Can I apply for a first request period for my post even if my marks aren’t in? Will it say like pending ?
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hey there,
well, no. you’ll probably just be straight up rejected from the POSt if your marks aren’t in on time. BUT being rejected in the first round doesn’t really mean anything, because you’re more than welcome to apply again in the second round. you may as well apply, on the off-chance that your marks become available in time for you to be considered.
cheers,
aska
Hey aska ! Could you clarify what careers someone would be able to pursue with a masters from OISE in counselling and psychotherapy?
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hey there,
obviously, you can do pretty much anything in terms of a career. in the last few decades (she says, as if she has been alive for all of them), there has been such a proliferation of degrees that there is rarely – if ever – only one way to break into a career. that being said, just telling you “you can do anything!” without providing concrete details is a big cop-out, so I’ve done some digging about your degree and potential paths, while keeping in mind that, really, your imagination is the limit.
the M.Ed. in Counselling and Psychotherapy “provides the student with the basic preparation for certification as a Certified Canadian Counsellor (CCC) with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (CCPA).” that’s some pretty specific and intentional wording, so I decided to dig a little bit deeper.
uoft isn’t on the CCPA’s list of accredited schools, so unfortunately you wouldn’t be able to fast-track the certification process. fortunately, it’s not too harrowing a process. you just have to submit a few documents for review to the CCPA (per this document’s guidelines). so if you’d like to be a Certified Canadian Counsellor, you can go down that route.
counsellors and psychotherapists work in educational facilities, private practice, and volunteer organizations, as well as private practices. it’s a career that spans a wide range of jobs. if it’s something you are interested in, you could probably make it happen in a variety of different ways, in a variety of different places. hopefully your practicum can give you more context than I can – because to be honest I know very little about this on an intimate level – and you can start to think about where you fit in this profession (if at all).
best,
aska
Hi there,
Love your blog, you are a remarkably entertaining human, and if you are ever looking for anyone else to write for this blog I would be so very interested. Anyway, here’s my actual question:
I noticed on the artsci course calendar under Sociology that you can only take 0.5 FCE at the 400-level in sociology if you are majoring in it, or only 1.0 FCE if you are a specialist. It says that you need written permission from the Undergraduate Program Director to take anymore than that. You may not have any knowledge of this, but if you happen to know, how would I receive this permission? (I’m assuming an e-mail would do it, but is it based on marks?) And if it isn’t common, if I’m specializing in sociology, what on Earth am I supposed to take fourth year if not fourth year sociology courses? They all look so interesting, I don’t want to take just one or two! Should I worry about making sure I have pre reqs for other fourth year courses in other subjects? I realize the answer to this most likely requires asking the department, but I wanted to know if you or someone else on the blog possibly had experience with this.
Thank you!
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hey there,
you are correct: you would have to e-mail the undergraduate administrator for special permission. however, I think that you’d need more significant reasoning to back up your question than just “I want to.” if they created that rule, it’s because lots and lots of people were trying to sign up for courses with very limited space. they won’t undo the rule for you just because you asked. i know that’s harsh. aska’s all about the tough lovin’.
as someone whose department didn’t have a rule like that and who took a grand total of 3.0 400-level courses in her fourth year, i honestly don’t recommend it. 400-level courses are great because they tend to be much smaller (I’m talking 15-20 people), seminar-style courses. they tend to have fewer, bigger assignments that are worth more, which some people prefer over lots of smaller assignments. also, because of the small class-size, your input counts more. i’ve experienced professors making decisions about course readings, course schedule, etc. based on opinions of class members.
that being said, the expectations are so much higher. with flexibility comes an expectation of independence that is far beyond what is expected of you in 100-, 200- and even 300-level courses. if you have a big assignment due in March for a 1.0-credit course, and nothing due before then, you will likely receive no guidance about that assignment, unless you seek it out. most 400-level courses i’ve taken are about amalgamating much of the knowledge you spent the last three years learning and doing new and creative things with it. they are very much preparation for grad school in that way.
SO, with that hopefully balanced description of 400-level courses, i would like to suggest that spending your fourth year taking one 400-level course along with a bunch of 300-level, and maybe even one or two 100- or 200-level courses, is a perfectly fine way to go. lots of people do it. you will still be academically challenged by your classes. if there are a couple of courses you feel you absolutely MUST take for x or y reason, then yeah, you can totally talk with the undergraduate administrator about it. otherwise though, there’s no need to feel as if you’ve fallen behind.
cheers,
aska
P.S. applications for askastudent are always advertised on the CLN! if you want a job, that’s where you should look. just a sneaky little tip from aska.
