• one programs

    ones upon a time

    June 3, 2019
    Can I still apply for ones at this point
    ——————————————
    hey,
    weirdly enough, i remember having had to apply to innis one when i took it– at the time, i think all the ones required an application of sorts. since you asked this question, i took another look at the ones webpage and it seems like now, vic, st. mike’s, munk, and trin are the only ones requiring an application.
    you should still be able to apply to the frye, jewison, pearson, and ryerson streams of vic one– more instructions here. unfortunately i couldn’t find anything about a deadline, and the application is by email which i find a tad bit strange. suffice it to say the opportunity is still available, though!
    apps for trin are open til july 1, apparently. instructions, streams, more information, and application here! as for munk one, apps are also still open! assessed on a rolling basis, so there’s no deadline but it’s best if you send yours in early.

    i didn’t get a chance to take st mikes’ ones, but they seem really freaking cool if you have the funds– looks like students get to go to either rome, ireland, or silicon valley depending on the seminar. extra cost, of course, hence funds (but there are scholarships available). these classes do seem to be faith-based if that matters to you. once again, i dunno about deadlines, and can’t find out how to apply. the thingy says to email recruit.artsci@utoronto.ca if you’ve got questions.
    the rest of the programs seem to be a free-for-all during course reg, which is definitely not how i remember things being but i guess it is what it is.
    i would definitely encourage you to go for the ones. everyone i’ve spoken to who’s taken them has had a really great experience, and it’s a good place to make new friends as the setting’s quite small. they also have some amazing topics and instructors.
    hope this helped and your first year experience is amazing!
    over n out,
    aska
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  • clubs,  UTM

    mewsik

    June 2, 2019

    Hi! I just recently accepted my offer to UTM and will (hopefully) be majoring in Criminology, Law and Society by the end of first year. However, my question has to do more with musical opportunities at UTM. I absolutely love singing and playing the piano and have enjoyed competing and performing throughout high school. I was wondering if there are any music clubs that I can join or courses that I can take as a non music faculty student during my time at UTM. Thanks!

    ——————————————

    hello hello hellooooo,

    enormous congrats on accepting your offer! i sense … a future lawyer, maybe?

    well, maybe-future-lawyer, i hope the weather is as good where you are as it is for me right now. there’s something about sunshine and blue skies and cotton candy sunsets that make me feel like everything’s gonna be okay.

    anyway, i looked this up for ya– many of your options are listed here! a quick rundown on what we got:

    harmonix music club seems pretty cool– as far as i can tell, their focus seems to be on creating a very international/multicultural space for making music. i guess the idea is that music can unite people no matter their background or culture– or maybe that you need difference to produce beauty the same way you need different notes to make a harmony. wow! metaphors! maybe i’m reaching.

    into heavenly harmonies? the utm gospel choir might be a good option for you. they do monthly/bimonthly performances, and if there are openings you can join either as an instrumentalist or vocalist.

    there’s a straight-up utm music club  you can check out, too, that holds a bunch of music-centred events on campus– think karaoke, open mics, jam sessions, and guitar workshops. sounds pretty cool to me. they claim to be the best music club on campus on their facebook page, anyway.

    beyond these options, there’s a chinese music club or kpop organization you can join if you feel so inclined. this post is gonna drag on if i plug those two too, so look them up yourself if you’re curious, would ya? appreciate it!

    you should have the opportunity to connect with many of these clubs your first week at uni! i dunno specifically where/when the clubs fair is yet, but as long as you keep an eye out i’m sure you’ll hear about it. tends to be quite well-advertised, especially if you plan to attend frosh. if you can’t make it to clubs week, it shouldn’t be too difficult to contact these orgs directly through social media and ask about getting involved.

    in terms of courses, well… not sure if i’m doing something wrong, but it doesn’t seem like utm offers music courses, or has a music department at all? i can’t find it, anyway, which is surprising to me because i always just kind of assumed there was one. this is the full list of undergrad programs at utm, if you wanna check for yourself. if i’m right, then your options for getting involved with music might be limited to extracurriculars.

