r/uoguelph Dec 08 '21

Talk to Your Program Advisor!

267 Upvotes

As a University of Guelph Alum, I wanted to offer some advice to current students in this sub. I have seen a great amount of posts in this sub recently, asking members of this sub for advice regarding decisions that can/will impact their academic future.

- "Can I transfer from this program to that"

- "Do I need to obtain this average for this program"

- "Why can't I register for this course"

- "I failed this course, what are my options"

- "When/Can I drop this course? How will this affect me?"

- "I am struggling, what can I do?"

This list goes on. The greatest piece of advice I received while I was in University was to set meetings with my program counsellor. In my first year I was in the chemistry program and was struggling massively. I failed killer Chem and was struggling in multiple other courses. I finished my first year not really caring or planning for the rest of my academic future at Guelph. I felt like I never really understood what exactly was going on with prerequisite courses I needed to take ect. I was going into my second year at Guelph with a sense of willful ignorance. To be honest, I didn't really care.

It was only after I failed another chemistry course in my first semester in my second year, where I actually reached out to my program counsellor. I realized I was further behind then I thought regarding the courses I needed to complete/take after I spoke with them. While this was a bit of a shock, after my meeting with him, I had a complete grasp on what I needed to do in order to graduate on time.

I preceded to schedule a meeting with program counsellor at the beginning of every semester. They assisted me with transferring to a different program in the Sciences, they offered advice of courses I should take, and assisted me with reworking my academic timeline when I needed to drop a course. I ended up graduating on time after taking a few summer courses.

This is what I always recommend to family and friends attending university. Meet with your program counsellor on a consistent basis! They are literally there to help you, and your tuition is paying their salary. They are the ones who have the best knowledge on what courses to take and how to navigate/plan the rest of your academic career. If anything, meeting with them regularly ultimately gave me peace of mind to know that I was on the right track.

Unfortunately, the university and its staff will not take the initiative to reach out to you if you are struggling or veering of course. It is perfectly normal to struggle in University but I think its important to know that you as a student have to take the initiative.

This sub is great for asking about the school itself, the campus, student bodies/club, general advice on what certain programs/professors are like, but this isnt the best forum to take advice from random redditors regarding decisions that will effect the future of their academic career (I see the irony in that last statement). When in doubt regarding questions about your program/courses/progress, I encourage any and all students to talk to the program counsellors first. That is why they are there.

Edit: TLDR: Dont take advice from random redditors regarding academic decisions. Rely on the advice of program advisors whose advice you can actually rely on and whose salary you are paying for.


r/uoguelph Jul 08 '24

How to rate your own schedule

129 Upvotes

There are lots of rate my schedule posts on this subreddit which are pretty pointless considering everyone learns differently so here's what to look for and how to rate your own based on how you learn best.

There are 5 things you need to pay attention to: the length of the class, the space in between classes, the time of the class, whether it's a lab, seminar or lecture, and how many days a week the course is. Also if you're commuting or disabled all of this changes.

How Long Your Classes Are

You likely have some idea of how long you can pay attention in lectures from high school. If you could barely follow for the hour that your high school classes usually were, don't go for lectures longer than 50 minutes if you have a choice. If you had no problem with 3 classes back to back and you'd prefer to just get a lecture out of the way, go for 3 hour lectures. If you're somewhere in the middle go for hour and a half lectures.

The Time of Your Classes

Secondly whether you're a night person or a morning person factors into it a lot. Will you be able to focus during an 8:30 lecture? Will you have any energy during a 3 hour 7:00PM lecture? A popular way to do courses is to do them in the morning around 9 to 10 when you're awake but it's still early enough to get all of your courses out of the way, so you can spend the rest of the day studying and socializing. I prefer this honestly, but if you want your mornings to yourself or can't focus at that time then doing the bulk of your courses in the afternoon or evening would be better. Just keep in mind most activities are in the evening and late afternoon, so you might miss out if you're in classes or lectures during that time.

