As an Engineering student, you will need to take courses from the Faculty of Arts & Science to fulfill your elective requirements. These courses are subject to the Arts & Science enrolment regulations, dates, protocols, examination rules and regulations which differ from those at the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering.
Visit the Arts & Science course enrolment page for more information.
Types of Electives
There are four types of electives:
- Humanities and Social Science (HSS) electives
- Complementary Studies (CS) electives
- Technical electives
- Free electives.
Please consult the U of T Engineering Academic Calendar to see which electives you must take to fulfill your program requirements. If you are struggling to decide which electives to take, we encourage you to consult your Academic Advisor.
Choosing Half-Year or Full-Year Courses
Arts & Science offers half-year or full-year courses. The last letter of the nine-character course code (e.g. ENG 140Y1 Y) is the course’s session code and indicates when the course is offered during the year.
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Y: Full-year courses (September to April)
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F: Fall Term courses (September to December)
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S: Winter Term courses (January to April)
Because the Engineering curriculum is divided into two terms—Fall and Winter—you will only be able to enrol in a Y code course if the course does not conflict with both your Fall and Winter schedules.
If you are enrolled in a Y code course, your final course mark counts toward the weighted session average and grade point average of your Winter Term (second term), not the Fall Term.
Enrolment Controls (Fall-Winter Terms)
Enrolment dates for Arts & Science (A&S) courses are staggered and they give preference to A&S students by allowing them to enrol in courses first. Engineering students may begin to enrol in A&S courses during a period called “Open Round.”
Some A&S courses have enrolment restrictions. While most courses are open to students in any program of study, some courses have enrolment conditions, which consist of enrolment indicators and controls that govern who can take certain courses.
If a course has an enrolment control, it typically means it's a popular course and has limited enrolment space. Therefore, the Faculty of Arts & Science needs to restrict enrolment to students who need to take the course to satisfy their program requirements.
Enrolment Indicators and what they mean for Engineering students:
- P: Students in a specific admission category or subject POSt and/or year of study will receive priority until a specific date. Please review the Enrolment & Registration Guide for the date.
- R: The course is restricted to a specific group of students. This restriction does not change anytime during the enrolment cycle. Engineering students will not be able to enrol in courses with this Enrolment Indicator.
- RP: The course is restricted to a specific group of students until the Open Round. During the Open Round of enrolment—review the Enrolment & Registration Guide for dates—priority remains in place for certain students. However, some spaces may be made available to other students. This enrolment control typically applies to CSC or ECE courses. Engineering students must get permission from their respective departments to enrol in “RP” courses.
- E: Students must enrol for the course through the A&S department offering the course. Departmental enrolment instructions are located in the timetable listings. You cannot request an “E” course in ACORN. Waiting lists are not available for “E” courses.
- PE: Students in a specific admission category or subject POSt and/or year of study will receive priority until a certain date (review dates in the Enrolment & Registration Guide). On the date the priority is removed, the remaining spaces are made available to all students. However, you must enrol through the department offering the course.
- AE: Students must receive approval from the A&S department that is offering the course to enrol in an “AE” course.
Waitlists (Fall-Winter Terms)
After a course is full, students may add their names to a waitlist in ACORN. If space becomes available, the student at the top of the waitlist will be enrolled automatically.
ACORN will notify you by email if you are added to a course that you were on a waitlist for; however, the message will only be sent to you if you have a valid U of T email address in your ACORN profile. Additionally, a notification message will appear on the first page of your account the first time you log in after the course is added to your record. You will also receive an email if you are removed from a waitlist after the waitlist period has ended.
Engineering students should take note of the following:
- Being on the waitlist does not guarantee you a space in a course. We recommend you do not risk adding your name to long waitlists.
- Use the waitlist function as a last resort to get into a course you would like to enrol in. You should have back up courses in mind in case you do not get your first choice.
- Waitlists will be removed in September for F and Y courses and in January for S code courses. After the waitlists are removed, enrolment works on a first-come, first-serve basis. However, be mindful of the last day to add courses, which can be found in the Academic Calendar.
- You may be on a waitlist for a maximum of 2.0 full-course equivalents (i.e., four half courses or two full courses), depending on your program and year of study. However, you must not carry more than a regular course load by the last day to add courses for the Fall Term. The regular course load for your program and year of study is outlined in the Academic Calendar.
Taking Summer Courses
Many Engineering students take A&S courses during the Summer Session to satisfy either elective requirements or a personal interest. Students registered in summer courses are considered part-time students. If you take an A&S course in the summer, you will be charged Engineering course fees because you are an Engineering student.
Because the Summer Session is not seen as an official Engineering session — with the exception of select first-year courses, Engineering courses are not typically offered in the summer — Summer Session weighted session averages are not used to assess the Faculty’s promotion regulations. To pass and retain credit for a Summer Session course, you need to obtain a final grade of 50% or greater. There are exceptions if you are in the T-Program. For more information on the exceptions regarding the Summer Session and the T-Program, contact the First Year Office.
UTSC & UTM Courses
You may also take courses at the University of Toronto Scarborough (UTSC) and Mississauga (UTM) campuses. As with all electives, you should consult your Academic Advisor if you plan to take an elective at UTM or UTSC. Your Advisor will be able to let you know if the course you would like to take will fulfill your degree requirements.
Late Withdrawal
It may be possible to drop your Arts & Science elective course after the last day to drop courses. To find out more, review the Faculty's policy on late withdrawal from an Arts & Science course.
Arts & Science Final Exams
View the Arts & Science final exam schedule. If you have any exam issues regarding your A&S courses, you must contact the U of T Engineering Registrar's Office.
Exam Conflicts & Religious Observance Conflicts
Contact the U of T Engineering Registrar's Office if you have an exam conflict with an Arts & Science final exam. The Registrar's Office can attempt to make special accommodations with the Faculty of Arts & Science to allow you to write your exams at another time.
Exam conflicts include:
- Direct Conflicts: When two final exams are scheduled for the same timeslot.
- Three Consecutive Exams: When you are scheduled to write three final exams consecutively within 24 hours.
- Religious Observance Conflicts: When a final exam time conflicts with a religious observance.
Petitions & Deferred Exams
Arts & Science exam deferrals are typically granted under extraordinary circumstances. If you have to miss your exam for personal or medical reasons, you must submit a final exam petition. If your petition is granted, you will likely have to write a deferred exam. In most cases, the deferred exam is scheduled when the course is next offered, which could be in the following term or the following year if the course is only offered once per academic year. Students granted a deferred exam must pay the Arts & Science deferred exam fee. Please note that Arts & Science does not typically permit students to rewrite an exam. More information is available on the Arts & Science deferred exam page.
If you wish to petition for an Arts & Science final exam, you should consult the U of T Engineering Registrar's Office immediately. You must submit your petition and all supporting documentation within seven days of your last examination. All petitions go through your registered Faculty (Engineering).
Post-Exam Services
The Faculty of Arts & Science stores their course exams and offers both final exam re-checks and re-reads. You may also order a copy of your exam, or view your exam for free in a supervised room. For more information, please review the information on the Arts & Science final exam page. All exam-related services go through the Faculty providing the course (Arts & Science).
Visit the Faculty of Arts & Science's website for additional information on exams, policies, rules of conduct, locations and more.