• work-study

    DON’T ASK ME TO SAVE THE PASSWORD BEFORE I KNOW IF I TYPED THE RIGHT ONE

    August 20, 2015

    Hi Aska, I clicked on the link you posted for the CLN and it said that I need to register for it. Can I set this up by myself using my uoft email? Or is there some other way I need to register?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    oh, da#n! aska just got receipt’d. i guess i should be clearer in explaining how to do stuff, instead of just linking out to all sorts of things and assuming you’ll figure it out. what can i say: in between all the sonic the hedgehog gifs i post, one or two academic links can easily get lost in the chaff. i guess i should be more careful about these things.

    anyway, all you have to do is login using your UTORID and password. if you’re an incoming student, this should be the same as your JOINID and password to login to Join UofT. however, if you’ve forgotten your password or are having trouble, you can follow the “Forgot your password?” link on the login page or contact the helpdesk at Robarts for assistance.

    if you’re not a uoft student, but you ARE an employer or faculty/staff, just click on the ‘Register’ button and fill out the form that comes up. once you’re done, click ‘Submit Registration’ and wait for a response!

    if you’re not a student or an employer or staff – then skedaddle. what are you even doing here, anyway?

    cheers,

    aska

    Read More
  • courses

    you’ve just gotta wait. isn’t waiting fun.

    August 20, 2015

    i’m interim in wstc24 at utsc, its a winter course. do I have to do anything for this? the timetable page just says to check rosi for updates, but idk if maybe I have to contact a professor or something. also, do you have an idea of when i’ll hear if i’ve been accepted? i know its a winter course so it might be a while but i was just wondering

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    nope, you don’t have to do anything. it’s out of your hands. now it’s up to the instructor/department to make a decision.

    i took a look online and on the timetable listing for the course, but i can’t seem to find a deadline for when they have to get back to you. i guess they can just take their sweet old time. well, whaddaya expect, huh? they’re the department! they’re in charge! they make the deadlines, they break the deadlines!

    the best thing to do would be to just keep checking ACORN/your utoronto e-mail address. if you’re really anxious, you can always contact the department of historical and cultural studies and ask WHEN THE HECK THEY’LL BE DONE, but make sure not to make the request in all caps. that usually doesn’t go over so well.

    cheers,

    aska

    Read More
  • other schools (boo!),  psychology

    psychology here or psychology there

    August 19, 2015

    I’m a looking at universities in Toronto and I’m trying to figure out which is best. I’m looking at doing my undergraduate in psychology and my graduate in child psychology. So I’m wondering which school is the best for doing that. UFT or York? I know that UFT has both programs I’m looking at but I’ve been told that it’s on the harder side of the universities and I’m and IEP (Individual Education Plan) student. But York is higher on the list of best schools in Canada for psychology.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i can’t speak to how good york’s psychology programs are. i’ll let york’s people take care of that (not that i’m implying that i’m “uoft’s people”; i just stumbled into a back closet here and no one’s thought to ask me to leave yet. i have jam on my pants. this uoft sweater i found smells like mothballs).

    i will say that the psychology programs at uoft are very, very popular (hence the constant stream of questions i get about them), and that while uoft is a strong academic and research university, that doesn’t mean it’s not for you.

    don’t let an IEP get in the way of studying where you want to study. if you have the grades to get into uoft, then you have the ability to thrive here. also, uoft has plenty of academic support services, including accessibility services, the academic success centre, and plenty of writing and math aid centres.

    finally, here are a couple of things to keep in mind as you think about your decision: i see that york has the option to complete a B.A. or a B.Sc. in psychology. uoft, meanwhile, is one of the only schools where psychology can only be completed as a science program (cognitive science is the closest thing we have to a humanities-based psychology program).

    so, if you were looking to do a B.A. in psychology, uoft is probably not be for you.

    also, high school calculus is a mandatory requirement for all three of psychology’s programs (the specialist, the major and the minor), so if you didn’t do or really struggled in grade 12 calculus, you may want to reconsider uoft.

    not having done calculus isn’t a reason not to do psych at uoft. just be aware that if you didn’t do calculus in high school, you’ll have to do it at some point, either through night school or uoft’s not-for-credit PUMP program.