    since we’re on the topic of music, i would tell ya to follow my spotify, but that would defeat the point of an anonymous blog, wouldn’t it? guess i’ll just have to appreciate my own curated-til-3-am playlists. i kind of feel like the world is missing out, but we’ll never know, will we?

    wishing you the best of luck and a 10/10 work ethic for first year! lord knows most of us could use it.

    over n out,
    aska
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  • breadth requirements

    no math? no problems

    June 2, 2019

    hi, do you know if you have to take a math course if you’re not doing a math degree? (i’m in social sciences, leaning towards something like polisci or women’s studies)

    ——————————————

    hey hey,

    you don’t have to take a math course specifically, no! u of t tries to diversify the courses we take not by mandating certain courses as requirements, but rather making us take a certain number of credits in each of a few different categories. these are called breadth requirements,  and in a lot of ways i prefer them to the way i’ve heard other unis do things. the category you’d be concerned with is breadth 5, or ‘the physical and mathematical universes.’ this can involve math, but doesn’t have to if you don’t want it to.

    it is possible to meet the breadth 5 requirement (or at least half a credit of it) without ever solving a single equation. i do a quite large plug for the one breadth 5 course i did in this post. long story short, it was very arts-kid friendly and i would 10/10 recommend. i’m sure there are other courses out there geared towards humanities students (read: few numbers) if you dig a little more!

    if you want a more detailed rundown of what the categories are, you can check out this recent post i did on how the breadth req works. please read it if you’re not familiar, otherwise this recommendation might not make much sense to you! but the bottom line is, if you’re worried about having to take math, you can probably skirt the entirety of breadth 5 — as long as you don’t mind biology-type courses.

    short answer: if you plan well, no math for you! unless, of course, you want to take it. then you def can, and still fulfill your degree requirements. NOBODY LOSES TODAY i love it.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • breadth requirements

    thank GOD it is the way it is

    June 1, 2019

    do you have to do the breadth requirement every year or just once?

    ——————————————

    hey hey,

    man i can’t imagine having to do it every year. that scares me a little, just thinking about it.  i would just… never finish my degree, probably. ever. it would take too many of my credits up.

    rest assured that you’ve only got to go through it once! that’s why a lot of people try to do theirs in first year– not only will you have access to more fun, first-year-only breadth req courses, but you’ll get it out of the way and not have to worry about it anymore.

    if you’re still confused, you can check out this link. basically, you need to take one credit from 4/5 of the 5 breadths, or one from 3/5 and a half credit from each of the remaining two. if that’s not too confusing.

    hope this helped! best of luck with your first year, friend.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • enrollment,  enrolment,  first year

    real q tho: is it enrolment or enrollment

    May 30, 2019

    Hey, is there anyway to know when course registration is open? Like do they send you an email or is there anyway to check on the site?

    ——————————————

    hello hello,

    course registration! still a couple months away– what a keener. that’s okay, i was one too.

    i went through my inbox to see if i ever got an email from the school regarding this. what i found was that sometime in the middle of july, my registrar emailed me with a reminder that course enrolment was about to open. last year, enrolment for first-years actually began on july 26– i’m not sure yet when this year’s date is, but hopefully that gives you some idea as to the timeline.

    a few days before enrolment starts (july 20, last year) you can check ACORN for your ‘start-time.’ if you’re not familiar, this is basically when course enrolment opens to YOU– it’s a staggered opening, i guess because the system can’t handle thousands of frantic log-ins at once. i’d recommend that you prep your enrolment cart sometime before your start time, so you can just check-out and save yourself the stress of adding courses then.

    anyway, the artsci website is still messed, but if you wanna read up more on this you can check out this link. innis college, that lovely mythical place, also has an academic orientation up on youtube if you need help figuring out the calendar and course selection.

