• life science,  prospective student,  rotman

    the elusive rotman transfer

    September 14, 2022

    I am a prospective UTSG social science year 1 student. I am interested in Rotman commerce(accounting) and life science(biology). Is taking both programs’ required courses too overwhelming? If I only take RC’s required courses in year 1, I have 2-2.5 credits left. Any recommend courses that is helpful for me to enter for RC? If i failed to enter RC, can I still take ls’s required courses in year 2? If so, then I will be enroll in year 3 in ls? Any drawbacks except delay graduate?

    hi there,

    i’m assuming that you’re in year 1 of the social science stream and planning to transfer into rotman. if you’ve got your sights set on rotman, i’d recommend really focusing on the 2.5 credits of 1st year rotman prerequisites that they list here and making sure to get good marks in those courses and a high gpa overall.

    Exams Exam Memes GIFfrom Exams GIFs

    i’m not personally in rotman, but usually gpa is king when applying to programs, and even students who are already in the rotman stream need to maintain certain marks in the prerequisites to stay in the program. not to stress you out or anything! gpa isn’t everything — but it can definitely help your chances.

    in terms of courses, i’d recommend trying to play to your strengths. ‘bird courses’ can be different for everyone depending on what you’re interested in or good at, so while it’s nice to get some reviews from people about different courses, i would take it with a pinch of salt and also consider what you’re most interested in/confident with. if you’re good at bio, you could try bio120 or bio130, which can be used for lifesci programs. 1st year seminars are also another way to take some more interactive, fun courses (which are often mark boosters). picking ‘easier’ courses can also hopefully take off some of the stress from school and leave you with some time to do extracurriculars that might add to your rotman supplementary application (yes, you need that too…).

    if do you get into rotman, i’m not really sure how manageable it’d be to do a biology program too because, well, again, i’m not in rotman. technically it’s doable, but you might have to opt for a bio minor to fit all the required credits. you could also take more than 20 credits (possibly taking longer to graduate), or just take some bio courses as electives.

    luckily, the bio programs are all open enrolment, meaning that anyone with 4.0 credits completed can enrol in the program — you just have to apply at the end of first year. apparently rotman transfers are really rare though (again, don’t let that scare you! still give it a shot) so if you don’t get into rotman it’s good to have a backup, and there are a ton of other programs to choose from in artsci. you can apply to any other combination of programs in artsci in your upper years, including lifesci, social sciences, or economics if you’re still interested in something that’s kind of commerce-related.

    So Many Possibilities Lily Collins GIFfrom So Many Possibilities GIFs

    btw, if you’re worried about upper year courses and being able to fit all your program requirements, i’d recommend using degree explorer to plan things out!

    best of luck,

    aska

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  • campus life

    going back to back

    September 9, 2022

    What do I do if the only schedule that works has a bunch of back to back classes? Am I just going to have to be late all the time?

    hi there,

    if you’re new to uoft, you might not know about our so-called ‘uoft time’ — let me explain. pretty much all classes (lectures, practicals, tutorials, everything) actually start 10 minutes after the official time that’s written. for example, 2:00 on your timetable actually means 2:10 for the actual start time. most if not every instructor follows this (i’ve never had any profs that insisted on starting at the written time).

    this will hopfully allow some travel time between back to back classes! in my experience those 10 minutes have been enough to get to my classes, but it might still be a bit difficult to get there on time if you have to walk all the way across campus. i’ve seen some people commuting with bikes or skateboards, so if that’s something you’re into you might want to give it a try. it can be kind of a pain to get around campus in the winter though especially, as snow and ice get in the way of things.

    Run Snow Shoe GIFfrom Run GIFs

    i would definitely recommend making a route to get from class to class and doing a practice run beforehand to get familiar with the area and see how long things take. this uoft map is pretty handy when you’re trying to decipher the building names and where they all are, and there’s apparently an app, too. i’ve found that google maps and other map apps usually recognize uoft building codes too, e.g. typing ‘uoft msb’ will bring up the medical sciences building, which is pretty cool.

    hope that helps and best of luck finding your way around campus!

    aska

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  • current student,  FLC,  humanities

    course conFLCs

    September 8, 2022

    I was pre-enrolled in ENG140 for my humanities FLC but I’ve found that it conflicts with a course I need to apply for a program I’m interested in. If I drop ENG140, will I also be removed from the FLC?

    hey there,

    unfortunately i haven’t personally been in a FLC, but according to their website, you are allowed to drop courses that they enrolled in without being removed from the FLC, it seems.

