What are some pros and cons of going to UofT? I really want an insider’s perspective

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wild. this is more open-ended than the essay prompts on my exams. what’s expected of me? i do not know. as with everything else in my life, i’ll probably overshoot, but, hey. i’m guessing you’re not here for ambivalence and mediocrity anyway.

i feel like this is actually a really case-by-case thing. as in, what’s a pro for me may not be a pro for you. but i can give you my list and you can see how ya feel about it.

off the top of my head, here are the definitive wins of being a student at this school, as far as i see it:

• the downtown campus. it’s beautiful, especially in the fall, and has a lot of stories to tell.
• heckin’ number of clubs (and libraries! some schools have 2, we raise you a whopping 44.)
• academic diversity— there are a bunch of pretty niche programs here that i don’t believe are widely offered at the undergraduate level, like urban studies or bioethics. there are also some really cool courses— i believe the executive editor of the walrus taught a one-time-only course on #metoo and the media this year.
• top-notch profs, doing some of the coolest research. i’ve had more phenomenal profs than i’ve had terrible or even mediocre ones, which i think really speaks to the caliber of people this school employs. this is obviously a very subjective assessment, but that’s been my experience thus far.
• a lot of departments are very well-connected in terms of opportunities. the peace, conflict, and justice program, for example, places a lot of students with NGOs like amnesty international.
• the innis cafe
• lots of options for a sense of community, because as a large school there are so many different small communities on campus
• plenty of coffee shops all over campus. i can’t find any comprehensive lists (maybe i should write one!?!?) but here’s a blog post that runs you down a few. suffice it to say that there is always one within a 5 minute’s walk of you, no matter where you are on campus.
• some pretty cool places to study, like the OISE lounge with a view of the skyline or the gerstein journal stacks with the glass floors
• i’ve met a lot of really cool peers, working on everything from chemistry research to podcasts to magazines. i was at a holiday art gallery last week, and there was a ton of impressive student art. this school has a lot of creative, driven, and friendly people, which can be intimidating but is mostly pretty inspiring.
• because the student population is large, some pretty sick events happen on campus. we recently had the some of the raptors come give a mental health talk at one of the on-campus athletic centres, with a performance from jp saxe. it was free. hart house theatre also puts out some really quality shows.

here are some unexpected, slightly questionable wins:

• bigger school, more free food. if ya know where to go and have the time to make trips, you can snag some. first year, i remember scavenging multiple meals in a row, although it was admittedly a lil sketch at times. there are also pretty regular free snack events.  happy to do a detailed post on this if anyone’s interested.
• also more free coffee.
• more places to nap.
• more places to exercise, if you’re into that. we have, like, three gyms?? and a lot of fitness programs.
• the work-study program.
• corncoming
• i guess u of t is prestigious, so your parents can flex it if they care about those kinds of things.
• apparently we get employed. this one better be true.

some things i, and others, have mixed feelings about:

• the city of toronto. i could probably write a whole post just on this. toronto can be a massive pro for some people and a massive con for others. it’s often considered one of u of t’s biggest draws, but i think if you’re not from around here the reality of living in downtown toronto can be a tad bit different than expected.
  • the cute: something’s always happening. it’s a real great city to be a young person in. just being out on the streets walking, you see a ton of really quirky, interesting, and fun things. no matter what you’re into, chances are you’ll find it here (unless you’re into the stars, i guess, or nature, or small-town things. you’ll need to leave downtown for that). there are also so many professional and learning opportunities in this city for you to take advantage of.
  • the not so cute: personally, i’ve felt unsafe in the city a few times. nothing’s ever happened to me, but i take precautions. the rental market is also less than ideal.
• robarts
  • this article lists it as part of a ‘top 10 reasons to go to u of t’ kind of thing. i’m personally not a fan, but it does make for a decent overnight study space. i guess it’s a good example of brutalist architecture, if you’re into that. it seems like most students love to hate robarts. it’s one of the few things a student population this large gets to bond over. but at the end of the day, we all end up there anyway. while we’re on the subject, can anyone tell me what’s so special about the 12th floor, please?

some less fun things, because really these are just inconveniences but i like to complain:

• the ttc always seems to be late, but that’s not a u of t specific thing.
• dunno how important the movie college experience is to you, but sports aren’t really that big here unless you’re in an athletic/intramurals community. as in, we don’t have any iconic games or anything that everyone goes to. i guess in general we’re a little starved for school spirit.
• our grading system seems to differ a little bit from some of the other ones i’m aware of. it’s harder to get a 3.0 here than it is at mcgill or ubc, because the percentage threshold is a bit higher. granted, our cutoff for a 4.0 is 85 instead of 86, but i didn’t even know you could get a 4.33 at places like ubc, queens and ryerson until yesterday. we cap at 4.0 here, and those are relatively rare. i guess 4.33s aren’t that relevant when you consider that.
• the food in robarts is subpar— i’ve heard the rice in the burritos isn’t fully cooked sometimes, and i wouldn’t doubt that?
• queen’s park being under construction all the time makes me sad & makes the walk from victoria college to con hall feel so much longer. it also occasionally floods, which is annoying.
• don’t walk across king’s college circle in the spring. also slightly flooded, and you might wipe out.
• the snow and frostbite temperatures are not terribly enjoyable. my ideal lifestyle does not involve a daily trek through the snow, in temperatures so inhospitable that your nose hairs freeze.

