• admissions,  engineering

    “graduate school in engineeri – ” nope. nopity nope.

    June 10, 2015

    Hey!

    I recently decided to attend UofT for computer engineering and I was?wondering if the 3.6 GPA requirement is as strict with engineering students as it is with other (because you know, it just aint easy being an engineer)

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    why tell aska whether you’re applying to undergrad or grad studies? she doesn’t need to know! that would’ve just been just TOO EASY for her, huh?

    my HUNCH is that you’re applying to grad school, both because of the GPA requirement and because of your cynical, embittered use of the word “ain’t.” that cold, hard cynicism is usually underdeveloped in 17-year-olds. though not always.

    engineering tends to be one of the more no-nonsense disciplines at uoft – and at most universities, acutally. i guess spending a life around gears and wiring requires being absolutely wrung out at school.

    point is, if they say a B+, then they mean it.

    in addition, ECE specifically states that you need at least an A- to be competitive. i doubt they’re joking around about that, either. also, “[s]tudents with academic records equal to or below the minimum eligibility requirement are strongly discouraged from applying.”

    if they wrote that in bold on their admissions page, it’s probably there for a reason.

    however, if you’re uncertain about how your qualifications match up, you can always use their international degree equivalencies tool. you can also just call them up, because sometimes departments are willing to chat with people about where they stand, admissions-wise.

    good luck with grad studies in engineering. like, seriously. i hope you enjoy the gears and wiring and stuff.

    cheers,

    aska

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  • first year,  UTM

    go to your own campus, stay a while

    June 9, 2015

    Hi, I was wondering if you can clarify something for me, I’m going to be attending UTM this September (first year) and I was wondering if I could take a history/political science course at UTSG? When I checked it said “You are eligible to take courses at other U of T campuses only after you have successfully completed 4.0 U of T Mississauga credits.” Does this mean I can’t take courses at another campus until after first year?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    yes, that is correct. honestly, it’s probably a blessing in disguise. you don’t want to be hauling your exhausted flesh bag of a body to and from Mississauga on a bus twice a week. enjoy UTM, and then you can bugger off to Toronto, with its reckless pedestrians and confusing campus, after first year.

    by the way, it’s kind of irritating to me that i didn’t know that rule off the top of my head. hmph. i think this calls for another day of unnecessary pouting and too much takeout food.

    see you on the flip side,

    aska

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  • grad school,  late withdrawal,  law

    blah school

    June 9, 2015

    Hello,
    I desperately want to get into grad school/law school but I have a cGPA of 3.42 and two LWD on my transcript. The LWDs were probably a bit stupid, they were in my 2nd and 3rd years and due to getting 60s in two mandatory classes. I retook one and didn’t do much better – got a B. I’m redoing the other LWD class again as I go into my 4th year. I also had medical reasons for the LWDs (because I got them after the deadline had passed) but obviously it does not say that on my transcript. I’ll be graduating this year and I don’t plan on getting anymore LWDs. My question to you is: how badly do these LWDs affect my chances of getting into grad school/law school? Is it too late for me? With these grades and the two LWDs, how likely/unlikely will I get accepted into grad school? (The programs I’ve been looking at has a B- cut off and A- admission average).
    Thanks,Desperate Student

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    asking me whether you’ll get into graduate school without specifying which program or university you’re interested in is like asking whether you can afford a meal without specifying the meal or how much money you have.

    but aska is a trooper, and i’m gonna do the best i can.

    if the programs you’re looking at have a B- cut-off, and you’ve got a B+, then yeah, your chances are good. the LWDs aren’t great, but if the courses aren’t related to your program of interest and they were in second and third year, then they’re not the end of the world.

    not much more i can say about that. but you can always call the admissions committee at the school in question and bug them about it if their website is especially cryptic.

    generally speaking, graduate schools tend only to look at your grades in third/fourth years – though you’ll have to check the specific requirements of your program/school to make sure. so if you’re calculating admissions averages, make sure only to include the years they’ll actually look at.

    easy peasy, right? you didn’t even need me for that. look, i’ll even give you a tool that will calculate your GPA for you.

