UofT Cuties

Hey there,

   UofT is actually a fantastic school when it comes to gender/sexual equality and self-expression. Each campus has a ‘positive space’ program that works towards creating safe go-to spaces for LGBT students when/if they ever need to talk or ask for advice. You can learn more about the ‘positive space’ initiative here: http://www.positivespace.utoronto.ca/ .

   Furthermore, the St. George Campus is home to the Sexual and Gender Diversity Office which was established to meet the concerns of LGBT students across the campus. The office holds counselling services, safety centers, and hosts events throughout the year in which the community may participate and attend. The office is also your go-to place if you ever need to report harassment or bullying. To learn more about all the wonderful services the Sexual and Gender Diversity Office has to offer, click the link provided here: http://www.sgdo.utoronto.ca/

   UofT is also home to many LGBT clubs, groups and committees that you may join. There’s the “Sexual Education & Peer Counselling Centre”, “Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans People of the University of Toronto (LGBTOUT)”, “LGBT Dance at UofT”, and “The L Film (TLF)”, just to name a few. To check out more of these awesome student organizations and what they have to offer, check out the ULife website and browse campus organizations or specific areas of interest. https://ulife.utoronto.ca/

   Finally, to address your question concerning whether or not there are particular colleges that are “more inclined towards people of queer sexualities,” the answer is simply yes. All colleges at UofT will accept people of all sexual orientations, but their individual support groups may be lacking or struggling to obtain a voice. So, what I will say is that perhaps the two colleges that might be considered the ‘best’ for LGBT open discourse and support would be University College and Victoria College, both of which really advocate for positive space. University College is, however, the ultimate base for this LGBT discourse as it is in fact the home of the school’s Sexual Diversity Studies program which is run by some pretty incredible contributors in queer-Canadian research (I’m a pretty big fan of Professor Green). You can learn more about the SDS undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as student resources, events, and the SDS coordinators here: http://www.uc.utoronto.ca/content/view/284/1809/.

   UC’s Sir Daniel Wilson’s Residence also accommodates LGBTOUT’s Drop-In Centre, which you can learn more about here http://www.lgbtout.com/dropin/. And if that all isn’t enough, UC’s Frosh Week is all about sexual diversity and the acceptance of varying sexual orientations. UC very much prides itself as a centre of acceptance for all walks of life.

   Thank-you very much for this excellent question and I hope this helped you out! Let me know if you need any more information regarding LGBT services at UofT!

Hey anon,

Many students take second-year courses in their first year of study, so it isn’t an uncommon practice. That being said, it shouldn’t be too difficult for you to take and pass those Classics courses. However, I will warn you that the buzz around the Classics major is that the courses are very difficult in terms of testing, so if you have little to no prior knowledge of the ancient societies or their languages, I would suggest taking the recommended first-year course, CLA160H1.

If you do have some experience, but are still unsure about the level of difficulty of the two second-year courses, then my suggestion to you is to attend the first few lectures of both and look over the syllabi carefully in order to understand what is required and expected of you. If after some analysis, you determine that you will be unable to take both courses along with the rest of your classes due to the amount pressure, then switch out of one and opt for a combination of CLA160, along with which ever one of the two second-year courses you found easier. That way, you will feel less stressed about your ability to achieve high enough grades to get into the program, while having a balanced schedule.

I hope this helped, anon. Good luck!

xoxo

Hey anon,

Unfortunately, I did not take this course, however I do know someone who did. When I asked him what he thought of the course, he told me that it was relatively easy, despite the fact that he isn’t a science student, and that the material was quite interesting. The work load is fairly minimal for a half-year course and that if given the chance, he would retake the class in a heartbeat. The ASSU Anti-Calendar for 2010-2011 also provided a 69% retake rate among students who participated in the survey. For more information concerning the student’s thoughts on HPS210H1, here is the link to the ASSU Anti Calendar website: http://assu.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/HistoryPhilosophyHungarian.pdf

If you have any more questions regarding this particular course, don’t be afraid to put them in my ask box and I will consult my friend and/or other sources for more detailed information. I hope this helped you out, anon! Good luck!

xoxo

Hey anon,

Thanks for the love! That  message generally means that your professor has not updated the tutorial schedule to blackboard yet, which happens pretty often. You’ll usually have to wait until your first class starts to obtain instruction regarding how and when to sign up for tutorials. So don’t worry - you haven’t been left out!

