• writing

    we <3 the writing centre

    October 31, 2020

    hi! do you have any tips on how to approach the writing center? i’m a first year and i want to make sure my papers are the best it can be; it’s just hard when there’s still that high school tinge to your writing if you know what i mean haha. should i be approaching the writing center before or after i’m done my paper? i have no idea how this works. thank you!

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i really love my friendly local writing centre, so i’m really glad you asked!

    when i was in my first year, i also remember being super confused as to how the writing centre works, but i was too scared to ask and didn’t end up going for a long while. so kudos to you for reaching out. transitioning to university-level academic writing is definitely challenging, and it’s important to have some kind of support instead of figuring everything out yourself.

    my brain is absolutely fried from midterms. have you also found that being a student during a pandemic is so HARD? so uh i’m just gonna brain-dump all the advice i can think of, i hope that’s cool with you.

    first, to answer your question about when to approach the writing centre, you can ask the centre for help at pretty much any point in the process of writing a paper! you can go when you just get the assignment and ask for help outlining/brainstorming, you can go if you get stuck midway through, and you can certainly go at the end when you have a finished draft ready for review. you can ask for help with citations too, or request advice honing a thesis. heck, you can even bring your readings and notes in and ask for help processing information. writing centre instructors understand that papers are a process, and they’re quite happy to meet you wherever you are.

    in terms of choosing an instructor to book with, it’s a good idea to ask around. upper-years at your college, particularly the ones in humanities or social sciences, should have a good sense of which writing centre instructors are popular, particularly kind, particularly effective, et cetera. i picked my go-to writing instructor by asking my friends who they liked, and i’m really glad i asked because it saved me the trouble of feeling things out for myself.

    the process of booking and getting ready for an appointment goes kinda like this: you decide you need help, you figure out which writing centres you’re eligible for (your college plus the colleges affiliated with any courses you’re taking, ie for help with a VIC279 project i could go to the vic writing centre), and you enter the appropriate writing centre portal. then you figure out what a good time is for you, check your preferred instructors’ availability, and follow the instructions to book an appointment with them! appointments are usually 50 minutes long, and instructions for accessing them virtually should be provided. i think different instructors/centres have different preferences for meeting. these days, it’s useful to have your assignment on a google doc that you can share with the instructor, so that the two of you can track suggestions and comments as you look the piece over.

    one last pro tip: be strategic about booking your appointments. by the time i hit second year, i realized that a good system for me was to sit down at the beginning of the semester with all my syllabi, and map out all my deadlines. then, i go into the writing centre portal and book appointments right before the deadlines of my biggest term papers. popular writing centre instructors will be hard to get a hold of at the busiest times of the semester, and if you’re sure that you want a slot, it’s best to snag one early. i book mine right before the deadlines because i like to have my final drafts looked over, and as a side effect that forces me to finish my toughest papers early. if you want help earlier in the process, then budget for more time between your deadlines and your appointments. i don’t know what other writing centres’ rules are, but i think mine allows me to book up to three appointments at once, one per week, with a limit of eight per term. get a sense of what the rules are, when you might need help, and book accordingly.

    i hope this helped, and happy halloween!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • scholarships/bursaries

    the career centre is candy and glitter and magic

    March 24, 2015

    Are there resources available at UofT where someone can find help with editing any scholarship applications? Or are we essentially expected to write things up ourselves and hope for the best lol. Thanks in advance 🙂

    ———————————————

    hey there,

    there aren’t any services specifically geared towards writing/editing scholarship applications, at least that i know of – which kind of makes sense, ’cause scholarship applications can pretty much ask you to do anything and everything.

    scholarships are funded by all kinds of different people and institutions, so they’re allowed to ask you whatever they dream up. i’ve answered questions on scholarship forms ranging from “describe a time when you overcame a difficulty to contribute to your community” to, “send us a picture of how you would use Our Great Product TM in your everyday life at university.”

    since more traditional scholarship applications tend to require resumes or ask similar questions that might be asked of you when applying for a job, your best bet might be to attend a workshop put on by the career centre.

    if the scholarship has an interview portion as part of the selection process and you’re feeling nervous about that, you may want to attend a mock interview, for example. if you need help specifically in writing your application, you may consider a resume-writing workshop. or you can visit the CLN for the gazillion other workshops and events the career centre offers.

    peace & love,

    aska

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  • writing

    My Writing has Multiple Personality Disorder

    September 27, 2011
    Hello! Can we book an appointment now at the writing center?? It is really urgent!? I know they start Oct 4th, but I have assignments due before then!