    that’s graduate school. law school is a whole ‘nother thing.

    i don’t really feel like looking up admissions averages for every single law school in the English-speaking world, so i’m just going to focus on Canadian schools in this answer. schools elsewhere might operate differently, so make sure to check that before applying willy-nilly.

    i’m gonna be straight with you – a 3.42 falls beneath the minimum CGPA for every law school in the country. putting the LWDs aside, the CGPA in itself is concerning.

    the ghost of Law School Future is dark and damning, but there is still hope at the end of this dream.

    law schools in Canada typically look at your three best years, and sometimes only your best two. that should bump your admissions GPA up a little. and hey, if your worst year has an LWD in it, all the better.

    the LWDs on their own won’t be a death sentence on your application, as long as your GPA is within the realm of interesting to the admissions committee. you can also always write a letter as part of your application explaining why those LWDs are there.

    finally: you’re going into fourth year! you still have one full year to absolutely KILL IT before you start applying. you can do a lot in your final year if you put your mind to it. competitive LSATs can also make up for small weaknesses in your GPA, so do your very best to give that your all.

    good luck with your applications, dude,

    aska

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  • first year

    5 MORE ways to get involved with small community on campus

    June 5, 2015

    i liked writing the first one so much, i decided to do it again. besides, a list of ten sounds so much better than a list of five.

    here we go:

    6. COLLEGES

    kind of obvious. if you’re a faculty of arts & science student, you’ll be placed into one of seven colleges: innis, new, st. michael’s, trinity, university, victoria or woodsworth. automatic community, right? well, it’s not that simple.

    here’s the trick about colleges: they don’t have to affect your university experience. at all. you don’t?have to spend any time in your college, meet anyone in your college, take classes offered by your college, or use any of your college’s student services.

    HOWEVER, if you?do?get involved with your college, you probably won’t be one of the people complaining to this or that magazine (i’m looking at you, maclean’s) about the lack of a small community at uoft. whether or not you choose to live in residence, every college has a?unique and vibrant community.

    7. SMALL CLASSES

    yep, class-time counts as community time, too. it only takes one torturous?lecture in con hall to make you appreciate a small class.

    first-year courses tend to be particularly horrendous in terms of class size. for that reason, faculty of arts & science students have lots of opportunities to take small classes. victoria college students are even required to take at least one small class.

    examples of small classes include the 199 first-year seminar courses, the college one program?(innis, new, st. mike’s, trinity, university, victoria, woodsworth), and the vic 100 courses.

    not only are these classes smaller in size (which is amazing in itself) but they tend to have quirky or unusual course content. they provide an interesting complement to the standard first-year course fare, which can be very similar from university to university.

    8. FLCs

    FLCs (or first-year learning communities) are a sort of add-on to first-year classes. it’s the Class+ experience. first?class, you might say.

    if you’re in an FLC, you’ll be a part of a group of 25-30 students who are enrolled in some of the same first-year courses. your small group will meet regularly outside of class for “useful and fun activities.” these include social activities, degree-planning sessions and study strategy sessions.

    FLCs are led by upper year peer mentors, and they’re a truly great resource to help orient you to university in your first year. i honestly can’t recommend them enough. plus, the extra-curricular involvement is noted on your transcript, which is nice.

    9.?EXTRA-CURRICULARS

    another obvious one.?just try to avoid two COMMON TRAPS?when joining extra-curricular activities: being overwhelmed, or underwhelmed.

    there are so many clubs/teams/committees that the sheer amount can be intimidating. it can cause you to feel like you have to stick with the first club you tried, because venturing out into the rest of the impossibly large university seems scary and confusing. but don’t settle on doing something you don’t care about.

    on the other hand, if you don’t like one organization, don’t take that as a prompt to quit altogether. remember: a club is only as good as its members. just because you had one bad experience, doesn’t mean all organizations at the university will be the same. keep trying, and you’ll find the place for you.