Yo aska! I’m from utsc and would like to take arabic as language citation, sadly my campus doesn’t have the course :’( Can I take it @ the other two campuses? Love ya! – J
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hey there J,
this is a great question, and the reason i know that is becausei asked a whole bunch of Professional People TM who didn’t know. thankfully, the lovely folks at the UTSC registrar’s office were able to confirm that YES, you can use courses from other campuses towards a language citation on your home campus. the registrar’s office did note, however, that those courses have to be within the 5.0 FCE limit that you have on courses you can take at other campuses. also, they urged you to verify that the courses actually count towards the language citation. I’m not 100% clear on how to do that, since it seems like you can only really submit the assessment when you’re about to graduate. however, as long as you take 1.0 FCEs at the introductory level and 1.0 more at a more advanced level, you would be following all the requirements published by UTSC. the best place to go with further questions, though, would probably be whoever’s behind this e-mail: language-coordinator ( at ) utsc ( . ) utoronto ( . ) ca.
thanks for that humdinger of a question!
love ya too, stranger,
aska
hey aska should I do co-op? D: the pros definitely outweigh the cons, but I really doubt I can deal with all the stress :/ just show me how scary it is rrrraaahh
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hey there,
i haven’t been sure how to tackle this question because i’m not exactly sure where you’re coming from. i don’t know which pros you’ve deemed more significant than which cons, what stress you’re referring to, or why you find it scary. what i DO know is that i am a fan of co-op.
as far as i’m concerned, co-op is a great program. and i say that as someone who is completely unbiased, having never done co-op or even applied to study at UTSC. I just think that any opportunity to work in a professional setting while in school is absolutely invaluable. it helps you gain valuable skills, make contacts that could lead to a job after school, and earn money while you’re studying! if you have the funds to pay for co-op in the first place (after all, it does cost more than non-co-op programs), why not go for it?
yes, co-op students don’t get summers off. yes, going into the workforce is scary (i’m just taking a wild guess that that’s the part you think is scary). thing is, you’re going to have to get into the workforce eventually, so why not start early? that way, you get to become much more familiar and comfortable with working, not to mention add some positions to your resume in time for graduation.
also, you go through co-op with other students, which makes co-op a lot less isolating than just going off into the workforce on your own. in fact, you can start by reading about some other students’ experiences online.
that being said, not all programs are the right fit for co-op. there’s a reason i never considered it, after all. mainly, i didn’t want some poor career advisor beating themselves over the head about what possible job they could find an English specialist (anyway, i did just fine finding them on my own). but also, i thought that a research-based, academic program would better suit my needs, and that i could work part-time and on work-study around school. at the end of the day, you have to do what feels right for you.
cheers,
aska
hi there, i have finished my fall/winter term for first year with 4.5 credits. i already know that my gap will not reach 1.5. does that mean i am probation or am i suspended. if i take classes in the summer term, does my gap for the there course I’m taking have to be above 1.5 or do i have to also consider my course i took in the fall/winter and then my new gap would be the summer+fall/winter?
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hey there,
if your GPA was below a 1.5 in this fall/winter, then you would be on academic probation during the next term you took classes (be that Summer or Fall/Winter). you would need to get your CGPA above a 1.5 in the next term you are in school (for you, that would be this summer, assuming you do end up taking summer courses). if you did not manage to do that, you would be suspended from school for one calendar year in the following term.
if any of this doesn’t make sense, try reading it again, slowly – it’s actually a pretty simple policy, there’s just no way to explain it without making it sound DARN PUZZLING. and if you have more questions, do make sure to e-mail us back with them. there’s nothing i love more than LOTS AND LOTS OF E-MAILS.
