Question for any student who successfully transferred out of UofT.

[Metagame]

I know there are a lot of you on this board. What was your GPA when you transferred? I'm looking to transfer to UOIT or York. l hate this school. You study 24/7, do all the problems out of the book and assigned ones, and barely have anything else to do, and yet barely pass the exams and find out the class average before the curve is below a 40...>:(

Anyone who's been through the transfer process please share your experience, especially those who haven't had a stellar GPA but still got accepted?

[flamez1000]

Not trying to convince you to stay, but from the top of my head I can think of at least 5 people I know (all first years, now second) that went to U of T St. George or UTSC and wanted to transfer out to easier schools, but none of them did. I was one of these 5 (don't believe me? Search the forums for my thread). All of us paid transfer fees and went through the process, but none really wanted to leave. Reasons for staying included:

1) Prestige/Reputation - I know U of T is hard, but how are you going to feel having transferred? Like crap, I'm sure. From one of the top universities in the country to high schools like UOIT and York. What are you going to tell friends/family? I personally applied to Ryerson after first year and didn't end up going (thank God!).

2) The transfer procedure/transfer credits - A pain in the ***** , to say the least. Tons of paperwork and running around, requesting transcripts and whatnot. The worst part is not being given transfer credits for courses you've completed.

3) Having to start over again - leaving friends you may have made at school, getting used to a new campus, getting used to new people, teachers, classes, a whole new system really. I changed my program and even though I'm still in the same school, I hate feeling like a first year all over again.

I know U of T can be hard at times and I know that even after working hard, it's seems like you're still not going to do well - trust me, I've been there and so have many other RFD members here. Don't work harder, work smarter. Visit TAs/Profs in office hours - their tips and tricks are quite helpful. Develop a schedule for studying, so you don't fall behind and can split it up into a few days/weeks instead of cramming. Find old exams/quizzes/tests! More than likely, a lot of the questions will be similar. Trust me when I say this, the practice problems in you're textbook are NOTHING compared to what usually shows up on exams.

In the end, it's up to you, I can only tell you my experience. Good luck!

[shannn]

Was in Life Sci for 2 years at UTSG, had a GPA of 3.5X
Got accepted into Pharmacy at UTSG and Psych at York...took my acceptance to psych at York

Very happy I made that decision :D

Life has only gotten better after I transferred out of UTSG...the thing I missed the most however was the gym at the AC.

[Metagame]

Hi Flamez, thanks for the response.

When I was a high school student, all I cared about was name and prestige. But, what good will that do when I have a 2.0-2.5 GPA and can't do graduate school anymore while a student from york with a 4.0 who barely did any work, relative to UofT students, is going to get in anywhere for their graduate school, including UofT? It would be one thing I was in engineering, as I could just get a job after I graduate. But, there is nothing you can do with an honors bachelors degree in math or physics, especially with a low GPA. It makes no sense to be miserable for 4 years, working 24/7 only to graduate with no job prospects or any chance of pursuing graduate studies.


When I go to the profs office hours, they give the same generic advice as even the Registrar's do. Nothing specific or specialized tips. Past tests might have worked for larger classes, but I'm taking MAT240 and MAT157. They love to change the format every semester for the tests and there are so few past tests available in the first place. Since these are math specialist courses, you won't find prep seminars offered for these courses, either. TA's never offer office hours, and you can only ask them a very very short question after the tutorial as they always seem to be in a hurry. Math aid centre rarely helps, as TA's just don't like (from my experience) spending 35 minutes to answer just one question when they could rather be helping multiple students who aren't taking these courses in that same time frame.

I just don't know anymore. After talking to upper year students, the classes seem to get worse (for MAT237, the class average for the test before the curve was a 30, for quantum physics PHY256, I heard it was even lower).

Prestige just doesn't matter anymore when it seems like UofT will destroy any hopes of ever getting employed or going to graduate school. Aside from prestige, what's the point? Even UofT themselves have made it clear that they will always prefer a 4.0 from York to a 3.8 from UofT for graduate and professional programs.

[hamsterpower]

I don't know what flamez1000 has been studying, but I know that Metagame was in physics ( I hope I am right?!?!)
and I believe, you need strong GPA to get into graduate school,
Not saying that he won't get it at toronto, but I think it might be easier at other schools

If it was like engineering I wouldn't be too bothered by the GPA as you will just go to industry right after graduation, but GPA matters for grad schools
hopefully they will recognize toronto as a harder schools and compare the average from the classes....and I believe most grad schools in US do look for prestige, or what not
IF you are thinking of american schools, it might be better off to stay in U of T or at least waterloo....

Or if you are not thinking of going in to grad, ,,, nothing will hurt you from staying at toronto


cheers, and good luck!!!