    10. FROSH WEEK

    alright, here goes my very best pitch for frosh week:

    a lot of people don’t like frosh.?the extra cost on top of a frankly offensive?tuition invoice is enough to make a lot of students withdraw from orientation?without thinking twice about it.?which i understand. what are we, made of money? i can’t even afford soup.

    from the outside, it looks like a lot of unnecessary shouting and enthusiasm that can make a grade 12 think: “spare me the headache. i’ve been to enough pep rallies to know to steer clear of this.”

    here’s the thing: frosh is genuinely really, really fun. if you can afford it, it will be worth your while.

    it provides valuable academic orientation as well as opportunities to socialize with other members of your faculty/college. and – at least in my experience – it really does make a concerted effort to include?everyone, not just the people who are outgoing and like that kind of stuff anyway.

    plus, you’ll get, like, coupons and UofT-insignia’d Frisbees and stuff.

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  • architecture,  exchange,  study abroad

    @ Michael Lee-Chin: fight me

    June 4, 2015

    hello,

    are there study abroad opportunities for architecture, particularly for undergrads?

    thanks!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    if you really want an EXCITING, URBAN experience, my personal recommendation is that you stand in front of the ROM – facing the shard side, of course – and yell really loudly about how bold and beautiful it is. scream “WHAT AN INSIGHTFUL MEDITATION ON THE CLASH BETWEEN THE ANCIENT AND THE MODERN” until someone stops on the street to pummel you.

    then fight them, illustrating in real time the historical struggles preserved in the ROM. punch yourself in the face. get an A+.

    buttttt if you’re more conventional (*cough*boring*cough*) and want something NON LIFE-THREATENING that’s organized by the university (snore), then you can always participate in the summer abroad program.

    summer abroad lets you complete a uoft course abroad during the summer. this summer, there are two architecture courses offered: FAH391Y0 in Italy, and FAH392Y0 in England.

    there is also an exchange program (different from summer abroad, this program is organized by the CIE) that allows you to complete a course at another university abroad. Yonsei University in Korea offers architecture courses.

    that’s about it as far as undergrad opportunities go, but keep an eye on the summer abroad and CIE websites, because new courses and partner institutions are always being added to the summer abroad and exchange programs.

    or you could go for my very helpful ROM suggestion. i think a bloody fight between some art enthusiasts is exactly what Bloor/Yorkville needs.

    happy travels,

    aska

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  • fees

    a Magnificent Return

    June 3, 2015

    My account was suspended a few years ago because I didn’t pay my tuition. Since then I’ve paid off all remaining charges. My question is: I’m interested in continuing my studies by my account is still suspended. How do I go about returning to school?

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    you want to come back here? really? but you got out and paid everything off! surely there’s nothing left for you here, now.

    mad max fury road poster

    a student surveys the wasteland that is their studies

    alright, well, if you really want to keep your nose to the grindstone, you’re going to have to re-register at your friendly neighbourhood college registrar’s office. that’ll cost you about 30 seconds and $25. it’s about the most painless process you can undergo at uoft. and i’m counting 100-level open book exams in that.

    that financial hold on your account will have to be lifted by your registrar’s office, too, before you re-register. they can take a look at why the hold is there and figure out how to lift it. think of them as the jaws of life to your squished car. except after you’re saved, instead of being grateful you’re alive, you’ll have to go back to uoft.

    wishing you a Triumphant Return,

    aska

    P.S. you know the Starbucks at Robarts is closed now, right? you still sure you want to come back?

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  • graduation

    i just want to keep bees with other alumni

    June 2, 2015

    last year, i tried to give uoft’s graduating class of 2014 the most solid advice that i could, before they were dropped kicked out of con hall and into the so-called “real world.”

    i still stand by that advice (especially the one about dr. phil). this year, though, instead of dwelling on all the horrible and scary-sounding stuff that awaits us all beyond graduation – poverty, under- or unemployment, unstable/temporary jobs, etc. – i want to remind graduates of some of the NICE THINGS about being a graduate of uoft.

    (all of the things i’m about to mention are provided by the Office of Alumni and Advancement. take a poke around their website if you’d like to learn more.)

    1. career help

    so, you’ve graduated – you’re alone, you’re afraid, and you’re without a job. the familiar doom and gloom of the job market in the post-2008 recession that we’ve all heard before.