cheers,
aska
Hello. I am unsure if this e-mail or website is still ongoing…I’m not using my UofT E-mail as I’m pretty embarrassed over this speech down here. I have just received both my final grades for the 2.0 FCE requirements to be eligible for UofT’s Criminology program. I’m going in the battlefield with a *drumroll* 73% average for SOC + PHL. I had hoped to enter the safety line of at least 75%, however I hit a blue period around March…where every.unholy.assignment.is.due. The SOC research paper, being worth 20% really knocked me a few pegs off. Although I was surprised that I actually passed with a mark of 53 by spending roughly 5 hours to finish as much of that assignment as possible…starting 7 hours from the submission
time and with 2 hours to commute XD Ah…I’m an idiot. Welp. PHL was straightforward and one could easily pass the midterm, tests, and summaries with just tutorial participation. Nabbed a decent mark of 76% and got away with skipping a bunch of the lectures. o-o So, if anyone in Criminology is there. What are my chances of getting into this major? Safe to say. First year at University really took a toll on my motivation levels. In high-school, I loved playing the “perfect” student, however, with 1000 other students in a lecture, that game is as easily played as a ghost is seen during daylight. I did struggle this year, but I am pumped by the new experience and willing to pour everything into next year. I plan to specialize in Criminology, but I am using Ethics/Society/Law or Sociology as a backup major until I meet the 80% average next year. Any suggestions or prediction into how safe is 3% above the minimum for Crim? If you’re a program student, what mark got you in?
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hey there,
so, they do list 70% as a minimum threshold this year. you are safely above that minimum threshold, though i do have to admit that criminology is a pretty popular (and therefore competitive) program, which means that the minimum cutoff isn’t gonna cut it.
that being said, i have no (either official or anecdotal) information about how high off the cutoff you would have to be to realistically expect an offer. what you can do is call the criminology department personally. they may (though i can’t guarantee it) be willing to chat about your odds one-on-one over the phone. they would probably be less willing to talk to me about it, since i publish everything on a website with over a hundred thousand hits per year. so.
cheers,
aska
hey aska, quick question for you. Im pretty sure I already know the answer to this but ill ask it anyway. So, Im a student at the utm campus and sadly recently failed a course which had a big impact on my cgpa. I do not need the course as a prerequiste for my program and was wondering if it were possible to get the failed mark removed from transcript or records? Thanks 🙂
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hey there,
unless there were really exceptional, extenuating circumstances surrounding this failed mark (in which case I would talk to your registrar’s office about petitioning for a WDR status in the course), then no, there wouldn’t be. if you do have exceptional circumstances surrounding your failure, i always encourage touching base with your registrar’s office. otherwise though, it tends not to be possible.
i know that failing a course is a really, really crappy thing to experience. try though, if you can, to use your frustration about this mark to fuel your determination to do better next time. i know it sucks, but you can do it. i believe in you.
cheers,
aska
Can I have a 2-week off during Christmas if I’m on a co-op work term?
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hey there,
I mean, yes. co-op is like a regular job, and people at regular jobs get days off for statutory holidays, as well as vacation time. i assume that there’s some kind of guideline about how many hours UTSC co-op students should be working for the duration of their work terms, but i haven’t been able to find that information. I would recommend you ask the UTSC co-op office.
as a general recommendation though, i would say that you hold off on booking any trips or making definite plans until you actually have your job and know what kind of hours you’ll be working, and what kind of time off you can expect. there will likely be a wide variety of different ways that a company/organization can organize your hours to fit the parameters of co-op. don’t make any assumptions until you have a contract to read or an orientation from your boss.
cheers,
aska
Hey aska, I’m a first year student currently in UTSC’s City Studies program (technically going to 2nd year as finals are over) however I reapplied to UofT’s St.George’s architecture program for an internal transfer. I submitted my application during January and the only update I have received on the status of my application (via joinUoT portal) was that my final transcript is needed. This was in the beginning of April. I know results won’t instantly be given right after finals happened but I received all my marks and my final gpa last 2 weeks and the final transcript box in my joinUofT portal still isn’t checked in and still has the “Finals Required” note there. When can I expect a notification on my acceptance for the architecture program? I’m still on the fence on selecting courses for summer school as I already finished my breadth requirements and I don’t want to waste money on courses I won’t need in the future as architecture is still a possibility. Thanks!! An anxious student awaiting for his UofT JD acceptance
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hey there,
unfortunately, these things can take a while. according to this page, the deadline for schools to submit supplemental documents is June 15th. I can’t find anything that concretely states when you might expect to hear back by, but to be honest, that’s not surprising to me. these admissions deadlines don’t tend to be widely publicized. you can call enrolment services for that info, but i wouldn’t be surprised if you had to wait until past June 15th to hear back.
