Join a community of friends!
A first-year learning community (FLC) is a small group of first-year students who meet bi-weekly and are registered in several of the same courses, labs and tutorials. FLC (pronounced “flick”) is a co-curricular program available to you free of charge.
FLC sessions will include activities to develop your academic skills and build friendships and will be facilitated by upper-year students with the guidance of faculty and staff advisors. You will meet your FLC group at a welcome session on campus during the first week of classes and then meet with them in person every other week.
In addition to your FLC sessions, you will be automatically enrolled in two or three core first-year courses for your admission category. These courses consist of common course requirements for many programs in your area of study. You will then be able to select your additional first-year courses, along with other first-year students, at your designated course selection time in July 2024.
After you attend all 10 FLC sessions, you will receive a transcript notation indicating the successful completion of the FLC program. FLCs do not count as course credit.
FLC applications will open on June 10, 2024, for the 2024-25 academic year. Please email us at FLC@utoronto.ca if you have any questions.
Why Join a FLC?
FLCs are a great way to ease your transition from high school to university. In your FLC, you will learn important skills to help you be successful in your university studies, including writing, researching and maintaining academic integrity. They are also an opportunity to help you build friendships, maintain a healthy school-life balance and learn about the resources available to you on campus. Joining a FLC ensures you will be seeing the same friendly faces several times a week — when you walk into your first-year lectures, in your smaller tutorials and, of course, when you meet your FLC group!
Discover Your FLC
For your reference, the FLCs below are for the current 2023-24 academic year. FLCs for the 2024-25 academic year will be posted here in late spring 2024.
FAQs
Yes, you will! We understand the demands of your time as a university student. Forming a community of friends in your area of study is a critical part of achieving success as a student. Plus, by attending the biweekly FLC sessions, you will learn the academic, developmental and personal skills necessary to successfully navigate your courses, establish a healthy school-life balance and create meaningful friendships that will continue well beyond your time in your FLC.
You will not have to pay anything to participate in a FLC. FLCs are provided for free by Arts & Science. Each FLC also has a budget to fund its activities (for example, admission fees to the Royal Ontario Museum or JCB Grant Anatomy Museum), supplies and refreshments.
Your FLC participation can be valuable to share with potential graduate schools, research opportunities and employers to reflect your engagement in your academic area of study and understanding of academic skills included in the FLC program.
Yes. Classes at the University of Toronto begin 10 minutes past the hour to provide students with time to travel between classes. For example, a lecture scheduled for 2:00 pm will begin at 2:10 pm.
No. Your peer mentors are not tutors. Peer mentors are upper-year students who are here to support you, share their experiences and facilitate your FLC sessions along with your staff and faculty advisors. They will also bring in guests to offer workshops on various academic skills. In addition, your peer mentors act as a resource for you as you navigate your way through your classes, Arts & Science and U of T.
Yes. You are automatically enrolled in the core courses listed in your FLC. ACORN will list the courses you have been enrolled in by Wednesday, July 19, 2023. You can start adding different courses or course sections on ACORN at your scheduled enrolment time in July 2024. At any point, you can de-enrol yourself from those courses, even if it is before your scheduled course enrolment time. Please note that once you de-enrol yourself from the FLC-determined courses, you cannot be re-enrolled.
Yes. Recognized Study Groups (RSG) are student-led study groups of up to 8 classmates enrolled in the same Faculty of Arts & Science course. RSGs are available to help you to make friends in your course, better understand course material, prepare for tests and exams, learn study skills and stay focused. You can apply to lead an RSG for one of your first-year courses in late August or join an RSG during the first week of classes.