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Meet your Advisor
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Preparing for Life Sciences
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Program Entry Requirements
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Courses
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Getting Involved with your Department
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Get Help
Meet your Advisors
Help is available, in the Biology and Anthropology Departments! If you would like to speak to an advisor please feel free to email us with your questions or to arrange an appointment.
Biology Department Undergraduate Academic Advisor: Diane Matias (d.matias@utoronto.ca)
Anthropology Undergraduate Advisor: utm.anthro@utoronto.ca
Preparing for Life Sciences
At the Departments of Biology and Anthropology, we want to encourage you to participate in three opportunities created specifically for YOU: Department Orientation @ O-Week, and LAUNCH! We have seen how these programs have benefited our students in the past and cannot recommend them more. Be sure to register soon to reserve your spots.
Biology Departmental Orientation:
Social Sciences Departmental Orientation (Anthropology):
Everyone is encouraged to attend this important orientation event. Meet other new students, first-year faculty and learn about academic expectations.
utm102H5F LAUNCH: Science, Mathematics and Psychology
Date: Weekly during the Fall term
Time and Room: There are seven sections to choose from!
Register: Register for utm102H5F on ACORN.
Did you know that there is a hanging speech bubble at UTM? Do you know how to study effectively? Did you know that you can use up to 6GB of internet bandwidth per day while on campus?
Whenever starting a new journey, there are always tips and tricks to making that journey easier and more fun. Who's better at providing these tips and tricks than someone who has already been through the entire experience?
LAUNCH pairs you with a successful upper-year mentor in your academic discipline to assist you in transitioning successfully to UTM.
Here’s how LAUNCH can help you as a Life Science student:
- Are you interested in research?
- Do you want to meet people studying in your field?
- Would you like to learn how to be academically successful?
- Do you want to find out about campus resources available to students?
- Do you want make friends and learn about ways to relax and have fun on campus?
LAUNCH is not-for-credit – there is no homework, assignments or tests! Instead, earn a notation on your Co-Curricular Record (CCR) for completing, in addition to learning some valuable skills, making friends and having a good time!
Don’t miss out on all the fun! LAUNCH into your UTM experience with us!
Program Entry Requirements
Choosing a Subject POSt
Students request their programs at the end of their first year, as all U of T students are admitted to a general first-year program (such as Life Sciences or Humanities). You need to complete a minimum of 4.0 credits as well as any other program enrollment criteria (such as CGPA) before you can be considered for entry into a program. Please refer to the Subject POSt Guide for more information.
Life Sciences Program Requirements
Enrollment criteria is listed in the Academic Calendar in the blue box under the program name. You cannot request Biology or Anthropology programs if you have completed less than 4.0 credits and other enrollment criteria, so please consider this when deciding how many courses to take. Please make sure that you select the correct required courses for your programs and follow the requirements for the program in the year you were accepted into the program, and not the year you entered the university. Example: If you were accepted into a Biology program in 2017, you always follow the list of required courses for your program in the 2017 calendar, not previous (2016) or subsequent (2018) calendars.
Think about which 300 and 400-level courses you are interested in and be sure to take the appropriate 200-level pre-requisites in your second year. Example: the new Anthropology of Health focus will require you to take ANT220H5 in your second year. If this focus is of interest to you, just be sure to take the ANT101H5 and ANT102H5 in your first year since they are pre-requisites for ANT220H5. If you cannot fit the first-year Anthropology courses into your schedule now, don’t worry because we always teach ANT101 & ANT102 in the summer, so you can take them then!
What other programs? In order to complete an HBSc degree students must complete the correct combination of programs. Unless you are planning to complete a Specialist program, you will need to select the correct combination of programs. For more information on combination of programs please view here. A full list of Biology programs can be found here. Anthropology programs are listed here. You can find a list of UTM programs organized by discipline here. We also recommend that you review the UTM Viewbook and the Registration Guide.
