12 distinct credits - askastudent

12 distinct credits

don’t worry bout it

March 21, 2019

12 distinct credit: Does this rule apply to a Specialist and a Major? If yes then, does the first year courses count? Because if it does then I will have 6.5 overlapping credit. Applied Statistic Specialist and Actuarial Science Major if you need specifics.

Thank you.

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hey hey,

got a short but sweet answer for you– the 12 distinct credits rule seems to only apply to the double major/major and two minor combinations. seems like if you’re already completing a specialist, any program you tackle on top of that is allowed to have unlimited overlap. so i think you’re good, m’friend.

over n out,

aska

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dentistry, subject POST

dentists scare me. stay back.

June 10, 2014

hello,

so I’ve been thinking about these questions for a long time but i can’t find an answer and frankly there is no one i can ask to help. so i just finished my first year here at uoft in life sciences and now is the time to choose posts. my goal is to study dentistry. i have applied to a specialist in neuroscience and a minor in psych and i was thinking i should do a combination of those( neuroscience specialist and psych minor) or a major in neuroscience and a major in biology which is a type 1 post. however, i have heard that neuroscience is really hard and if i dont wanna go to medical school and am aiming for dental, then i should choose something easier. the problem is I don’t know what the best post to get into is if you wanna become a dentist. so i was just wondering, what should my post be? or should i just go with neuroscience and biology(major+major) or neuroscience and psych(specialist+minor) ?

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hey there,

so, you wanna grow up and be a kid’s worst nightmare, huh? well, good on ya. i’d like to be that, too, but unfortunately i don’t have any qualifications to back me up and apparently whispering, “Count Olaf is near!” at random children in grocery stores is “rude” and “unsettling.” whatever. talk about prejudice, right?

the academic requirements for uoft’s DDS program are fairly general and you could probably fulfil them with either?combination. also, decisions are not completely based on your grades: your DAT score also plays a part – so whichever POSts?you choose, it’s not gonna make it or break it. which is comforting.

both the neuroscience major and specialist meet nearly all the academic requirements all on their own, but keep in mind that one pesky requirement that all science students hate: the humanities requirement. it’s just one full-year course, and if you already took one in first-year, you don’t have to worry about it. if you didn’t…

hold tight now, ’cause i’m about to do some really dry calculating:

the neuroscience specialist is 11.0 FCEs (not including first year courses), and the psych minor is 3.0 FCEs (not including PSY100Y). assuming you’re taking a regular course load, that gives you 1.0 spare FCEs, which may have to be used for that humanities req (though there is the possibility of a couple of courses overlapping, i.e. satisfying requirements for both POSts). so your first combination is a pretty tight fit – however, if that’s the one you feel comfortable doing, then absolutely go for it.

your second combination comes to a total of 11.0 required courses, not including first year (again, there is the possibility for a little bit of overlap between required courses, but remember the 12 distinct credits rule). this combination gives you a bit more wiggle room for courses.

at the end of the day, i can’t make this decision for you. and i really shouldn’t – i can’t even tell you the difference between neuroscience and psychology (they both have to do with the brain, right? which one’s the one where you lobotomise people?). but i do know this: you should always go with the thing that makes you feel like you’re on top of the world. also, because dentistry does have quite a high CGPA requirement, you should go with the thing you think you’ll do better at (how did you do in PSY100H1? in BIO120H1 and BIO130H1? these things can help you decide).

and if it turns out you’ve made the completely wrong decision, you can always change your POSt this time next year.

best of luck (you sadistic tooth demon),

aska

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12 distinct credits, degree requirements

double the major brings double the trouble

July 22, 2013
So I’m going into first year this fall, and I’m planning to do a double major in physiology and nutritional sciences at UTSG. I was wondering how double majors works because I am so lost in every aspect of it. Do I have to have 12 distinct credits (?) between the programs and if I do, what does that mean? Will I have to take summer classes to complete the double major? How many courses can be overlapped between the two?
Sorry for the questions but I’m so very confused. Thanks!

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Hey hey

The rule of having 12.0 distinct credits seems to be weirdly confusing to everyone andI genuinely don’t understand why. I personally find that the name is enough to make things clear, but given everyone’s trouble, I demand we get a new name for that rule!

My ideas:
- 12.0 different credits
- 12.0 credits that are not like the others ones
- 12.0 credits that are not the same
- 12.0 credits that have their own distinct course code
- 12.0 differing credits
Anyhow, long story short, it’s as simple as it sounds.

In your degree of 20.0 credits, 12.0 of them need to be distinct. As in among your two majors or whatever program combo you end up with, you can only have 8.0 overlapping. So for the student who does a double major in psychology and cognitive science, you can have a max of 8.0 overlapping credits.

Make sense?