Good luck with your first week, anon!

xoxo

Hey there,

Con Hall is one very, very large lecture hall. As soon as you enter, you’ll see many doors, but they all lead to the same room, just different sections of it. There really is no getting lost in Con Hall!

I hope you enjoy POL101 (it was my favourite first-year class)! Good luck!

xoxo

Hey anon,

A lot of students wonder about this same question, so you’re not alone! Whether you commute, or live on campus, what you’ll need to bring to class is the same. The difference however, lies between what needs to be brought to lectures, versus what needs to be brought to tutorials.

For your lectures, you will need to bring either your laptop or a notebook accompanied by pens/pencils. Within the first few classes, you’ll figure out whether or not you’re the kind of person who needs to type their notes in class or write them. If you get distracted easily, keep the laptop at home - you may end up lurking facebook mid-lecture. Or if you find that your writing can’t keep up with the pace of the lecture, then it may be best to ditch the notebook for a keyboard. Once you find what works for you, note taking will seem easy! If you do choose to bring your laptop, however, make sure you check its battery life - especially if you commute! If you have a six hour block of lectures and tutorials, but your laptop battery only lasts for 3 - 4 hours, you may want to bring a notebook instead - or at least one for backup. Nothing is worse than getting stranded on campus with a dead battery and no other means of lecture survival.

For tutorials, you’ll need to bring either your notebook or laptop (depending on the preference of your T.A.), as well as any textbooks or readings that were assigned to you during the week. Tutorials are designed to help guide students through the readings of the course, not necessarily to go over the lecture material. Thus, you may want to make some notes while you read, or perhaps prepare a list of questions or points of reference before your tutorial. Participation in your tutorials is worth 10% of your final grade, so doing some prep-work before your tutorial begins will make getting those marks that much easier.

The above are the basics of what you’ll need to bring to your classes. However keep in mind that every course, as well as every professor, is different, so you may need to bring some extra materials for class. For example, some professors may require you to purchase an ‘iClicker’ and bring it to specific lectures for quizzes and polls, while others may want you to bring along your course reader. Whatever the case, your professor will inform you of their requirements within the first week of classes.

I hope this helped answer your question, anon! If you have any other questions, just pop them in the ask box! Good luck with your courses and have fun!

xoxo

Hi db87,

Unfortunately, typing in a course’s activity and section code into ROSI is the only way to check available space in a particular course. I know it seems tedious, but keep trying! Students drop out of classes all the time, even after classes have already started because of schedule conflicts, or just because they’re not as interested in the material of a course as they thought they would be. If there’s a particular course you’re primarily interested in getting into, join their wait list as opposed to just skipping over it to see if another course has availability instead. Getting on that waitlist will give you the best chance of eventually entering the course.

Also, if you’re a first-year, try entering course codes for some first-year seminar classes if you haven’t yet. Find a couple that interest you (or that cover some breadth requirements, perhaps) and check their availability. Most likely, there will be some courses still available for registry which may fit with your schedule.

Always check back to the timetable to see if your course has multiple meeting sections as well. Make sure to check any priorities, restrictions and other enrollment indicators that may be on a course to determine whether or not you are eligible for regisrtation. If you find that another meeting section is available, try joining it on ROSI, provided that the meeting section fits with your schedule. The class may not be at the desired day and time that you originally wanted, but sometimes the sacrifice is necessary.

I hope this helped you out a little bit, db87. Good luck with your course search!

xoxo