    so those are a couple of things to consider. ultimately, there’s no right or wrong answer. do some research into the actual classes you would be doing, visit both campuses, and, if you’re planning on living in residence, your student housing accommodations. these alumni profiles from the psychology department at uoft might also be helpful to you.

    best of luck; i hope you make a decision you’re happy with!

    cheers,

    aska

    Read More
  • tutorials

    i don’t look nearly as cute as the people attending class in the pictures

    August 19, 2015

    Hi Aska!So just to clarify, do we have to show up for the tutorials that we already enrolled in for certain classes on ACORN? For example, do I need to attend my MAT135 tutorial that first week?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    yes, you need to show up for any and all tutorials you enrolled in – assuming you want to pass those courses. which i hope you do, because you don’t get much else but a degree for all that money you spend on university. i know. it’s crazy, right? where are the aesthetic pictures of me laying on the grass in front of UC, smiling blissfully into a copy of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, that i was promised in my admissions package? where are they, @uoft?

    anyway. be aware that many classes won’t begin tutorials until the second week. keep an eye on your mail.utoronto e-mail address and Portal; they may let you know when tutorials begin via those avenues. otherwise, they will let you know during your first class, which is almost always earlier in the week than its corresponding tutorial.

    if you don’t hear anything through any of those channels, it’s probably safe to assume that there will be a tutorial.

    cheers,

    aska

    Read More
  • subject POST

    posts are flexible, bendy – like bamboo

    August 17, 2015

    I’m interested in pursuing a physiology major, but I’m already going into?third year with a dummy major (Pharmacology).? On the calendar?<http://www.artsandscience.utoronto.ca/ofr/calendar/crs_psl.htm#ASMAJ0482>,?I’m told which courses to take in First Year (which I’ve done), Second Year?(which I’ll be taking this September), and Higher Years.? The main reason
    for the delay is due to scheduling conflicts as I’ve simultaneously been?pursuing an arts major.

    Is it acceptable to be taking the second-year course requirements for this?POSt in my third year, as long as I meet all the POSt requirements by the?time I graduate?

    Also, will I be able to successfully apply to the POSt later on as I meet?more of the requirements, as long as my grades are sufficient?

    Thank you.

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    you can complete the courses for your POSt whenever it suits you.

    it doesn’t matter if you do your second-year courses in second, third or fourth year. your intuition is right; as long as you’ve completed all your requirements by the time you graduate, you’re okay. the university?isn’t bothered about how long it takes you to finish your degree. they’ve got more important things to worry about.

    you’re able to apply to the POSt later (that is, after your second year), as long as you’ve taken all the prerequisite courses. however, there’s no way of telling whether you’ll get in. the physiology major is a type 3 program, which means that getting the minimum grades in all the required courses is no guarantee that you will get into the program.

    the estimated cut-off is an average in the mid-70s for the required courses, so the higher above that your grades are, the better your chances are of getting in.

    after that, all you can do is cross your fingers and make wild promises?with your deity of choice (“if i get into this program, i promise i’ll be nice to my brother for the rest of my life” “if i get in, i’ll keep the house clean all year” “i’ll buy my mum a house” “i’ll spend all my spare time volunteering at a local hospital” “i’ll sell my left toe and donate the money to Toronto’s homeless” etc.) until you hear the news (and promptly abandon all your promises).

    cheers,

    aska

    Read More
  • probation

    probation, and a laborious metaphor involving roads

    August 17, 2015

    Hey, I’m in a really bad situation. I just completed first year and I’m on academic probation. I failed a course in? the winter term and then took it in the summer and failed it again. I need this course for my program though. What do I do?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i know you’re probably feeling stressed right now. you’re probably thinking that everything is going downhill, that you can’t catch a break, and other gently empathetic Canadian colloquialisms (your…poutine is…soggy? you’ve reached your last moose? why don’t we have more explicitly Canadian phrases about disappointment?).

    however, i would urge you not to think about this as a failure (to put it into harsher words).

    being on probation is not failing. even failing a class is not failing*.

    a much more accurate way of looking at it, i think, is as a crossroads. you have reached a point in your life when you’re being asked to make a decision that will impact the quality of your life.

    the smartest thing you can do is use your probation as a time to reflect and make a decision that will be the best for you and the life you want to live *cue inspirational music stolen from the Eat, Pray, Love movie*

    so, you have a few options:

    1. you can retake the course. since you haven’t passed the course, you can add it yourself on ACORN.

    if you decide to do this, it’s probably a good idea to look into some services at the university that can help you pass the course. your college writing centre, any of the university’s math aid centres, and the various resources and programs available at the academic success centre may be helpful to you.

    and then there’s the standard stuff that’s just good practice if you want to avoid taking the course a fourth time: attend lectures/tutorials consistently, go to your instructor’s/T.A.’s office hours with questions or for feedback, do your reading ahead of time or do practice questions on a regular basis (as the course dictates), and, for the love of all that is good and right, don’t sleep through your exam.

