Bjorn Posted May 31, 2016 Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 Hi, I was just wondering how Ottawa would recognize if a course was taken online or not. I was just curious because my academic counselor stated that there was no indication (marked differences) on my transcript indicating whether or not a course was taken online or in class. I see this as being problematic because some courses have online and in class sections. So wouldn't it be difficult to tell if a person took a class online? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Posted May 31, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2016 Or let me just ask this question. If I took 5 courses 1st semester, and in second semester I had 3 in class courses, 1 online and 1 drop, I would be at 4.0 full time courses for the year. I am currently taking 1.0 (2 courses) in summer school, so this year should count in the wgpa either way right? I'm saying that in reference to "A full‑time academic year in which you take the equivalent of four full‑year courses is accepted and counted in the Weighted Grade Point Average (WGPA) calculation only if the missing course/credit is completed either as an additional course within another academic year or as a summer course." Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle_MD Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 I believe its minimum 4 courses PER semester though so your second semester would not count unfortunately. 4 full-time courses means you take 4 in the fall and 4 again in the winter, I don't believe 5 and 3 would count. As always ask Diane/Chantal to be sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 very difficult. For Waterloo courses when I took them it was actually impossible. Hi, I was just wondering how Ottawa would recognize if a course was taken online or not. I was just curious because my academic counselor stated that there was no indication (marked differences) on my transcript indicating whether or not a course was taken online or in class. I see this as being problematic because some courses have online and in class sections. So wouldn't it be difficult to tell if a person took a class online? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Posted June 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 very difficult. For Waterloo courses when I took them it was actually impossible. See that's what my line of thinking is... How would they even know? At my school, online and in class courses are printed the exact same way on transcripts. I think that is because many courses here offer online and in class sections of the same course maybe. I think it should be fine honestly. I just can't think of any practical way that they would be able to verify it. Besides that, the wording of the rules says that a student has to take 4.0 courses over a year to be considered full time. I read every single document regarding this issue and it didn't exclusively say anywhere that you had to take 4 per semester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmorelan Posted June 1, 2016 Report Share Posted June 1, 2016 I would ask for sure and report back As far as I know it doesn't matter how many courses you take per semester - only the total for the academic year. See that's what my line of thinking is... How would they even know? At my school, online and in class courses are printed the exact same way on transcripts. I think that is because many courses here offer online and in class sections of the same course maybe. I think it should be fine honestly. I just can't think of any practical way that they would be able to verify it. Besides that, the wording of the rules says that a student has to take 4.0 courses over a year to be considered full time. I read every single document regarding this issue and it didn't exclusively say anywhere that you had to take 4 per semester. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle_MD Posted June 5, 2016 Report Share Posted June 5, 2016 No it doesn't say that you are correct but at Oftawa U a "full year course" is a course that runs from September to April, so the course is taken in both semesters - you get 3 credits in the fall and 3 in the winter. So "4 full year courses" means 4 courses in the fall and 4 courses in the winter essentially. I was very careful to meet their requirements when I applied. But as I say, ask Admissions to be sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Posted June 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 No it doesn't say that you are correct but at Oftawa U a "full year course" is a course that runs from September to April, so the course is taken in both semesters - you get 3 credits in the fall and 3 in the winter. So "4 full year courses" means 4 courses in the fall and 4 courses in the winter essentially. I was very careful to meet their requirements when I applied. But as I say, ask Admissions to be sure! Isn't that just a different interpretation though? If it says that you need the equivalent of 4 full year courses, then 8 half courses during the academic year should be an equivalent. That says nothing about how many equivalent half courses need to be completed per semester, in that sense the semester load should be irrelevant. I completely understand what you are saying, but in this case I technically have completed 8 half courses in an academic year, which in my opinion is equivalent to 4 full year courses. I emailed them but I gained the sense that they misinterpreted what I was saying, because the response really had nothing to do with the question, so I sent a follow up for clarification and am awaiting a response. I'm kind of