    FORTUNATELY FOR YOU, little grad, the office of a&a offers a number of career services for young professionals. for up to 2 years after graduation, alumni have full access to their faculty/campus career centre for free. which is nice, because as a jobless person, you probably don’t have a lot of money that you can spend on services to help you find a job.

    but if you DO happen to have a little money kicking around, you also have access to a large number of career coaching services at a discounted price.

    if you’d like to do a bit of shmoozing – i mean, networking – why not attend one of Alumni’s Shaker events? they’re free, and they take place at “hip urban hotspots.” no more stuffy rooms in UC for you. now you’re FANCY.

    2. the library

    you don’t want to be one of those plebs who can’t get to the stacks at robarts, do you? after all, you’re really going to need easy access to that Welsh literary anthology from 1834 when you’re working 40 hours a week.

    for just $22.60, you can buy an alumni ID card, which grants you access to the stacks until THE END OF TIME. alternatively, you can pay $70/week for an alumni reader card and you’ll be able to loan stuff from the library, too.

    3. Continuing Studies

    working can be a bit mind-numbing, especially if you’re used to the pace and rhythm of a university course. yes, i know that sounds ridiculous now, as you cheer and celebrate (read: drink copiously) the end of your time at school.

    however, formal education can be a tough habit to break. besides, learning is a lot more fun when you don’t have a $30k degree hanging on the line.

    to ease that transition from school to work, why not sign up for some courses at continuing education students graduating this year get a $750 credit to spend on one continuing education course. take a course in anything from business & professional studies to creative writing.

    4. faculty club

    ever wanted to feel like an overprivileged white man living in victorian england? well NOW YOU CAN, with your very own membership to the faculty club.

    the faculty club is a great place to meet people who were successful in a previous era, sit down in fancy chairs in fancy rooms, attend events with other fancy people, learn valuable skills through varied etiquette seminars, and – this part is my personal favourite – be part of a beekeeping club!

    if you’re a recent grad, your first six months of membership are free, and the next 2.5 years of membership are half-price. which is actually a pretty great deal.

    congratulations, grads, and good luck out there!

    aska

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  • subject POST,  UTM

    “programs”

    June 2, 2015

    Hi! I accepted my offer to utm for the psychology program, but I want to transfer to the life sciences program to major in biology. To do so would this be after first year? And I would need to have a minimum of a B average? Thank you in advance!

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    honestly, i wish the university would stop admitting people into “programs” right out of high school, because it just creates unnecessary confusion for everybody. do they enjoy it? DO THEY LIKE TO WATCH US STRUGGLE?

    everything they told you has been a lie.* you’re not really in a program. you may have been admitted to the general area of psychology, but you’re still going to have to apply to your subject Program(s) Of Study (or “subject POSt(s),” i.e. your actual programs) after first year, anyway.

    lucky for you, even if you’re not in life science, you can still apply to their programs.

    as long as you complete 4.0 credits including BIO152+5 (MAT134 is recommended) and finish with a 2.0 CGPA during your first year, you can apply to the biology major program after first year.

    also, you’re going to need to accompany that biology major with either another major or two more minors (learn more about acceptable combinations of subject POSts and how/when to sign up for them here).

    so yeah. first year is all just a program-less lie. fortunately, a general first-year means that you have some room to make mistakes and reinterpret your entire life and have an existential crisis or two. so at least your inevitable confusion is all built into the framework of your degree.

    i hope you have a wonderful first year. try to enjoy getting confused.

    xoxo,

    aska

    * well. not?everything. that would be?melodramatic. and aska is?never?melodramatic.

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  • campus,  maps

    RUN

    June 1, 2015

    I have a question about back to back courses. I have psych at 11 (it’s one hour for that day)and then a first year foundations at 12. Is it horribly hard to sprint across campus in like 1 second….