But no, summer school won’t be necessary for you to complete this. Majors are typically around 8.0 FCE each so they’re definitely doable if you just do a regular course load each year.

Cheers!

aska
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major, programs, specialist

doin the most

March 26, 2024

hiiii!! I’m a high school student looking at uoft programs, do you know if it’s possible to do a specialist and a major at the same time as part of the build your degree? thank you!!

hey there,

great question! yes, it is possible to do a specialist and a major at the same time. you wouldn’t catch me trying that, considering i took too many electives in first year, but all the power to anyone who wants to!

as you can see on the “build your own degree” page, it’s true that the common program combinations are one specialist, or two majors, or one major and two minors. but those are just options that are the minimum needed to graduate. you can absolutely do more, up to a maximum of three programs. but if you do three, one of them has to be a minor.

if you’re doing a specialist, you won’t have to worry about the 12 distinct credit rule, according to the arts & sciences page on program requirements. the 12 distinct credit rule basically says you need 12 credits that don’t overlap and count towards multiple degrees. this rule only applies to majors and minors. so while taking a specialist and a major, it might seem overwhelming to complete all your credits, but you are able to take courses that will count towards both your specialist and major! assuming they’re somewhat related.

for example, if you were doing a specialist in psychology and a major in books & media studies, you could take PSY427 “media psychology” and it would count towards both programs! isn’t that super convenient? i was excited when i found out about that.

just make sure that your programs can be done together, since there are some exceptions where two programs can’t be done together. to my knowledge, this is the case with collaborative life science programs. you can check that out with this short list of program exclusions for the collaborative life science programs under the tab “acceptable combinations”.

and just to be safe, you should also check the specific pages on the arts & sciences calendar website for your programs to see if there are any other exceptions. these pages should be easy to find, but if not, just google “program name uoft” and click on the arts & sciences link.

finally, i’d encourage you to reach out to a recruitment officer if anything else is still confusing! it likely will be, because everything about uni is so confusing at this stage, and we’re just expected to know it all and have it all together? actually, scratch that. everything about life is confusing right now and we’re just expected to know it all.

lol sorry for that pessimistic ending. it’s finals season. but i hope this was helpful, good luck!!

over and out,

aska

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12 distinct credits, anthropology

upping the ANT(e)

February 28, 2019

Can I major and minor in the same thing? I mean they are slightly different. Like if I’m majoring in Anthroplogy (Science) for the BSc… and want to minor in Anthroplogy (Arts) is it allowed? My other minor is Political Science.

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hello hello,

sorry it took so long for me to get to this!

as far as the artsci degree requirements indicate, as long as you have 12.0 distinct full-course equivalents (FCEs) between your programs, you’re able to take both the anthro major and minor. i consulted the undergrad anthro page for your requirements, and it seems like if you’re careful with the courses you choose, you are able to get 12.0 distinct credits out of this combination.

i’d suggest you talk to your registrar just to confirm. degree explorer is also a useful tool we’ve recommended in the past, that can help you track this yourself.

this is kind of a weird one– usually i’d suggest you take a specialist if you love your stuff that much, but i guess one isn’t available for the sciencey anthropology. huh.

peace, love, and fairy dust (we’re team oxford comma here),

aska

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exclusions, subject POST

not about that linear path of life

February 23, 2016

Hey there aska [aka light from heaven above],

I’m currently a 2nd year UTSC student who’s doing 2 majors and a minor (IDS, Public Policy co-op, and Econ minor). HOWEVER, I want to make my economics minor a major after finding out I really like the subject matter. the thing is, I’m missing 2 first year calc courses that are require for econ majors. I can take them in 3rd year but while I think I can manage 70s in the calc courses I know that will lower my (C)GPA quite a bit and I AM looking towards grad school eventually [maybe law school, maybe just in social sciences idk yet but that’s another problem] my question is that I’m just wondering if it’ll be worth it to risk lowering my GPA in 3rd year when grad schools look at that .. especially since they are first year courses [p.s I did the math and I could still graduate on time thanks to the 12 distinct credit rule and ids/pp/econ having overlapping courses].

An add-on question is that I took a statistics course (stab22) earlier for a pre-req towards my other majors but it counts as an exclusion to a quantitative methods of economics class I need to take for my econ major. I did rlly well in stats (83%) so will that mark go to waste? Or can I still apply that to satisfy my IDS requirement and just uptake the other econ class to fulfill my requirements, thereby using both towards my gpa [since its different majors] despite being considered exclusions.

My last chance to apply as an econ major will be at the end of this sem when I have 10 credits so I’m super confused!!!!!

