Now that you’ve been admitted, how do you decide what courses to take?
First you should think in broad terms about the kind of program you would like to study: i.e. science (life, physical or mathematical), business/commerce, arts (humanities, languages, social science). Assess your aptitudes and interests – for example, it doesn’t make much sense to take a program like Computer Science, which calls for mathematical ability, if you haven’t done well in high school Calculus.
Programs of study are also referred to as “Subject POSts”. Take some time to study the Calendar and familiarize yourself with all the programs available in the Faculty of Arts and Science.
You do not have to apply for the Specialist, Major or Minor Program(s) you intend to take until you have completed at least 4.0 credits, but since some programs have prerequisites, you will need to have an idea of those you wish to consider as you choose your first year courses.
In general, you will be choosing 100‐level (introductory) courses, although some 200‐level courses have no prerequisites and are open to first year students. Some 100‐level courses have Grade 12 prerequisites, some do not. A full‐time load is 3.0 courses; since a degree requires 20.0 credits, most students take 5.0 courses in each fall/winter session.
You may wish to consider taking one of our exciting new courses in the New One: Learning without Borders program.
The Faculty of Arts and Science offers an exciting collection of First Year Seminar courses (199H1 and 199Y1’s). These courses which are open only to first‐year students are designed to introduce you, in a small‐class setting, to university scholarship. Course descriptions and offerings can be found on the Faculty’s website.
Your objective in choosing courses for first year should be to obtain the prerequisites and background for more than one program in second year (keep an open mind – you may wish to change it!) and to begin satisfying the breadth requirement.
Following are some examples of possible first year course choices:
Life Sciences:
BIO120H1 + BIO130H1 + CHM 138H1 + CHM139H1 + MAT135H1 + MAT136H1 + PHY131H1 + PHY132H1 + 1.0 elective (e.g. category 1, 2 or 3 breadth requirement, 199Y1)
Commerce:
ECO100Y1 + MAT133Y1 + RSM100Y1 + 2.0 electives (e.g. category 1 or 2 breadth requirement, 199Y1)
Humanities/Languages:
ENG140Y1 + FSL221Y1 + HIS109Y1 + PHL100Y1 + 1.0 elective (e.g. category 4 breadth requirement, 199Y1)
Social Science:
GGR107H1 + GGR124H1 + POL101Y1 + SOC101Y1 + 2.0 electives (e.g. category 1, 2 or 5 breadth requirement, 199Y1)