’d have to visit your rotman commerce academic advisor to get the extension process goin’.

    hope this helped!

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • graduation

    another one who wants out

    October 2, 2019
    Hi, so I’m graduating this November and all my credits and such are complete. I just had one course that is a 0.5 credit course that’s a requirement for the degree and I’m not sure if I passed the exam so I don’t think I’ll be able to pass the course. Is there anything I can do to still graduate. Thanks!

    ——————————————

    hey friend,

    as far as i’m aware, if it’s a course you need for your degree, there’s like… not that much you can do?

    if this was for a summer course and you haven’t heard back yet, i’d suggest you go to your registrar and see what they know about your exam results. we’re now well into the fall sem, so those grades should be out and available. hopefully that’ll give you a better sense of your circumstances.

    you can also ask them if they’re aware of any exceptions that’ll allow you to graduate without the course. unfortunately i don’t know too much about graduating without your requirements, so i wanna make the safe assumption that it’s likely not possible. your registrar might know something i don’t, but at the same time don’t get your hopes up.

    good luck with this– i hope things work out for ya.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • anthropology,  subject POST

    “i just want to graduate” me too, bud

    September 30, 2019

    i would like to apply to the Anthropology Major (Science) program at the end of this school year. I am in my final year and will have completed all the requirements for the program by April 2020, however my CGPA is below a 2.00 at the moment and they require a 2.00 for program enrolment. I am not planning on doing any post-graduate studies, I just want to graduate.

    Would I still have a chance in any way to make it into the Anthropology Major (science) program if I were to apply today? I will obviously work hard to get above a 2 (but just in case). Is there a letter I can’t write? What can I do?

    ——————————————

    heyo,

    it’s been a solid two weeks of nothingness in the aska inbox, so this question feels like a curveball. i know nothing about sports and i have no business using sports metaphors. but man. i’m not too sure where you got the 2.00 CGPA requirement information from. sometimes people throw things at me i don’t recognize.

    it does seem that the evolutionary ANT major, the science one, is a type 2, but when i checked out the artsci calendar, a 2.0 CGPA wasn’t listed under the enrolment conditions. i’ve actually not heard of a type 2 program that has a CGPA requirement, although i know there are type 3 programs like PCJ that look at CGPA.

    so as far as i know, all you need to get into ANT is a grade higher than 67% in ANT100Y1, or higher than 70% in ANT203Y1. i dunno if those are thresholds you’ve managed to make, but that’s what the department would be looking for in order to let you in.

    as for applying to the program, i dunno if that’s still something you can do today, per se. you did mention being willing to wait til the end of the school year, which you’re definitely gonna have to do if you do things the normal way– both program request periods are now over and i’m not aware of any exceptions. thing is, even putting yourself through the first of the two request periods will only get you in and enrolled by august. 

    what i’d recommend you do is contact the department. especially if you have all the program requirements down and you’re trying to dip from this school by june, it’s your best option. if anyone’s able to get ya in, it’ll be them.

    as for your question about letters. there are plenty of letters you can’t write. i can think of a few. i can also think of a few you shouldn’t. all that’s relevant for you, though, is that if you don’t meet the requirements i highly doubt a letter is going to do anything for you. but i feel like the requirements aren’t what you thought they were, unless there’s something not listed that i’m just totally not aware of.

    hope this answered your questions and best of luck!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • frosh

    you’ve probably already been froshed i guess

    September 11, 2019
    how do we prepare for frosh? i’m a uc commuter that’s going to be staying in a dorm with someone for part of the week and no one’s told me what it’s going to be like, so i’m freaking out a lil. any advice would be appreciated!
    ——————————————

    hey there,

    so sorry i didn’t get this on time– our inbox has been floooooded for a few weeks now. i always do my best to answer questions before those answers are needed, but sometimes those questions fall through the cracks, especially if they’re last-minute. i dunno if this was last-minute. tumblr doesn’t really show me when things are sent in.

    either way, i hope your frosh experience went well, despite not knowing what to expect. sometimes part of the fun comes from the surprises, anyway, am i right?