    Sid Seixeiro Sid GIFfrom Sid Seixeiro GIFs

    although, speaking from experience, eng140 is an amazing course, so… tough decisions. either way, you’ll still be able to experience that FLC camraderie without being tied down to the pre-enrolled courses (hooray!). you could also email flc@utoronto.ca directly for any other questions!

    Stromman Excited GIFfrom Stromman GIFs

    good luck! 🙂

    aska

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  • current student,  wait list

    yes, you can be keen even on the waitlist… (jk this question is p valid)

    September 6, 2022

    Hi! I have a question about protocol re. a waitlisted course. I’m an incoming first year, and have been waitlisted for a course. It has a very high drop rate from what I’ve heard, so I’m fairly sure I’ll get in eventually, but probably not immediately. It’s supposed to be difficult and fast moving, so I’m somewhat concerned about playing catch-up. Am I permitted to attend the lectures in the meantime? What should I do about assignments?

    hello young one,

    unfortunately if you’re waitlisted, you won’t get access to the course quercus page, assignments, or online lectures (if any). but if the lectures are taking place in person and are fairly large, nothing’s really stopping you from sitting in. from my experience, most first year lectures are too large for profs to take attendance or notice a few extra students lurking around, and unless things have changed drastically in covid, it’s not like there’ll be bouncers out front trying to check if you’re actually in the course or not.

    Homer Simpson Hiding GIFfrom Homer Simpson GIFs

    you will probably miss a few practicals/tutorial sessions though, if your course has those, and some assignments. usually, you can get in contact with the course coordinator to ask if assignments from before you joined the course could be dropped or replaced with other assignments. some courses also allow you to drop a certain number of assignments without penalty.

    something that could really help is to get your hands on the course syllabus — try to see if you can find a copy floating around on the internet, or make some friends in the course and ask them for some of that insider info — that’ll give you a better idea of the course policies on assignments, topics covered, textbooks and other things you might have missed out on. if in doubt, definitely communicate with the course coordinator and see if you could work something out. btw, your registrar could also help out if you’re having any trouble negotiating things with your prof!

    best of luck!

    aska

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  • current student,  dropping courses,  tuition

    courses, tuition, and google classrooms but not really

    September 2, 2022

    hello first year student here! I haven’t started fall 2022 semester yet and wanted to know if I could drop a course I’m enrolled in without paying the tuition for that course (stupid question but I wanted to make sure). also, is there a website for students to use when professors post class materials and such (like google classroom but not really)?? Thanks!

    hello hello hello!

    so the way that tuition works is a bit weird. if you take 4.0 – 6.0 FCEs (full course equivalents for you newbies) in the fall/winter year, you’ll pay the program fee. so whether you’re taking 4.0 or maxing it out to 6.0, it doesn’t matter, financially — you’d pay the same tuition.

    Patrick Melrose Spending GIFfrom Patrick Melrose GIFs

    if the courses you drop bring you down to 3.5 or less FCEs total, you can pay course fees, which depend on your number of courses, and ends up being cheaper per course. everyone is charged the program fees at first, and the extra amount for students on course fees will be refunded later in the year.

    but be careful: if you are planning to switch from program fees to course fees, make sure to drop your courses by the last date to enrol in them, otherwise, they will still be counted in your total course count. for example, a fall session course has to be dropped by the last day to enrol in F (fall) courses, which is september 21st this year. if you have any concerns or questions about this, definitely check out your registrar for advice because it can be tricky to keep track of all the different dates and how the payments work and everything.

    in terms of the course materials and stuff, yes! it’s called quercus and it literally is google classrooms but not really. uoft just had to get a ~quirky~ name for our whole oaks and acorns theme.

    Treehugger Vegetarian GIFfrom Treehugger GIFs

    i wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve started getting bombarded by email notifications from quercus already but don’t worry if you haven’t, because profs are slow, and you will be hearing from them… soon. 🙂

    best of luck!

    aska

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  • current student,  math,  prereqs,  UTSC

    gr 12 math strikes back

    September 2, 2022

    hi aska! so im going into my first year at utsc, there are some courses that sound really interesting but the pre-reqs for most of them are grade 12 math which i completely avoided taking. is there any way (even if its not this year) that i can ever take the courses?

    hi there and welcome!

    don’t worry, you won’t be doomed because of that pesky prereq, at least not forever. i would recommend first emailing the instructor to ask if you can have the prerequisite waived.