[hamsterpower]

ooops i didn't read the last reply by metagame... I just basically agree with what he says

[hamsterpower]

just making sure,
anybody getting higher than 3.5 in your program? If there is you might want to ask how they are managing it
I am sure they are not just bunch of geniuses but they probably worked very hard and not just hard but worked smart

[antibasher]

talk to the counselor and ask them to withdraw your grades. Ryerson, york or UOIT will take your high school marks again for admission. Remember lots of paid advertisers promoting the prestige of trap universities who only want the money. Real education is practical relating to jobs in the current market not based on rumors of the prestige spread by others. Choices in life is what leads to success, hard work is only secondary.

[Kasakato]

talk to the counselor and ask them to withdraw your grades. Ryerson, york or UOIT will take your high school marks again for admission. Remember lots of paid advertisers promoting the prestige of trap universities who only want the money. Real education is practical relating to jobs in the current market not based on rumors of the prestige spread by others. Choices in life is what leads to success, hard work is only secondary.

Hard work is a choice, you can't separate the two.

[hamsterpower]

talk to the counselor and ask them to withdraw your grades. Ryerson, york or UOIT will take your high school marks again for admission. Remember lots of paid advertisers promoting the prestige of trap universities who only want the money. Real education is practical relating to jobs in the current market not based on rumors of the prestige spread by others. Choices in life is what leads to success, hard work is only secondary.

where do you suggest he goes? are you saying that Toronto is prestige only because ppl say it is?

[windforcexx28]

I don't know why anyone would suggest OP to stay at UofT when he explicitly made the point that he hates the school. Prestige isn't relevant if you can't get a job with the education that you paid for and worked so hard for it.

To the OP, I know people who were able to transfer out with a GPA in the 2.XXs. The GPA cutoff is determined by where and which program you apply to transfer into. Personally, I'd call the school you're planning to apply to to get more concise information about your situation from them.

Another thing I want to mention is that by transferring, you will almost for sure lose a couple of credits and delaying your graduation. If you really hate your school, then by all means transfer out. If its just the program that you hate, you can always consider a program switch. Also, make sure that wherever you transfer to is a place where you won't mind spending the next couple of years at. The worst thing that can happen is if you end up transferring into a school you hate even more ;)

[flamez1000]

If and only if you are 100% sure you'd like to go to grad school, stay in physics and transfer to an easier school. A lot of people I know went into university thinking they'd like to get a Phd is x or y and have since changed their minds.

If you're even slightly doubting whether or not you'd like to continue in the field, you may want to consider switching to a more "practical" field - ie. something like engineering, where undergrad grades don't matter "as much."

Either way, if you're planning on switching, I suggest Ryerson or York, as they are close to UofT; commute time would be around the same. Don't worry about not getting accepted, lots of UTSC pre-management kids with low marks get accepted to Ryerson, they'll accept almost anybody. I suggest you look up the course calendars of prospective transfer schools and try to take courses (next semester) that sound similar to the ones they have. Try to take easy electives that'll help raise your marks and at the same time, will be considered for transfer credits. Go through their admissions requirements carefully though, make sure you have all the required courses.

[flamez1000]

I don't know why anyone would suggest OP to stay at UofT when he explicitly made the point that he hates the school. Prestige isn't relevant if you can't get a job with the education that you paid for and worked so hard for it...

Lol, nobody that goes to UofT that I know actually likes it, we've all just learned to deal with it. If I'm not mistaken, you're at UofT too, right? I'm sure you know this...

Edit: Antibasher brings a good point, but tbh I've never heard of universitites (especially stuck up ones like UofT) withdrawing marks. Unless he/she meant withdraw from the courses, which means you won't get credit for any of them...

[cuongp]

I transferred from UofT to Ryerson, transfer process was a cake walk. Apply through OUAC (I think that's how you spell it) through the 105D application.
It's almost the same as applying when you were in high school. You'll have to request an official transcript to be sent to the school you're registering too, that can be done through ROSI I believe.

All courses with final marks over 60% will be transferred over, for courses that you took at UofT but that are not offered at your new school, you won't receive a credit for it...HOWEVER, you can apply for a challenge credit where you will have to submit the course outline and that's how you'll get the credit for it.

Marks weren't stellar, 2.6X or so.

I'm in business btw.



I know there are a lot of you on this board. What was your GPA when you transferred? I'm looking to transfer to UOIT or York. l hate this school. You study 24/7, do all the problems out of the book and assigned ones, and barely have anything else to do, and yet barely pass the exams and find out the class average before the curve is below a 40...>:(

Anyone who's been through the transfer process please share your experience, especially those who haven't had a stellar GPA but still got accepted?

[eek]

I am considering about doing the same thing. What I hate the most about UofT is my classmates/other students. For 3 years I have barely made any friends. I don't like Toronto very much either, so I'm considering transferring to McGill. My overall GPA is not very good though. Btw, I'm in CS.

[Theexe]

I want to transfer also (not at UofT) my average is pretty bad, I choose the wrong program and regret it/was not motivated. Are there any universities which base admission off highschool marks and University marks or just highschool marks? I know Ryerson does and I have heard a few others do but not sure which. Apparently Mcgill and Concordia do as well, I plan to call and confirm this for myself though.

