• computer science,  internal transfer,  physics,  UTM

    the ol’ switcheroo

    Dear Aska,
    I’m going to be going to UTM for computer science, as that was my backup choice and I got deferred from St. George.

    However, I still feel very strongly towards physics and I was wondering if it would be possible to take physics related courses at UTM and transfer/switch my major to physics at St. George after my first year or so.

    If so, when would I apply for an internal transfer and would I be able to switch my courses from a computer science major to a physics major if I were to take courses similar to someone majoring in physics as a first year?

    Thank You!

    ——————————————

    hi!

    you really should direct this question to someone at the registrar’s office at UTM. since you aren’t even in first year yet, meaning that you haven’t enrolled in any courses yet, you should meet with an academic adviser at the registrar’s office, tell them about your situation and that you’re thinking of transferring, and they’ll be able to give you advise on which courses that you SHOULD take in your first year.

    that being said, here is some more general info that i, a humble student blogger, dug up.

    taking physics courses as a “computer science” student is totally possible. and internal transfers are also possible.

    check out this page for all the info needed to transfer to the faculty of arts and sciences (scroll down to “transferring from another u of t faculty or campus).

    it is also possible for you to take physics courses at UTM and then transfer to physics at st. george. one thing that you should be aware of is the program requirements and whether or not they’re different between the two campuses. i suggest that you take a look at the first year physics courses offered at UTM, see what their st. george equivalents are using the transfer explorer, and then see how many of the st. george program requirements you will have fulfilled with your UTM transfer credits.

    if there are courses that you need for physics at st. george that you can’t take at UTM in your first year, you can always try to transfer after your first year and then take those courses when you get to st. george.

    i really hope that helps! good luck, my young friend.

    spongebob squarepants good luck GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

  • admissions,  international students

    usa! usa! usa!

    Do u have any posts for international applicants, specifically from the US?

    ——————————————

    hello!

    while we don’t have a specific US international applicants tag, we do have a general international students tag. you could also check out our admissions tag for more info, though it is more generalized, so you’ll have to slosh through a lot of posts to get to ones that’re relevant to you.

    you can also check out this link on the u of t website that describes how to apply to u of t as a US high school student. they also have information on what to do if you have AP or IB credits.

    hope this helps! good luck!

    patriotic independence day GIF by Broad City

    xoxo,

    a very canadian aska

  • non degree,  registration

    back 2 calc

    Hi aska. I’m 5th year of my undergraduate life and have been slowly but surely been raising my pretty low GPA to get it high enough to graduate this coming June. Back in my early uni life I’ve managed to pass the 1st year calculus course but failed the 2nd 1st year calculus course twice. I never bothered doing it a 3rd time because I changed my programs but as graduation is approaching I’ve been regretting not finishing it. After I graduate is it possible to come back and just complete it?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    yes it is! actually, lots of students come back after graduating to update their marks in a specific course, take a pre-req for grad school, boost their GPA, etc etc etc.

    if you’ve graduated from u of t and you wanna return to take courses that are in the same faculty or division that you just graduated from, you need to visit your former registrar’s office who can help you re-register as a non-degree student OR if you need to re-apply on OUAC. check out this link for more information about non-degree registration (scroll down to “non-degree applicants”).

    i hope this helps!

    shiba inu dance GIF by KeepUpWithJaz

    xoxo,

    aska

  • admissions,  financial aid,  first year,  scholarships/bursaries,  victoria

    welcome to u of t, here’s too much info!