    Russell Please Let Me In GIFfrom Russell GIFs

    some courses allow this, however you will still be responsible for getting caught up on the material, of course. depending on how comfortable you are with learning the math, and whether or not the instructor is allowing waivers for the course in the first place, this may or may not work for you.

    you can also get credit for grade 12 math through tdsb night school (registration is still open i believe) or summer school, which both have remote and in person options. i’m sure other school boards and even private companies offer similar services to get high school credits, too, which you could look into.

    as a disclaimer, i haven’t personally taken night school/summer school courses so i can’t give much of a review, but i’ve heard that they can be more relaxed than their normal school counterparts, which sounds great unless you’re hoping to take a very math-heavy course. if you end up wanting more of a math background, uoft’s math department has the pump program which is a series non-credit summer courses that reviews high school math to prep for university.

    And Thats A Lot Of Math Math GIFfrom And Thats A Lot Of Math GIFs

    i hope that answers your questions, and good luck with all that math!

    aska

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  • admissions,  business,  economics,  prospective student,  rotman

    let’s get down to business

    August 30, 2022

    hi! i was wondering what the business course is like? stuff like what subjects are required in high school to be able to take business as a major, how big the classes are and what other courses i should take alongside business

    hi there,

    so uoft doesn’t actually have a ‘business major’ — if you’re interested in business you’re gonna have to be more specific than that, because there are a bunch of different business-related programs.

    for example, utsg has the rotman commerce program, and the application requirements are listed here. you’ll need to take grade 12 english and calculus, and also submit an supplemental application.

    utsc offers business administration (bba) programs under their department of management. if you’re wondering about the difference between “commerce” and “business administration”, this is a pretty good breakdown.

    but get this, utm has a bba program (under their department of management) and a commerce program (under the department of commerce). to make things more convoluted, utsg, utsc, and utm all have their own economics programs, which are offered as part of bachelors of arts or bachelors of science degrees.

    i honestly couldn’t tell you the difference between all these business-esque paths, so you’re probably better off just searching for key words of programs you might be interested in on uoft’s website.

    the admissions requirements do vary depending on the program so definitely check for the specific ones that you end up applying for, but they seem to all require grade 12 english, and in some cases, one or two grade 12 math courses.

    class sizes can also vary depending on the specific program you go into, but classes are generally larger in first year where there may be several hundred students in a class, and tend to get smaller in upper years. if you’re looking for some cold hard numbers, this 2012 report from uoft actually breaks things down and shows how over 50% of first year classes had 200+ students, while over 80% of fourth year classes had less than 50 students.

    the exact class sizes for business programs might differ, but there’s not a lot of info out there on the specifics — utsc management is the only program that actually gives an estimate of their class sizes in their faqs, rotman mentions that their upper year courses are capped at 55 students, and utm’s info on this is dissapointingly nonexistent. just don’t be surprised if you end up in first year classes with hundreds of students, especially in courses like calculus which are prereqs for a lot of different programs.

    alright, now to wrap up this very long post, let’s talk about other courses/electives. honestly, it’s really up to you to choose!

    Gordon Ramsay Choice GIFfrom Gordon Ramsay GIFs

    i know it’s kind of a drag and hugely overwhelming to sift through courses in the uoft calender (the utsg artsci one is linked here) until you find the ones you like, but i mean… that’s just what you gotta do. if i’ve learned anything about courses at uoft, it’s that people’s experiences can really vary. a bird course or an interesting course for one student might be absolutely horrible for another, so don’t be afraid to try out anything that interests you. also, uoft’s course evals page and ratemyprof are some handy ways to double check the courses on your list for any red flags or really poor ratings, which can be a legitimate reason to avoid a course.

    outside of your program requirements, you can choose pretty much any electives you like, or even do a major or minor in a completely different field, if that’s what you’re into. uoft’s pretty great that way because there are just so many different courses and programs out here. for example, you can use your electives to just chill and learn things for interest, or go for classes that might complement certain aspects of business you’re interested in. or maybe you just want to double down on more business courses, which works too!

