• campus,  internal transfer,  rules,  St. George,  Transferring,  UTSC

    sticky situation

    November 7, 2016

    Hello,

    So I originally enrolled at UTSC because I had missed the application
    deadline for SG. I decided to start in Scarborough and brave the commute (I
    live downtown) for a year to hopefully try for an internal transfer later.
    I dilly-dallied and decided I enjoyed Scarborough bc of a course offered
    (IDS) but then started to hate the commute and now want to return to my
    original idea of transferring.

    My question is about courses at another campus:
    I have the intention of transferring (again missed the deadline last year
    BC I thought I liked Scarborough) so ideally I would like to gather
    downtown courses this year so i can transfer in my third year.
    So. I currently have 3 utsc FCE’s (from 2015/2016) and took 1 FCE this
    summer at SG. As of this fall, I enrolled in 2 more FCE’s on the st.george
    campus, but have a sneaking suspicion that I am in violation of the rules
    for taking courses at another campus.

    On the office of the registrar website it states:
    “Courses at UTM or St. George
    utsc.utoronto.ca/registrar/courses-other-campuses
    You can take a maximum of 5.0 credits at another U of T campus (or 1.0
    credit if you have completed fewer than 4.0 credits) as a UTSC student.”
    I SWEAR I had spoken with a councilor who said I could only take 1 FCE in
    the first year only. NOT that I needed to also complete at least 4.0 FCE at
    utsc. What is your understanding of this rule? Can I appeal? I am enjoying
    my courses and do not want to be removed.

    ———————————————

    hi,

    you, my friend, are in a sticky situation! i honestly wasn’t sure if i should answer this question because i thought you would be removed from your courses by now, but since i haven’t heard anything about you being removed, i’m going to assume you’re still in your st. george courses.

    you are, indeed, in violation of a rule at U of T, but at the same time, getting kicked out of your courses this far in would suck.

    giphy

    first, go back to your counsellor and be all, “yo wut?”

    okay, but seriously.

    in regards to your inquiry, i called the utsc registrar’s office and asked what they thought about your situation. based on what they told me, it seems like you have two options.

    first, (10/10 would recommend) you can call admissions at st. george to let them know about your intentions to transfer. in this scenario, you would probably have to tell them the number of FCE’s you have completed at scarborough and st. george. they may even subsequently remove you from your courses if they ask for your student number.

    on the other hand, it is also possible that they may make an exception for you if they know you’re thinking of transferring to st. george eventually. you’ll still have to wait until the next deadline (january 13th),  of course, but you may be able to keep the courses you’re in. you could definitely mention that you heard from your counsellor that it would be okay. i can’t guarantee that you’ll see this outcome, but you never know until you call!

    your second option, (1/10 would not recommend) is to not call at all. the course-remover people will eventually do their rounds and remove you from your st. george courses. after that, if you want to argue this, you’ll have to open up communication with the university and explain why you broke the rules. i can’t speak on behalf of the course-removing people, but if i were in their shoes, i would be less forgiving if it seems like you knowingly broke the rule and didn’t seek out any guidance or resources.

    if i were you, i would call admissions to see what they can do for you. you may be surprised at what they have to say. if they end up removing you from courses because you called, that blows, but remember, it would’ve happened sooner or later.

    giphy-4

    just be honest and come clean about your intentions instead of living in fear!

    i hope you do the right thing.

    cheers,

    aska

     

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  • americans,  arts & sciences,  cool things,  english

    it wasn’t me (clean version)

    November 4, 2016

    You said the UofT English courses are very traditional, but I was wondering what exactly that entailed. I know there are probably a few hundred pretentious schmucks out there that’ll swear by their life that there’s nothing they’d enjoy more than rereading A Midsummer’s Night Dream, but that’s just not me. I have a friend in the states that’s doing a BA in English and they had courses like Zombie Literature and etc. Is there anything as fun and interesting as that at UofT?

