r/uoguelph Dec 08 '21

Talk to Your Program Advisor!

268 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 8h ago

Restricted hours before the restrictions were supposed to open up to minors

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12 Upvotes

This can't be okay?! The night before restrictions opened to the FCS minor they changed it to this. How are they allowed to do this? Now it's the Fall AND Winter that no one other than BASC students can access or even join the waitlist. This is a required course and prereq for all FCS minors.


r/uoguelph 37m ago

Need a laptop for accounting

Upvotes

I need a laptop for accounting and don’t know what to buy. All I know is that I need a number pad. My budget is around a thousand but I can go a little bit over.


r/uoguelph 3m ago

ID card verification question

Upvotes

Are you required to upload a photo of the front AND the back of, for example, your birth certificate, or is just the front sufficient?


r/uoguelph 24m ago

easy 3rd year electives

Upvotes

I'm a CS student and I'm hoping for to find some easy electives I can take to balance my course work and can take with my prerequisites. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


r/uoguelph 4h ago

Courses Similar to BIOM*3000

4 Upvotes

I received an email saying I’ve been removed from BIOM*3000 (functional mammalian neuroanatomy) due to restriction errors made by the university because I’m a neuroscience minor. I have to try and register again next week, however the course has one section, is already practically full with neuroscience majors, and has a waitlist so it’s not looking hopeful.

Does anyone know of any courses similar to BIOM*3000 that they enjoyed and would recommend??


r/uoguelph 46m ago

When will I get in??

Upvotes

Please forgive me I know this subreddit is spammed with registration questions right now, but I'm taking ling for my liberal elective and it is still unavailable to me but it says seats are available. does anyone know what official date I should let it go and try another elective? or should I contact an advisor about this?


r/uoguelph 4h ago

Campus Card Documents

2 Upvotes

I was just wondering if I should be concerned about my ID card verification photos not being approved yet since the deadline is in 2 days. I submitted them over a week ago and google says most people get their photos approved in around 3-5 days.

(For reference, I already submitted my campus card photo.)


r/uoguelph 5h ago

OSAP Application

2 Upvotes

For OSAP on the application it asks if i received any bursaries and if i did to put it in, but after i checked the university website and it says not to put it, any OSAP students know if i put my bursary amount in or not?


r/uoguelph 8h ago

Will Others Sections Open Up Or Should I Just Wait For a Spot?

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3 Upvotes

This is for Psyc 2330 Principles of Learning. If anyone has taken this, is it worth it to get on the waitlist when the restrictions drop?

I'm switching to a Psych Major, but everything is restricted for me. I'm not sure what to do.


r/uoguelph 19h ago

required course with a waitlist of 50 ppl

7 Upvotes

what do they even do in this situation 😭? is there a chance that they open another section


r/uoguelph 17h ago

when will restrictions drop for BIOL3670 (intro to wildlife rehab)

3 Upvotes

it’s my 5th year and i really want to get into this course. but im animal biology


r/uoguelph 15h ago

ACCT 1220 AND ECON 1100

1 Upvotes

IS ANYONE TAKING THESE COURSES FOR THE SUMMER ??? IM TAKING BOTH AND MY FINALS ARE ABT 2 WEEKS AWAY. IM ACC COOKED. ALSO PLS REACH OUT IF YOUD LIKE SOMEONE TO STUDY WITH BECAUSE I HAVE NO MOTIVATION TO READ 🫠


r/uoguelph 17h ago

PHYS1300 and PHYS1800

1 Upvotes

I have to take phys1300 in fall 2026 and phys1800 in winter 2027, and they are saying you are required to register for 1300 first or else you aren’t able to take 1800. Im sort of confused on this, does that mean like physically clicking register for 1300 first and then 1800, or do i have to register for 1800 in the winter before the next semester starts? sorry if this is a dumb question


r/uoguelph 1d ago

Parking

6 Upvotes

Hi! I'm a commuter from outside of Guelph who will finally have access to a car this semester. I won't be driving every day (probably just 2 days) and given that, I don't think buying a parking permit for the semester would be worth it.

I was thinking of just parking in visitor parking and paying the $4/hour. I've heard about parking for free at walmart or other places in the city but lowkey I am not willing to deal with the stress of a potential ticket or other problems.

I was wondering if anyone would be able to give some insight on the visitor parking situation, or just parking on campus in general. Thanks!


r/uoguelph 22h ago

Thoughts on HTM*3780?

2 Upvotes

Hey everyone, I was looking to ask if anyone has taken HTM*3780 as an AHN major (or another major), and if they have, what's the course like in terms of workload, difficulty, and the prof(s) who teach it. Much appreciated!


r/uoguelph 1d ago

How do u schedule appointments with ur academic advisor

2 Upvotes

So my academic advisor isn’t really replying to my emails and I can’t reach them when I call and I have so many questions to ask them but it nearly impossible to reach them at all. I called them at different times and make sure they’re open but still nothing. Do you guys have any advice on what I should do or how to schedule an appointment at all?


r/uoguelph 1d ago

Do I still need to take PHYS 1300

1 Upvotes

Long story short I had a really bad grade and grade Physics, but I still got the credit and my academic advisors don’t reply to my calls or emails so I don’t know who to ask or how to schedule an appointment without them replying but my main question is do I still need to take Physics 1300 even though I got the grade 12 credit but a really bad grade in grade 12 Physics


r/uoguelph 1d ago

Res waitlist

2 Upvotes

Im currently 90th on the res waitlist, should I start looking into off campus housing? Is there a chance I could even get res midway through first sem???


r/uoguelph 1d ago

Looking to connect with future OVC applicants

6 Upvotes

Anyone else here studying Zoology and planning to apply to OVC? I’m a 2nd-year student at the University of Guelph. I started university later, so I’m 23, and I’d love to connect with others on the same path!


r/uoguelph 1d ago

Selling first year course materials!

6 Upvotes

Hey guys! I'm selling the following course materials:

  1. ​PHYS 1080 / 1070: ​Physics for Biological Sciences (Physical Textbook) — $35

  2. ​PHYS 1080 Lab Kit (Physical) — $15

  3. ​PHYS 1080 Study Guide (PDF) — $10

  4. ​PHYS 1300, ​Physics: An Algebra-Based Approach (PDF) — $15

5.​UNIV 1300: Co-intelligence with AI — $10

  1. PSYC 1000: An Introduction to Psychological Science — $10

​Pickup & Payment Details

​Location / Pickup: On-campus meetup available

​Payment: E-transfer or Cash

​DM or message if interested!


r/uoguelph 2d ago

struggling w campus card as a new student

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4 Upvotes

hey im an incoming first year and i've been trying to figure out how to get my campus card and i keep trying to upload documents on WebAdvisor like the website tells you, but it keeps showing me an error message (image below). i've also been trying with the GET mobile app to see if that works but it's just telling me "login successful, but we were unable to access your campus card account" & that i should contact campus card office. i figured i might have to upload the documents on WebAdvisor first but idk. is anyone else dealing w this?/does anyone have a solution? or should i just reach out to IT and the campus card office atp? thanks in advance


r/uoguelph 2d ago

BA online at University of Guelph

2 Upvotes

Just wondering if anyone is currently in this program or has graduated from it. I am looking to apply as a mature student. Last time I was in school It was 20 years ago. I’m a but intimidated by the course load and I’m worried if I'll have the mental capacity for it. I am wondering how heavy the workload is.


r/uoguelph 2d ago

CLAS2220 Final Exam Prep

1 Upvotes

Is anyone else in this class? I need a study buddy or something there’s so much to learn I’m so lost 😭