    Mr Krabs Rich GIFfrom Mr Krabs GIFs

    hope that helps, and best of luck in your business endeavours!

    aska

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  • internal transfer,  Transferring

    come to the dark side

    August 21, 2022

    I am a utsc student looking to transfer to utsg, and I only have 4.0 credits with a decent gpa. I also took most of my courses here at utsg, so I just wanna ask does the university look at how many courses you have taken when considering transfer, and what are my odds.

    hi there,

    from what i’ve seen, gpa is the main factor for transferring campuses. courseload doesn’t seem to matter much (if at all) based on what i’ve been able to find after 30 solid minutes of googling, ctr-f-ing and opening way too many tabs, so i think you’re safe there. overall, if your cgpa is decent enough to pass utsg’s cutoff of a 2.7 or B average, i think it’s definitely worth a shot!

    Go For It GIFfrom Go For It GIFs

    (i have no clue why there’s a gif specifically of motivational jane goodall in front of a uoft banner, but hey, it works)

    as for your odds, well, only the admissions officers really know that. but if you’d like some guidance through this whole process, i’d suggest getting in touch with your registrar!

    good luck,

    aska

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  • courses,  current student,  forensic science,  wait list

    more waitlist woes…

    August 15, 2022

    If there is a waitlist of 40+ people for an fsc course, do you think it’ll be offered in summer? Its fsc316 and it was only offered once in summer in 2021. FSC minors need it too but they only offer a few spots and the majors and specialists take those:(

    hey there,

    first of all, that’s a friggin cool program! although i must admit i had to look up fsc to realize that it wasn’t french (fsl) but actually FORENSIC SCIENCE  like woah.

    to be honest, i don’t really know, but since this course hasn’t really been offered in previous summers, i wouldn’t bank on it happening this year. i mean sure, it might, but that probably depends on a lot of different factors, and just because a course has a long waitlist doesn’t mean they’ll offer more sessions of it.

    No Workaholics GIFfrom No GIFs

    i did do some digging into the fsc minor though, and according to the utm academic calendar, it seems that fsc316 isn’t actually required. i don’t wanna be that guy going ‘ok but do you need that course’, but you might wanna take another look at what exactly is required for your program, in case you could take a different course instead? for example, the utm calendar lists fsc316 as part of list of a bunch of courses, and out of those, you’re supposed to take 0.5 FCEs — so any other half year course on there should do!

    however, if you’ve now developed an emotional attachment to getting into this course — i understand.

    I Need It GIFfrom Dallas Buyers Club GIFs

    assuming you’re in third year right now, so one possible strat is to try getting into the course in your fourth year, since you’ll have higher priority in course selections. that could get tricky though if the course has other types of priority enrolment for specialists/majors etc, so if you’re hoping to go down this route, i’d recommend emailing your department or the course instructor to ask about their process for this. another potential issue is that this may throw a wrench in some of your fourth year course plans, if fsc316 is a prereq for anything else you’re interested in.

    if you do end up really needing the course, i’d also recommend asking your registrar for tips. for example, 4th year arts and science students at utsg get a special lil dean’s promise that we can invoke to get into mandatory courses that are required to graduate, and although i’m not sure if utm has a similar thing, it doesn’t hurt to ask around and see if there’s anything else you could do.

    best of luck!

    aska

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  • current student,  major,  programs

    emailing the program director might make you feel like a karen but it’s ok… just be nice

    August 10, 2022

    hi there! I recently got declined from my major and wanted to try again in the second request period. I was wondering if it was worth emailing the program director to introduce myself and outline reasons to be in the program. Is it worth it and do you think it would help/hurt my chances? Thank youuu

    hey there,

    honestly, you beat me to this — usually i do recommend for people to try emailing their departments about stuff like program admissions or course waitlists, because they’ll be able to give the most accurate answer.

    i really don’t think it’d hurt your chances, as long as you do it in a courteous way. in the best case scenario, it could get the department to take second look at your file and perhaps improve your chances, and in the worst case scenario, you’d get a no, as in, “this doesn’t count, we’re still gonna review your application the normal way”, or no response (fair enough, i’m sure they get a loooot of emails…) but from my experience no one would hold it against you for sending a brief friendly email.