    ———————————————

    Don’t worry, everything is going to be amazing — b’cause boy, do I have some great news for you: the writing centres are OPEN! Students registered in Arts & Science at St. George campus can now book an appointment at any one of the Faculty’s seven writing centres. There are no more excuses for “dangling modifiers”, sudden mid-sentence shifts in person (“my writing has multiple personality disorder!”), or run-away, run-on sentences.

    The University’s writing website also has useful advice on clear and effective writing. It explains everything under the sun, from how to write a strong thesis statement to dealing with that dreaded annotated bibliography. I think they even cover the meaning of life.

    It’s 42,

    Aska
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  • architecture,  dropping courses

    take the initiative, improve your writing skills

    March 12, 2010

    Dear Aska
    I am currently a first year student planning to get into the architecture program, but the entrance requirements are really high… I don’t have a problem with the 3.2 gpa cut off that they have, but what if I don’t get a minimum of 70 in my arc132 course? My english is not good enough to get high marks in that course (you know, arc132 is all about writing papers). Is it possible to retake this course next year in case I didn’t get the minimum mark required, or should i drop it (it’s actually gonna be a late withdrawal now) and take it next year?

    thnx sooo much for any information you can give 🙂

    ———————————————————————-

    It is possible to retake the course next year if you don?t reach the minimum mark. However, it you would have to take it as an extra course. So it would not count toward the 20-credit requirement you need to graduate from UofT.

    I think the answer to your question really depends on the mark you are getting in the course, and what percentage of the course has already been completed. For instance, if you?re currently getting (say) an F in the course after having completed coursework that is going to count for 80% of your total grade, I would advise you to withdraw from the class so that you can focus more on your other courses. If you?re getting a C+ right now, and have only completed coursework for 50% of your final grade, I would suggest that you stick with it ? you still have time to try to pull your mark up, up, up. And if that fails, you can always retake the course next year.

    I?m not trying to intimidate you, but architecture at UofT is extremely competitive. Keep in mind that architecture is a humanities program ? so there will likely be more papers and essays for you to write in higher-level courses. You should really take some time to reflect: if you do end up getting into Architecture, would you enjoy writing all those papers for the theory and history courses?

    If you?re determined to get into architecture, you should seriously consider taking the needed steps to improve your writing skills. Take advantage of your resources! If you want to improve your writing, why not make an appointment at your college writing centre? Or how about checking out the services at the Academic Success Centre? And, if English is not your first language, what about checking out the English Language Learning course offered by New College in the summer?

    I would also really, really recommend that you talk to your college registrar about this in order to clear up any queries, concerns, or reservations you have about your decisions.

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  • colleges,  prospective student,  university-college

    commuter’s guide to colleges

    July 22, 2022

    sorry if you’ve been asked this before, but I just got accepted to University College (Humanities) does the college mean anything if you’re a commuter? like how does it work? can I still use services like libraries at other colleges? does the college actually mean anything i’m kinda confused?

    hi, hello and welcome!

    ah yes, the age-old question of “i’m a commuter and does college actually mean anything”… (and also on that note, does anything even actually mean anything? but i digress.)

    as a commuter, your college doesn’t really matter as much but it does come in handy for some admin stuff, student life, and pretending you’re in a hogwarts house.

    Harry Potter Excited GIFfrom Harry Potter GIFs

    it’s not really a restrictive thing, but more like a way for uoft to somewhat organize the absolute barrage of artsci kids here, imo. you’ll get access to pretty much all the other college libraries and buildings on campus, except for some dining halls which have been restricted to their own college’s student during covid. fun fact, uc also has their own commuter student centre with a kitchenette and lounge. i’m not sure how much people actually use these student centres, but i did drop by once for an event and there were free donuts, so that’s one positive review.

    Boy Kid GIFfrom Boy GIFs

    your college registrar is also pretty imporant (the uc one is here!). they would be your go-to for admin things like academic and financial advising, getting transcripts, paperwork, stuff like that. other nice college perks include writing centres, mentorship opportunities, and some scholarships and awards (uc has a bunch of annual writing awards which are pretty cool). uc is also one of the colleges which offers independent research courses for their students, if that’s something you’re into.