cheers,
aska
After 2 years in UT my GPA is real bad. First year, I joined as Life science major, and I did horrible to extent where I got academic probation. Second year, 3rd year was OK, but then I was still clueless. I had no clue what I wanted to study on and what to do after graduating. While there are some people who can press forward without having clear goal, i wasn’t like them. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, so I literally ditched studying. My first 2 years are done, and coming into 3rd year. I now have clear goal – to go into law school. Now, this isnt just one of those dreaming goals which I decide hey it looks cool to be attorney so lets try to be one. I want to be lawyer to help those around me because many takes
advantages of my family who doesnt know much about law. Also, I love reading/writing/discussing, and wouldnt mind spending days/night reading different cases and help family/client, so I figured that its the one dream I have to chase on. To be realistic, however, I think it will be too hard. My overall GPA is about 1.7 ish. I have some courses in which I got 75~80%, whereas some of the courses I took i failed. I know some law schools do take note of struggles that student can face when coming into university and therefore take the best 2 years / or last 2 years of the GPA for student. So My goal right now is raising GPA and getting good LSAT mark. To be honest, I am not that worried about LSAT as much because it looks like the test is fairly straightforward (dont take me wrong, I didnt mean it to say LSAT is easy. I meant that LSAT is the test that you can do well if you spend enough time/efforts on it.) What worries me the most is classes that I will be taking on upcoming September. Its not too rare for student to improve significantly coming into 3rd/4th year, but at the same time I know it wont be easy. I am trying to use every single thing I can do to well in upcoming semester. I went to get advices from learning centre / registrar and so on. Still I feel like I need more help if I want to succeed academically. While I do not want to put too much details about my personal information in here, I am History specialist atm (to be more precisely, East Asian studies), and im not really sure what will be the best way to succeed next two years. I have been East Asian specialist for last two years (and some courses I took in EA, I did really well), but I cant figure out how can I do well upcoming semester. If the subject were say, Math or Physics, solving more problems and memorizing equations will help. IF subject is about say, language, memorizing/practicing will help. However, East Asian studies are not quite the case. Most of the courses I took in EA take reference to history, but does not directly ask questions about history. Instead it will ask you to apply the knowledge to write the essay. While sometime writing essay instead of exam is fun, right now I find it much more difficult, because there is no direct guideline given. You wont be tested for some materials you studied, instead you will be expected to use knowledges about all the papers you read through classes and make your own view to persuade professor/TA. So right now I am on the point where I know I need to improve and prepared, but I just dont know how. Can anyone help me with this? 1. EA Major, what is best way to improve your mark for classes that focus on alot of reading/writing? 2. What are the courses that I should take to improve my mark? (I mean there are no ‘bird’ course, but I am just asking your general opinion, some classes you found it pretty easy to go through – doesnt mean I will find it easy, but I want to just take note-)
3. What are the best ways to improve your GPA? – What helped you the most? 4. What are the some of minor that you found entertaining/easy to take (i mean easy as not the materials, but doesnt require much prerequisite courses) I finally made mind up and I feel pumped up real hard. However, I know that I need actual plan than just go like ‘hey I am gonna work hard and do well.’ So I need every help I can get, even small advice would be real nice. Thanks people!
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hey there,
i think you hit the nail on the head when you said you need an actual plan rather than just a blind commitment to working really really hard – whatever that means. obviously, whatever ‘working hard’ boils down entirely to how you work. i don’t know that the suggestions i give will be revolutionary. they may even be things you’ve heard before or thought yourself. but i never said i was a genie* – this is the best I can do.
1. the only way to improve your reading and writing is by reading and writing – big surprise. if you’re not taking courses in the summer, take advantage of that by reading as much as you can. read things you like. read things that challenge you (DON’T read any jane austen, for the love of god. that won’t help. and yes, austen fans, this is a public invitation to fight me).
if you want to practice your writing, there are lots of ways to do so. sometimes freeform writing is great to keep your writing muscles warm. something that I used growing up was ‘Wordly Wise’; see if you can get your hands on a couple of books and start practising. they may even be available at your local public library.
2. honestly – and this isn’t just me holding to a party line or whatever – i don’t think there are any courses at this university that i’ve found significantly easier than others, and i’ve taken everything from BIO260 to JPD439. i find that courses are constantly surprising me by how easy or difficult they are. my marks in courses surprise me. i’ve often done well in courses where i thought I’d do very badly, and vice versa. that being said, knowing what kind of courses you thrive in (for example, you mentioned that you do well in East Asian studies courses, which tend to be essay-based, so perhaps more East Asian/History courses would be up your alley) can help guide you towards similar courses, where you’re likely to be successful.
otherwise, you can see course reviews on Portal (un-aska-sanctioned, university unofficial website alternatives are also available – often featuring more colourful language).