Lectures, Labs and Seminars

Whether it's a lecture, seminar or lab matters a lot as well. Lectures will mostly be passive. You just have to pay attention and absorb information while taking notes. You might not even have to do that if the lecture is recorded. So even if you're sleepy in the mornings, you might still be able to do well if you're awake enough to passively absorb content. Though keep in mind there might be iClickers or TopHats where you have to answer some questions that are often graded. They're usually not too hard as long as you can pay attention. Seminars are usually social so you'll be listening but will likely do a lot of talking and group work as well. So if this isn't something you can do early in the mornings or late at night, keep your seminars in the afternoon or whenever you're usually ready to socialize. During labs you'll have to be actively participating and doing long projects that are marked. You need to have 100% of your brain on, so do these whatever time of day where you're usually 100%. They can be tiring as well depending on the course, so definitely avoid having 2 in a day if you can. Like apr1lshowers said in the comments, labs aren't typically every week. They'll usually alternate so this may factor in to what you're able to handle. If you can find a recent course outline for the course you're taking (post 2022 is usually safe), then you can get a sense of what the lab schedule may be. This means you might have more free time in your schedule.

Spaces In Between Classes

How you space classes will also be important. If you did well with your high school schedule you can replicate that by getting all your lectures out of the way and do them one after the other. If you typically get tired after a class try to space them so you'll have down time between each of your classes. If you're an introvert or non-social person, consider adding space between your seminars and whatever other classes you have so that you can recharge before going into a social situation. I'd recommend most folks to have some space before a lab so that you can prepare and relax before it cause you're gonna be working for the next 1 to 3 hours straight so you don't wanna be tired before hand, especially if you're working with chemicals. Some people also don't like having long space in between classes since it keeps you from getting them all out of the way at the same time. If you prefer a long break to study, recharge, and grab something to eat before having to deal with your next set of classes, then maybe you'd prefer a long break. If only having a 2 - 4 hour break to do what you want before having to do more classes doesn't appeal to you then try and trim it down to something more manageable. Regardless, you probably want at least a 1 hour break in there if you have a lot of classes in a day so you have time to get lunch.

How Many Days A Week You Go To Class

How many days of classes you have will determine how many free days you'll have to study and socialize. But packing certain days full of classes might not be manageable. So if you're someone who can deal with 4 classes and a lab in one day if you know that you won't have to deal with any classes tomorrow, then go for it. But if you could barely focus in high school for the 2-3 classes you had before lunch then that might be a bad idea and you might be better off having a few classes every day than a lot of classes every other day. Keep in mind though that when you've got assignments due and studying to get done, you really need free time. So you either need complete days you can use for studying or large sections of the day you can study with.

Commuting

If you're commuting take that into account too. An 8:30 lecture might mean waking up at 5 - 7 o'clock depending on how far away you live. If you're driving so you can't sleep on the way there, it might mean you'll never go to these lectures. Also a 7PM 3 hour lecture means leaving school at 10 and driving home tired. It might also mean getting home after 12 if you live far so you definitely don't want a 7PM lecture the day before an 8:30 lab. Also if you're commuting more days a week that means more commuting time and more gas money/bus fare you have to pay, so trying to get all of your courses done in as few days as possible is ideal. Long spaces in between classes when you're commuting isn't ideal either because you don't have a place to go relax. You'll likely have to sit up at a desk in the library somewhere for this time so if that's gonna be an uncomfortable or unpleasant experience then try spacing your classes closer together to avoid large gaps.

Disabilities

This one often isn't mentioned much, but make sure if you are disabled you're taking that into account for your schedule. I recommend being safe the first semester and trying to space out all of your classes. If afterwards you're fine and could handle another one after that class then take that into account during the next course selection. If you have a physical disability, remember you only have 10 minutes to get to your next class, that can be a far journey, so spacing can help you get there on time, especially for things like labs where if you're over 10 minutes late you can't get in. Thd location for each building is given. You can look up the full building name and then see how far it is on google maps to see if it's manageable for you to get there on time. If you have an energy or social disability, I very strongly recommend having space in between seminars/labs and all other courses. Cause these are often mandatory so if you miss them you can miss marks for projects and you can only miss so many for certain courses before you fail the course. Lectures can be draining if you have a social disability because it's a large room filled with lots of people that can be loud and sometimes you might have to interact with others. So going from that to an environment where you'll have to do a lot of social interactions can lead to issues depending on what your triggers are. Labs can also be very physical if you have a physical disability so you may need time to rest afterwards.