Courses
What Courses to Take: Core, Required, Pre-/Co-Requisite Courses in BIOLOGY
If you are planning on completing any Biology programs you must complete this set of core courses:
- BIO152H5F (0.5 credit, offered in the Fall)
- BIO153H5S (0.5 credit, offered in the Winter)
- CHM110H5F (0.5 credit, offered in the Fall)
- CHM120H5S (0.5 credit, offered in the Winter)
- MAT132H5F (0.5 credit, offered in the Fall and in the Winter)
- MAT134H5 (0.5 credit, offered in the Winter)
The courses above have Lecture, Practical and Tutorial sections, you must enroll in one session of each. For example in BIO152H5 you will need to select a LEC (lecture), TUT (tutorial) and a PRA (practical/lab) section. You must attend the section that you selected, so make sure you do not enroll in conflicting classes. Now you are wondering, “that is only 3.0 credits and you told me I need to take 4.0 or 5.0 per year? What do I do now?” You should fill up your other 1.0 to 2.0 credits with courses to use towards your other program, or to satisfy your humanities and/or social science degree requirements.
Also, while Biology students need to take the five courses above, the only courses that are 'offered' by Biology are BIO152 and BIO153. If you have questions about CHM110 or CHM120 you should contact the Chemical and Physical Sciences Department and if you have questions about MAT132H5 and MAT134H5 you should contact the Math and Computational Sciences Department.
What Courses to Take: Core, Required, Pre-/Co-Requisite Courses in ANTHROPOLOGY
If you’re interested in any of our Anthropology programs, be sure to take our first year courses – ANT101H5 and ANT102H5. You choose your program of study in Anthropology after you complete your first year of study. So relax, you have some time. We also offer several 200-level courses with no pre-requisites such as ANT208H5, ANT210H5, ANT211H5 and ANT214H5. These can be taken for either Anthropology or for general science/social science distribution requirements. University is a time to explore and take interesting courses that you are passionate about!
In general, when choosing your electives, you may want to explore the academic calendar to see which programs you are interested in pursuing alongside your Major or Specialist. An academic advisor at the Office of the Registrar can help you with this planning.
Getting Involved with Your Department
BioPath: Professional Development Program in Biology, and UTM Field Schools
BioPath is a two-year professional development program hosted by the Department of Biology at UTM. This program is open to students who are beginning their second year of study and enrolled in a Biology program. The BioPath Professional Development Program aims to:
- Encourage students to take responsibility for their own learning by providing customized opportunities
- to design personal learning and career development plans
- Enhance students’ awareness of career opportunities and research opportunities available in biology
- Facilitate the development of transferable skills that will help students to be successful beyond
- university
- Encourage students to become active members of the biological community
A core part of this program is the development of an e-portfolio that will showcase student learning, academic wor and career development, as well as community experiences. To learn more about BioPath, see the BioPath handout.
Field School Courses
In addition, UTM offers field school courses in Forensic Anthropology, Archaeology and more. These courses are an opportunity to develop field techniques and methods, and to gain valuable experience. Learn how to map crime scenes, perform flotation, cast soil imprints, excavate delicate samples and use taphonomic inference – the list goes on. The application deadline is typically in early April for courses offered in the summer and fall of the following year. Learn more about field courses at the UTM Field Schools page on our Anthropology website.
Academic Society – Erindale Biology Society
The Erindale Biology Society is the link between the Students and the Biology Department at UTM. They host numerous events throughout the year such as Networking and Academic events, as well as Social and Destressor Events. They are also available to support with academic related supplies like lab coats sales.
Visit the Erindale Biology Society Website
Academic Society – UTM Anthropology Society
The UTM Anthropology Society aims to provide a network for UTM Anthropology undergraduate students. The society promotes the discipline of Anthropology through holding a variety of social and academic events throughout the year. These events provide an opportunity to engage with peers and faculty members.
Visit the UTM Antropology Society Website
Get Help
Have more questions? Visit the Department of Biology Website and the Department of Anthropology Website
Department of Biology
Find us! map.utoronto.ca/utm
Davis Building, DV3056
Phone: 905-828-3999
Email: d.matias@utoronto.ca
Department of Anthropology
Find us! map.utoronto.ca/utm
Terrence Donnelly Health Science Complex, HSC300
Phone: 905-828-3779
Email: utm.anthro@utoronto.ca