    in short– keep an eye on your inbox in july for an email from your registrar! or you can stick to obsessively checking ACORN for changes like lil first year me did. your call, my dude.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • continuing studies,  suspension

    i’ll see you all in therapy

    May 30, 2019

    Hi, I am a second year student and at the end of it I was just suspended for a year.
    I had a rough first year where I was alone here and commuting as well, I got through it but ended up failing 2 courses which put me on probation.
    I came back in my second year with a much better mind set to get the grades and also meet my requirements for my program. My fall 2018 semester was going well but I had some major set backs where I had to cope with a death of a close family member, and being far away from home and as well as anxiety and some mental health issues. I never gave mental health a big importance but it affected my grades this year and I was suspended. It has really got me down but I want to get back on my feet and work towards a better come back.
    I want advice in regards that, I will take really long to finish my degree coz of this suspension, do you know if there are any circumstances where they reduce suspension to a semester? Because I’ve already let my parents down and I don’t even know how to face them with this information.
    Other than that I am planning to take courses to help me during suspension at the School or Continuing Studies at Uoft, do you think this is a good idea?
    Pls advise me if there is something else I can do or look at, because I want to try do my degree as soon as possible.

    I hope you reply soon, I really need advice on this.

    ——————————————

    hi there,

    the only people who would know about the possibility of shortening your year of suspension would be your registrar, or possibly your faculty if it’s beyond your registrar. usually if there’s some kind of loophole or exception, the rules and regulations will mention it and detail how it works. i’ve never seen one for shortening suspension, and still haven’t been able to find anything of the sort. so i highly doubt it’ll be possible to take your suspension down to a term, but if you do want to give it a try you’ll need to check with your registrar.

    i do think it’s a good idea to keep taking classes during your year of suspension– it should be easy enough to do so with u of t’s continuing studies, as they’ve got open enrolment. unless money is an issue for you and you need to be working, it’s best to use your year preparing to return to regular classes.

    as for other options, i’m not sure you have that many. u of t’s standpoint on suspension is that taking a break will be a useful time for you to get support, re-evaluate your commitments, or recuperate from anything impeding your academic success. as a result, i’m not aware of anything the school will let you do to speed up your degree. even after you come back from suspension, as i’m sure you’re aware, you’ll still be on probation. that means, until you’ve achieved regular academic standing again, you’ll be unable to take more than 5 classes each sem in fall/winter.

    all the advice i can offer you, then, is to use your year of suspension the best you can. this is more or less a situation out of your control– what you’ll be able to affect is how well you do once you’re back on probation. so i would focus on that, and on your mental health. i wrote a post a while ago on mental health resources for students, some of which you should still be able to access when you’re on suspension. take the time to take care of yourself! doing school with anxiety etc can be so, so hard– speaking from experience– and it’s always better to get it checked out the same way you would a physical illness. obviously it’s ultimately your call, but there’s no shame in talking to someone about the place you’re in (or have been in).

    i’m sorry you’ve gone through what you have, and it’s perfectly understandable that you are where you are now because of it. that would have been rough on anyone, but i admire your resilience and drive to get up and keep going. you got this.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • exclusions,  psychology,  sociology

    hooray for program conflicts we love being confused

    May 30, 2019

    Hi, I am planning on majoring in sociology and minoring in psychology at utsg. Psych requires psy201 (statistics) and soc requires soc202, but the problem is that psy201 lists soc202 as an exclusion. Is there a way to get around this? Thanks

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    it actually seems like you may be able to get away with only taking SOC202, and having that satisfy the requirement for both your programs. i checked out the psych requirements on the calendar, and where it lists PSY201 there’s an allowance for ‘or equivalent course in statistics.’ i’m not 100% sure, but as an exclusion is considered to be a course too similar to the course in question, i’d imagine that the two would be considered equivalent. i would contact the department just to make sure, because they’re the ones making these kinds of decisions, but i’d say chances are good that this is your best workaround.

    in case it doesn’t work out, you do have another option. according to the university’s rules, you’re able to get special permission (probably from your registrar) to enrol in the second course. it’ll just be designated as ‘extra’ and not count towards your gpa, but my guess is that it’d be okay for your program’s purposes. i wouldn’t recommend registering without talking to your registrar, because if you get discovered they’re allowed (and supposed) to remove you without warning.

    psych and soc seem to be too common of a combination for there to be no way around your exclusion problem. so i hope at least one of these routes works out for you!

    over n out,

    aska

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  • probation,  suspension,  Transferring

    a rough patch

    May 30, 2019

    Hey!