[rango5]

I'm in second year in UTM, still struggling to enter commerce program with gpa of 2.00. It still hard to enter the commer program.
If it goes like this, I;m going to transfer to ryerson or sheridan. Is ryerson is good. Can I get a decent job with b com degree from ryerson.

[Syne]

Do you really think it's the school that is the problem? Your campus and learning experience are what you make of it.

This is what happens when people in their 1st year fix themselves into a strict program, and decide their courses for the next 4 years. First year should be about discovering what you love and what you hate. Because you squander that opportunity by trying to basically declare before you've even stepped foot on campus, you end up screwing yourself.

How about instead of changing schools, you start taking courses in subjects that actually interest you. People talk about university "programs" but it's not as modular as taking a program. It's not a community college. You're not in a program. It's just a bunch of courses, which together, can be audited and turned into a piece of paper at the end.

Stop trying to treat university like it's college.

[shakeit]

I know there are a lot of you on this board. What was your GPA when you transferred? I'm looking to transfer to UOIT or York. l hate this school. You study 24/7, do all the problems out of the book and assigned ones, and barely have anything else to do, and yet barely pass the exams and find out the class average before the curve is below a 40...>:(

Anyone who's been through the transfer process please share your experience, especially those who haven't had a stellar GPA but still got accepted?

If you are looking to switch into another program go for it. I did it and it was a good choice on my part. I'm thriving in my new program.

[Coolshizzle]

Prestige just doesn't matter anymore when it seems like UofT will destroy any hopes of ever getting employed or going to graduate school. Aside from prestige, what's the point? Even UofT themselves have made it clear that they will always prefer a 4.0 from York to a 3.8 from UofT for graduate and professional programs.

I don't think it's fair for students at UofT to work so much harder than other university students and not be chosen because of GPA.
If everyone wanted to get into graduate school or getting employed then why not just go to Lakehead or Nippsing? I think this is where prestige should come in.

Also OP I think you should consider switching programs, maybe physics isn't for you but if you look around and try different courses/programs you might find one that you actually like and excel in. By transferring schools you're just taking the easy way out. What if ryerson or york isn't as easy as you thought it would be? You'll have the same problem just different setting.

[Metagame]

If you are looking to switch into another program go for it. I did it and it was a good choice on my part. I'm thriving in my new program.

I'm not looking to switch into a new program. I am doing well in all of my math and physics specialist courses, the problem is these other "elective courses" that I am just not interested in but the university forces me to take, which bring down my GPA significantly.

[Metagame]

I don't think it's fair for students at UofT to work so much harder than other university students and not be chosen because of GPA.
If everyone wanted to get into graduate school or getting employed then why not just go to Lakehead or Nippsing? I think this is where prestige should come in.

Also OP I think you should consider switching programs, maybe physics isn't for you but if you look around and try different courses/programs you might find one that you actually like and excel in. By transferring schools you're just taking the easy way out. What if ryerson or york isn't as easy as you thought it would be? You'll have the same problem just different setting.

Funny thing is, there are more graduate students from York and Ryerson than UofT here, and UofT graduate admissions themselves have bluntly stated they will always prefer a higher GPA from other schools (even the less reputable ones) than their own, and UofT constantly rejects their own students with just lower than average GPA's for their graduate programs.

Everyone knows that school prestige matters little when applying to graduate school. Do you even know how the graduate school admissions process even works?

[Skillmatic]

Hey I go to utm and want to transfer to Ryerson. Does Ryerson mainly look at your highschool marks? I have 83% top 6 and 2.54 GPA is that competitive for Business Management at Ryerson?

[Maedhros]

Hey I go to utm and want to transfer to Ryerson. Does Ryerson mainly look at your highschool marks? I have 83% top 6 and 2.54 GPA is that competitive for Business Management at Ryerson?

Ha... your kidding right? MORE then competitive. If more students like you were at Ryerson it wouldn't be such a joke.


I don't think it's fair for students at UofT to work so much harder than other university students and not be chosen because of GPA.

I agree. York is crazy easy. I thought my courses @ waterloo were a walk in the park, and then I saw the work my cousin is doing at York for her BA and it is laughable.

The degree of difficulty at York/Ryerson is equivalent to the PD Course that is not worth any grades @ waterloo. I feel even worse for UofT.

[Skillmatic]

Ha... your kidding right? MORE then competitive. If more students like you were at Ryerson it wouldn't be such a joke.
83% should be fine for based on the high school grades. However, my gpa of 2.54 is okay...do you know anybody that successfully to the Business Management program with a gpa similar to mine or lower?

[flamez1000]

83% should be fine for based on the high school grades. However, my gpa of 2.54 is okay...do you know anybody that successfully to the Business Management program with a gpa similar to mine or lower?

You should be ok. I know a few people that had even lower GPAs in UTSC Management transfer to Ryerson and they're killing it there.

[shannn]

I don't think it's fair for students at UofT to work so much harder than other university students and not be chosen because of GPA.
If everyone wanted to get into graduate school or getting employed then why not just go to Lakehead or Nippsing? I think this is where prestige should come in.


Unfortunately, that is how the game is played in Canada.