    So I was accepted into U of T today for Life Sciences at St. George and I also got into Victoria College (which is supposed to have a lot of scholarships). I was really expecting to receive at least a small scholarship as my average was 94.5 (if I include English, because i think i read somewhere that they include English no matter what) and 96.7 without English. Do I get notified about scholarships at a later time or have I just not received any. On another note, I am planning to do a specialist in Pharmacology and Biomedical Toxicology. Do you know how competitive that program is?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    first of all, congrats! yay! u of t! life sci! vic! yay! yay!!!!

    ashley olsen applause GIF

    u of t-wide admissions scholarship recipients are notified at the time of admission, either with your acceptance letter or under a separate cover. if there’s any confusion about this, you should contact enrollment services who’re the scholarships/ financial experts on campus. check out their contact info here. 

    as for vic-specific scholarships, the website says that “applicants with an average in the mid-90s will be automatically considered for (though not guaranteed) an admission scholarship when they apply to victoria college.”it doesn’t say anywhere when applicants are informed, but i would assume that it’s at the same time as the u of t-wide ones. on the u of t scholarships website, it says that “MOST faculty and college scholarship offers are made at the same time.” i would contact the vic awards office over any confusion, as i am but a humble student blogger who isn’t privy to all the mysterious workings of this crazy university. their contact info is here, at the bottom of the first part of the page.

    i know how closely related getting scholarships and accepting an offer of admission can be– we’d all like to pretend that the school we pick is actually and completely our choice, but in reality… school costs money and sometimes ya gotta go where the money is. i suggest looking into other sources of funding like OSAP (or your local student loan) or UTAPS (u of t specific financial aid). there are a lot of different ways to get funding, apart from scholarships, so if you haven’t received any scholarships this year, looking for other sources of funding could be super helpful and a good avenue to explore.

    parks and recreation two funerals GIF

    as for the specialist in pharmacology and biomedical toxicology,  i can’t really tell you how “competitive” a program is as it’s based on the pool of applicants during any given year. according to the website, admission to the program is based on a “student’s grades in the following courses: BIO120H/BIO130H/CHM138H/CHM139H/CHM151Y1 and from 1 FCE from any of the following MAT135H1; MAT136H1; MAT137Y1; PHY131H1/PHY151H1; PHY132H1/PHY152H1”. whew… that’s a lot. basically, it looks like those are the required courses that you have to take before you can apply for the program… i think. this is “askastudent” after all, not “ask a department admin person.” you should get in contact with the undergraduate coordinator for the department of pharmacology and toxicology. their contact info can be found here. 

    i hope this was helpful! that was a ton of info to slap onto a freshly minted, newly admitted, not even first year student.

     reaction chocolate too much dark chocolate thats too much GIF

    good luck!

    xoxo,

    aska

  • criminology,  es&l,  failing,  first year

    program scramble

    Hi!

    So I’m a first year at UofT (St. George campus) and I’m almost 100% sure I’m failing most of my classes.

    I already dropped Psych100 first semester because I missed the first test due to a loved one passing away, and I didn’t do so great on the second test (40%). I took psych again second semester and most so second sem I have 3 full year courses and 2 half.
    I planned on going into Criminology and Ethics, Society and Law but now i don’t think I’m gunna meet the requirement of 70-75% I’m going to need to get in. What can i do and what might my other options be to major in?

    My grades so far have ranged from 50-75%.

    ——————————————

    hi!

    first of all, because this is a bit of a specific question, i suggest that you make an appointment with your college/ faculty registrar who’ll be able to give you more specific and personalized information.

    that being said, i’ll try my best:

    so, from what i can gather from your question, you will have 4.0FCE (full course equivalents) at the end of this semester, if you pass all your courses. if you do get all 4.0FCE by the end of this year, then you will have to enroll in a POSt (program of study). you need to be enrolled in a POSt before you can enroll in courses for next year. according to this list, crim is a type 3 program and ethics, society, and law is a 2L program. you can check this link out for what “type 3” and “type 2L” means.

    you can still apply for the programs, even if you don’t get in. you’ll find out on july 3 whether or not you got in, then you’ll have til august 8 to accept if you get in. however, if you don’t get in, then you should enroll in a placeholder type 1 (the kind with no application required) program so that you can enroll in courses for the next year. i know it sounds kinda counterintuitive, enrolling in a program you don’t wanna be in, but you need to be in a POSt to enroll in courses, and you don’t need to enroll in any courses that have to do with your placeholder/ fake POSt. after enrolling in your fake POSt, you can take the required courses for crim and ES&L, increase your average, and then apply again the next year.