    I go to UTM for the commerce program. This upcoming school year (Fall/Winter 2019) I am supposed to be going into fourth year. However, due to life I did really bad in school first year (failed all of my courses) and halfway through second year I dropped my courses. This lead to me being put on probation and suspended for 3rd year. I currently have a 0 CGPA & I have 3.5 credits on my record.

    I spoke to academic advising and they told me that to pass 1st year again and eventually get accepted into second year for UTM’s commerce program, and major in finance (what I aim to do), it would be really difficult (I would need  90s in all my courses for the next 2 years, with 8 credits each year, just to get accepted into the program because the cut off is now a 3.0 minimum CGPA). This would make me behind 6 years, with just a chance of being admitted into the program. I’m not sure if the courses I would take for the next 2 years would even count towards my degree properly.

    I really only see myself doing a bachelors in business with a finance major. I took the year of probation to actually study the content and prep myself for the upcoming school year so I can do well. I also started my career in the field as well.

    I really don’t know what I should do and what would be the most effective path.

    Academic advising also told me that even if I applied to other institutions, my transcript would definitely minimize my chance of getting in.

    I wanted to know if there’s anyway for me to get into a different school for example, Ryerson’s accounting and finance program, by just showing my marks high school, if I didn’t want to transfer in, but rather join in as a first year student.

    Or are there any other options within UofT, at any campus, to get the degree I want. I feel like all my doors have closed again, just because of a rough patch I went through when I was younger and just got into Uoft.

    Please help! And thank you so much in advance!!

    ——————————————

    hello friend,

    thanks for waiting for this response. your circumstances stumped me, though i’m sure not as much as they’ve frustrated you.

    this is what i want to say:

    regarding the ‘starting over’ option at ryerson or elsewhere, unfortunately the extent of my domain is the university of toronto. i would have loved to help you look into other places and such, but i would recommend you contact those schools directly and find out what their policies are regarding re-starting your degree. you can give ryerson a call here, and if you’d like to at least check out york i’ve linked that too. i feel better sending you directly to their admissions offices just cause i don’t actually have the answers to your question– i’d only be acting as an intermediary, which isn’t the most effective or foolproof way to do things. if you have any specific circumstances you think might affect their decision, you’d also be able to present those to them better yourself.

    i doubt you’d be able to apply to any university, though, with a totally fresh start using just your high school marks. they’d require you to provide your entire academic history upon application– if you omit your university marks, this could be considered fraud. there’s a chance you could submit some sort of supplemental statement along with your transcript to explain what went wrong. it may not help you as much as i wish it would, though, given your record and suspension.

    also– from what i remember, when you apply through OUAC, one of the sections of the application will ask you to account for what you’ve recently spent your time on if you’re not entering directly out of high school. for example, those who took a gap year to travel would indicate that there. you’d be obligated, then, to let any potential institution know about the time you spent at u of t.

    for the path of least resistance, so to speak, you could look into doing college programs, where admissions may be more forgiving as opposed to a university. i’m not sure, but i’m pretty sure colleges like george brown have business programs. i’ve done some research into this, but at the moment i’m not aware of any options you have to get your degree at u of t without taking the path you already know about.

    i know you’ve already visited an advisor, but my gut says to send you back to your registrar. these are the kinds of conversations that are best to have in-person, which is something i’m neither qualified nor allowed to carry out. my hope is that, even though they delivered bad news to you last time, they’ll be able to help you more if you continue to have these conversations with them. 

    i do have a question for you– when meeting with your advisor, how open were you regarding the “life stuff” you struggled with? if you went through something particularly compelling and can show how you’ve grown and overcome your difficulties, maybe there’s a chance they might be able to make some kind of exception for you? for example, you can talk about how you’ve used your probation year well. good on you, for that– i hope it does something for your circumstances overall.

    if you choose to go the route of pulling your GPA up with the eventual goal of making it into business, i’d also ask them what’ll happen if you take those commerce courses but ultimately don’t make POSt. they might know more about what your options look like, eg. if they’re usable for another program.

