University of Toronto: Why you should go to UofT for Life Sciences: everything you should know

Hi guys! Today I'm gonna talk about Life Sciences at the University of Toronto. Mostly emphasizing how LifeSci in first year works, my experience, is it worth it, and some advice if you want to come to uoft for lifesci!
If you have any questions, let me know in the comments :)
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[@soumil_sk2]

I am not second guessing everything anymore, tysm

[@lindore123]

Hello thank you for this video! I am an in coming first year Life Sciences student at UTSC. I am so excited!!

[@lindore123]

Hello Alessia! You mentioned that the classes are competitive and it’s hard to make friends. Can you please elaborate on that? Like are the people unsupportive and mean?

[@Marcus-nz9xh]

Hi Alessia, I’ve been admitted to U of T life science for both St George and Scarborough campus. I’m still deciding between the two. I don’t really know what my options are when it comes to choosing major and minor since the u of t website does not specify it. Do you mind sharing some advices to me? I really have no idea how university works. Thanks!

[@jasminejacob8865]

Hi Alessia! I received an early acceptance from utsg, but I am going into the humanities! Please make a video about your experience doing a Humanities minor just so that I can get a general idea of what the humanities at UofT are like! :)

[@alessiaisabella]

Sure! I can make a video about this! I am not an expert with the humanities courses but I can talk about my experiences!

[@jasminejacob8865]

Thank you kindly😊

[@jacqueszachariethaddeuspon4151]

Heyyyy

[@alessiaisabella]

hello! I am going to apply to other programs after my undergrad and further my studies! No problem, hope you enjoyed :)

[@williamshambrook8400]

Great video....are you at Scarborough or downown? Scarborough seems to be the most focused on the Life Sciences? This question is for a niece who is a dual citizen living in the US. I am a UofT grad as is one of my sons and as was my Dad so I am trying to convince her to come north. She actually travelled into Boston every day when she was not at her high school to volunteer in a chem lab...Any insight you could help in my mission would be most welcome. Thanks in advance.

[@Dsmx1119]

Hi Alessia, I got an offer from Life Sciences from UTSG earlier. Thank you for making this video, this definitely answers a lot of my concerns . I don't know what I want to major in yet. I'm allowed to switch majors/departments at the end of the first year right? let's say I want to transfer to engineering or mp department. Also, is the GPA really that bad? Because I'm ready to work hard, I want to apply for graduate school. So just hoping that the GPA wouldn't be too low. 😂

[@alessiaisabella]

Hello! That's awesome congratulations on your acceptance :) LifeSci is part of the Faculty of Arts and Science, so within that faculty, you can choose/switch your programs (I first enrolled in cell bio but then switched to human bio). However, in order to switch to a different faculty, like the faculty of engineering from the faculty of arts and science, you need to apply separately. You can not interchange between lifesci programs and engineering programs. The GPA drop is pretty bad in my opinion, especially in first year. I graduated high school with an average above 95% and some of my midterm marks in first year were well under 60%. A lot of the class averages for assignments and tests were around the 50% mark, and the TAs curve down to meet a certain average. I have been told it gets better as you get into upper year classes, and I have already noticed that in my second year! For grad schools some only look at the last two years, and some programs drop a bad year, it all depends. Hope this helped :)

[@Dsmx1119]

@@alessiaisabella Thanks for replying. This definitely helped. I'm more confident to accept the offer after your explanation.

[@Kerem-xh3oi]

Hey Alessia! I was wondering how hard would it be to study life sci at uoft for someone who did not take grade 12 chemistry and 11-12 biology. Because it does not show up as a requirement but other than uoft, literally every program at least requires biology. (I like biology very much but I just never took grade 11 and 12 bio in hs.)

[@alessiaisabella]

Hello! First year LifeSci at UofT is very general. You usually have to take two chemistry's, (CHM135 CHM136) 2 biology's (BIO120, BIO130) and at least calculus 1 (MAT135). A lot of this content is based on grade 11 and grade 12 chemistry, biology and calculus, and they do not do a lot of review of that basic high school information. They also go at a very fast pace, so it is challenging even if you do have that background. However, for a lot of lifesci programs that are bio based, like for example, human biology, the first year courses have grade 12 bio prerequisites. There are a lot of helpful tools and resources on campus to help students learn in their courses! :)

[@TashuNee]

How do you find and approach professors to get involved in their research? Hope it’s not too late to ask..

[@user-nm6mg4ni3z]

Hi Alessia, Please what specific seminar course did you take (e.g. AST101H)? I have accepted my offer for Life Sci at UTSG and I'm working on the courses in my enrolment cart. I sincerely love your personality; your videos have been helpful and insightful....Thanks a bunch for being you sis❤

[@alessiaisabella]

hi omg thank you so much you are so sweet! I'm glad I can be of help

[@user-nm6mg4ni3z]

@@alessiaisabella Can't thank you enough Alessia, especially for the link. I really appreciate you. I just watched your vlog; summer school video and I wish you all the best❤

[@alessiaisabella]

@@user-nm6mg4ni3z im glad I could help! If you ever see me on campus stop and say hello :) ❤❤❤

[@emaans155]

Hey Alessia, I got an early acceptance from UTM and got accepted for Social sciences but would like to know your experience with takeing a humanities minor or classes to get a sense of how they may be like ( if soc scie is considered humanities I'm unsure

[@alessiaisabella]

Hello! I can make a video about my experiences with humanities courses for sure!