and the reasons that, despite actually quite enjoying this school, i have the occasional angry day of… anger, and think it kind of sucks:

• the hustle culture and competitive nature of being a student here– this piece from the varsity gives you a better sense of perspective on this than i could. it’s not as impossible to do well as people make it sound, but you will definitely need to grind if you’re planning to take a full courseload and be involved in the community. with that said, there are supports in place to help you out when things get rough, like your registrars, embedded counsellors, and teaching staff. you can thrive and have a good experience here, but you need to be well-equipped and well-supported in order to do so.
• the way things seem to pile up at the end of the semester. i guess this is true of university in general, but things don’t feel very well-paced to me— they’re slow until after reading week, at which point you don’t really breathe til finals are over. keep in mind this does vary widely by program, but we’re talking about the pros and cons here as i see them, so…
• the bureaucracy. u of t has so many rules. the teaching staff and admin are expected to play by them, which means that quite often, you won’t be able to get an extension without some kind of doctor’s note or documented proof of exceptional circumstances. it can sometimes feel like there’s a lot of red tape to jump when you’re trying to get accommodations without being registered with accessibility services. i wouldn’t say i feel treated like ‘just a number’ in general, but i have seen the system be quite unsympathetic to certain circumstances.

well, there ya have it. you asked for a simple, clean-cut pro-con list. i raised you an entire spectrum. enjoy, and feel free to ask follow-ups if anything gets too confusing.

be Boundless,

aska

I’m in grade 12 in Ontario and getting ready to apply to A&S.  I’m still undecided between Life Sciences and Humanities but am heavily l eaning towards Life Sciences.  UTM and SC are not good options for me, so I’m stuck having to choose between LS or Humanities at SG. I will have all the prerequisites for LS, but a likely average around 85. I know that the “official” cut-off is low-mid 80’s, but then I read gazillions of comments online about people getting rejected with averages in the low-mid 90’s. Occasionally there’s someone saying “don’t worry, my buddy got in with an 84.” I’m considering applying to Humanities because my chances are better and I can still take all of the first year Life Sciences courses (I know that LS
will have priority for picking sections), but deep down I really just want to enter as a LS student; FLCs really appeal to me. What are the facts vs fiction when it comes to admission averages for Life
Sciences?

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hey there,

maybe i’m just over-caffeinated and heckin’ tired, but that felt like a hectic read. felt like the inside of my head circa twelfth grade. i, too, spent hours combing reddit for admissions averages and i can tell ya i got nearly nothing constructive out of it. big sigh.

at the time, i felt the same way you did– i wanted answers, and couldn’t figure out why there was so much variation between peoples’ experiences. now that i’ve been at this school for a while (haha cry) and know a lil more about its ins and outs, well… you asked for a facts-vs-fiction kinda thing. i dunno if there are any hard and universal facts here, other than the domestic admissions averages posted here and the international ones posted here. there are so many factors at play in any one admissions case; with just the numbers and results it’s not easy to figure out what’s going on.

in terms of why it seems like there is no standard admissions average story, and some people with 90s are getting rejected while some with mid-80s are getting in, these are two of the behind-the-scenes reasons i’m aware of:

• their admissions average might overall have been high, but their english or calculus mark may have been less than ideal, which may have affected their chances of admission
  • this year, as long as you have calc at all, you’re good. unlike previous years, it’s not being weighted as heavily for admission and if it’s relatively low, won’t affect your admissions average
• admissions are rolling, so someone who applies earlier might be more likely to get in than someone who applies on the very last day

the main reason i don’t feel like i have any facts to give you, though, is because what kind of averages result in acceptances will vary from year to year. this is because the caliber of students varies per year, and admissions will adjust accordingly. if that makes sense. it sounds like such a cop-out answer, but that’s really what i’ve been told over and over again so it’s all i can relay. and i’m relatively certain that’s how it works, anyway.

in terms of entering the life sciences as a humanities student, the only thing you should be aware of other than priority enrolment is having the appropriate high school prerequisites for the courses you’ll be taking. i’m assuming that if your intention is to go into lifesci anyways you’ll have those, though. as for deciding whether to apply to lifesci or humanities, i’d suggest you speak with an academic counselor at your school, if you have one available, and see what they think about your situation.

i am so sorry for the long wait with this answer, and i hope it had some semblance of coherence. ya friend has been drowning in midterms and will not be able to take another breath until… finals season begins.

i hope this was still helpful though and best of luck with your application!

be Boundless,

aska