Any and all opinions/info/train of thought is very much appreciated!!!!!,

Thanks a bunch ;-;

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hey there,

listen, i understand that this is a tough situation. i’ve been in a similar one myself. and i know that in these situations, ALL YOU WANT is for someone to tell you what to do. “just tell me what i should do and i’ll do it, no complaints!” i’ve begged people. but they can’t tell me what to do, just like i can’t tell you what to do. you’re in charge – doesn’t that suck?

ultimately, you have to figure out the POSt configuration that will make you happiest. i do have a few general tidbits of advice, which you can feel free to take or leave as you like:

i wouldn’t recommend making a decision based on tentative post-graduation plans. since you’re not sure exactly what you’d like to do in terms of postgrad, you’ll be very frustrated with your past self in fourth year if you made a decision based on a path you’re not following anymore. chances are, the POSt combination that you’re most excited about, is the one in which you’ll be most successful. even with calc.

if you find the econ. major really interesting, then go for it. keep in mind, though, that you’re not allowed to have three majors, so you’ll either have to drop another major before you add econ., OR change one to a minor. keep in mind that while the IDS major has unlimited enrolment, the public policy co-op major is unlimited, so i’d recommend thinking on it/discussing with your registrar before dropping or downgrading from that one, because you won’t be able to easily add it back.

also, whatever you decide to do, it’s best not to drop anything before you get into the econ major. since that major has limited enrolment, there is always the possibility that you won’t be accepted (i mean, not to be pessimistic or anything. i’m sure you will be. but just in case). wait to be accepted before you go dropping or changing around your other POSts – it’s just easier.

as to your second question: it’s the other way around. the second course that you take will be an extra because it is an exclusion of a course you’ve already taken. that means that it will count towards your econ. major, but it will NOT count towards your GPA or 20.0 degree credits.

you won’t be able to make both count towards your GPA. what you might be able to do, though, is convince the economics deparmtent to accept the stats course you’ve already taken to fulfil this requirement. you can contact them at ecoss ( at) utsc (. ) utoronto ( .) ca.

good luck with everything!

aska

P.S. thank you for your excellent e-mail subject line – i hope you don’t mind that i’ve appropriated it as title for this post.

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subject POST

POSts, POSts, POSts, POSts, POStPOSts!

October 2, 2015

Hi Aska,

I was wondering what my chances would be if I petitioned the university to do a triple major of Computer Science, Math, and Statistics. Apparently it has been done before:https://www.reddit.com/r/UofT/comments/2nozph/triple_major/

I would be able to complete it within the 20.0 credits in order to graduate. I would also only have 6.5 credits overlapping between the three of them, which I will have enough to have 12.0 distinct credits between the three. I will be taking all the same courses regardless, but if all the courses I take satisfy the requirement for a triple major shouldn’t I try to petition for it?

Thanks.

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hey there,

to be honest, i’ve never personally heard of someone petitioning for three majors successfully, and i don’t entirely trust that reddit thread. seems like a lot of second-hand information. i mean, kudos for doing your research, and hey, i guess it COULD happen, but it usually doesn’t.

that being said, you can petition it if you want to. it won’t cost you anything, and it’s allowed.

however, i would urge you to think about why you want three majors. what will having three majors – as opposed to a double major and one minor – really accomplish that the latter combination couldn’t?

this is something that your registrar’s office (who you’ll have to talk with if you want to submit a petition) will ask you, so i recommend you think long and well about it.

tl;dr: you can do it. but you may not be successful.

cheers,

aska

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keeners, UTSC

a tangled, tangled web of degree requirements

August 11, 2014

Hey,
how long do you think it would take to complete a Philosophy/History double major at UTSC if you took courses every summer? Just wondering 🙂
Thanks!

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hey there,

i know y’all think this is like a super easy question to answer, but there are so many variables involved that it’s actually almost impossible. so, let’s unpack this and find out, together, just how complicated this is.

1. both the history and philosophy majors require 7.0 FCEs – 14.0 FCEs total; simple enough, right?

WRONG. history and philosophy are close/flexible enough disciplines that you can probably have a bit of overlap between courses (i.e. take credits that fulfil requirements for both POSts). however, you have to keep in mind the 12.0 distinct credits rule when entertaining the possibility of overlap – only 2.0 FCEs out of a double major worth 14.0 credits can overlap.

so your two majors could take anywhere between 12.0 – 14.0 FCEs to complete. already, we’ve got some uncertainty. but it gets worse.