    2. you can not retake the course and start looking into different programs.

    if this course is a prerequisite for a program, that means that there’s a lot more of whatever-the-failed-course-is coming your way. think about whether you actually want that.

    do you want to dedicate your entire academic career to something you find so difficult? how much do you enjoy the course content? do you find the work you put into it worthwhile? is it rewarding? these are all things you should think about seriously before deciding you want to retake the course a third time.

    thinking baby

     

    academic probation is an opportunity to reflect on your experiences

    3. you can think about taking a break from school.

    this is going to depend on a lot of things i don’t know about you – how the rest of your academic history looks, whether you have any external circumstances affecting your ability to commit yourself to school, whether you have the means to take a year off (to work, recuperate, etc.).

    however, i think it’s always something to think about. you should never be at university out of habit. you should only ever be here because you 100%, really want to be here.

    regardless of what you decide, i HIGHLY RECOMMEND you talk with your registrar’s office about it before making a decision. you know when i’m being serious because i used all caps. see that up there? that’s all caps.

    all the very best,

    aska

    * i mean, it?is.?technically speaking. but i’m talking about the bigger picture, y’know?

    Read More
  • profs,  work-study

    research THIS!

    August 14, 2015

    I was wondering how exactly a student could get an internship helping a professor with research?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    as with all things at university (and in life), there are two ways it can happen: you can go about it the official way, or you could just sort of fall into it.

    1. the Official Serious Business way

    you can get involved with a professor’s research in two main ways: through class work, or through work-study.

    many departments offer research courses called 299’s as part of the Research Opportunity Program. these are research courses geared specifically towards second-year students.

    299’s are a really cool opportunity because you get to do real research for credit; it’s class time and work experience all bundled together. two birds with one stone.

    these courses tend to be for science students, so it’ll be trickier to find an opportunity as a humanities or social science student, but you can take a look at the courses available this year to get an idea of what’s out there. there are also similar courses for third and fourth year students (called 398/399s and 497/498/499s, respectively – take a look on the timetable to find out what departments are offering each year).

    the second Official Way that you can get involved in research is by being a research assistant through the work-study program. loads of professors advertise RA positions through work-study, for both undergrads and graduate students. just take a look on the CLN for opportunities – they’re being uploaded every day now, and applications close in late september.

    2. the sneaky back-door way

    of course, doing things the proper way is all good and well, but sometimes we just fall into stuff without knowing quite how we got there.

    sometimes, keeping your ears open is enough. get to know the professors you like. talk to them about their interests, their research. if you feel comfortable, let them know you’re excited about what they’re studying and ask if there’s a way for you to get involved. if you’re lucky, they might like you so much they’ll offer it to you – stranger things have happened.

    i hope you get to do some snazzy annotated bibliographies.

    cheers,

    aska

    Read More
  • course conflicts,  wait list

    the wait list is a merciless, unpredictable deity

    August 13, 2015

    Me again, the one waiting to be accepted with a tutorial conflict. Do you have an idea of when I should expect to hear whether I’ve been accepted or not?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    accepted into the lecture, you mean? assuming you’re waiting because you’re on a wait list (as opposed to having applied for the course directly to the department) you’ll just have to keep checking back on ACORN; if you get in off the wait list, the course will move from the ‘Waitlisted’ header to the ‘Currently Enrolled’ header.

    you’ll only get in if enough people ahead of you drop out, so there’s no way of telling when that might happen. you just have to keep checking and pray to your gods of choice that you get in.

    if it’s not a wait list you’re talking about, and you’ve applied directly to the department to get into a class, then you should contact them to ask about the status of the course.

    cheers,

    aska

    P.S. this a follow-up question to a previous post which can be found here.