    ———————————————

    hey,

    uhhhhh not sure who said that, but it wasn’t me! i am (believe it or not) the 15th aska running the site and i’ve actually never taken an english course at U of T. thank you, IB credit!

    thank you for offending all the pretentious schmucks reading this- i’m sure they’re angrily shaking their berets at you. *lowkey high five*

    k, but seriously, shakespeare can be good sometimes. (i’m saying this as someone who doesn’t read for pleasure) i’ve definitely watched some very interesting sparknotes vids on shakespearean plays… “to be, or not to be”… that’s a thing, right? i only pretend to know shakespeare because of michael fassbender and oscar isaac’s portrayals of shakespearean characters.

    giphy-3

    U of T is just as hip as any school in the states, okay? we’re such a huge university, it would be a shame to not have some good classes.

    in our english department, you can take classes on graphic novels, children’s literature, detective novels, science fiction, and fantasy and horror. if you want to check out the full list of courses that are offered, you can find them in the calendar.

    if you can’t find ‘fun and interesting’ courses in english, there’s always mus321-perhaps you’ll find some more down-to-earth mustachio’d fellas. (p.s. it’s MOVEMBER now, i’m so happy)

    hope these courses are fun and interesting enough for you!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • applying for U of T,  engineering,  english

    shakespeare ex machina

    November 4, 2016

    Greetings, I’m in a predicament and I need some enlightenment. I applied to the Eng program for 2016 but didn’t get accepted so I decided to try applying again. Do you think its worth applying for a second time? Signed Confused Me

    ———————————————

    hello,

    first of all, a little more info would’ve been helpful! i appreciate your efforts in trying to be concise, but do you mean eng as in english or engineering? help me out here!

    giphy-2

    if you didn’t get accepted it may be because your high school marks weren’t high enough, but again, i have no idea, mostly because i don’t know what program you applied for, nor do i know you personally.

    if you want more information on this matter, it may be worth it to contact your department (whichever it may be) to see how you can boost your application. not sure if this a thing they do, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask!

    i obviously can’t speak on behalf of enrolment services, but chances are, if your marks are still the same as they were the when you first applied, it’s likely you’ll get the same answer. it also depends on the applicant pool that you were in- maybe the averages were particularly high that year and you didn’t meet the cut-off. these are just examples, of course, and i hope you know that i am in no way assuming that your grades were too low. there are plenty of reasons why someone might not get in and low grades is just one of them!

    i know this probably wasn’t the most encouraging response, but hopefully you now have some more things to think about. i wish there was more i could do!

    but hey, be careful what you wish for. school may not be for you! my sage advice would be to make sure it’s 100% what you want.

    best of luck!

    signed,

    an even more confused aska

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  • failing,  GPA,  subject POST

    if at first you fail the course, try again

    November 4, 2016

    “Students with a CGPA of 2.5 or greater across the courses”

    To get into my subject post, I need a CGPA of at least 2.5. I unfortunately failed one of my courses last term and I am retaking it in the fall. Will the better mark be used for my entry into the subject post or will both attempts be considered? I know you get these types of questions a lot but I am seriously stressing out!

    ———————————————

    hello,

    indeed, we do get questions like this all the time, but it’s okay, that’s what i’m here for.

    with regards to your question:

    *drumroll*

    your higher mark will be considered! hooray!

    your transcript will still show that you had two attempts, but your second attempt (assuming you’ll pass the course on the second attempt) will be considered by the department for the purpose of admission to your subject POst. if you have any more questions regarding this matter, you should definitely contact your specific department to see if they follow this general… way of doing things… (?)

    i hope you get into your subject POst! school is hard, but YOU’LL GET THROUGH IT.

    giphy-1

    cheers,

    aska

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  • arts & sciences,  non degree,  part-time,  second degree

    waffling is a great word

    November 4, 2016

    Hello

    I am a little older, and thinking of returning to do further coursework and
    possibly a second bachelor’s. But am waffling between nondegree and part
    time.

    For part time: is there a minimum course load per term? Or can you skip a
    term or two?

    For nondegree students: can you apply at some point to switch to degree
    stream?