    i hope that makes sense.

    hot james mcavoy GIF

    if you don’t finish 4.0FCE at the end of this school year, you will still be considered a “first year student,” meaning that you won’t need to enroll in a POSt before enrolling in courses.

    good luck!

    peace and love,

    aska

  • first year,  housing,  one programs

    on roomates and ones

    Hello! I was just wondering if there were any websites or groups in place that newly admitted students can meet each other? I noticed the Facebook page really wasn’t filled with students posting about themselves, I am trying to find a roommate! Also, what is your opinion on the ones programs offered to first years? Thanks!

    ——————————————

    hi!

    i also just went through facebook and wasn’t able to find any class of 2022 facebook groups. usually, these pages pop up over the summer after everyone has accepted their offers of admission. keep an eye out!

    as for finding a roommate, you can check out u of t’s off-campus housing portal. they have a specific area for roommates that is only open to students. you do need to log in with your UTORid in order to access the portal, so if you haven’t set that up yet, you can do so here.

    stephen king smiling GIF

    as for the ones programs, it really depends on what kind of student you are. on the one hand, they’re a really good chance to go super in depth on one specific subject in a small class environment, something that you usually don’t get to do until higher level seminar courses. on the other hand, they can be very time consuming and the co-curricular activities (such as guest lecturers or field trips) could be seen as something that bites into precious homework time.

    from a more personal standpoint (i did a ones program in my first year!), i enjoyed the classes and made really meaningful connections with the profs and other classmates. however, i did find that the courses didn’t count towards my eventual majors/ minors took up a lot of time (and valuable credits) that could’ve counted towards that. ultimately, it’s up to you. there are pros and cons and you just need to decide for yourself if the pros outweigh the cons.

    i hope this helps. get out there and learn!

     baby book story reading GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

  • engineering,  first year,  residence

    but can you engineer a home?

    Hey there,

    I’ve applied for engineering at U of T and it’s my first choice. I’m also really interested in living in the Innis College res but they claim they only take engineering students with averages above 96% !! Due to some personal issues my grades this semester weren’t excellent and my final admission average will probably end up being between 92 and 93. Is it worth putting Innis as my top choice to be considered for it or is the point completely moot? If not Innis, I’m also fairly interested in Vic, or failing that New, both of which claim to only have “limited spaces” for engineers. How do they choose which engineers get to live in college res, and do I only get considered for my top choice? I would like to avoid living in Chestnut if possible.

    As a backup plan to all of that, I have a friend who was slotted into SMC and did some last minute emailing and got switched to UC. Is it likely that residences might have extra space if I try something like that?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    according to the innis res website, if you want to live on res at innis, you’ll have to rank them first when you apply for res via myres (the residence portal), or they won’t consider you. i’m not sure where it says that innis only takes engineering students with averages about 96, so i can’t really confirm if that’s true or not. either way, i think that if you want to live at innis, you should rank it first anyways. if you don’t get in, it won’t be the absolute end of the world, since the magical res people will place you in your second or third choice.

    that being said, i’m not sure whether vic or new also requires that you rank them first. i would get in touch with their res offices specifically to ask. here is the link for vic and here is the link for new. if they don’t require that you rank them first, then it would be a good idea for you to rank them second and third after innis.

    as for your friend who switched into UC, i’m not sure how that would work. this is something that you’d have to contact the specific residence offices about.

    applying for res can seem kinda confusing, especially since there is a completely different website and portal that you have to go through. you will need to log onto myres, confirm your interest in residence, and rank your residences before march 31st. for more info, you can check out this link.

    i hope this helps!