[@reetoberoi3949]

Hey Alessia!! I was accepted into uoft for humanities but I wanted to do a major in psychology in my second year and since that is a life science, can I still take the intro to psych course in the first year without math or do I need to complete the math requirement first? (I didn't take math in first year)

[@alessiaisabella]

Hello! A major in psychology is a limited program (this means you need to meet certain requirements like having prerequisites, minimum GPA, and must apply to it). One of these prerequisites is first-year psych ( PSY100) which has no prerequisites. So yes, you can take PSY100 without taking MAT135 or MAT136, however, for the psychology major, you need grade 12 calculus and grade 12 biology. You can see this here: artsci.calendar.utoronto.ca/section/Psychology Hope that helps :)

[@reetoberoi3949]

Thank you so much :)

[@beluchiokeke2628]

hey Alessia, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around unlimited and limited programs. I also cant find much about this online except that one means you can apply to it at anytime and for the other you can't. I'm confused as to why that is important. so could you please explain what they mean and why it is important?

[@alessiaisabella]

Hi! So a limited program you can not just enrol in it, you have to "apply" for it at the end of first year, meaning you have to have prerequisites for it. For example, a psychology major is limited and the prerequisite is first year psych course and 2 high school courses, and you have to have a minimum average. You are not guaranteed to get it. An open program means you can enrol in it at the end of first year and you are in that program right away. For example, human biology major. This is important so you know what first year courses you have to take if you want to apply to a limited program. Some also have grade requirements which is also important to know! Hope this helps! :)

[@libertad2006]

Hii, im a 10th IB student from South America, so i was wondering just for a general view of the International Relations career, because im really into it, and if exists scholarships to apply to the uoft being a international student ;; tysm!!

[@alessiaisabella]

Hello! The international relations program is part of the faculty of arts and science! You can see the requirements and information here for that program: future.utoronto.ca/undergraduate-programs/international-relations/ I am not sure about specific scholarships for this program, but once you get in you can look on ACORN and your college should have some too! Hope this helped:)

[@yardenkaro5587]

Hey alessia! Can I apply to human biology if I did not take biology in high school?

[@alessiaisabella]

Hello! To do a major in human biology, you need to take BIO120 and BIO130 which require grade 12 biology as a prerequisite. You can see the program requirements here, and to see the course requirements, just click on the course code: artsci.calendar.utoronto.ca/section/Human-Biology Also, human bio is an open program, so you do not need to "apply", just enroll! Hope this helped :)

[@yardenkaro5587]

Thank you very much !out

[@laurettecarolyne8599]

How did students do in Mat135 if you know in terms of grades?

[@alessiaisabella]

Hello! The average was a 61 and I think it was curved upward for the midterm and exam because a lot of students got below 50%. However, the assignments, textbook questions and quizzes do boost your grades!

[@carmelacorrado1441]

I'm honestly terrified 😅 im deciding between uoft life sci and mac life sci. I'm stuck

[@alessiaisabella]

hii! That was where I was for my acceptances too (uoft or mac lifesci) but I hope this video helped you out a little bit on the decision :)

[@carmelacorrado1441]

@@alessiaisabella these vids honestly helped a lot thank u so much

[@evadervishi7829]

I'm having the exact same problem. Stuck. I'm just worried about the difficulty at u of t and lack of community, but I want to go to u of t cause its close to home

[@khushdeepkaur854]

Hey!! Actually I wanted to ask like how long a semester is? Is 1 semester just from September to January and them another of spring or one semester combines winter and fall term?? And we have to pay for summer term? 2) how does the fee structure works as, I find it confusing on their website? Can you make a video about it? 3) do you know about how ASIP works at st. George?? I have applied for social studies at uoft for 2023 fall. Please answer

[@alessiaisabella]

Hello! So the Fall semester is from September to December, and the Winter semester is from January to April! The fall semester and the winter semester are both part of the same academic year. For summer school, there are two sub-sessions: one from May to June, and one from July to August. There is tuition for summer school courses, but they are usually by course not program. Generally, the fall and winter semesters are by program tuition plus incidental fees, but my summer school courses last year and this year are by course ( only paying for the courses your taking, not a full course load) ASIP is an internship program for arts and sciences students, but I am not well versed on how exactly It works. You can ask [e-mail] Hope that helped :)

[@khushdeepkaur854]

Thank you😊

[@user-rp5ht8db9t]

How big is the class size

[@alessiaisabella]

hello! It really depends! I had a class last semester that was 1300 students, but I also had ones as small as 200 students. First-year seminars are around 20-30 people so that is a good transition class from high school to uni in first year!

[@user-mr7kk6nh9c]

nice but small request. -- please make short and precise vlogs

[@panipakkitjumroen8379]

Which campus are you in?

[@alessiaisabella]

I'm at UofT St George (Downtown Toronto)

[@EdwardThomasLee]

WTH is Life Sciences?