What is "full-time" study?

[angelica97]

U of T Law's admissions website: "the admission GPA is calculated on undergraduate courses only, using the best three academic years (traditionally using both the fall and winter sessions per year) of full-time study from all years of undergraduate study. For the definition of full-time study please refer to the OLSAS Data Legend."

OLSAS Data Legend: "Duration F – You have the equivalent of a minimum of 3 full-time courses or 6 half courses. Two consecutive semesters are grouped together as full time."

I'm lost. Could someone clarify what U of T Law means by "full-time" study? TYIA

[scooter]

The OLSAS thing you quoted is the definition of full-year vs half-year courses, and their weighting in GPA calculation. Has nothing to do with "full-time" vs "part time" study.

I believe that UofT is referring to your course load. For example, if the regular course load in undergrad is 5 courses per semester, then you may be considered full time if you take at least 3 courses in a semester (this is just an example, idk what OLSAS considers "full time" but it is probably either 3 per semester or 7 per 2 semesters). If you took 1-2 courses in a semester that would be part-time study. That is what they are referring to. 

[North]

This must have changed recently, perhaps to accommodate unusual course loads related to COVID. UofT previously had their own posted definition of full-time, which was something along the lines of 4-5 credits per semester. I can't recall for sure.

In any case, the "full-time" thing is primarily a metric used to gauge a student's ability to manage workload. You'll be evaluated differently if you completed your undergrad "part-time" (3 credits per semester, for example) compared to someone who did 5 credits per semester. You can often compensate for this if you have reasons why you took a part-time course load - worked a full-time job, cared for dependents, etc.

Not sure if this is any help, but when I was accepted in the not-so distant past, I only took 4 courses per semester during undergrad. I did work during school, but the slightly reduced course load didn't seem to hurt my chances.