Dropping worst credits based on courseload

[MSmith19]

I know that Toronto drops credits per year with a 'full courseload'.

 

I have two questions. Do other schools that drop credits base it off of how many 'full courseload years' that you take?

 

And what qualifies for a 'full courseload' at Toronto..4 or 5 courses per semester?

 

Basically, I am thinking about taking 4 courses per semester this year, and then 2 courses in the summer but I am worried about the consequences.

 

Thanks!

[rmorelan]

I know that Toronto drops credits per year with a 'full courseload'.

 

I have two questions. Do other schools that drop credits base it off of how many 'full courseload years' that you take?

 

And what qualifies for a 'full courseload' at Toronto..4 or 5 courses per semester?

 

Basically, I am thinking about taking 4 courses per semester this year, and then 2 courses in the summer but I am worried about the consequences.

 

Thanks!

 

hi there, Toronto is the only one with that specific type of drop a course policy. For it to work you HAVE to take 10 courses over the fall and winter term. If you do only 4 over both it messes things up unfortunately.

 

Other schools will require you have a similar 10 courses per term for that year to be considered (Western comes to mind).

 

Anyway because it limits things at some schools with a lot of seats you have to be careful if you are going to go with a reduced course load. It will have an effect.

[charmer08]

for u of t:

 

Application after completing at least three years of university education

Applicants who have taken a full course load in every year

A GPA weighting formula may be used for students who have completed at least three years of university study and have taken a full course load (i.e., five full credits), during the regular academic session, in each of their academic years.

 

GPA will be calculated eliminating one full-course equivalent grade per full year of study. Students applying after completion of three years of study will have their lowest 3 full-course equivalent grades removed from the GPA calculation, after completion of four years, their lowest 4 full-course equivalent grades, etc. We remove lowest overall grades, not lowest grades in each year of study.

 

This calculation is designed to encourage students to take demanding, advanced courses which advance their education during their undergraduate years.

 

Applicants who have taken less than a full course load

Applicants who have taken less than five full-courses (or 10 half-courses) in any given year will be considered on the average of all courses taken during the regular academic session on a full-time basis. The weighting formula will not be applied.

 

Applicants who wish special consideration for weighting due to unusual circumstances should submit their request in writing, supported by reasons. All requests for special consideration will be reviewed by the Admissions Committee and are assessed on a case-by-case basis. No decision will be released.

[medicalhopeful]

What about if you attend a school like waterloo?

 

Their labs are seperate so would 2 of them equal a half credit?

 

Or at other schools where they go by full courseload as 30 credits (which can be done with 5 courses in fall and 4 in winter)

[rmorelan]

What about if you attend a school like waterloo?

 

Their labs are seperate so would 2 of them equal a half credit?

 

Or at other schools where they go by full courseload as 30 credits (which can be done with 5 courses in fall and 4 in winter)

 

another fellow waterloo student - there do seem to be a lot of us running around

 

Yes at waterloo 2 of the 0.25 combine to a single course. Gives us a bit of a leg up at some schools, ie it is not uncommon for waterloo science students to technically have 6 courses in a term - 5 lectures and say 2 associated labs. Western only takes your best 5, so one course would be tossed in such a case.

[DOC_Ma]

another fellow waterloo student - there do seem to be a lot of us running around

 

Yes at waterloo 2 of the 0.25 combine to a single course. Gives us a bit of a leg up at some schools, ie it is not uncommon for waterloo science students to technically have 6 courses in a term - 5 lectures and say 2 associated labs. Western only takes your best 5, so one course would be tossed in such a case.

 

Oh damn, I never knew that so technically I took 7 courses in each of my semesters in first year

[rmorelan]

Oh damn, I never knew that so technically I took 7 courses in each of my semesters in first year

 

Yeah exactly, that is pretty common and Western will automatically remove 2 of them then in their calculation. Does that change anything for you in terms of your application?

[Prothrombin]

I asked this Q before in the U of T section but I was hoping for some confirmation. So if I have 4 full years of full course load in UG they drop my 4lowest full course marks. Now can that also include half year courses? Like in first year I got two B-'s in Calc and Lin Alg. That counts as 1 full course eequivalent grade right? And then for example i scoured a B- in a stupid 3rd year full year english class, which would equal 1 full course equivalent mark, for a total in my example of 2 full course grades dropped right?

[thatonekid]

I asked this Q before in the U of T section but I was hoping for some confirmation. So if I have 4 full years of full course load in UG they drop my 4lowest full course marks. Now can that also include half year courses? Like in first year I got two B-'s in Calc and Lin Alg. That counts as 1 full course eequivalent grade right? And then for example i scoured a B- in a stupid 3rd year full year english class, which would equal 1 full course equivalent mark, for a total in my example of 2 full course grades dropped right?

Yes. You've got the idea. You can also look at is as either 4 full year courses or 8 semester courses or any combination of these that make up 4 full-year credits. However, this is only after you have completed 4 years (i.e. graduated). If you've only finished 3 years (and are now currently in your 4th year) then it's only 3 full year or 6 semester grades dropped.

[DOC_Ma]

Yeah exactly, that is pretty common and Western will automatically remove 2 of them then in their calculation. Does that change anything for you in terms of your application?

 

oh heh no actually, not for western, my first year might a bit over 3.75 if I drop like all the extra credits for western, but I have close to 4.0 for my 2nd and 3rd years where I had exactly 5 credits each with no labs so not really much of a difference to me. What I could have done was take 2 labs in each of my 2nd and 3rd year and take 1 less lecture course. Crap