    this is a tough one, dude, i feel you. all my best and i wish i could be of more help. i’m sorry the system is as unforgiving as it is– that it’s so difficult to pull yourself out of a place you were in at a single time in your life. but i have faith in your ability to get where you need to be, even if that path doesn’t look the way you hoped it would.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • computer science,  grad school,  non degree

    compSIGH

    May 28, 2019
    Hello! I’m a mechancial engineering graduate from Queen’s university. I realized my passion for computer science and want to pursue a career in computer science. The masters of computer science at UofT requires CSC343H: Introduction to Databases CSC369H: Operating Systems; and CSC373H: Algorithm Design, Analysis & Complexity or their equivalents. Would it be possible/feasible for me to apply and get into these courses as a non-degree student?
    yes, from what i know it should be possible to do that! u of t easily allows recently graduated students to enrol as a non-degree student for the purpose of getting those grad school prereqs down. this is true even if you completed your studies elsewhere– you’ll just need to apply. compsci as a program is considered to be under the faculty of arts and science, which makes it much easier to get into those courses as a non-degree student (with faculties like music and engineering, you’d have to contact them).
    the only thing i can think of that might be a barrier to you is if those three courses are particularly in-demand. i looked them up on the timetable and they’ve all got priority enrolment controls, which essentially means only compsci degree students can get seats until a certain date. then, artsci students and utm/utsc students have second and third priority respectively. i’m not sure where non-degree students would fall in this priority order– possibly with utm/utsc, or after?
    if you’d like to know for certain what the likelihood is that you can get in, i’d suggest you contact the department directly. even though i can see the class sizes and enrolment controls, it’s pretty hard for me to give you a concrete answer as a fellow student myself.
    hope this was helpful though! all the best with your possible future at u of t.
    over n out,
    aska
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  • suspension

    is that normal or should i be worried?

    May 27, 2019

    Hello, I’ve been suspended from utm for the summer, but today, I tried booking a study room in the library and it could not find my name in the database. I just want to know, Is that normal or should i be worried?

    ——————————————

    hey,

    i’ve never heard of this happening, but it kind of makes sense to me that it would. i did what i could to see if the university had any explanations for this on the internet, but wasn’t actually able to find anything specifically on this.

    my best guess is that this is what’s happening: when you’re suspended, the university doesn’t consider you to be enrolled as a student. this u of t libraries site indicates that only currently registered u of t students are able to book group study spaces at the uni, key word being current. so it’s probably not like the system totally wiped its memory clean of you– it’s more likely that, since you’re not paying fees while on suspension, you’re not able to use the facilities as a paying student would. unfortunately, that means you’re gonna have to find some new study spots for the time being.

    tl:dr i wouldn’t worry about it! seems pretty normal to me.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • biology

    i glove my job

    May 25, 2019

    Hello !
    do i need to buy gloves if i want to continue taking biology? in first year my labs all provided gloves. thank you!

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    this isn’t something i would know from experience, but i asked a friend who’s taken higher level bio for ya. apparently if you’re taking BIO230 it’s a no on buying gloves, but they weren’t sure about BIO220. if you’re not taking 230 i would say just… wait til the course starts, then figure out whether you need to get them?

    or if you really really REALLY have a burning desire to know i guess you could contact whichever bio department you’re hoping to take courses in. i figure they’re the only ones who would know, since my guess is it varies per course– if you do choose to contact them, please remember to be polite and respectful because i’m sure they’re quite busy people who deal with a lot of stuff! although this is probably an unnecessary reminder and i’m sure you would be anyway.

    i would suggest you wait and see, though, if it’s all the same to you! if you need the gloves, you’ll find out come the start of classes. again, i wouldn’t know, but i’m guessing gloves don’t break the bank.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • courses,  timetable

    patience, my child

    May 25, 2019

    when will course listings on griddy/acorn/course search be up to date? every listing i’ve found gives different courses that are or aren’t there!