frustrated, because I called them 3x and emailed them twice in jan/feb but didn't receive any responses at the time. If I lose a 4.0 year due to the interpretation of a rule im going to be pretty bummed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lcs.tmng Posted June 6, 2016 Report Share Posted June 6, 2016 But for real, 2 of my required courses only have online sections (on site evaluations)... derp I feel like some admission offices are not totally in touch with the fact that sound undergraduate education doesn't always need 18th century course delivery methods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belle_MD Posted June 7, 2016 Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 Isn't that just a different interpretation though? If it says that you need the equivalent of 4 full year courses, then 8 half courses during the academic year should be an equivalent. That says nothing about how many equivalent half courses need to be completed per semester, in that sense the semester load should be irrelevant. I completely understand what you are saying, but in this case I technically have completed 8 half courses in an academic year, which in my opinion is equivalent to 4 full year courses. I emailed them but I gained the sense that they misinterpreted what I was saying, because the response really had nothing to do with the question, so I sent a follow up for clarification and am awaiting a response. I'm kind of frustrated, because I called them 3x and emailed them twice in jan/feb but didn't receive any responses at the time. If I lose a 4.0 year due to the interpretation of a rule im going to be pretty bummed. I hear what you are saying. Ive studied at U of O for like ten years and I know from experience that once you go down to 3 courses in a semester, you are considered to have part-time status and are no longer full-time. So yes it seems the course load per semester does matter at this school. In terms of the med application, that is how I understood it but I could be mistaken. For sure the best way is always to speak to someone directly. Try giving them a call, I hope you get some answers!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Posted June 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2016 I hear what you are saying. Ive studied at U of O for like ten years and I know from experience that once you go down to 3 courses in a semester, you are considered to have part-time status and are no longer full-time. So yes it seems the course load per semester does matter at this school. In terms of the med application, that is how I understood it but I could be mistaken. For sure the best way is always to speak to someone directly. Try giving them a call, I hope you get some answers!! Ya we'll see I guess. I think the big assumption is that they are even able to differentiate between courses that were taken online vs in class. I still don't see how that would be possible without marked differences on transcripts. I've taken lots of courses that have online sections in addition to in class ones, and in that circumstance it is virtually impossible to figure out which section a person was in. I think it should be fine based on those grounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyAndHopeful Posted June 8, 2016 Report Share Posted June 8, 2016 I know it varies from school to school, but courses that I took online have a slightly different code on my transcript, compared to those I took in lecture format. Some courses at my school are only offered online, so I did inquire about this a couple years ago. I was told by the admissions office that courses taken online cannot be count towards a full course load, which is 4 full year courses. So if you had 4 lecture courses per semester and 1 online course, you're still ok, since that would be considered 4 full year courses (the online one will not "count"). If you have 3 lecture courses and 2 online ones, you're now considered part-time, and that semester would not count. I hope that helps! That was how it was explained to me two years ago, but of course it's best to contact the admissions office to make sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjorn Posted June 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2016 I know it varies from school to school, but courses that I took online have a slightly different code on my transcript, compared to those I took in lecture format. Some courses at my school are only offered online, so I did inquire about this a couple years ago. I was told by the admissions office that courses taken online cannot be count towards a full course load, which is 4 full year courses. So if you had 4 lecture courses per semester and 1 online course, you're still ok, since that would be considered 4 full year courses (the online one will not "count"). If you have 3 lecture courses and 2 online ones, you're now considered part-time, and that semester would not count. I hope that helps! That was how it was explained to me two years ago, but of course it's best to contact the admissions office to make sure. Ya, I spoke to my academic counselor and there are no marked differences on my transcript for online vs in class courses. So I suspect it will be fine. Thanks for the reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyAndHopeful Posted June 9, 2016 Report Share Posted June 9, 2016 No problem! Unless they call your school directly and ask specifically about the courses you take (which I can't see them doing), I don't know how they could tell either. I think you're probably ok! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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