    Thanks
    ———————————————

    hello there!

    i never knew that waffling was a word. thanks for adding that to my vocabulary!

    doing further coursework?!! well, to each their own.

    i’m kidding of course. there’s nothing wrong with furthering your education, i’m just jealous i don’t have that drive (or the GPA)… but that’s a story for another time

    if you are thinking of pursuing a second bachelor’s degree, there are guidelines that U of T provides- found here, but honestly, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me.

    the only thing to take away from the above link is the fact that you can’t pursue the same degree, meaning if you have already received a bachelor of arts, you’d have to come back and do a different bachelors (e.g. a bachelor of science).

    the process of coming back for a second degree is pretty straight-forward. you should first set up a meeting with a registrar at your college (same college you were at in your undergrad). before making any big academic decisions, i always recommend speaking with your registrar first, just so you don’t get screwed over by some random rule or exception down the road.

    with the registrar, you’ll discuss if coming back for a second degree is really necessary or if there are other options that you can consider (a different career path, pursuing grad school/ a masters program). if you and your registrar come to the conclusion that indeed, coming back is a practical option, you’ll have to go through a petition process.

    if your petition is approved, you’ll be granted 5 transfer credits, 4.0 at the 100-level and 1.0 at the 200-level, meaning your second degree can be completed in 3 years as opposed to 4 years.

    part time students can be enrolled in anything from 0.5 FCE’s to 2.5 FCE’s per fall-winter session, meaning you could be enrolled in 0.5 credits in the fall and 0 credits in the winter, and still be considered a part time student. you can also be enrolled in 1.5 FCE’s and 1.0 FCE’s in the winter (totalling 2.5 FCE’s), and still be considered a part time student. if you are registered with osap, it might be worthwhile to double check with them what their definition of part time status is.

    if you are an international student, you may run into some immigration/ visa issues, so we urge you to check with the centre for international experience before enrolling in part time studies.

    non degree students are typically students who are taking courses to fulfill certain requirements (GPA cut-off, required courses) for grad school or masters programs. for example, some students may need to come back for an english requirement and therefore would enrol as a non degree student.

    the question of “what’s the difference between part time and non degree” doesn’t exactly apply because you can, in fact, be a part time student AND a non degree student at the same time.

    the university doesn’t give you a strict timeline in terms of how long you take to complete your courses. you can technically take as long as you want, with as many breaks in between as you want! yay!

    you can definitely switch from non degree to a degree stream, but again, you’ll have to petition this process with your registrar.

    hope this is enough info for the time being! if you have any follow up questions, please do not hesitate to leave a comment on this post, and i’ll do my best to answer it!

    good luck!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • international students,  med school

    OMSAS is awesome

    October 29, 2016

    Hello,
    I’m an International student from India.
    Currently I’m a final year student in the undergraduate medical course in India- MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery).
    After finishing my graduation, I’m aspiring to pursue my Post-Graduate in Medicine in the U of T.
    How can I get a detailed information about the admission procedure to the University, admission criteria, etc.?
    One additional question I wanna ask is:Are there any arrangements for International students to take a tour of the University & are any counseling services provided to International students for their admission process??Thank you

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    unfortunately, there isn’t a great deal of information on how an MBBS is assessed at u of t. in fact, there’s pretty much nothing.

    assuming that “post-grad” means you want to pursue the MD program at U of T, this page outlines the requirements that you would need to fulfil as an international student, however, they state that you require a “Completion of a non-medical bachelor’s degree equivalent to a four-year bachelor’s degree in Canada with WES transcript assessment”.

    the WES transcript, fyi: is a” transcript from studies undertaken at universities outside of Canada or the USA which needs to be submitted to World Education Services (WES) for assessment.” the u of t site states that: “for admission consideration we require a course-by-course evaluation which includes an overall GPA calculation.”

    since your MBBS would be considered “medical” AND from an international institution, you might encounter an issue applying to the program. the best thing to do would be to contact the md program directly.

    if you’ve somehow already figured out that you’re eligible to apply, you can go ahead and look at the Ontario Medical Schools Application Service site; which has detailed information regarding how to apply to each medical school in ontario! it’s super informative and includes tons of information on each school. check out this link on applying to U of T’s med school. OMSAS pretty much has the answers to all your questions regarding medical school!