    for future readers– i’ve never done frosh with uc. have i done frosh at all? maybe. that feels like an essential, rather personal part of my identity that i’d prefer remain shrouded. i do wanna write a guide to surviving frosh at some point, though, which i’ll try to remember to link here when it’s up.

    in the meantime, you can click through the frosh tag on the life @ u of t blog, or check out our askastudent archive on the same topic.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • email

    LET EM KNOW

    September 10, 2019

    hello my dumb ass just realized I messed up when creating my email address. The ic info site says changing it is essentially replacing it so will I have to tell my registrar or will they get some notification? What about my professors?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    never run into this one before– and the people i’ve talked to say an email address change isn’t even possible. i did dig up the same webpage i’m guessing you looked at, though– this one? 

    if ya check out the ‘important note’ on that page, it lets you know that you’re the one who’s gotta step up and let people know about your email replacement. the people who email you may know something’s up because anything they send to your old email will probably bounce, but they won’t know where to reach you moving forward.

    short answer: you’ll have to tell your registrar, your profs, and anyone else important about your email address change. no one’s gonna do it for you, man. hopefully it’s not too tedious of a process.

    “wow, thank you aska! you’re a lifesaver. i’ve never encountered anyone quite this lifechanging. if i could venmo you some of my GPA to show my gratitude, i would.”

    in all seriousness, hope this was helpful.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • residence

    don’t mention the word ‘winter’ to me yet, it’s too early

    September 9, 2019

    i’m a first year student, yet I’m going to have to miss the Fall session. Can I still apply for residency as I’m going to start in January 2020 (Winter Session) and need to stay on campus? Btw I’m an international student.

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i have heard cases of people moving in just for winter sem, yes. usually this is conditional on someone else moving out– otherwise, there may not be space. but it does happen, yknow, people vacate their rooms mid-semester or don’t even show up in the fall. there are usually a few spots. it’s just a matter of how many, and whether anyone’s vying for them. you might have competition.

    uncalled-for levels of aggression! probably just cross your fingers and hope you get a spot.

    what i’d recommend is that you contact your preferred (or your college’s) residence, and ask them about their specific policies on winter move-in. i’m not aware of any centralized information on this, so it’s probably best to just talk to those offices directly. geez. listen to me. i’m picking up the language of the bureaucracy, and i haven’t even been here that many years. this is how the end begins. someone get me outta here.

    usually i’d link you to the contact info, but it be busy times, so you can find all that stuff here.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • repeating course

    third time’s the charm… unless there is no third time i guess

    September 9, 2019

    I have taken mgm101 2 times already in the year of 2015-2016 first time I passed but with not a high enough mark and second time I left the school without dropping the course which obviously resulted in a fail. Recently Im trying again is there a way to take mgm101 again? I need it for the program I want to do

    ——————————————

    hi there,

    i looked into this for you, and unfortunately, it does seem like you won’t be allowed to repeat the course. according to the rules and regulations, it seems like you can only repeat a course you already passed once.

    not sure what you can necessarily do in this situation, though you’re not alone in it– i have seen it before. i just dunno what the fix is– you may need to consider another program, or consider transferring to a different school to take a similar program. i would recommend that you talk your options over with your registrar, just cos they’ll have fuller access to your academic record and maybe be able to make more specific recommendations.

    sorry i can’t be more helpful, dude. best of luck.

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • wait list

    tHe NeeD to TaKe 5 CoUrSeS iS a SoCiaL cOnStruCt

    September 9, 2019

    hi! In what situations would a department let you into a class after the waitlist drops? I’ve 3 courses waitlisted and I probably won’t get into 2 of them. These are possible courses I can take to fulfill a requirement. I am in/will be taking another course that will fulfill this requirement. Would they let me in these courses if I don’t get in after waitlist drops? Also, kinda freaking out cause I want/need to take 5 courses this fall

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i’m not aware of any situations in which you’d be ‘let in,’ per se, after the waitlist drops. however, i have heard of a kind of loophole, which is this: there’s a gap in time between the day the waitlist closes and the last day to add a course. this year, the fall waitlist closes september the 13th, but the last day to add is the 18th. in between these days, there’s a sort of free-for-all: if someone decides they’d like to drop a course, a spot will open up on ACORN for anyone to snatch up. so you can give that a try. it’s not a reliable solution by any means, but it is a chance.