    tommy wiseau lets go home GIF by The Room

    xoxo,

    aska

  • academic standing,  academic success,  failing,  first year

    it is not the end

    Hi! I’m a first year, and due to my own personal issues I’ve completely bombed this year. I think I failed two courses first semester, and I’ve already missed two midterms this semester. God just writing that out gives me anxiety. I know I can’t excuse this behaviour, but I lost a loved one before exams first semester & it’s just been really hard but I’m ready to refocus on school, I’m just worried it might be too late. Will uoft kick me out? I don’t care if my gpa is low I just want to graduate

    ——————————————

    hi!

    i’m sorry that you’ve been having a rough first year. university can be really tough, especially when you’ve got other things going on as well.

    so, u of t won’t “kick you out,” but they could put you on academic probation, depending on what your CGPA (cumulative GPA) and annual GPA at the end of this school year is. if it is lower than 1.50, you will be placed on probation. basically, this just means that you can only take up to 5.0 FCE during the fall/winter session and 2.0FCE during the summer. if, after being on probation, your CGPA is less than 1.50 and your annual/ sessional GPA is less than 1.70, you will be suspended for one calendar year. being suspended means that you can’t register as a student for the duration of your suspension. for more information about academic standing/ probation/ suspension, check out this link.

    but in your case right now, you would only be put on probation at MOST. and this would only be if your CGPA dipped below 1.50. so, as long as your CGPA is above a 1.50, you’re okay.

    cbs omg GIF by The Late Late Show with James Corden

    i would also suggest making an appointment at your college/ faculty registrar’s office. they’ll be able to provide you with academic advice or refer you to other resources on campus. one of the resources they may refer you to is the academic success centre. i would also highly suggest that you check them out. you can make an appointment with learning strategists and mentors, go to a drop-in session with an academic adviser, or attend workshops. they can really teach you how to learn better, which may help out with some of the academic problems you’ve been facing. i highly suggest checking them out, they’re a criminally underused resource on campus.

    i really hope this helps. please know that help is always available to those who seek it out. good luck!

    good luck GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

  • OSAP

    the limit? i guess it exists

    Since OSAP is only for completing degree, if all my degree requirement s are met I.e eligible to graduate can I still get OSAP? Do I have to submit forms explaining why I need an extra year OSAP? I wish to stay one more year in university but I also need the $.

    ——————————————

    hi!

    unfortunately, i don’t know a whole lot about OSAP and the OSAP website doesn’t seem to have any information on your particular circumstance.

    i suggest that you get in touch with enrollment services, they’re the OSAP experts on campus.

    sorry that i don’t have more information/ can’t answer your question. you’ve managed to reach the limit of aska’s otherwise limitless expertise.

    cady heron math GIF

    nonetheless, i hope this helps!

    xoxo,

    aska

  • courses,  first year,  math

    O! math.

    Can i study the most basic math course like MAT133Y1 without having high school calculus and only studying till O level maths, I just need to meet the min requirements for econ majoring

    ——————————————

    hi!

    according to the faculty calendar, “high school calculus” is a pre-req for MAT133. however, because there are so many different education systems that the university encounters with its newly admitted students, it would be impossible to account for every single education system and how they would be related to the canadian and/or ontario education system. what i’m getting at is that your O level maths may be enough to satisfy the “high school calculus” requirement.

    get in touch with the math department. they would be able to give you a definite response to your question.

    though you may technically have the requirement fulfilled with O level maths, you might find that MAT133 is a little too difficult for you. there is, of course, no shame in that whatsoever. but if you do find yourself struggling in MAT133, the math department runs drop-in math aid centres with TAs and mentors. i suggest checking them out, if you need help.

    i hope this helps!

    confused math GIF by CBC

    xoxo,

    aska

  • admissions,  daniels,  masters

    you are the architect of your own future

    Hi,

    I go to ryerson university, and i would like to do masters architecture at UOFT i have a 3.2 GPA, and hopefully higher in the last two years. my only problem is that im in third year and i got one C+ on my transcript. Do you think this will affect my chances?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    according to the daniels faculty website, you need a completed bachelor’s degree and a “final year average of at least mid-B”. a mid-B at u of t is usually around 3.0. this means that with your 3.2 GPA, you do reach the minimum requirement.

    they DO say that they will look at an applicant’s entire academic history, but i don’t think one C+ will be too much of a blemish on your overall academic record if the rest of it is okay. that being said, i’m just a student blogger, i don’t know everything. you should get in contact with the faculty and their prospective grad student contact. you can get that info here.

    i hope this helps! good luck!

    tiny school GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

  • academic success,  failing,  health and wellness,  mental health

    i’m rootin’ for you!