    in terms of advising for international students, there is always the centre for international experience (CIE) which is a great place on campus that welcomes international students and help them with international student-specific questions. contact them here: http://www.studentlife.utoronto.ca/cie/contact-us and you may even be able to ask them questions about how your degree transfers!

    hope this helped, best of luck to you!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • admissions,  applying for U of T,  keeners,  lost

    vague and subjective question

    October 29, 2016

    Hello Aska!! I know you hate vague and subjective questions, so I’ll apologize in advice for what I’m about to ask. Sorry! I’m the definition of indecisive, so I have come to you. I’m a senior in high school and there are only two goals I have: 1. Go to UofT 2. Get a high paying job. Now this may be a fool’s dream, but what can I say? Anyway, I have only taken data as my one uni math course, but my English marks are always spectacular. What should I do in UofT?-

    ———————————————

    hello there,

    just to clarify, i only despise questions that demand answers to things that i couldn’t possibly know, like “am i going to get in if i have this grade in this class?” or “i submitted this thing a while ago, why haven’t i heard back? this is my student number. pls help.”

    if you just want a second opinion (or the opinion of a relatively jaded undergrad student) i’m your person!

    see, you say you’re indecisive, but you clearly know what you want. you know that you want to go to U of T and that you want dem dolla dolla billz. ’tis not a fool’s dream. ’tis everyone’s dream.

    i’m not going to outright tell you what you should study. (astrophysics. that is what you should do. it’s super easy.) i know nothing about you, but i can tell by your question that you think you’ll get paid more if you study a program that requires math. it’s great that your english marks are spectacular, but what do you really want to do? you may be good at english, but do you enjoy it? do you have a passion for literature?

    on the other hand, are you going to be happy in a program that requires math? do you even like math? (ew who likes math)

    once you get your undergrad degree, are you thinking of pursuing grad school?

    you might feel like i’m not helping since i’m throwing more questions at you, but these are questions that you should really consider.

    you’re a young’un. at this point in your life, as a senior in high school, the possibilities are truly endless. there are so many different paths you could take. don’t be afraid to choose a path different than the one you imagined yourself taking. heck, for the longest time, i hadn’t even considered coming to U of T for university.

    *aska storytime*

    when i started 12th grade, i actually had my heart set on a university in my hometown. i went on a campus tour, located the nearest mcdonalds, and found pretty much every starbucks on campus. i was so ready.

    everything changed when all my friends were applying to schools in the east. i felt some hardcore fomo and decided to apply to U of T, just for the heck of it. i didn’t think i would get in, but i did!

    the moral of this story is, i didn’t end up walking down the path that i thought i would, and things still worked out amazingly well in the end.

    *end of aska storytime*

    dolla dolla billz are definitely important to take into account, but you need to remember that lots of employment opportunities come from knowing the right people. the most valuable piece of advice i could give you right now is to get as much work/ volunteer experience as you can. maintain professionalism and consistency in everything you do. as a result, you’ll have great references and people will be more likely to recommend you for other jobs.

    in conclusion: don’t think about your program of study with your potential future income in mind! there are so many things that can happen along the way which can shape what your future turns out to be. your eventual failure or success won’t have had anything to do with this one choice you made in university. but if you don’t like what you’re studying, you’ll dread every class you sit through, and you won’t want to go to class. trust me, i know what it’s like.

    anyways, i’ll end my rant here, but i just want you to know:

    i hope you choose something you love. best of luck to you!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • askastudent announcement

    OUR COMMENT SECTION IS FIXED!

    October 20, 2016

    my beloved fans, friends, and family,

    i’m so excited to announce that our comment section is FINALLY open again!

    for those of you who don’t know, our comment section has been down since march because of an issue with our site, but GUYS, THE WAIT IS OVER.

    while i slave away through all of your questions (there are so many, it’s not even funny) you can finally tell me how you really feel about my posts. make it good.
    yaaass

    cheers,

    aska

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  • residence,  St. George,  UTM,  UTSC

    myspace

    October 17, 2016

    Can I live on campus in a single room? Or are all the rooms shared? Thanks

    ———————————————

    hi,

    yes, you can live on campus in a single room! not all rooms are shared. since you didn’t specify which campus you were interested in, here’s info on all of them!

    this is an excellent page which explains facilities and room styles for every residence at the St. George campus. you can even download a PDF which compares all the residences! for a similar resource at UTM, click here.

