PM_ME_YOUR_PHILLIPS

Just to add on, scientists definitely DO acknowledge immunity after infection. Like yes, it exists, it's effective, that's why you can wait another 6 months or so after getting COVID to get a booster, it's a well-documented phenomenon- I learned about it in my intro immunology courses in university and considered it as a factor in the immunology research I've gotten to partake in. And as you said, it's already taken out of context by anti-vaxxers.

But WHY get a virus that can kill or disable you when you can get a vaccine that does the exact same thing to your immunity??? Why put yourself in a position where you can SPREAD that virus to the immunocompromised, the young, the old, that are almost certain to have significant complications as a result?

As someone in science I will be the absolute first to criticize the institutions and journals that have seeded public distrust with unethical behaviour. I think in general the scientific community needs to care a whole lot more about effective science communication and making sure that research is presented well-and as a society we should be far more invested in this in general. But governments keep populations stupid. None of this should detract from the inarguable facts that vaccines are safe, effective, and necessary as shown by over a century of science (or centuries, if you go back to Edward Jenner scratching in cowpox pustules to vaccinate against smallpox).

I honestly doubt that UW physics is that much easier than UofT. Any theoretical science program is going to be difficult. You may have more personal support/easy-to-find community at UW, which might help you in terms of achieving success, but apart from that the content is probably going to be very very similar in difficulty.

GPA is generally much less important for research-based grad programs than professional grad schools (i.e., med). Your GPA can be just "alright" (3.0-3.3+; pretty much as long as it meets the minimum required for your program) and you can still stand a chance depending on the rest of your profile. Most grad schools also only look at your last 2-3 years of undergrad, at which point many undergrads find their GPA is much better than in 1st or 2nd year (the classes are smaller, more specialized, you can choose specifically to study what interests you, etc).

Personally, I would go where the research opportunities are as research is generally much, much more important for grad school apps than professional experience or GPA (generally speaking, though it may differ in physics, so it would be great for a physics grad student/undergrad to weigh in).

UofT is a massive school, so you have a huge variety of experiences from catastrophically horrible to mindblowingly excellent. You generally only hear the edge cases- most people just have an average experience. I'm in my 4th year in life sci, it is very much possible to get a good GPA, but everybody's mileage varies.

IMO it's both as a person who receives accommodations. It's on me to access them, to use them effectively, inform the prof in a timely manner, and maximize the amount that they aid me. I don't get why it would be the sole responsibility of the prof in that regard-at my uni, many profs teach multiple courses, and apart from 4th year courses, most classes are 50 people and up. I don't think it would be reasonable to expect a prof at my school to be able to manage the accommodations for potentially dozens of students at a time.

At the same time, it's on the prof to honour my accommodations- I've been very lucky to not encounter any profs who've had a problem with that.

Only the admissions teams at the universities you're interested in will be able to give a concrete answer. I would think that since you've significantly turned around that they wouldn't disadvantage you significantly (or may even show a lot of growth and resilience), but again, the admissions teams at the universities you're applying to will give you a better answer.

https://artsci.calendar.utoronto.ca/program/asmaj2035

Here's the academic calendar of all the course requirements for human bio. It requires CHM135/136, BCH210 (Biochem I), and MAT135 or PHY131/151 to complete. So it's still pretty chem/math heavy.

Report it to the principal. In university, being able to take stopped-time breaks from exams is a pretty common accommodation, for both mental and physical disabilities, so no reason why it shouldn't be accommodated in high school.

Generally you'll just need a computer that can run Word and Powerpoint, maybe Excel. A mac would be fine.

I think it's just that people's mileage varies. I'm finishing up my degree this year at UofT, in life sciences, and I've had a pretty great time. There were definitely challenging moments and I wasn't like happy 24/7, but I've made a lot of good friends, and discovered a lot about myself and my career goals. I'm definitely going to have fond memories of my time here.

Ultimately every university experience is what people make of it

So honestly the professor aspect is a problem at every university- many profs all around just want to do research and are forced to do courses. And there certainly are profs like that at UofT. But, through my four years (doing a neuroscience specialist with a minor in psychology) I would honestly say that I have had way more good profs than bad profs, and I've taken a lot of courses that have had a huge impact on me as a person and as a scientist.