    there are also lots of college-based clubs and events. most are open to all students, except for frosh, which is organized by college and also basically the loudest, most obnoxious poster child for “college things”. but honestly, if you’re not staying on res it’s really up to you how much you’d like to get involved with your college. you can parade around campus bleeding uc red and chanting to your heart’s content, and you’re also free to just… not (i mean, there’s nothing stopping you from literally just leaving). or, more likely, it’ll be something in between, and you’ll get to know your college in a way that works for you 🙂

    hope that helps,

    aska

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  • colleges,  current student,  switching

    the good ol’ college switcheroo

    May 6, 2022

    Hi! I’m in woodsworth college and I’m hoping to try and switch colleges to trinity, Victoria or UC. I’m wondering if you have any advice for how to do this successfully! What kind of reasons are they looking for to switch? What can I do in an application that will make my chances better? Thanks!

    hey there!

    i think a few things would help make a strong application. firstly, try to reach out and apply as soon as you can! it’ll be easier to convince the college that you’ll be a great addition to their community if you join early on in your undergrad career, with plenty of time ahead to experience the college that you want to transfer to. vic actually states that they will not accept transfers from students that have completed more than 10.0 credits, so applying earlier is definitely an advantage.

    a good gpa would help, too. for example, vic requires a cgpa of around B (3.0) or higher. the requirements for other colleges aren’t really publicly available, but i’d assume that a higher gpa would be beneficial.

    anyhow, moving on to the part that you’re really here for… how to actually write your transfer application. college transfer applications are somewhat of a black box. vic is nice enough to lay out some application questions right on their website, but you’ll have to reach out directly to the other colleges to find out their exact requirements.

    do i know anything about how colleges judge their transfer applications? not really. have i even personally transferred colleges before? also no. am i gonna throw some ideas out here anyway? well yes. based on my general experiences applying to stuff, here are a few things that might help.

    Idk Meh GIFfrom Idk GIFs

    • find out more about the college, and talk about what you like about it. try to be as genuine as possible. get a sense of the vision and values of trin, vic and uc,  and describe specific aspects which resonated with you.
    • write about what you’re hoping to get out of the transfer. this shows that you’ve done your research and have a clear idea of why you want to transfer! are there certain college-specific resources that you are hoping to access? is there any aspect of student life in the college which drew you in? if you’re interested in uc’s beloved writing centre, vic’s sweet sweet scholarships (read: “generous financial support”), trin’s small and close-knit community, or anything else for that matter, then write about it!
    • describe what you can bring to the table. how have you contributed to your student community thus far? what kind of a role do you see yourself playing in the college and its community? are there any student groups or activities at the college that you’d like to get involved with? you might want to reference specific initiatives at trin, vic, and uc.

    the college transfer process can be tricky, but hopefully this gives you some ideas for your application! remember that other factors such as the number of spots available at a college could also affect your chances of landing a transfer. as one of the smallest colleges at uoft, i feel like trinity will probably be particularly hard to transfer into, while it may be easier to transfer to a large college like uc. in any case, good luck and give it your best shot!

    all the best,

    aska

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  • covid-19,  failing,  first year

    sending hugs to all the first years <3

    May 5, 2021

    Hi I’m a first year life science student and to be honest this entire school year has not been great. I only passed one course and failed the rest of my courses. I don’t know what to do next to be honest. With COVID-19, online learning, online tests, online exams, online classes, the constant staring at my screen, trying to keep up with work, to be honest its too much. I don’t know what to do next with course selection and choosing majors. I plan on talking with a academic advisor. Any advice?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    thank you for your patience with this answer! i’m really sorry to hear that things have been so rough for you. back in december, i heard from several other first years who were in the same boat as you, and it seems like this year was a phenomenally difficult one in which to be adjusting to uni life. i hope that you’re able to take some time to rest now that the academic year is over — please be kind to yourself!

    i’m not sure if you’ll already have spoken to an academic advisor at your registrar’s office yet, but this is the advice i can offer you. i expect that you’ll be placed on academic probation since your CGPA is likely less than 1.50. maybe you’ll have been notified of that already, or maybe this will serve as a heads up for you. in either case, i’d ask your registrar what that means in terms of your course and subject POSt selection. there may be stipulations that i’m not aware of.

    in terms of choosing majors, you’ll need to have selected the minimum program combination (a specialist OR two majors OR a major and two minors) to register in second-year courses. i’m not sure if the programs you’re interested in are open enrolment or limited enrolment, but for now you’ll need to select open enrolment programs that don’t require you to meet a specific threshold. if they’re not your actual program choices, think of them as placeholders that you can swap out next year if your CGPA is higher.

    i’m not really sure what advice i can offer you regarding course selection, as that’ll depend entirely on your program goals and what requirements you need to fill. if you come up with any specific questions, let me know and i can try to help! otherwise, your registrar’s office is always a good place to go.

    finally, i’d like to recommend some other resources that may help you moving forward:

    • your college should have a learning strategist that you can book an appointment with. learning strategists can help you re-design your study systems, plan schedules that work for you, give you personalized time- and stress- management tips, and more. if you’ve never visited one, they may be useful to you as you try to pull your GPA up.
    • i’m not sure what type of classes you’re in, but writing centres and math learning centres are also great places to visit for paper/homework help.
    • if you’re feeling overwhelmed, u of t runs the ‘My Student Support Program,’ which is accessible 27/7 in multiple languages for confidential support. university is really tough, and resources like these have been invaluable to me as i’ve tried to make it through. i hope you access MySSP if you need it.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • colleges,  innis,  Transferring

    innis LOVES you

    April 2, 2021

    Hi! I was just wondering, is it possible to switch colleges? I’m a first year in Vic right now, and I find that the resources (i.e. the writing centre) is much better at Innis. Just not sure if this is possible though. Thank you.

    ——————————————
    hey there,

    it is in fact possible to switch colleges! if you check out this webpage, click the “new students” drop down menu, and look for the “can i switch my college affiliation?” question, you’ll find the info about that there.

    the tl:dr of it is that you have to submit a letter to the registrar explaining why you want to transfer colleges. i’ve heard that these transfers aren’t easily granted, so make sure the reasons you cite are legitimate.

    i’d actually recommend giving the registrar’s front desk a call, so you can briefly explain some of your reasons and ask for advice on drafting the letter. you might be more successful that way.

    i hope this helps, and good luck with transferring should you choose to move forward!

    be Boundless,
    aska

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  • grades,  writing centre

    how 2 write good

    February 18, 2021

    Hi! So I’m a first year who’s taking a lot of English/literature/writing courses. I knew that my marks would drop a lot coming to uni, and I’m proud of myself for the marks I’m getting. However, I was wondering if you have any tips for improving our writing. I always get somewhere in the low 80s for my marks on my essays, and the highest I’ve gotten is an 85. Again, I’m super happy with myself, but I’m just genuinely getting confused on how to improve. I’ve gone to my profs/TAs office hours for feedback, and also go to the writing centre for each assignment. But it seems like regardless of whether I take in their feedback or not, I’m always stuck in this little range of grades. So, I was wondering if you have any tips or advice. Thanks 🙂

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i hope your first year has been going all right given the circumstances, and i’m glad you reached out about this! you should be proud of yourself, you are doing great during a particularly difficult time to be adjusting to the academic demands of university.

    it’s great that you’re going to office hours for feedback and visiting the writing centre — those are really the two best things you can do. you can also find some really great resources for papers at writing.utoronto.ca, or book an appointment with a learning strategist if you’re interested in improving your paper-writing process.

    i do wonder if there’s a more effective way you could be asking for feedback.

    if you’re able to consistently book time with the same writing centre instructor, for example, they’ll get to know your writing style better and might make stronger recommendations. i’ve been working with the same instructor for over a year now, and during my appointments, i feel like i’m actually receiving really valuable lessons. she now takes the time to explain sentence structure and grammar to me, where she mostly would’ve just made corrections when we didn’t know each other quite as well. if you’re able to try something similar, that might improve the quality of the feedback you receive.

    alternatively, you can try bringing old papers to office hours during the first few weeks of a new class, and ask your instructor to look over your writing style and make early recommendations for things you can work on. if you let them know that you’re really keen on succeeding in their class and improving your skills, i can’t imagine why they wouldn’t want to help you.

    you may also want to look into the english students’ union, and see if they run any mentorship or peer help programs. in my experience, most upper years at u of t are really kind and happy to help you succeed, so if you can find someone who’s been studying english for a while, you might be able to get some good pointers that way.

    apart from that, i truly think the best way to become a better writer is to become a more critical reader. if you can learn to deconstruct an essay that you think is particularly well written, figure out why it works, and apply that to your own writing, you’ll be in a much better position. i don’t know if you know this, but i believe the writing centre can actually help you with learning to read more critically. you can bring a reading from class in and go through it with an instructor.

    i’ve actually never taken an english course at u of t, so i don’t feel like the most qualified person to give you tips on this.

    plus, it’s really hard to tell someone how to improve their writing without reading a paper that they’ve written! but i hope something in here has at least given you an idea of how to move forward.

    good luck with the rest of your semester! i hope you’re able to achieve your grade goals soon.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • admissions,  grad school

    wrote you an essay

    February 12, 2021

    hi, i’m looking into speech pathology for my masters at UofT and it’s such a dream to go there but i’ve heard a lot of bad things about it,,? specifically the over the top strain regarding work load; university is hard, duh, but people have been telling me it’s worse than other unis regarding this but i don’t know how true that is. in addition, i’m not sure how much you know about the speech pathology program there (i’ve done a considerable amount of research on it myself) but i was just wondering if there was any insight you might be able to offer? thanks <3