    Read More
  • wait list

    i mean, if you’re #4 for a class of 10 people…

    August 13, 2015

    I’m on the waitlist for a course, at 4th rank so I’m assuming that’s good? But since I’m not in the course yet, is it acceptable to still attend the lecture?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you can definitely attend the lecture if you’re not enrolled yet. hell, you can attend lecture if you’re just some rando off the street looking for a place to sit for a couple of hours (assuming the class is big enough that the instructor won’t take attendance). this is a public university, you know – you can just wander in and out of the buildings. that’s how i got this job. i just walked in and started acting like i knew the place. i’m not even a student here.

    your likelihood of getting into the course off spot #4 on a waitlist all depends on how many total spots are available in the course. if your spot on the waitlist is within 10% of the total number of spots, then you have a very good shot of getting in.

    and unless you’re trying to get into some teeny tiny, specialized seminar on the anatomy of marsupials native to southwestern Australia, or something, i’m guessing your rank is a pretty good one. (not like me; i’m spot #2 on a waitlist for a class of 8. i don’t know why i’m even holding out hope.)

    keep checking your status on ACORN, and if you don’t get in by the time class starts, feel free to keep going until you’ve run out of options for getting into the course (i.e. trying to enrol after the waitlist drops).

    hope you get in!

    aska

    Read More
  • subject POST,  UTSC

    racking up the POSts

    August 13, 2015

    Hi AskA~

    I’ll be entering my 4th year at UTSC as a Human Biology and Psychology double major this fall, but I’m currently thinking about coming back for an extra year– for an Applied Statistics minor. I can’t seem to find much information regarding “double major + minor”; but is this scenario possible (i.e. just add the subject post on ROSI)?

    Thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you can totally do that! it’ll be a little trickier if you plan on graduating this year, since that would mean that your extra year would be under non-degree studies. in that case, you’d have to talk to your registrar’s office (and the computer science, mathematics & statistics department) about the possibility of retroactively putting the completed minor on your transcript.

    UTSC explicitly states that students admitted as “[s]tudents admitted as ‘non-degree’ students are not permitted to enrol in a Program of Study,” but it’s worth it to speak with them about whether an exception can be made, since you would be continuing on from your degree studies, rather than being admitted from outside the university.

    however, if you plan on just graduating a year late, all you have to do is add yourself on ROSI! any combination of subject POSts you can think of is allowed, as long as your total POSts doesn’t exceed three, and you have no more than two specialists or majors. easy peasy.

    cheers,

    aska

    Read More
  • computer science,  fees

    fees creepin’ up on us from behind

    August 12, 2015

    Hello again,
    I was just wondering if I could get your input on this. I am 4th year student at UTSC majoring in Mathematics, minoring in Computer Science and Statistics. I am pretty late but I was thinking about changing my minors to a Computer Science major.
    How much do you think it will cost in retroactive fees if I were to switch? And how much do you think OSAP would cover? I talked to several of my peers and they told me this enormous amount that they had to pay (when they switched into the program earlier). I really would like to switch, but I am scared it might be way too costly.

    Thank you!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if you’re going into fourth year, you’ll be charged the deregulated computer science fee for your fourth year. you will also be charged retroactively for your second and third year, but it’s not as bad as you think:

    you will only be charged the difference between what you paid in your second and third years and the computer science fee (for each year). for simplicity’s sake, let’s say you paid $7000 in first year, and the computer science fee was $10 000. that means you would retroactively be charged $3000 for second and third year.

    you can take a look at the exact amount it will cost by checking the fee schedule for computer science and then subtracting your previous years’ fees from that amount, two times.

    so, it’s not as bad as it could be, but it’s still a lot of money.

    as for how much OSAP would cover: that all depends, and the answer is a bit complicated, so buckle in.

    OSAP will consider your higher fees when deciding how much funding to give you. however, the amount they give you may not be enough to cover what you need.

    also, OSAP does have a maximum amount that they give, meaning that it’s possible for you to max out. if your need exceeds that maximum amount, then you’ll have to turn to other ways to scrape the bucks together – typically, that’s UTAPS.

    you can use UTAPS’ funding estimator to figure how much you’re likely to get from them. if OSAP and UTAPS together still aren’t enough, you can appeal to OSAP.

    all that being said, we are coming up quite close to the deadline to register (August 17th for UTSC students), so i’d highly recommend you hightail it to your registrar’s office and talk about this with them right away. it’s also probably a good idea to talk with a financial aid advisor, to go over some of the finer points relating to OSAP, UTAPS and OSAP appeals.

