Guest MDFEVER Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 I am a loser this year and planning to reapply for next year. My situation is I have just completed my 3 year degree. In these three years, I have maintained a full course load every year and taken all necessary pre-reqs. This upcoming fall, I am starting my second undergraduate degree, do I still have to maintain a full course load this year? What is the difinition of full course load for each shchool? Thank you for your help in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kirsteen Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Hi there, The definition of a full course load often differs between schools. For example, Queen's considers 4.0 full courses or above to be a full courseload, and I believe Ottawa will accept 4.0 or 4.5 courses as a full courseload. UofT and UWO, on the other hand accept no less than 5.0 full courses as a full courseload. To be safe, check with each school for each application. School policies change and you want to make sure that you don't limit your options because you were unaware of such policies. Cheers, Kirsteen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MDFEVER Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Hi Kirsteen, Thank you for your quick response. I just go an answer from Western: "We will only look at your second degree, so yes, you must maintain a full course load as per the admission requirements. A full course load is five full credits or the equivalent." I am wondering if they only look at my second degree, I will only have one year, how can I apply? In fact, I have completed a degree, have 2 years full courses load and met the 3.7 cut, why I still have to maintain 5 full credits. I think I need to call the office. Can any one of the moderators help me with this? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gill0927 Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 I'm not a moderator, but I have a suggestion... If you're not actually planning on getting a second degree (ie you're planning on starting this year and applying while you're in school this year), why don't you just register as a special student (ie not a degree student)? That's what I did -- I had 4 full years, but it so happened I was missing a few pre-reqs. I took 3 full classes this year (as a special student) and the schools I got into (UofT, Ottawa, Western) took my 'full course load years' from my degree years...they don't count a 'special year' the same way, so it's not a problem. -- Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Gill is right... if you have no intention of finishing your second undergrad degree, you would be much better off (from the UWO perspective anyway) taking a 'special year'. UWO will allow you to complete ONE special year after the completion of your degree for the purpose of completing pre-reqs or increasing your GPA. However, for this to count as a special year it must meet the following conditions: 1. You must take 5.0 full courses 2. 4.0/5.0 courses must be at the 3rd year level or higher 3. You must be registered as a continuing student, not in the first year of a new degree program. If you start a second degree, UWO will ONLY look at your second degree when calculating GPA. Because you need two years that are both over the GPA cut (and both years MUST be from the same degree program - no mixing and matching), you won't be eligible to apply again until you are completing your second year of your new degree.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest macdaddyeh Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 First of all, no, you are not a loser. Discouraged and frustrated, yes, I imagine, but I believe you and I were fearfully and wonderfully made to fulfill a certain purpose. Everything happens for a reason. Secondly, I recommend you apply to Mac and NOMS who appear not to heavily disadvantage or disfavour you for ever having taken less than a full course load (relatively speaking as every school has its own policy). I also think that Calgary and Memorial are not seriously strict about 5 courses/yr (but maybe ~4 courses at least). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MDFEVER Posted July 7, 2004 Report Share Posted July 7, 2004 Thank you for all the info, suggestions and encouragements from you people. Gill0927, you mentioned that you took only 3 courses in your "special student" year but Aneliz said I still have to take 5 full courses, that confused me. I think I am not going to go through the "special student" path since I might not get in next year then I will waste another year. I will wait for the answer from other schools then decide what to do. Thank you again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Gill did an extra year to get pre-reqs done... UWO doesn't care when you do your pre-reqs (summer, evening, distance, with six other coures, with no other courses, etc) as long as they get done and you passed them at some point before you register. So, Gill's 'special year' was not really a 'special year' according to UWO guidelines...because it was not used for GPA calculations. UWO only uses your two best years to calculate your GPA... if you do a 'special year' to up your GPA (the real reason to do a 'special year' from UWO's perspective) you must meet the other conditions (5 course, 4 upper year courses). If you are not using it for GPA purposes, but only to get pre-reqs done, it doesn't have to meet the above criteria. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gill0927 Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Aneliz is right -- my own version of a 'special year' wasn't seen as such by UWO, which was good for me, because I had no intention of having it counted towards my GPA. I just needed to take the classes; I already had a few years with the GPA I needed. But my suggestion to you still stands -- do a 'special year' (take 5 courses, to make it count as a 'special year') to boost your GPA. -- Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MDFEVER Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 Just have a question, how Western knows your special year is for GPA or prereq purpose? In my case, I have no intention to mix and match for gpa calculation and prereq purpose. I could have said I take my second degree just to keep my shelf busy, in study mode or even for fun. Western's policy is kind of odd and unfair for people who want to move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aneliz Posted July 8, 2004 Report Share Posted July 8, 2004 UWO really doesn't care if you do a special year or 6 special years...full time/part time or otherwise... the only 'rule' with respect to a special year is that you can only use it as part of your two best years for GPA purposes if it meets the following conditions: 1. It is the first 'special year' that you have done since finishing your degree 2. It has 5.0 full credits 3. 4/5 credits are at 3rd year level or higher. If you don't want to use the year for GPA purposes, but simply want to take courses, need to finish pre-reqs etc...then the year will cease to exist in the eyes of UWO and may be whatever you want (full time, part time, all first year course, etc). If it is not eligible to be used for GPA calculations, it is as if it never happened (they don't look at it AT ALL). You can have as many of these years as you want...and it won't affect your application at all. The rules are only designed to specify what kind of 'special year' would be acceptable for GPA calculation purposes as one of your two best years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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