    Harry Potter Letters GIFfrom Harry Potter GIFs

    also, i’m assuming that the major you’re applying to doesn’t have a supplementary application already, so that your email is actually adding something above and beyond. but if it does, you should probably hold off on the email so that you’re not just bombarding the department with multiple versions of “reasons i should get into [insert competitive major]” because, well, they know, or will eventually after reading your application.

    other than that, try to be respectful — and imo, that also includes being respectful of time. a straightforward email describing your interest in the program (you can back this up by mentioning a few relevant future goals/extracurricular involvement) and marks from prereqs will get the point across.

    it might also help to end off on a specific question/concern you might have, like asking for feedback to improve your application, or if there were truly extenuating circumstances (cliche, i know… try “unprecedented times”? “never-before encountered conditions”?) that affected your application, this could be your chance to explain things — not in a guilt-trippy way of course, but more to show that despite all this, you’re still very interested, and would like to know if you still have a chance/what you could do to make up for it, etc.

    anyway, i hope this post has had the effect of helping you in some way (besides making you overthink about email etiquette).

    best of luck!

    aska

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  • 12 distinct credits,  current student,  life science,  programs

    all my homies hate the 12 distinct credits rule

    August 3, 2022

    hi! i ended up switching programs after first year so figuring out requirements has been crazy. i’m aiming for a human bio major with two minors, psych and imm. the issue is that the immunology minor doesn’t have a lot of required classes and almost all of the listed ones are also in the hmb program. how does this work with the distinct courses thing? thank you for any help!

    hey there,

    ok, maybe “hate” is too harsh a word but let’s face it, it’s just confusing.

    i also wanna preface this post by saying i am so sorry for the late response… the blog post backlog has been real, but hopefully this still helps someone out there :’)

    so anyway, back to that pesky 12 distinct credits rule. the whole idea is that your program requirements should add up to at least 12 different FCEs. for example, the human bio major is 8.0 FCEs. if all of the 4.0 FCEs in your imm minor end up overlapping with human bio, then you’d need to make sure to take 4.0 FCEs in your psych minor that are all distinct from your human bio/imm courses — that would get you to 12 distinct credits.

    of course, psych probably also overlaps with human bio/imm/other life sci programs, so it might not be possible to get 12 distinct credits just by meeting the minimum requirements of the programs. for example, even if you take your 8.0 FCEs for human bio and they all overlap with imm, you could take a few more eligible hmb or imm courses beyond the overlapping ones in order to fulfill 12 distinct FCEs for your program courses. alternatively, you could try to enrol in a different combination of programs to make it easier to get those distinct credits.

    Didiojakhi Didiojaxi GIFfrom Didiojakhi GIFs

    i know this all sounds incredibly convoluted, which is probably why utsc has a whole worksheet on the rule. personally, i’ve just planned things out on degree explorer which helps to just lay out all your program courses so that you can count them all up and make sure that they add up to at least 12.0 FCEs total.

    hope that helps!

    aska

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  • admissions,  conditional offer,  Transferring

    i am once again asking you to ask enrolment services

    August 3, 2022

    [Asking for a Friend] He’s a transfer student from UK and failed a course during his spring term. Will his admission offer be revoked by UT? Is there any way to prevent this?

    hi there,

    Queen Elizabeth The Second England GIFfrom Queen Elizabeth The Second GIFs

    so… i’m a bit confused. is your friend in high school and transferred from the uk to canada? is he transfering to uoft from a university in the uk? or neither? i have so many questions.

    anyway, i’ll just assume it’s one of those two… if your friend’s in a canadian high school (although similar criteria apply for international schools, like in the uk), it’s possible that his offer will be revoked, especially if the course is a prerequisite for the program he was accepted for.

    conditional offers made before your final marks are out will usually have requirements to maintain your marks, but they can be super vague. unfortunately, i can’t say if uoft will rescind his offer but i’d recommend contacting enrolment services directly to ask, if you haven’t heard from them already.

    if the offer gets rescinded, your friend might be able to further explain his situation to the admissions office to see if any exceptions can be made, or if they would accept a retake of the course in summer school, private school, or any other options available to him.

    if your friend’s transferring from a university/college, the failed course could also be an issue since conditional offers for transfers do emphasize your cgpa and overall academic performance. again, prerequisites probably matter the most, but you’d also have to pass the cgpa cutoff which is generally around a B average, according to the requirements. to be safe though, i’d still recommend asking enrolment services.

    Bernie Sanders Opinion GIFfrom Bernie Sanders GIFs

    it might seem like i’m just outsourcing every other question to enrolments services at this point, which… well. just trust me, they know best.

    good luck (to your friend, that is) and hope that helps!

    aska

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