3. i feel like I can’t answer the first question, but i can give some anecdotes about the second. everything i know about doing well in school comes down to two things: first, do something you love. if you’re doing something you don’t love, figure out a way to stop doing it. second, treat your degree like it’s a full-time job.
i don’t want to push any unhealthy ideas on you: family and health are important and you shouldn’t sacrifice those things for school. i also understand that students often have to work at jobs to survive, and have to juggle those things with school. barring that, however, try to prioritize school as much as you can. i spent an average of 40 hours a week on school (that’s classes + studying/work outside of class). that’s as much as a full-time job. try to take the initiative to ask for help and suggestions. collaborate with classmates. be fully engaged in what you’re doing. that should help.
4. again, I’m not going to grade POSts based on level of difficulty (see this tag for for meandering musings as to why i think assessing difficulty is useless), but i will tell you that you can find type 1 minors here. type 1 POSts are POSts that you can enter automatically after completing 4.0 credits. they have no prerequisites other than that. you may want to browse that list and see if any of the type 1’s interest you.
i wish you all the best with all of this. keep working hard. you can get through this, my friend.
cheers,
aska
* just an alien.
Hey!! So I wrote to you earlier and here I am again 🙂 so a little back ground info before I ask my question. Three years ago I hit a really rough spot and failed three courses, because of this I was academically suspended for a year. My CGPA was at a 1.07… Yeah, it was bad. However, last year was my first year back and after this past semester I am at a 1.46 🙂 which is obviously really low ahahah but I’m just proud of myself for turning things around. I brought myself up and by the end of this semester I should be above a 1.50 🙂 anyways, for anyone out there who asks if you can bounce back after a suspension, yes you can!! So here’s why I’m telling you this, I’m going into crim (I’m not in it yet but I’m bringing up my grades so once I reach 2.0 hopefully by next year I’m applying!)… And I’m calculating all my credits right now and I’m currently at 5.0 credits. However what I’ve noticed for BOTH crim and sociology you have to take stats. Me, being the idiot that I am, decided to look up some notes for it on ONEclass (a site for notes) and I pretty much just freaked myself out :/ I worked so hard to try and get into crim and graduate with what I’ve always wanted to pursue and I’m scared that I won’t pass the stats course. I haven’t taken math since grade 11 :/ that was five years ago…. Do you have any advice?? Should I hold off before taking it and maybe wait till my other courses are finished and take it last?? I’m sorry if this seems weird considering I’m not even in the program yet haha but sociology courses is what I’ve mostly taken so I don’t really have a choice and I don’t want to major in anything else. Help! Thanks 🙂
To add a little more info, I suffer from anxiety so this is the norm for me! I freak out over stuff. I guess because I’m not good at math at all I’m scared I’ll fail and my grades will drop resulting me in never graduating. Hopefully you don’t think I’m crazy. 🙂
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hey there,
this is going to be such a let-down after i made you wait SO LONG for your answer (sorry about that – i wish you never have to deal with the kind of inbox aska’s tackling), but i feel like this is something you have to sort out for yourself.
obviously, you’ve proven that you can improve and do well even after being suspended. you’ve gotten used to university, and worked on improving your study skills. you have a goal in mind. all of these things are good signs! if you are absolutely determined to do either or both of these POSts, then believe in yourself! you are gaining the skills you need to accomplish this stats course. you are – in colloquial parlance – killin’ it.
some strategies to make it a bit easier on yourself might include taking the course in the summer (all by itself) so that you can focus on it fully, or take it in a semester with fewer credits than you would normally take. may i also recommend the Math and Statistics Aid Centre at new college, in case you need some help along the way.
on the other hand, if you feel that this is too big of a task and will send your GPA (and motivation)back down the rabbit hole, then maybe you can consider some other POSts that are similar to soc and crim, but don’t require you to do any math. consider, for example, the ethics, society & law major.
also, you can always test-drive the course by signing up for it, seeing how it goes, and, in the event that it’s too much, dropping it before the deadline to drop courses from your academic record.
i hope that’s somewhat helpful. congrats on how well you’re doing so far!
best,
aska
Do people who graduate with distinction or high distinction wear a seperate set/style of graduation robes? Does the uni give them any accessories to wear in order to make them stand out? Just wondering bc i noticed varying kinds of robes being worn.
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hello!
unfortunately, graduation gowns are the same for all graduates regardless of their level of distinction. you may have seen varying types of robes being worn because they are graduating with different degrees, eg. doctorate, masters, bachelors, diploma/ certificate.
just for fun, these are the robes U of T has for each degree. for more information regarding gowns, hoods and whatnot, check out the convocation website!
cheers,
aska
