2013-14 University College New Student Guide

COURSE SELECTIONHow do I decide what courses to take?You have already thought in broad termsabout the kind of program(s) you would liketo follow. You do not apply to your specificprograms until the end of your first year, butyou do need to have an idea of specific programsyou are interested in, in order to takethe required 1st year courses.Look at the list of possible programs andtheir required 1st year courses on the A &S website: www.artsci.utoronto.ca/newstudents/courses/programsAll programs are open to you, as long asyou have the Gr. 12 pre-requisites for the1st year courses (if any) and you meet theprogram entry requirements (often a certainmark in the 1st year required course(s)). So,even if you were accepted to sciences, youmay take an arts program and vice versa,as long as you successfully complete the requiredcourses.In first year, you should be choosing all firstyear (100-level) courses. There are some200-level courses that do not have pre-requisitesand are open to first year students.However, please discuss any 200-levelcourse choices with an academic counselorin the Registrar’s office. Do not attempt300/400 level courses until after 2nd year.A full-time course load is 3.0+ credits. Sincea degree requires 20.0 credits, most studentstake 5.0 credits each year to finish in 4years (although this is not required).The Faculty of Arts & Science offers someunique course opportunities open only to firstyear students: First-Year Seminar courses(199s) and College One courses. Thesecourses are designed to introduce you touniversity scholarship in a small class setting(max. 24 students). You can read moreabout these in the A&S Welcome Guide oron the A&S website.Course descriptions for the 199 Seminars:www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current/undergraduate/first-year-seminars.Course descriptions for College One courses:www.artsci.utoronto.ca/futurestudents/academics/college-one-programsBoth of these course options are a great wayto help satisfy the Breadth requirement foryour degree (see description under ‘DegreeRequirements’ in the Calendar: http://www.artsandscience.utoronto.ca/ofr/calendar)Your objective in choosing courses for firstyear is to obtain the prerequisites and backgroundfor more than one program for secondyear. Give yourself lots of options – youmay want to change your mind/direction.This is a great time to explore subjects thatinterest you that you couldn’t take in highschool (e.g. Anthropology, Cinema Studies).Example Course ChoicesSocial Sciences:GGR107H1 + GGR124H1, SOC102H1 +SOC103H1, POL101Y1+ 2.0 electivesLife Sciences:BIO120H1 + BIO130H1, CHM138H1 +CHM139H1, MAT135H1 + MAT136H1,PHY131H1 + PHY132H1+ 1.0 electiveHumanities:ENG140Y1, SPA100Y1, HIS109Y1,PHL100Y1+ 1.0 electivesCommerceECO100Y1, MAT133Y1, RSM100Y1+ 2.0 electives4 N E W S T U D E N T G U I D E | U N I V E R S I T Y C O L L E G E