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[myth000]

I don't know if things have changed from my time, but I remember my first-year class averages were C-, C, C+, C+, and B-.     We remember our first year the best, so that may be why people consider UofT grading tough.   Upper-year class averages didn't fall below a C+ but very rarely anything above a B.

[Dghoul]

My undergrad is UT engineering. Out of 40 courses 15 has a C range average, the other 25 are B range average, two of them are even B+ averages. It is not that bad. Nonetheless an argument can be made that the student pool at UT is already highly competitive, so that average only compound on top of that. 

Another problem with UT engineering is that they used to assess academic performance by average marks rather than GPA. This objective mismatch may give a false sense of performance if the ultimate goal is law school. I was ranked top 10% almost every semester. But GPA wise I got a measly 3.6. 

[MyWifesBoyfriend]

11 hours ago, myth000 said:

I don't know if things have changed from my time, but I remember my first-year class averages were C-, C, C+, C+, and B-.     We remember our first year the best, so that may be why people consider UofT grading tough.   Upper-year class averages didn't fall below a C+ but very rarely anything above a B.

I TA’d at a university that would be considered “easier” relative to U of T, and I was instructed to keep the average for a first year class around a C+. I think the averages aren’t the issue, I am inclined to believe DGhoul’s take:

 

2 hours ago, Dghoul said:

Nonetheless an argument can be made that the student pool at UT is already highly competitive, so that average only compound on top of that.

U of T St. George has high entry standards and attracts stronger students, especially for some of its STEM programs (engsci and compsci) - with the exception of lifesci, which if I remember correctly, required a lower average than McMaster. The perception of difficulty is further compounded by those students that succeeded in highschool without building work ethic (which you’ll invariably need for uni).

Regardless, I would never dissuade someone from going to U of T if they were academically strong. Worst case scenario, you need to work a bit harder to get a higher mark, and this lays the work ethic infrastructure you’ll need to succeed in graduate or professional degrees.

[lawflamme]

On 11/26/2023 at 2:03 PM, Naj said:

Yes

Avoid

Just out of curiosity, why would you wanna stay away from psychology as a major? 

[Naj]

1 hour ago, lawflamme said:

Just out of curiosity, why would you wanna stay away from psychology as a major? 

Useless degree unless you plan on going all the way and getting a Phd. No value in doing a psych undergrad alone, practically speaking. Pick something where 4 years of your money and time invested isn't moot once you graduate and decide to apply to law school.

 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Naj

[MyWifesBoyfriend]

On 12/2/2023 at 4:38 PM, Naj said:

Useless degree unless you plan on going all the way and getting a Phd. No value in doing a psych undergrad alone, practically speaking. Pick something where 4 years of your money and time invested isn't moot once you graduate and decide to apply to law school.

Depends. If @lawflamme is dedicated to law as the endgame, then it really does not matter which degree they take, so long as they can get a good cGPA. Pursuing a degree or field of undergraduate study that interests you would only aid in this purpose. 

Otherwise, I'd tend to agree if @lawflamme was ambivalent about law school. Generally speaking, getting a bachelors in any social science (excepting maybe economics) is not nearly as marketable as something like engineering, business, or math-heavy programs. Psych is particularly dicey because 1) there's an oversaturation of psych undergraduates, and 2) getting an MA and PhD in psych is arguably more difficult than getting into law school, and even medicine. 

If you do settle on psych, I'd recommend taking some courses in statistical methods or quantitative theory that are tailored towards social science students. Most social science programs require elementary versions of these courses, but also offer advanced versions as well. Learning some practical skills like coding in SPSS or R-Studio diversify your skillset a bit and allow you to talk about something a bit more grounded with a prospective employer outside of grand psychoanalytic or behavioral theories. Anecdotally, it helped me secure some research positions before landing my current job. I also found that those quantitative theory courses offered a solid introduction to basic logic (and logical fallacies) that the LSAT tests. Would depend on the professors though. 

Edited January 17 by MyWifesBoyfriend

[Dghoul]

Anybody knows if a second monitor (portable) is allowed for open book exams at UofT law?

[vitaminA]

4 hours ago, Dghoul said:

Anybody knows if a second monitor (portable) is allowed for open book exams at UofT law?

Not allowed! You can only use your laptop and bring in paper notes. But some professors allow you to access notes on your laptop so you don't have to print them all.

[Dghoul]

On 1/22/2024 at 1:11 PM, vitaminA said:

Not allowed! You can only use your laptop and bring in paper notes. But some professors allow you to access notes on your laptop so you don't have to print them all.

Thank you. The dual monitor part I am half expected, but paper notes only for some courses has never even crossed my mind. 

[StoneMason]

16 hours ago, Dghoul said:

Thank you. The dual monitor part I am half expected, but paper notes only for some courses has never even crossed my mind. 

You may even have a few closed-book finals. From my experience majority are open-book but there are not an insignificant number of profs who have closed-book exams (even for 1L).

Edited January 25 by StoneMason

[aurora borealis]

On 1/24/2024 at 5:06 PM, Dghoul said:

Thank you. The dual monitor part I am half expected, but paper notes only for some courses has never even crossed my mind. 

For what it's worth, I'm a 2L and the only exam where I couldn't access my notes on my laptop was closed book. My experience (which admittedly may be different from others) has been that profs will set the Examplify settings so that you can access your hard drive but not the internet.

I looked at the list of sections for 1L courses on the website and there are way more closed book exams this year than I remember there being last year.

[Dghoul]

12 hours ago, aurora borealis said:

For what it's worth, I'm a 2L and the only exam where I couldn't access my notes on my laptop was closed book. My experience (which admittedly may be different from others) has been that profs will set the Examplify settings so that you can access your hard drive but not the internet.

I looked at the list of sections for 1L courses on the website and there are way more closed book exams this year than I remember there being last year.

 

I wanted to know if dual monitors are allowed because I want to be able to check soft notes effectively without the need to split-screening. Guess I shall get a laptop with a big monitor instead. It is interesting to know the trend for more closed-book exams though. 

[GoatDuck]

1 hour ago, Dghoul said:

 

I wanted to know if dual monitors are allowed because I want to be able to check soft notes effectively without the need to split-screening. Guess I shall get a laptop with a big monitor instead. It is interesting to know the trend for more closed-book exams though. 

Not answering your question directly, but even if dual monitors aren’t allowed, I don’t think it should worry you. By the time you write the exams, you shouldn’t need to check notes much. Sometimes you may need to double check some detail or confirm the name of a case, and alt-tabbing works for that just fine. If you find yourself constantly needing to look at your notes during the exam, then having access to the second monitor probably wouldn’t make a difference in your exam grade anyways. 

[cities1000]

On 1/25/2024 at 10:41 PM, aurora borealis said:

For what it's worth, I'm a 2L and the only exam where I couldn't access my notes on my laptop was closed book. My experience (which admittedly may be different from others) has been that profs will set the Examplify settings so that you can access your hard drive but not the internet.

I looked at the list of sections for 1L courses on the website and there are way more closed book exams this year than I remember there being last year.

Just to provide an alternative experience here, Trusts with Katz is always open physical notes, but completely locked laptop, meaning you can bring any physical materials you want into the exam, but you cannot access documents on your computer at all. I think some other profs might do this in upper-year courses as well.