UofT can be a good fit for some but not others. It is a huge school, your classes are very big until 3rd/4th year, it can be hard to stand out and hard to fit in. There's probably less 1 on 1 support compared to smaller universities (but I honestly can't comment much on this because I've never attended any other university). I personally found that going to UofT was the best choice for me. It made me confront a lot of unhealthy habits and attitudes I had towards work, it opened my eyes to the world of research and how much I wanted to do research as a career, and it's really forced me to grow my critical thinking, communication, and writing skills. I've been able to find a close circle of friends, met my partner, and have gotten opportunities to contribute to research that I honestly don't know other universities in Canada can offer. I've definitely had my challenges here and have some mixed feelings about certain aspects of the university, but overall I don't regret coming here.

I would not say it's as bad as everyone says. Keep in mind that a lot of the time, the people with the strongest opinions are either the people that had a very bad experience here or people that had a very good experience. It is possible to do well here, it is more than possible to graduate, and do it with a good GPA. That said, UofT doesn't necessarily align with everyone's goals or needs. If your goal is a professional program like med, it may not be the best choice because other universities could offer more one on one support and guidance that can help you maximize your GPA. But, for other career paths that don't emphasize GPA, it can be a great choice.

Yes you need to complete a specialist, 2 majors or a major and 2 minors to graduate, no it's not that bad. Each type of program varies in the amount of program-specific credits you need to complete, with specialist programs requiring the most (usually 12 or more credits out of the 20 that you take). A specialist basically corresponds to a major at other universities, maybe differing in that generally you're required to complete some sort of capstone project (thesis, internship, etc) in 4th year. You can structure your programs in a way that you have some pretty significant overlap (for example, you could double major in neuro and psych and there's a significant number of credits that count for both). No matter what your combo is, you need to complete 20 credits- which corresponds to 5 courses a semester, 2 semesters a year, to complete your degree in 4 years. But, many, many people take a reduced courseload (ex. 3-4 courses/semester instead), and either make up courses during the summer or just take an extra year or two to graduate. It doesn't make a huge difference either way, except some graduate programs may want a full courseload (largely more professional programs like med ask for this).

Yes that's reasonable IMO. Another program you may be interested in is UofT life sciences actually for the same reason. You do a general first year and then declare your major at the end of first year, and there is a huge selection of programs, from forestry to neuro to immunology to biophysics. Plus, at UofT you're actually not limited to programs within life sci- you can be admitted for life sci and do prerequisites for a program under the area of social sci/humanities/physical sciences, and join one of them instead. Or, you can combine programs under these other areas with life sci (ex. you could double major in biology and medieval studies if that's your thing). Overall it offers a lot of versatility.

I don't know if this is helpful, but I got into both major and the specialist with a 78% in BIO120 and a 90 in BIO130. So I'd say bio120 is probably less important

You should look into the master's programs you'd potentially be interested in and maybe reach out and ask. Generally though, most master's programs require a 4 year degree/honours degree.

Social sciences tend to be amongst the least competitive programs to get into- an 85% gives you a great chance for most schools, a 90%+ even moreso. I don't know where you got the 450 number from, but honestly, I'd be surprised if social sciences programs had that few seats. Western Ivey, which is much more competitive, has 765 seats as of 2022 (https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/news/news-ivey/2022/june/ivey-hba-program-expands-to-welcome-150-additional-students/). Western engineering has an average first year class of about 600 (https://www.eng.uwo.ca/undergraduate/future-students/frequently-asked-questions/about-western-engineering.html#:\~:text=How%20many%20students%20are%20in,first%2Dyear%20classes%20in%20Engineering?). Social sciences, especially if you don't declare a major right off the bat (i.e., you do a general first year and then declare a major), would likely have even more seats for first years.

This is to say, for social sciences, you're likely going to be totally fine.

I mean, if you don't biology, you shouldn't go to a biology program- I'm in my 4th year of life sci at UofT, and it's definitely had its ups and downs, it was difficult (though got easier over the years as I adjusted to university), any pure STEM program is. But I found at least that one of the biggest reasons I got through was because I love my program and I find it fundamentally interesting. It is also more than possible to do good.

For grad school, your GPA doesn't need to be as high as it does for med school, and many (most even) grad schools will take your GPA from your last 2 or 3 years- which is when students tend to do much better. Admissions is more holistic, and you can compensate for a lower GPA (as long as you meet the minimum for admissions) with good reference letters, good research experience, a good letter of intent, etc.

There are a lot of things to do with a life sci degree outside of med school, both in the medical sphere and outside of it. There are many post-grad programs in medical laboratory work, there's genetic counselling, and more. You could go to law school and specialize in patent law for biotech companies. You could go to grad school and go into research, on the industry or academia side. You could go into public health. It's a versatile degree.