    ——————————————

    hi!

    as far as i’m aware, there’s no exact date out as to when the listings will be updated– i’ve noticed the same thing, that course finder is only showing summer session stuff right now. generally the update happens sometime in june, both on ACORN and the artsci timetable. the university’s still in the process of working out what the listings are gonna look like, which is why you’ve probably had trouble finding accurate info so far.

    at least the timetables are up to date, according to my friend at the office of student life, so if you do wanna be a keener and start working on your schedule you can start there. in fact, i’d actually recommend you use the official artsci timetable as opposed to griddy. that is, if you’re in artsci.

    griddy isn’t run by the university, which means that while it can totally be helpful, it isn’t necessarily foolproof. a previous aska did a quick rundown on their experience with this, which you can check out here. i’d recommend giving it a read. even then, i prefer the timetable for a few reasons. the timetable will use different colours for lectures, tutorials, labs, etc., which can help break up your schedule and make it easier to read. i’m not sure if there’s a way to do this in griddy, but i wasn’t able to find one. the timetable can be helpful for slotting tutorials in, too, because it’ll show you all the potential times in one page rather than you having to click on each section to see it.

    the timetable also offers you a more complete set of information! with course listings, it will show you space availability, enrolment restrictions, and location/waitlist info. you’ll also be able to click on a tab that shows you prereqs, breadth reqs, exclusions, and the course description. maybe i’m just looking in the wrong place, but I’ve never been able to find anything other than section, time, and instructor on griddy.

    in short, this has been a large plug for the timetable! use it use it use it. apart from the ical feature griddy has, i can’t really think of a reason why the timetable might not be a preferable option. it’s safer and more informative. what’s not to love?
    anyway, yknow what would be killer, especially for first years? a site you could plug your course codes into and have your classes mapped out across campus. could be game-changing. i 10/10 could have avoided trekking the MILES from con hall to bader with queen’s park closed and a full-on blizzard in my face. i guess i know better now. class location is important, people, don’t gloss over it. i make mistakes so you don’t have to.

    over n out,

    aska

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  • law school

    what, like it’s hard?

    May 24, 2019

    I am considering law school after I finish my undergraduate degree. What would admissions look for specifically? Would they look into what courses I had taken and what level they are in (2nd year versus 4th year)? Does it matter on who writes the recommendation letters (such as a university professor versus a teacher I had known for years)? When do people prepare to take the LSAT? Are there any tips to make my admission chances better? I wanna be prepared as law school is competitive as heck.

    ——————————————

    hi there,

    as someone who’s never gone to law school (or has yet to, my parents are still hoping lol) i wasn’t really sure how to answer this question without making stuff up.

    so i reached out to someone who worked in grad school admissions, and this is pretty much what they had to say:

    there isn’t really a set standard for law school admissions– nothing they’ll specifically look for across the board. depending on what program and what school you’re looking into, the things they require and take into consideration will vary. even the person reviewing the application can influence the answers to each of those questions you asked. this is true for all grad schools, not just law, apparently.

    because of this, any concrete answer i might be able to provide you with probably won’t be consistently useful, and might even be misleading. i was told it’s best to specifically check each program or school you’re considering. often, there’s a lot of stuff you can find just floating on the web. you can also look into attending info sessions, as schools typically send student or faculty representatives that’ll be able to tell you about their program’s criteria.

    you can also take a shot at emailing or phoning schools’ admission offices directly. this is a recommendation that comes with a (hopefully unnecessary) friendly reminder to be polite when you do so! i feel like a lot of students forget this when talking to administration. these are the people that may have your law school future in their hands, and anyway it’s just the decent thing to do. this also means you’ll want to avoid emailing multiple people the same question at the same time– if you feel it’s necessary to do so, cc (not bcc) them. this way, they’ll be able to tell that you’ve asked someone else too, and can then check whether you’ve received a response yet.

    so that covers admissions– as for the LSAT, life @ u of t has done a pretty good piece with some relevant advice. according to them, it only takes about 2-3 months to prep for the exam. this other random law school site i pulled up recommended 3-4, so i’d say 3 is probably a good bet.

    closing this post off with this iconic moment, because no post about law school is complete without a lil elle woods.

    you got this. law school may be competitive as heck, but i believe in your ability to compete. best of luck with it all, and hope this helped even if it wasn’t as specific as you hoped!

    over n out,

    aska

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