    HI!!!
    Sooo ya, Im in my 3nd year of study and I already failed 2 courses back in first year. I thought I was doing fine in this course (csc236) but then the marks came and it was abysmal. During this whole year I wasn’t feeling well, a lot of anxieties and some depression – I know, I only have myself to blame. I’d like to ask what are your suggestions on the actions I should take to deal with this 0.0gpa and the advice to do better?

    Thanks ;(

    ——————————————

    hi!

    that sounds like a really tough situation to be in. i’m really sorry for how long this response has taken me, but i hope that you still find it helpful.

    first of all, i’m going to suggest that you make an appointment with your registrar’s office. they can help you and/or point you towards resources that can help you. they should be your first point of contact whenever you’re feeling distressed (emotionally or academically). make an appointment, talk to one of the advisers there, and they’ll be able to give you more nuanced/ detailed/ personalized advice– more than i can give you (as a lowly student blogger).

    broken computer GIF

    for academics, i highly suggest checking out the academic success centre. you can make appointments with learning strategists, mentors, people who work in writing centres, and a whole bunch of folks that’re there to help. they can provide a lot of personalized advice and teach you all about HOW you learn and ways of learning more effectively. that should help you learn BETTER and (hopefully) boost your marks. they also have some walk-in appointments that you can make, if you don’t wanna make an actual appointment.

    you should also check out health and wellness. in your question, you said that you aren’t “feeling well” and have “a lot of anxieties and some depression.” i think that you should check out their mental health services, even if you don’t think that you need to. mental health is super important, and the university doesn’t talk about it enough. mental health can really have a negative effect on your academics and getting to a healthy state of mind can help improve your academics as well.

    i hope this was helpful. i think that, most importantly, you should make an appointment with an adviser at your registrar’s office– they are literally paid to help you. school, especially this school, can be really hard, and we all need a little bit of help sometimes. there’s no shame in it 🙂

    good luck.

    spongebob squarepants good luck GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

  • Chestnut,  first year,  residence

    res-earch

    Hello,

    I am enrolling in UofT’s Faculty of Arts and Science Program for the fall semester of 2018, and I wanted to ask how I could choose the Chestnut Residence as a preference on my OUAC application? It only gives me the options to rank the 7  Faculty of Arts and Science colleges. Also, if I want to live in Chestnut, what college would I be considered a part of?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    when applying to the faculty of arts and science, you have to also apply to a college. though most people who live on res do live at the res that corresponds to their college, it’s not required.

    after being admitted to u of t, you will be prompted (in my year, it was via email. i don’t know if that’s changed) to apply for res. in the application, you’ll be able to pick between all the different residences (college affiliated or not). if you want to live in chestnut, this is when you would pick chestnut (if i remember correctly, it was also a ranking system, so you’d have to rank chestnut first). check out this link for a more detailed breakdown of all the different college affiliated residences and this link for more info on chestnut.

    if you live in chestnut, you can be a part of any of the 7 colleges. the college you belong to isn’t just where you live, it’s also the admin and resources that you can access. for example, if you needed to talk to a registrar, you’d get in contact with your college registrar. for the most part, there aren’t too many major differences between the colleges, but i still suggest doing your research.

    investigating basketball wives GIF by VH1

    so, basically right now, you need to rank the 7 colleges (after doing your research)wait until you’re accepted to u of t, and then apply for residence!

    i hope this helps, good luck 🙂

    peace and love!

    aska