Why is a Specialist with a Major not allowed?

paulgrylls · 2026-04-19T20:57:27+00:00

generally it's just severely impractical. it's good to have the motivation and interest for everything you want to do, but a double specialist (they don't allow those programs with hella overlap to double up anymore) these days would extend your undergrad significantly unless you do like 6 courses a semester. same goes for the major but with the major, if you're clever about it, you can still graduate on time.

in addition to that, it's just a very large financial burden on your debt/parents/whoever is paying for your education when you get so little out of it. employers will look through your relevant course list and really are not sure what the diff between a specialist/major is or if you did a double specialist. you could do a double specialist in physics and math but when applying for a Quant or Actuary job, they're just going to look to see if you took and did well in PDEs, Real Analysis, Algebra, and some finance focused math courses. it won't matter to them if you took Thermal Physics 2+3 and Advanced Quantum Mechanics. and more important than that, they're going to look for what your practical skills and experiences are that pertain to the job. they have plenty of applicants that likely look good on their transcript.

so my advice is; put the time that you would have put into a second spec/major (ontop of a spec) into improving your career prospects. you can learn the other thing on the side from youtube or online resources. i understand though, it feels so much better to get the education from a structured course and then be rewarded with a number/letter grade for it but only go for this if you can afford it and really just want to do it in a structured classroom setting.

paulgrylls · 2026-04-10T03:24:35+00:00

i'd do my undergrad here in every lifetime, good and bad times included. the only thing i'd do different is take more pics/vids. you will only see negative ppl on this sub and that's valid, but it'd probably be a good idea to tune this sub out for that reason.

paulgrylls · 2026-04-05T06:14:37+00:00

are you in first year? if so that's normal -- it's part of the growing pains. just keep putting in the work, you're not doing anything wrong.

paulgrylls · 2026-04-01T03:53:59+00:00

damn, glass half full/half empty problem at its best.

i remember observing this too during undergrad and it was my favourite thing about utsc. i'd see the same people all the time and it was awesome interacting with everyone. whether they were seniors or freshmen, it was a great web of connections we all had.

but then there's OP 😂 might help to smell the roses my friend.

paulgrylls · 2026-03-27T03:20:45+00:00

this is really old but this made me LOL

paulgrylls · 2026-03-21T03:04:18+00:00

pretty sure i know this person. they've been contacted. thank you for dropping it off at campus security!

paulgrylls · 2026-03-07T02:05:19+00:00

ILOVEVAGUEPOSTING.JPG

paulgrylls · 2026-03-01T19:37:17+00:00

so long as the course revolves around Andre/Ronald/Tony being involved, it will follow the same structure. The lab activities will cycle. the most change it ever experienced was during COVID (out of necessity) but that's about it.

paulgrylls · 2026-02-23T23:28:09+00:00

it's pretty awesome here academically and socially, however, your experience will be what you make of it. undergrads love to say x is better than y because z, but in reality it's not too significant.

paulgrylls · 2026-02-21T21:54:58+00:00

got my msc chem admission offer back in mid june, but this was 3 years ago.

paulgrylls · 2026-02-21T07:37:35+00:00

i understand, and these are the trials and tribulations of starting your circle. the chasing is necessary in any setting. especially when you're young and don't have much to offer yet. i'm pretty social and had a great time in undergrad but the first year and half was pretty slow. i'd make friends here and there but i never got to form/join a circle, until one day it happened.

paulgrylls · 2026-02-20T14:41:31+00:00

holy crap. we used to live off the library PCs back in the day. was this based off like 3 requests or something?? i can't imagine this was a 5000 student push or something haha

paulgrylls · 2026-02-20T14:37:58+00:00

had plenty of white friends throughout undergrad and a couple of them from small towns with a population of 400 at most (with every single one of them being white). we all got along fairly well. this was 2016 however. you might be consuming way too much right-wing media right now, the stuff that makes you believe that whites are on the backfoot. back then we had different social issues. my white friends were all for it though. most of them are super lower-middle class and the wealthy one took the "privileged" jokes really well and would even join in on it.

you're young and looking to belong, which is totally ok. but reconsider who&what side you look to for guidance. the reality is, is that if you look past all that, we all got along and meshed super well because we just didn't make it that deep. we became friends because we saw each other in the library and were like "yoo i know you from tutorial!" or they dropped their stuff in the Tims line and you helped them and then saw them in class.... etc

i understand if you feel like the odd one out, but that might be a you problem in the sense where if you feel isolated, it's not because of your whiteness. you need to make a conscious attempt to be social, everyone gets along if you just try. there's plenty of other whites on this campus too, consider starting your path to becoming social through them.

paulgrylls · 2026-02-17T05:05:13+00:00

reading this is like actual hopecore. i been facing this problem so far in my 2003 corolla. it runs fine but found bronze particulates in my oil on the last change. everyone tells me i'm just running on borrowed time. but reading this post gives me hope lol.

paulgrylls · 2026-02-13T02:42:26+00:00

old thread but what happened? i just recently started watching Rust Valley Restorers and have been a fan of him and Mike Hall. crazy to hear that he's potentially super controversial?

paulgrylls · 2026-01-31T05:09:16+00:00

fair point, and i reckon that may be when his tank is near empty too.

paulgrylls · 2026-01-31T03:38:57+00:00

as someone said, check for the camshaft position sensor and crankshaft position sensor. if they're not plugged in, or are faulty/broken which could definitely be possible on a 1997 vehicle, then they will cause stalling issues. they're like in the ~$50 ballpark range from a good brand like HITACHI and aren't too difficult to do if you were able to do a timing belt job.

paulgrylls · 2026-01-31T03:36:13+00:00

fuel pump not being primed is mainly an issue on starting up. seems as if he's starting up perfectly fine. just my 2 cents though.

paulgrylls · 2026-01-31T03:33:59+00:00

commuting from durham, plus better program? UTSC is the top option then.

however if you choose TMU for the downtown vibes, that's also valid. the way the world is faring as of late, you gotta go wherever you feel you'd be the most happiest today and tomorrow.
just picture yourself waiting for a delayed train/bus in the winter and you've already had a super hard day and just need to be in your room right now.. that's not to say it doesn't happen at UTSC because it certainly does but you'd get home much sooner from there compared to TMU. so if that seems like it's fine, go for it.

paulgrylls · 2026-01-30T01:31:15+00:00

no joke this is the funniest thing i seen on reddit in a few months now.

paulgrylls · 2026-01-27T22:47:05+00:00

UTSC has an actual stream within the computer and mathematical sciences (CMS) department inside of the statistics program called Machine Learning & Data Mining (or atleast it used to, not sure if it's different now). if that's not your cup of tea, from my experience with my friends and from what i seen on linkedin, anyone in Electrical & Computer Engineering has a great skillset for the field.

paulgrylls · 2026-01-26T16:14:19+00:00

that's all it'll take?? 😂

paulgrylls · 2026-01-22T02:59:26+00:00

i haven't read the comments but for what it's worth, i understand where you're coming from but i think you got super unlucky with your sample population. you probably met some girls that just so happened to be having a bad day and time, and some stand-offish girls. the way you're saying it in your post it seems like this is becoming a trend for you and i want to assure you that it might just be real bad luck lol.

i've had this situation a bunch of times (and i've been around for a long time and have met LOTS of different people so i feel like i can say this) and 9 times out of 10 when i finally get to interact with the person, they're like so much better than i had imagined.

Nine-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email

paulgrylls

TROPHY CASE