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    thank you for waiting for this answer!

    i feel like i’ve gotten questions about speech pathology in the past, but unfortunately, u of t is such a huge school that it would be impossible for me to be familiar with every program.

    i can write a little in response to what you’ve heard about u of t, though, in hopes it will help you in your deliberations.

    in many ways, getting to attend u of t really is a dream. before attending here, i experienced a dilemma similar to what you’re weighing now — i wanted to become a u of t student so bad, but i’d heard such terrible things about the school. one of the smartest people i knew said they wouldn’t be able to pay him any amount of money to choose u of t. my friends at other canadian universities are convinced that no matter how bad they have it, u of t students have it worse.

    in some respects, it is really important to acknowledge the strain that studying at u of t can create. the workload is demanding, the expectations are high, and your peers are brilliant. in certain programs more so than others (think super-exclusive ones likely to attract ambition), there’s an atmosphere of competition. many students, especially those who are racialized, LGBTQ, and women, experience pretty intense impostor syndrome here. u of t is also many years deep in a student mental health crisis. i don’t want to paint this school as rainbows and butterflies, because it’s not. it is absolutely true that some people have a deeply difficult time at this school.

    with that said, that’s only one potential side to the u of t experience. while my experience does contain some of the difficult things i’ve mentioned above, i am incredibly happy with my choice to attend u of t and am glad that the horror stories didn’t scare me away. for starters, u of t is an innovative university — my course material regularly blows my mind, which makes learning here so much fun. i’ve gotten a boost to my career here that i don’t think i would have elsewhere — being a u of t student comes with so many opportunities and valuable connections. i have had to study hard, but alongside that i’ve met some of my favourite people ever, felt supported by most of my professors and TAs, and got to be involved in some really cool extracurriculars. u of t has so many offerings, and if you’re willing and able to invest in your learning and your community, you will get a lot out of studying here. i should also note that there are a lot of student supports available to help you succeed, like writing centres and learning strategists. 

    actually, i took a semester of courses at a different canadian university, and actually got lower grades there. go figure. i think to a certain extent, university is just university and you have to grind no matter where you are.

    if you’re worried about what you’re hearing about u of t, i’d take a step back and consider yourself as a student. what kind of support system do you have? what do you value from a university education? what are the pros and cons of all your options? if you have the passion to engage in rigorous study and the support system to see you through challenges in your personal life and degree, and if this is truly a good option for you, then i wouldn’t shy away just because you’ve heard bad things. my experience here has been good. yours can be, too.

    be Boundless,

    aska

     

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  • innis,  writing,  writing centre

    becky vogan fan club!

    January 13, 2021

    Hi! i’m not sure what college you’re in but was just wondering if you have any experience with innis’ writing centre, or if you know anyone who has experience with the people there! i may be going there for a class to look over a few papers in the coming months and i wanted to hear some things on how each instructor is! sorry if this is silly, thanks 🙂

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    this isn’t silly at all. i do have experience with the innis college writing centre, yes! i’ve only ever booked with one writing centre instructor there, though, so i can’t really give you much of a rundown on all your options.

    that one instructor i know is becky vogan, and i’d highly recommend her! i fully believe that her advice has bumped many of my grades up—she’s so good at her job.

    i think she actually used to work (or still does work??) in the professional publishing industry, so she’s a fantastic editor. i’m constantly impressed by how she can read a paper on a subject she’s unfamiliar with and ask just the right questions to help me draw my ideas out and strengthen my arguments. usually i try to go to a writing centre appointment with a full draft, but whenever i’ve been behind and come with only half a paper written, she’s been a great sounding board for me to bounce ideas off of.

    she’s also a great teacher: when she catches my mechanical errors, she doesn’t just correct me but is patient enough to explain what i did wrong and how i can improve it moving forward.

    on top of that, she’s such a generous and kind person and i genuinely enjoy my appointments with her.

    sorry i can’t provide much more information beyond that—i’m sure the other innis writing centre instructors are also great, i just haven’t met any of them. so don’t rule the rest of them out automatically just based on my advice, because i’m super biased! i’d recommend that you reach out to any innis, cinema studies, urban studies, or writing & rhetoric students that you know, and see if they might have any thoughts as well. these things are usually best crowdsourced.

    i hope this helped!

    be Boundless,

    aska

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