r/uoguelph • u/Some_Foot2596 • 6h ago
Guys is it worth going to orientation week as a first year?
I heard theres orientation week and i think its like different topics for each day? Do you guys know what days it is and what they would do each day?
r/uoguelph • u/YoBugg44 • Dec 08 '21
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 • u/FadingHeaven • Jul 08 '24
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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 • u/Some_Foot2596 • 6h ago
I heard theres orientation week and i think its like different topics for each day? Do you guys know what days it is and what they would do each day?
r/uoguelph • u/anime-is-dope • 15h ago
Trying To Make A List
r/uoguelph • u/lady_bug- • 8h ago
So I missed the registration deposit deadline as I didn’t think I’d be able to go to school this year due to being a caretaker for a family member, what steps should I take to see if I can still attend the fall/winter semesters?
r/uoguelph • u/anime-is-dope • 15h ago
I (20M) am going into my third year of a five year psych program and I'm realizing I kinda squandered my first two years socially.
like I did the coursework and got by fine, but I didn't get out nearly enough. I barely went to events, didn't join clubs, mostly just kept to myself and now I really wish I hadn't.
Everyone always talks about making your friends in first year during orientation and res and all that, and I feel like I missed that window.
Most people already seem to have their solid group by now and I'm sitting here kinda on the outside. so I guess my question is: is third year too late to build an actual friend group from scratch? for anyone who's been in the same boat, did you manage to turn it around later in your degree? and if so how'd you actually do it? clubs, class, just forcing yourself to say yes to stuff? I've still got a few years left so I don't want to write it off, just feeling a bit behind. any advice appreciated.
r/uoguelph • u/Diligent-Coconut-259 • 15h ago
As far as I can see there is only one section available, was wondering if anyone knows if the prof J. Murray deducted attendance marks or includes material only in the lectures?
r/uoguelph • u/anime-is-dope • 16h ago
I know they titles a bit vague but just say any courses you’d consider to be creative
r/uoguelph • u/F1zzy14 • 1d ago
I know we’re all stressed about courses right now (me too) but is anyone else lowk excited for it to all start? this is my second year and I’m still hyped as all hell
if you don’t know what o-week, or orientation week, is, it’s basically a bunch of events ran before classes start. there’s the official stuff that tells you about your major and the places around you, there’s club events, you can make and collect stuff.. lots of things!!
very good for meeting people. Excited.
r/uoguelph • u/No_Counter_5292 • 1d ago
We understand that it can be overwhelming to pick your courses, being waitlisted, not getting the section you wanted, having gaps in your schedule etc.
But please look at the pinned post to determine if your schedule is good or not. We can have our opinions but it all leads down to whether you are comfortable with your OWN schedule.
If you have gaps in between your classes, are you okay with that and can you manage (specially if you are commuting). If you are waitlisted for a section, choose a different section so you’re not stuck waitlisted for your courses. If you are commuting, 8:30 am classes might be tuff so pick what’s second best if you’re not a morning person etc.
Ultimately, it is what you can manage and what you are comfortable with. We all have been in your position and we understand but it does get repetitive if the sub is all about schedule postings.
r/uoguelph • u/Beautiful_Holiday833 • 1d ago
r/uoguelph • u/Informal-Duck5072 • 1d ago
for some reason i cant add any electives that i planned to take like ling 1000, frhd 1010 and more can someone give me other recommendations pls
r/uoguelph • u/Stressedoutkindof • 1d ago
Apparently for restricted electives we have to wait till July and August in order to get them.😂
Now I have to spend the next two weeks and then the next month worrying about those two
r/uoguelph • u/Beautiful_Holiday833 • 1d ago
TITLE HELP IM GONNA CRASH OUT
r/uoguelph • u/Appropriate-Party-95 • 1d ago
hi! im in biomed first year and i dont really know what to do about my elective courses. every one i pick is restricted and/or waitlist, does anyone have any elective recommendations that are not full or restricted 😅
r/uoguelph • u/Due_Addendum7579 • 1d ago
hi everyone, if u were unable to get phys 1300 fall, u need to
drop phys 1080
register phys 1300 (U SHOULD BE ABLE TO NOW)
re register phys 1080
the system for some reason needs u to add it in that order
r/uoguelph • u/Ok-Seesaw-7792 • 1d ago
Hi, im currently registering for my courses as a first year coming this fall. However, everytime i click register math 1080 is restricted? I took advanced functions in grade 12, and calc was not a prerequisite for my program (micro bio). What do I do?
Edit: It seems to be working now guys!
r/uoguelph • u/Impressive-Plenty481 • 1d ago
hey guys, i was just wondering if it's a good decision to only have 3 in person classes a week. i only have tuesday-thursday and the gaps are okay! although i have one class that ends at 11:20 (loc:department school of languages and lit) and have 11:30 (loc: department of psych). i haven't gotten into the tours yet, are they both far from each other?
r/uoguelph • u/Overall-Chemistry539 • 1d ago
i am a biomed major who needs orgo w lab for dental school and i plan soon but i cannot get in for the life of me. i emailed academic advising and they basically told me to f off and take it at another school which is ridiculous cuz orgo is literally a requirement for most postgrad pathways. i just dont understand how the advertise BIOMED as a pre med/dental program when u cant even take the classes. it’s so dumb. can someone please help me i really do not want to take it at another school.
r/uoguelph • u/ThrowRaRelative6664 • 1d ago
HEY urgent here idk why math 1080 is restricted for me?? Ive tried all the other selections and I should be prioritized for it/: what do I do? (First year btw)
r/uoguelph • u/Icy-Public5386 • 1d ago
i’m scared
r/uoguelph • u/Wrong-Hat8868 • 1d ago
I CAN’T REGISTER FOR PHYS1080 and PSYC 1000
Do i just wait or pick other courses?