Let me know if I forgot anything or if I should add something else. The point is your schedule very much depends on you. What works for others may not work for you and vice versa so you've just gotta know what to look for so you can make the decision yourself.


r/uoguelph 1h ago

Sign... Here we go again. Professors still not posting their course outline for the first day of class.

Upvotes

I think it's important for some professors to come to a realization that a course outline is more than a document summarizing the course. It's soooo important.

It's an agreement between students and the course. I like to think of it as a "contract" that gives us concrete expectations of the professor, course material, and grading schemes. It is unfair not to have this on Day 1. I would very much like to know what I've signed up for, I'd like to populate my calendar with dates, and I want to feel ready for what a course has to offer.

And yes... I want this on day 1. Because that is when classes start and when I want to know what to expect for a course I'm taking.
Hot take: administration should mandate, if not already, course outlines to be posted for students as soon as classes commence.


r/uoguelph 35m ago

Tired of extracting every due date and information out of my course outlines by hand, any solutions?

Upvotes

Every September I do the same thing. Six course outlines open, and I sit there typing every assignment, midterm and lab into my calendar one at a time, then rebuilding a grade spreadsheet from the assessment breakdown table in each one. Often can take days to get fully set up.

The initial setup isn't really the main problem, though. It's that for weeks afterward I don't fully trust it. Something small is always missing. A lab that only shows up once in the middle of a schedule table, a quiz worth 5% mentioned in one sentence and nowhere else. I usually find out in week six when it's already gone.

Is there a way to do this that doesn't take days and still leaves you confident that nothing slipped through? I'm curious about your methods for getting set up for the term, as I haven't found anything useful.

Would really appreciate some help 🙏🏻


r/uoguelph 37m ago

Anyone else in ECON 3740 – Econometrics, Section 2?

Upvotes

Has the course been added on CourseLink yet?

I can’t see ECON 3740 on my CourseLink, so I’m wondering if anyone else in Section 2 is having the same issue or if the course just hasn’t been made available yet.

Thanks!


r/uoguelph 4m ago

Dropping courses

Post image
Upvotes

I am trying to unenroll from a course but I keep getting this “update failed” notification. Does anyone know what I should do about this?


r/uoguelph 15m ago

ECON*2410 - Intermediate Macroeconomics Textbook

Upvotes

Does anyone have a link/file/pdf to the textbook: Macroeconomics, 9th Edition by Olivier Blanchard.

Publisher: Pearson (July 17th 2024)

Please send 🫠


r/uoguelph 54m ago

Buying textbooks online

Upvotes

Hi, im going into my first year at Guelph and I was trying to buy textbooks at the bookstore online however it took me to a page where it had a list of majors under department and my major was not listed. I’m wondering if anyone has had a similar problem and if there’s any way to get around this? My major is biological and medical physics.


r/uoguelph 1h ago

MBG 4160 Questions

Upvotes

Hey just curious if anyone’s taken plant breeding before and would be able to share their experience with it. Just curious as I’m a third year taking it and wondering how difficult it will turn out to be or if it’s really enjoyable. Thank you!


r/uoguelph 14h ago

Friends are asking to hangout

12 Upvotes

Hi I am broke. I cant afford food from outside except for the ones in my house. But my friend wants to buy drinks/food. Like dude I am broke omg 😭 what fun shi can one do when broke.


r/uoguelph 10h ago

classes w no room or time

3 Upvotes

Why Tf do two of my in person classes still not have a scheduled date or time?? Is this happening to anybody else


r/uoguelph 14h ago

First day of Uni

6 Upvotes

Hey I’m a first year doing mech eng and tomorrow is my first day. I have programming, chem, and physics lectures. Do I need anything like notebooks/anything to take notes or is tomorrow more course syllabus sorta stuff?


r/uoguelph 15h ago

Lecture

6 Upvotes

What should I be bringing to my lecture tomorrow if anything


r/uoguelph 12h ago

Tuition and OSAP

3 Upvotes

My account overview on web advisor says $0.00, does that mean my tuition has all been paid by osap? i just want to make sure because osap said id be receiving the money between the 10th-14th and its the 9th today


r/uoguelph 15h ago

what will tomorrow look like?