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i guess it depends on what you mean by ‘across campus.’ most buildings are within 10 minutes of each other, but if you’re trying to get from, say…isabel bader to earth sciences in ten minutes, you may have to book it.

    fortunately, university lectures are not like high school classes. in the unlikely event that you need to dip out from your psych class five minutes early to get to your college one class, no one’s going to chew you out about it. (unless you’ve got an especially crabby professor).

    also, if you’re going to be near the city in the summer, i would highly recommend practising your route between classes. once the timetable is updated with lecture locations, use the uoft map to figure out where all your classes will be. then get on campus and trace your steps. the surer you are about where you’re going, the faster you’ll go.

    or you could just hire a runner to carry you on their back.

    godspeed,

    aska

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  • admissions,  odds are that won't be asked again

    really, where would we be without grade 9’s?

    June 1, 2015

    I recently go suspended for three days for using axe aand some else lit it on fire. Im in grade 9 and this is the first time in my life I got suspended. I for wont do it again though. My dream is to enter uoft for engineering but will this suspension affect me in any way. Will I get asked of a suspension? If so, should I say no? Thanks in advance.

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i’m so sorry, bud. i know this must be really hard for you.

    but this is so funny. it takes a lot to make a dried-up old internet veteran like myself experience joy anymore, but i think you just might’ve managed it.

    honestly, i’m trying to think of something witty to say or some way to sass you out, but i am just speechless. you literally. lit your axe. on fire. you can’t make this stuff up, ladies and gentlemen.

    thank you. thank you, for sharing your story with the world.

    anyway: no, this won’t affect your admissions chances in any way. the only thing the university looks at is your high school transcript. as long as your marks are good, that’s all that matters.

    try not to burn any more axe, though, eh? that stuff’s deadly. and, just a tip, as someone who’s known a lot of grade 9 boys in their life: lay off the axe. girls don’t like it. guys don’t like it. just trust aska and switch to something less abrasive – you’ll thank me some day.

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • courses,  enrollment,  first year

    you can’t really understand course enrolment until you’ve lived through it

    June 1, 2015

    Picking my first year courses and I was wondering do a lot of first years not get into the courses they want due to the amount of people signing up? I don’t really have backup courses….

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    as with everything at uoft, that question depends on a tangle of finicky little conditions. because why would things ever be simple at this university?

    i’m gonna try and give you a general sketch of how course enrolment tends to go down, and then you can make your game plan from there.

    the lowdown:

    the faculty of arts & science, in their infinite wisdom, knows very well what courses first year students need to get into subject POSts. there’s a group of regular suspects: BIO120+130, CHM138+139, MAT133/135+136, PHY131+132, PSY100, CSC108H1, SOC101, ENG140, CLA160, POL101. and i didn’t even have to look at the course calendar for that. come at me, faculty registrars.

    because everyone needs to take the same handful of classes, they try to set it up so that there’s enough space for you all. they do this by 1) making the classes MASSIVE, and 2) giving certain students priorities. a priority is basically a restriction on a course that lets some students enrol in it before others.

    let’s take CSC108H1 – introduction to computer programming – as an example to see how this works.

    if you take a look at CSC108 on the timetable (tip: bookmark the timetable now; it’ll by your absolute best friend for course planning), you’ll see that there is a ‘P’ under the column ‘Enrolment Indicator.’ that ‘P’ stands for priority.

    if you click on ‘See Details,’ you’ll see that first-year UTSG Computer Science students have priority for this course. that means they’ll be able to enrol in the course earlier than everyone else. this is called the ‘priority period.’

    on July 30th, when course enrolment opens for first-year students, first year computer science students ONLY will be able to enrol in CSC108H1. then, when the priority lifts on August 7th at 6am, everyone else will have the opportunity to sign up for the course.

    what this system boils down to is this: if you’re in the priority group for a big class, you should be fine. if you’re planning on taking any courses that are smaller, more obscure, or that you don’t have priority for, i would highly recommend you get yourself some backups, pronto.

    notice i said ‘backups,’ plural. the faculty does everything they can to stop course enrolment from spiralling into a hunger games-esque nightmare, but there’s only so much they can do.