    i’m not sure how else i can help you, given that i don’t know anything about the nature of the requirements. do you mean prerequisites? graduation requirements? program requirements? usually, if it’s the type of program requirement that gives you flexibility (eg. pick two courses from list a and one from list b) you almost definitely will not be snuck off the waitlist for your preferred class in that group. they’ll just tell you to take another class, even if it’s one you don’t really wanna take.

    if they’re super pressing requirements, you can always try begging the department to let you in, i guess. if that one course would keep you from graduating on time or something, maybe they’d make an exception.

    in terms of your chances of getting off the waitlist the normal way, what i usually tell people is this general rule: if you’re in the top 10 percent, chances are the waitlist will move. people will drop out, move out of the country, bleach their hair off and decide they can’t show their faces at school for a sem… you name it. or just decide they wanna dip. hey, whatever the reason is, it might give you what you want.

    in the future, i’d suggest that you don’t put yourself on quite so many waitlists. stressy situations like these are best avoided, especially if you’re not optimistic you can get off those waitlists. i dunno. 3 seems like a pretty big risk to me. best of luck with it all. feel free to drop by your registrar for more specific advice, if ya want, but hopefully this helped.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • deferral,  fees,  OSAP

    second strike

    September 6, 2019

    So this is my second strike with osap and they’ve decided not to give my money for this year’s tuition. Is it possible to get a deferral so I have time to gather the funds? I don’t have any scholarships. It’s crazy that I don’t seem to have the option to defer unless I’m with osap when it seems like students like me need that grace period the most..

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    unfortunately, as far as i know, you’re only able to defer your fees for two reasons: if you have incoming scholarships, and if you’re waiting on OSAP. i’m not aware of any exceptions to this.

    that is a tough situation– it kind of makes sense that the university’s policies would be this way, because they need a guarantee that they can get your tuition money. with OSAP and scholarships, they kind of have that. with miscellaneous please-give-me-time situations, not so much.

    i’m sorry i can’t be more helpful– i do want to send you to your registrar, just in case i’m wrong and there is something you can do. it’s possible that they may be able to talk to you about grants or something– emergency funds for students in your situation.

    best of luck with it all, man.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • fees

    *head bangs*

    September 4, 2019
    hi, i am considering enrolling in 3 credits for the fall semester and then dropping one half course, but i can’t find the deadline for dropping a course without having to pay anything so i’m scared to enrol now:( should dropping in september be enough to not pay any withdrawal fee? please help!

    ——————————————
    hey there,

    don’t blame you at all for not being able to find this– i had a lil trouble myself. it’s not a short answer, either, as this deadline can vary by your faculty, division, and even year. you can check out a master list of the refund schedules here— just click the link that applies to you.

    sorry i can’t be more specific, but unless i know exactly where you fall in the great bureaucracy that is u of t, this question’s a bit of a hard one to answer. too many possibilities. hope i managed to at least direct you to something that’ll be helpful, though!
    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • fees

    incidental feeeeees

    September 4, 2019

    what are incidental fees? do i need to be doing something with them? thanks aska!!!!

    ——————————————

    hello there,

    incidental fees are pretty much the fees you pay to be a student at u of t, but separate from what you pay to study at u of t. if that makes any sense. when you pay for them, you get access to all sorts of services and programs that add to your university experience, whether that includes getting access to athletic centres, clubs, healthcare, or campus media.

    if you’re asking if you ‘need to be doing something with them’ because you’ve seen something pop up on your ACORN, then yes, i guess you kinda do have to do something. this year, you’re able to opt out of any non-mandatory incidental fees, which should be shown to you in some kinda checklist when you log into ACORN.

    this is because of the government of ontario’s student choice initiative, which you can read more about here. in short, the government has deemed an array of fees non-essential, jeopardizing the operations of these programs in the coming year. thing is, these programs– your student societies, campus newspapers, and clubs– contribute so much to the vibrancy of life at u of t, and are such valuable opportunities for students to learn soft skills outside of the classroom. these are skills that can make you more employable when you graduate, which i’d say is easily worth the money you’d be spending now.

    so if you have the financial means to do so, i would strongly encourage you to stay opted in.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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