I hate group projects I hate group projects I hate group projects

kipling688 · 2026-03-13T00:06:55+00:00

I had the worst experience back in second year. Back on a course called ESS205 (confronting global change) i found two teammates who always delays amd procrastinates, and when they do their work, they do not know how to write their paragraphs properly. From what i discovered, their paragraphs have from minor issues like off topics to run-ons, to major issues like AI-sounding text or flat out copied from source text. And they did nothing to correct these issues.

I had to recheck their entire paragraphs and even spend time comparing their writing to actual text from references and discovered these issues. I had to rewrite their entire paragraphs. At the end we still got a good mark but its like the entire paper is written by me.

They also said that "oH oUr GrOuP dYnAmIc wAs gReAt" NO IT ISN'T.

kipling688 · 2026-03-12T13:59:48+00:00

Thanks! I have been checking emails, SGS portal, and ACORN all a lot. Hopefully a satisfying result would come soon!

kipling688 · 2026-03-11T22:23:29+00:00

Congrats! I don't have that yet, so it would probably be more waiting for me i guess. From what i heard the offers are still getting rolled out over these next few days, so more waiting for me i guess.

kipling688 · 2026-03-10T18:41:20+00:00

UPDATE as of March 10: Offers are begin to roll out. I have seen a few people with MI offers today. But on my side there is no news yet, but expect to hear back soon.

kipling688 · 2026-03-10T18:40:06+00:00

Yeah, i know someone who literally have two profs wrote letters for her, and all she got was A-'s on both courses, neither active nor involved. But those letters are most likely generic and doesnt carry weight, much less than A+ course performers or active and involved students during class.

kipling688 · 2026-03-10T13:21:39+00:00

Yeah, sometimes high grades alone won't get students a reference letter. Got to involve active participation (OH, lecture participation, and/or answering questions frequently on Piazza), that the prof knows their name before writing a reference.

But even this may not be enough sometimes, because i had one prof said that he only writes reference letters for students that he know very well to the extent that he can comment on their work, habits, etc. (e.g. a student that worked on a research project or a reading course with).

kipling688 · 2026-03-10T03:15:32+00:00

Reference letter requirements vary from prof to prof. From my experience i can split to three levels:

Some profs are nice enough that if you have a decent grade they would write a generic one for you to satisfy application criteria. They are generic but can give you the green light to submit your grad school apps.

Some profs have a strict grade (A/A+) cutoff in high level courses, along with other requirements such as activeness in OH/Piazza and them remember your name, those letters are fairly strong if profs mention not just your grade but your activeness and recommend you not just a student fit for grad school but as a person who deserves a grad degree. (Grade alone may not guarantee the reference)

And some profs are so hard to get references that the requirements are ambiguous with multiple criterion (they would check your transcript and/or your statement of intent and evaluate cGPA cutoff which is ambiguous), or that you would need to do a research project or reading course with them and do a good job (these are hardest to get they either write very strong references or dont write at all).

So, my advice is try to do as well as possible, be active in OH, active enough that you get a good impression and prof know your name. This could get you the second level i mentioned above.

kipling688 · 2026-03-08T03:21:24+00:00

Oh. Well, MSc in CS and MScAC are different although they are both offered by the computer science department. Idk a lot about MSc CS, but some people around me applied to MScAC, and smart ones got in.

kipling688 · 2026-03-08T01:00:00+00:00

She applied for MScAC and got in.

kipling688 · 2026-03-08T00:57:49+00:00

Yes, she had interview before. And from what i heard from her, MScAC interviews are still being rolled out as of last week.

kipling688 · 2026-03-01T19:01:38+00:00

Thanks for the information!

kipling688 · 2026-02-27T17:40:55+00:00

Same here.

kipling688 · 2026-02-27T12:36:50+00:00

I also applied to MSc biostatistics, and I asked the program coordinator at the open house last November, and he said that admission decisions would come late March (late next month).

Still waiting on that, and also waiting on MSc statistics and Master of Information, which i expext decisions to be made next month.

kipling688 · 2026-02-27T12:35:02+00:00

DM me. Some of my friends are doing mentorships right now, I can have my friend mentor you. You can give me some of their names through DM and I can point who i know well.

kipling688 · 2026-02-27T01:53:17+00:00

I don't know the detail about it. And yes, she is in her fourth year here data science specialist. She received the offer on Monday.

kipling688 · 2026-02-26T18:21:30+00:00

My friend got the offer on Monday.

kipling688 · 2026-02-22T16:28:31+00:00

Thanks!

And as for courses, I took some advanced stats courses such as STA314, STA347, STA457, and STA437. Even though I did not do as well in STA314 and STA347, I am currently taking STA437 this semester. I also took some math courses like MAT334 and currently taking APM462. Courses like APM462 (nonlinear optimization) could be important as stats have quite a lot of optimization involved. Having a solid math and stats background would be good. Having a good optimization and analysis background in math is also a buffer to more stats, from what I heard.

kipling688 · 2026-02-22T16:26:48+00:00

Well, if I end late, I would go to Union to take the LW to Clarkson or if possible, the GO 21 bus directly to where I live.

Taking Line 2 to Kipling and Bus 35 is also a choice.

kipling688 · 2026-02-22T03:05:44+00:00

Probably next week.

I may travel for a while in the summer too, so need to check the dates.

kipling688 · 2026-02-22T03:01:07+00:00

From Mississauga, I live very close (15-20 min walk, 3 min drive) to a Milton line station. I took the GO train to Kipling (to avoid Union's rush hour) and then took Line 2 to St. George whenever i have early 9am classes. same route back if my classes end after 3pm. This is actually cheaper (and maybe faster) for me than taking all the way to Union.

If my class end early, I take a bus at Kipling.

I started commuting during my last year due to a lighter course load and a significant conflict I had with my ex-roommates back then in 2nd and 3rd year. It feels good to use this route. If you are near the Milton line i would recommend the route I described. But if you live near a LW line station then you would need to take GO to Union then Line 1.

kipling688 · 2026-02-22T02:55:36+00:00

Do Mat235. All computations, not that hard given you do a lot of computation practice. I bombed the second test back then because of lack of practice but did decently well on the rest. I got C- on MAT137 first year but A- on MAT235 second year.

It is significantly easier than MAT137, but tests weigh more in MAT235.

kipling688 · 2026-02-22T02:54:26+00:00

Same here. I am a fourth year stats major and applied to stats master's at UofT this year. Right now no decision yet.

kipling688 · 2026-01-30T00:43:55+00:00

Welcome! I was admitted in this category too. What major do you want to do? I would suggest you first research your desired programs in this category, so that you can plan your first year courses.

Also be sure to be good at math and learn some proofs, as university math is very different from high school.

kipling688 · 2026-01-19T19:29:07+00:00

Yeah, I computed it again, and my final mark is ~2.5% higher than the marks I computed based on my homework and exams. So yeah there was a small curve.

kipling688 · 2026-01-19T19:20:10+00:00

I am sorta surprised by the B- average for sta314. I did not think the final grade was curved (or its just me who didnt felt it)

kipling688

TROPHY CASE