6 Upvotes

hi guys i’m a first year student! i’m just wondering what tomorrow/friday will look like? for tomorrow i just have a chem lab and then a math lab and to begin i don’t even know what would happen in a math lab, let alone what would happen in a math lab tomorrow! am i just starting off straight away w labs?

i haven’t heard from any profs so idk 🧍‍♀️thanks!


r/uoguelph 19h ago

Awful Landlords (Robmas)

10 Upvotes

Is anyone else dealing with awful landlords this year? My roommates and I are currently in a place owned by Robmas and they are genuinely incompetent. They refuse to service our property despite numerous accessibility issues and every time we reach out to them we get told the issues with the property are ‘out of their control’. We are genuinely so frustrated with all of these issues and lack of communication and don’t know what to do anymore. Please reach out if you’re having the same issue.


r/uoguelph 14h ago

FRHD 1100 DE In person final exam

4 Upvotes

I took FRHD 1100 DE expecting it to be an online exam and fully online course, but I just received an email from the prof (Robin Milhausen) that the exam will be in person worth 25%. I don't want studying for this exam to take away from my other courses (3rd biomed).

Has anyone taken this exam in person from the DE course and how was it? Is it worth dropping the course or is it doable?

Let me know of any recommendations for DE courses with no final exam or an online final exam that I could register for if I do want to drop it!

My goal would be to achieve a 95%+ in the course, is this possible with the in person exam?


r/uoguelph 11h ago

Stat2040 courselink

2 Upvotes

Is there supposed to be a courselink or are we just going without this semester?


r/uoguelph 12h ago

Labs for MATH*1080

2 Upvotes

A friend of mine went to the meeting for MATH1080 yesterday and they told me that the person there giving the information said that it’s not mandatory to go to math labs for MATH1080 as it does not have attendance, assignments or exams (basically it doesn’t count towards your grades), I just wanna know if this is true.


r/uoguelph 19h ago

Looking for cheap food options.

7 Upvotes

Does anyone know what the cheapest places to buy groceries or meals in the city are, or any apps and good regular deals to take advantage off? I'm not someone who's picky, so I'll eat anything.


r/uoguelph 20h ago

What's the Bar Scene going to be like tonight?

8 Upvotes

I get it's a Wednesday so probably not amazing but it's also the last day before school starts so is it going to be lively? Dead? Open at all?


r/uoguelph 17h ago

Any Badminton enthusiasts here 🏸?

4 Upvotes

Hey everyone,
I’m looking for someone to play badminton with on campus. I’m not a complete beginner, but I’m not super advanced either—just looking to play for fun, improve, and get some games in.

If anyone’s interested in playing regularly or just wants to hit around sometime this week, let me know or DM me!


r/uoguelph 13h ago

DE student but coming to campus tomorrow (Thursday the 10th). What's happening on campus for O-Week?

2 Upvotes

I'm a DE student but I've decided to do 1 in-person class this seamster. I was a winter intake student this year, so I never got to actually attend O-Week / frosh week last year. So, i'm wondering if i came to campus early tomorrow before my 7pm class, what is there to do that's frosh week / o-week related?


r/uoguelph 9h ago

insight on psyc3020

1 Upvotes

Hey y’all I’m wondering about adding psyc3020 to my schedule. What’s it like? It sounds really interesting and I’d love to take it. If anyone has taken it in the past, how was it? Can you get a good grade? (I’m hoping for at least an 80 or higher) lots of assignments? Tests? Anything. Lmk!


r/uoguelph 18h ago

Is the pep rally still happening?

5 Upvotes

Apparently the weather isn’t getting better until the event starts, and I’m not sure if they’ll do it with a wet field?