    regardless of how much money you get from OSAP/UTAPS, you’re not going to get it right away. that’s a problem because your back balance needs to be paid off before you can defer using OSAP, so you’ll likely need to negotiate some kind of arrangement with your registrar’s office where they waive that requirement and manually register you, if possible.

    good luck with it.

    xoxo,

    aska

    Read More
  • OSAP

    observe ur deadlines, ppl

    August 12, 2015

    So I applied to OSAP later than the recommended deadline of June 30. I applied July 14. I checked all documents required that needed to be signed and printed, and there’s nothing that’s listed there to be done by me.

    It’s Aug 11, and my application has been on hold for about a week. Stating the following: “Your application is currently on hold and cannot be processed any further because your school must provide information about your program (e.g., course load) and education-related costs (e.g., tuition, compulsory fees, books and equipment). Your funding cannot be calculated without this information. The financial aid office at your school will send this information to the ministry electronically. Generally this information is provided by June. Check back then.”

    However, I applied later than…and now I can’t defer my fees on ROSI/ ACORN because I haven’t received an estimate.

    Also “Before your funding can be calculated, the financial aid office at your school must provide the ministry with information about your education-related costs such as tuition, compulsory fees, and book and equipment costs. The financial aid office will send this information electronically approximately four weeks from the date you submitted your OSAP application. If after this time period, information on your funding is not available, you may wish to follow up with your financial aid office.

    It’s been 4 weeks and nothing. I can’t afford to make a minimum payment and I know its my fault but applying late for OSAP isn’t new to me. Last year I applied even later, I applied July 19 and got my updated estimate on Aug 13.

    So my question…what’s going on? [ I will call registrar and find out-but I need some advice because I’m getting overly stressed over something like this] The deadline is Aug 18 to make minimum payment and September 1 to defer fees.

    ALSO: DOES IT HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE NAME OF MY PROGRAM? I LISTED “LIFE SCIENCES” THIS YEAR AND AS DID LAST YEAR BUT LAST YEAR’S APPLICATION SAYS UOFT ARTS AND SCIENCE [which I can’t list under osap so I manually ended up typing LIFE SCIENCES]

    Is it possible that I’m in limbo right now because I haven’t assigned the correct program name?

    thanks so much as always!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    it’s possible that it’s taking a bit longer for the application to go through because you typed ‘Life Sciences’ manually, instead of selecting it from a drop-down list.

    however, while that might be the case, you have no way of knowing for sure why your application is being held up. also, all the pending information that OSAP needs at this point has to come from enrolment services, so there’s no way of speeding up the process.

    my point is that the situation is almost entirely out of your hands now.

    what you can do is what you already intuited was a good idea: go to your registrar’s office ASAP. see if there’s a possibility that they will register you manually.

    however, without proof that you’ve been assessed for any funding from OSAP, they may not be able to help you. making a small payment (less than the minimum payment to register, but more than, like…$20) and proving to the office that you’ve made the payment may be enough for them – it’ll depend on the office and their policies.

    the problem is that they can’t just be registering people on good faith – they need some proof that you will be able to make a payment at some point. it’s a cold, hard world we live in.

    however, i would still talk with them about it right away to see what your options are.

    this is a really crappy situation, but y’all gotta remember: the university is a huge, bureaucratic institution. so is the provincial government. stuff takes a long time to be processed. it’s in your own interest to follow those recommended deadlines so you don’t get into sticky situations like this in the future.

    crossing my fingers that your funding estimate goes through,

    aska

    Read More
  • enrollment

    begging for classes

    August 11, 2015

    I’m waiting to be accepted into a course and the only open tutorial is during one of my other classes. If I get accepted could I beg someone to let me into the earlier tutorial so I don’t have to drop that class, and if so, who?

    ???????????????

    hey there,

    maaaybe; kinda depends on the class, the department, your T.A., and your own luck. however, it’s really not something to count on. i would enrol in a backup course just in case begging doesn’t pan out for you.

    if you did go the begging route, you could beg the T.A. you’re with initially to transfer tutorials, but depending on the T.A., they may be totally unsympathetic to your cause. and that?is the main reason?I’m recommending backups.

    cheers,

    aska

    Read More