2. in a degree at UTSC, you’ll need to fulfil the breadth requirements. that’ll take 2.5 credits altogether, however, some of the credits that fulfil the breadth requirements will likely fulfil your major requirements, as well.

meaning you’ll have take anywhere between 0.0-2.5 FCEs on TOP of your major requirements to meet the breadth req’s.

so already – assuming you don’t have to late withdraw from a course, and that you pass every course you take – we’re looking at anywhere between 12.0-16.5 FCEs.

of course, you need at least 20.0 FCEs to graduate, but depending on how many credits it takes you to complete those requirements (i haven’t even factored in the requirement that both history and philosophy have that you take a certain number of upper-year FCEs – that could up your credit count, too), you may have to take more than 20.0 FCEs.

as you can see, this is getting nightmarishly complicated. let’s just assume nothing goes wrong, your plans won’t change, and it’ll take you 20.0 FCEs on the dot to complete your degree.

how long would it take if you took courses every summer? well, that depends. how many courses are you planning on taking here we have another ambiguity. let’s just assume you were to take the expected full-time course load – 2.5 FCEs – every term.

20.0 FCEs/2.5 FCEs per term = 8 terms.

8 terms/3 terms per year = 2.66 years. you would finish in june of your third year. which – i believe – means you would be able to request a june graduation.

so there’s your short answer, but as you can see, things are never as simple as they first appear. uoft is good at teaching that lesson.

cheers,

aska

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12 distinct credits, subject POST

filling some program req’s

July 21, 2014

Hello

Who makes the choices as to which courses get used to fulfill the program requirements. I do not want one course to be used for both programs as that will go over my maximum overlapping limit but one degree explorer it shows this. Do I need to contact the program admin?

thanks

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hey there,

ultimately, the department that administers the program is the one that gives you the OK when you want to graduate, so yeah, they’re the people you’ll want to speak to first.

however, if you’re having trouble determining whether you’re following the 12.0 distinct credits rule, then that’s the domain of your college registrar.

sooo, department first, then the registrar. then out for ice cream, ’cause that stuff’s stressful.

best,

aska

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12 distinct credits, graduation, subject POST

you’ve got the beeeeest of both worlds, mix it all together and…

January 14, 2014

Hi,

I’m a second year student majoring in Bioethics and 2 minors in Biology and Physiology. I know that Bioethics is a arts program, while my minor’s are in science. I was wondering if I would graduate with a B.A, or BSc, or if I had the choice to choose? I’m also kind of confused about the 12.0 different courses rule, how does that apply to my minors since there is quite a bit of overlap between them.

Thanks in advance!

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hey there,

i’d recommend reading this post to understand the 12.0 distinct credits rule. basically, 8.0 of your credits in your degree can overlap – so between your minors and major, there can only be an overlap of 8.0, i.e. 12.0 credits must each qualify as a requirement for only one of your programs (but that post explains it better than i do so def read that). as for your degree, you would get to choose, which is kind of a super awesome thing that not a lot of people get to do. so CHOOSE WISELY (or just flip a coin lol that’ll work too).

best,

aska

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12 distinct credits, subject POST

a surplus of subject posts

September 5, 2013

Hi,

I was just wondering if you can claim a specialist, major and minor? Also, what is the rule about overlapping courses for the specialist and major, as in, what percentage of courses must be different?

Thanks!

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Hey hey

You can certainly claim a specialist, a major, and a minor — that is, of course, assuming you have a taste for masochism.

That being said, the rule is no different from when you have a double major going on or a major and two minors. For the entirety of your degree, you need to have 12.0 distinct credits.

Or if we have to work in percentages, 40% may overlap.

Cheers!

aska

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12 distinct credits, anthropology, subject POST

versatility at its finest

July 24, 2013

Hello!

I’m on the precipice of my fourth year (of five) at U of T. And now, during course selections, I want to change my POST. Specifically, I want to trade my general anthropology major, my diaspora and transnational studies minor and my biology minor, for a double major in biological anthropology and socio-cultural anthropology. I believe I can do this and still respect the 12.0 distinct course rule.

Can I hold two majors offered by the same department? And, will I be able to continue enrolling in classes normally if I delete my current POST in order to make these changes?

Thanks for your time

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Hey hey

“Precipice” sounds like an awkward word choice right there. Why not “cusp”? Or “brink”? Something more “edge”-esque?

Anyhow, yes, yes you can enrol in those two majors together.

I’m going to be honest with you, my first reaction was “Lol no.” I asked another person who said “Lol no but maybe double check with anthro.” Then I emailed anthro — be tea dubs, the anthro undergraduate administrator is such a sweet woman! — and well… apparently you can certainly do a double major in anthro and anthro!

Naturally, of course, heed the 12.0 distinct credits rule, and remember that you can’t have more than 15.0 credit with the same three letter code.

But your ability to function on ROSI (e.g. enrolling in new courses if they suit your fancy) is based on you being in a proper subject POSt combo, so if you suddenly drop the three you have and linger in a state of “requested” for the other two majors, that’ll be a problem.

So for now, stick with the POSts you have and request the two majors — there’s no limit to what you can request. And then when you get invited to the new majors in September, THEN you delete the old ones.

Make sense?

Cheers!

aska

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