    UTSC’s residences are unique in that they consist of townhouses and apartments, but you will definitely be able to find single rooms within them for sure.

    hope this helped! if you have any more questions regarding each residence, i highly recommend that you give them a call or send them an email! most residences hold tours for prospective students and their parents.

    on another note, i feel your desire to live in a single room. i don’t know what i would’ve done if i had to live with another human being in my room. *shudders*

    cheers,

    aska

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  • campus,  commerce,  rotman,  UTM

    the ultimate showdown

    October 17, 2016
    Is Utm commerce inferior to Rotman commerce? What are the significant differences?

    ———————————————

    hey,

    i’m going to present you with all the relevant information so that you can make your own informed opinion about the two programs. since i’m not in commerce, i don’t actually have my own opinion, and even if i did think one was better, i can’t actually tell you because i’d have some very angry people dressed in suits knocking on my door.

    Suits hell tv reaction usa

    that being said, i’m going to lowkey paraphrase an aska post from 2 years ago because they gave great info. don’t worry, this is not me throwing subtle shade at you for not looking through old posts. it took some digging to find!

    the main difference between UTM commerce and Rotman commerce are in the requirements needed. Rotman’s requirements can be found here and UTM requirements can be found here. if you are thinking of applying after first year, you’ll see a difference in the minimum grade requirements. you can take a look at both of them and see which one seems better suited for you.

    do keep in mind that if you are accepted to Rotman, you will not be able to take any RSM classes at UTM or at UTSC.

    the main takeaway of this post is: Rotman has a reputation that can’t be ignored; it is no doubt one of the best undergraduate business programs in canada. that being said, UTM is definitely part of this reputation, considering the fact that it is a branch of one of the best universities in canada. at any rate, whichever one you choose, you’ll get an excellent education, just because it’s still at U of T.

    i would highly recommend that you try to reach out to both schools for more information. a cool thing about Rotman is that they have student ambassadors who would be happy to connect with you and tell you more! for UTM, i would recommend that you direct your general inquiries to the department of management, which you can find here. you might also find it worthwhile to check out both campuses to see which one you like more! U of T campus tours are a great place to start.

    i wish you all the best in your commercial endeavours!

    cheers,

    aska

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  • GPA,  grad school,  grades,  law,  law school

    legally blonde is a prereq for law school

    October 17, 2016

    If i want to go to law school after ungrad, preferably osgoode or uoft; is it better off to go to york and not uoft for undergrad? because apparently uoft marks a lot harder which makes it harder to get into law school

    ———————————————

    hey,

    first, please keep in mind that i am currently doing my undergrad at U of T, not york, so my perspective may be slightly skewed. since you came to aska, i feel that you probably wanted an opinion from a U of T student anyways.

    yes, U of T does mark very hard and you may not end up with the golden 4.0 GPA you had envisioned yourself getting, but then again, you may also find york challenging. who knows?

    i’m sure you’ve browsed the rankings for both undergrad and law school for both schools so i won’t get into that, but it really depends on what kind of education you want for yourself. both schools have very different reputations. you may feel that U of T marks harder, but maybe that’s a good thing! if you are challenged at school, maybe you’ll be more ready for law school. at a different school, you might get higher grades, but will you be ready for law school?

    going to another school may seem like the “easier” choice, but if you work hard now, it’ll pay off. if you don’t work hard now, you’ll have to work hard later on.

    another thing to consider is, lets say you do an undergrad at york. do you think it would be more convenient/ familiar if you went to osgoode for law school? maybe you’ll be more used to being at the same campus.

    it’s great that you’re thinking ahead, but i feel like this question is a little premature. your first year may change your perspective on all of this. perhaps you’ll decide that you don’t want to go to law school, and that you’ll want to become a teacher!

    anyways, definitely think long and hard about this.*

     