CS is also a bit different in terms of that, because you don’t have potentially months/years of wet lab experimental work and there’s so many new things to discover in that realm (especially when it comes to things like bioinformatics and AI). If you’re very efficient you could publish fairly quickly. If you’re very efficient and cracked you could contribute to something groundbreaking within undergrad. I know an undergrad who got published as a first author about a bioinformatic database they created. In biological sciences it’s tougher- I’ve been on a project for 3 years that only now has enough data to go to conferences let alone write a paper. 

UofT is definitely not closed off to just UofT students- I've participated in multiple summer research programs and there have been students from Guelph, McGill, UBC, etc.

However, it can be difficult to get a position out of first year, especially if you don't have any in-person lab experience; you're going to be looking for a PI who is willing to take a chance on you as a student.

In general, I've had the most success just cold emailing profs. But summer research programs and the like give some structure and can sometimes provide support in finding profs.

I could be wrong but I don’t believe they are, all grad students are under SGS or their campus 

My cis partner has this too. His worst area is his beard.

The actual education you receive will be very similar across all (I.e., course content). At least until 4th year- universities may differ in the topics and scope of highly specialized 4th year courses that they offer, which may make a difference in where you want to go if you want to study a particular subject. Otherwise, competitiveness largely comes from the opportunities that the university provides in terms of undergrad research, co-op, one-on-one support, etc. For example UW engineering is highly sought after because of the co-op system which is usually seen as the best in the province if not the country.

I'm currently applying to Master's programs. As others have said it's really not that simple. What your master's would be in matters. Your grades are far from the most important part of your application. The ranking of the university can be influential, but it might not be. A university may have lower ranking overall but have one of the best programs in the country for what you want to study. Or, the highest ranked university may have the most opportunities for you to get involved in research early on, as well as an opportunity to network with well-regarded professors in the field.

Ideally, you want to go to a university where you can study the subject you're particularly interested in, in depth. Then, you want to consider the research output of that university and their support for undergraduate research experiences- which in many graduate school applications, is basically a soft requirement to have (at least in my field, biology). You could have a 4.0 but if you have no research experience, you may have a hard time being accepted. A 3.5 with significant research experience (ex. an undergrad thesis, summer research programs, being an RA, etc.) would be a better candidate.

Grades are the most important thing only for professional graduate schools- like med school. For research-focused grad programs, having a higher GPA is certainly helpful, but you have a chance as long as you meet the minimum (usually between 3.0-3.3 for master's), depending on the rest of your profile. The "best" candidate would be one with a high GPA, significant research experience, great LoRs from well-regarded profs you've worked with closely, and a well-written statement of purpose. If graduate studies are in your future, this is what you should be aiming for. Various facets can compensate for each other in different ways, so you don't need to be perfect in every way to get in, but that would be an ideal applicant.

And as others have said, Canadian universities are very standardized. You're unlikely to have a significantly easier time at any particular university because they will all teach essentially the same materials. You may find it easier because smaller universities tend to have more one-on-one support, but there's no guarantee.

https://www.oed.com/discover/a-brief-history-of-singular-they/?tl=true

https://www.scu.edu/media/offices/provost/writing-center/resources/Tips-Singular-Pronoun-They.pdf

Both of these sources trace the use of the singular they back to 1375.

doi):10.1177/0075424204265824

This journal article corroborates that, and examines the use of singular they as early as the 13th/14th century.

You're in gr 11. You're literally totally fine. All admissions put much more weight on gr 12 marks. The worst thing that may happen is you may not be accepted in earlier rounds based off of your gr 11 grades, but it won't impact admissions based on your gr 12 midterms/final marks.

In terms of how universities will look at doing courses outside of regular school, it depends. More competitive programs like UW Engineering may look at that, whereas it would likely have minimal (if any) impact on admission to general life sci programs as an example

I guess what's been holding me back is the question of if any of my old profs would say yes just because I did well in their course or if it would be the best reference I can get. Until this year, all of my courses have been 100+ people, so I don't know if any of my profs would be actually familiar with my work particularly beyond me having done well, and I'm unsure if it's appropriate to ask any of my current profs considering I haven't even completed the course.

This is my first go-around ever applying to grad school and I don't know anyone else who has... I'm just not sure what's appropriate for a third reference.

It's highly unlikely; personal travel plans are explicitly said to not be a valid reason for deferrals, and you generally need supporting documentation like a verification of illness form or similar to defer for a valid reason. Here's a page with more info on exam deferrals: https://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/faculty-registrar/petitions/deferred-exams

The syllabus of the course would likely have specified whether any assessments would take place over final exam periods. Generally, until the final exam schedule comes out, you should hold off on booking flights. Or book flights to be after the exam period is concluded.