    ALSO: make sure that you’re ready to start enrolling in courses the MINUTE YOUR START TIME HITS. have all the course codes of the classes you want to take (including backups) ready to go. if your start time is at 6am, you best be at your computer and ready to go at 5:55. too early? need to sleep? too bad. i promise you this won’t be the first time uoft forces you out of bed.

    keep in mind that first-years are the last people who get to sign up for courses, so you’re at a bit of a disadvantage already. don’t’make it worse by showing up late to the party.

    finally, remember that loads of people will drop out of classes after the first week, so it’s a good idea to enrol in place-holder courses while you wait for a class you absolutely NEED to become available again. waitlists are a great way to do this easily.

    as long as you unquestioningly follow all of aska’s advice, you should be able to get into most of the classes you want.

    do as i say not as i do

    cheers,

    aska

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  • extracurricular

    SPORTS!

    May 29, 2015

    Hey aska, how do I get involved with the sports community at U of T (St. George Campus)? more specifically, what’s the process involved to if you want to try out for one of the Varsity Blues sports teams? Thanks in advance

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    i find it oddly charming that you’re asking me about sports so earnestly. i can’t even dribble a ball. just looking at a hurdle makes my thighs ache. but although i know next to nothing about playing sports, i do know how to google a thing or two, so here we go!

    sports! sign

    aska is both passionate about and dedicated to the watching of sports(!)

    most open tryouts for the 2015-16 season take place near the beginning of the academic year (the earliest tryouts, for male baseball, are in mid-august). keep an eye out here to find out when tryouts are for your athletic competition of choice.

    just make sure you register by the deadline (they’ll be listed on the tryouts page as the summer progresses) and complete your eligibility and medical forms (not yet available on the tryouts page – but soon) before showing up to try out.

    you’ll also want to know if you’re eligible to play football or calvinball or sportball or whatever it is you want to play. you can check that here.

    and that’s pretty much it! then all you gotta do is show up, get the quaffle in the hoop, knock the baseball out of the court with your bat, and you’re in!

    good luck,

    aska

    P.S.: some other ways to get involved with athletics at uoft include: intramural sports, registered classes at hart house, and working out at the gyms at goldring, hart house and the athletic centre. also, running from one end of campus to another when you only have ten minutes between classes. that one’s my favourite. ha ha.

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  • subject post spotlights

    subject POSt spotlight: FOREST CONSERVATION

    May 28, 2015

    forest conservation is one of those programs that you only know about if it’s something you’re already interested in. however, such a dynamic program as this one shouldn’t be as niche as you think it?is. you don’t have to be a farm boy from northern ontario to pursue this degree.

    with applications in environmental, political, policy-making and scientific careers, forest conservation can lead to a host of exciting opportunities.

    what is this program?

    exactly what it sounds like. you learn about forests, from every angle and discipline: ecology, science, urban planning, and biology. forestry combines “traditional ecological (biology, zoology) and physical (soil science, hydrology) sciences with social sciences.”

    it’s a truly interdisciplinary program, one that will prepare you for “[r]esponsible stewardship of our forests.” which sounds a little bit like you’ll be some kind of benevolent tree god after completing this program – and what’s not to like about that?

    does this program have any prerequisites?

    most of the forest conservation POSts recommend?you take BIO120 and a smattering of other courses?in your first year to stay on track.

    however, all the programs are type 1’s, so as long as you’ve completed 4.0 FCEs, you can enrol in?any forest conservation program instantly.

    what kind of a degree do i get with this program?

    an H.B.A. or an H.B.Sc., depending on which POSt you go for. the forest conservation science programs will be – you guessed it – an H.B.Sc., and the forest conservation programs will be an H.B.A.

    from the calendar: “The arts program focuses on communal forest management, development of forest policies, forest economics and forest product trade, with electives in social sciences, while the science program concentrates on forest biology and ecology with electives in life and physical sciences.”

    either way, both the science and arts?programs are super diverse and super relevant, especially in a Canadian context.

    what jobs/opportunities are available for this program?

    the faculty of forestry also offers a Master of Forest Conservation (MFC), Master of Science in Forestry (MScF) and PhD program. the master’s program incorporates a three-month internship into its course structure.

    graduates are employed in a diverse number of positions, from park planning to wildlife protection to international development. take a look at some alumni profiles here.

    now go hug a tree, forest nymph,

    aska

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