    *but come to U of T

    also, if you want to go to law school and haven’t seen legally blonde, you really should. it’s practically a pre-requisite.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • biology,  life science,  sociology,  subject POST,  UTM

    majoring, minoring, and all that jazz

    October 6, 2016
    Hi Aska, I’m a first year at UTM and am currently majoring in Sociology. I have a couple of questions hope you will be able to answer them, it would mean a lot! I was wondering how double majors work? When do I have to say that I am double majoring? Or do I have to? Also if I want to make my 2nd major Life Science do I have to have all the prerequisites from high school and the average?
    ———————————————
    hey,
    the whole major minor conundrum is this thing we call subject POst or program of study. there are three different options you can pursue:
    1) a specialist
    2) 1 major + 2 minors
    3) 2 majors
    when you’re applying for a subject POst, you should go to this link to see the complete listings of every subject POst available.
    let’s say you want to do a double major in sociology and biology (this is just an example)
    you’ll see that both sociology and biology are type 2 subject POSTs.
    type 2 means that you will need to submit a request via ACORN, make sure you have taken the required courses and also make sure you have met the GPA/ grade requirement. the first request period will be from march 14th to may 1st. mark it down so you won’t forget like i did in first year. i made these mistakes so you could learn from them, my young padawan.
    still confused? here’s a guide to understanding the different types of enrolment.
    unless it is otherwise indicated, most life science programs won’t require any high school prereqs unless you’re thinking of pursuing psychology, which requires grade 12 biology or calculus.
    a good idea is to check out the calendar to see exactly what you need to take for each program. you can do that here.
    the calendar will tell you everything you need to know!
    hope this cleared some stuff up for you. enjoy your first year and remember that your registrar is the best place to go if you have any questions regarding academics
    cheers,
    aska
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  • transfer credits,  Transferring

    askastudent.yorku.ca

    October 3, 2016

    hi i finish grade 12 in december and im planning to come to uoft from overseas but the thing is uoft intake is in september!! that’s like 9 months! york has an intake in may and i was planning to enrol there as it would be sooner. would i be able to transfer to uoft from york? and if so, when would the earliest and latest i could transfer be?

    ———————————————

    hi,

    first of all, chill.

    having 9 months off is great. if i were you, i would take that time to get some rest. lie on a beach somewhere. read trashy magazines. drink fruity drinks with squiggly straws. eat some papaya. but enough about me. this is about you.

    i could tell you about the whole process of transferring from York to U of T, but in my humble opinion, it’s really not in your best interest to do this. i realize that you may have a motive to get ahead, but after consulting many academic advisors, we all think this is a very bad idea.

    sloth

    behold, a list a pro’s and cons about transferring from York to U of T

    CONS:

    -the deadline to apply to York for january intake is dec 7th, while the deadline to apply to U of T for september intake is jan 13th. you’d basically be applying for U of T and york at around the same time.

    -some of your credits earned at York may not transfer equally. also, even if your credits end up transferring, your grades will not.

    -the whole process of transferring is just super complicated and it’s really not worth it

    -you’ll establish a friend group/ community at York, and then have to leave it.

    -first year is tough enough; it’s not going to help if you’re stressing about getting into another school or figuring out how your credits transfer

    -in an effort to get ahead, you may even delay your education if you aren’t able to transfer all your credits

     

    PROS:

    ______________________

    do you catch my drift?

    if you really want something to do in the next 9 months, you could consider getting a job, volunteering, travelling, or taking a class at your local university! the possibilities are endless. once you start university, it’ll be hard for you to take time off to do these things. plus, you should really give yourself a break after completing high school. you deserve it!

    if you really want to go ahead with this plan, i recommend that you make an appointment or send an email to a registrar at York (doesn’t necessarily have to be in person) and look at your options.

    some things to consider from our end:

    -make sure you fulfil the general requirements for transfering to U of T from another canadian university.

    -make sure you meet the requirements for whatever program you’re thinking of pursuing

    -you will also need to request an assessment of your transfer credits upon admission

    -hey, actually, this link pretty much says it all

     

    in conclusion, please don’t do this. if not for yourself, do it for us, your friends at the innis college registrar’s office. apply to U of T for september intake. we wish you all the best in all your endeavours and hope you end up here some way or another!

    cheers,

    aska

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