• fees,  financial aid,  residence,  scholarships/bursaries

    the cost of living, it’s eating me alive

    March 27, 2025

    hi! I’m currently in the middle of the decision process of whether I attend UofT. I got into the Arts and Sciences Faculty with Innis College. My main issue is regarding residence fees, if I apply to Innis college scholarship before the deadline, by when would I get acceptances/rejections regarding scholarships?

    hey there,

    omg congrats on your acceptance!

    this is a really great question. residence fees at innis are honestly getting so high, even if innis is known as the lowest priced dorm at U of T.

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    so i definitely get why you’re looking to get scholarships to help out.

    i know that there are admissions scholarships that you’re automatically considered for, and those would have been included in your admission offer. but since you’re talking about scholarships that need applications, im assuming that you’re talking about innis leadership awards for incoming students.

    would you hear back about these scholarships before your deadline to respond to your admission offer?

    well, your deadline to respond is going to be either late may or early june. (it should say the exact date on your admission letter!) but, decisions about these scholarships often aren’t released until late spring, which i know is vague but i fearrrr that’s all i’ve got.

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    all i can say is, it is not uncommon for students to hear back about scholarships after the response deadline. there is a decent chance it could happen to you.

    regardless, i want you to know that these innis leadership scholarships are not your only opportunity to get financial aid.

    government financial aid

    if you’re from canada, a great thing to do is apply for government financial aid programs. for example, students from ontario are able to apply to OSAP. meanwhile if you’re not from ontario, there are still provincial student aid programs for each province.

    in-course scholarships

    there are also going to be several “in-course” scholarships available to you during your time at U of T.  this “in-course” name basically just means “not admission and not graduating, but while you’re here”.

    first, there will be in-course scholarships that you can apply for within your program. the bigger your program is, the more scholarships they’ll have to offer. you’ll usually get an email about these mid-way through the fall semester (though i’m not sure if programs offer ones for first years, sometimes it starts in second year?).

    second, there will be in-course innis awards available to you. for example, there are gpa-based awards that tons of people get during their second, third, and fourth year. and there are several more leadership awards that you can apply to during the spring of each year.

    some more resources

    a great tool for sorting through the many scholarships at U of T is the award explorer. definitely use filters though, to find ones that would be applicable for you.

    you can also use this U of T financial planner to help yourself budget. it’s meant to help students see how much money they’ll need to cover tuition and fees, housing costs, food, etc during a year. it can be pretty overwhelming, and this can be helpful in sorting it all out!

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    finally, i just want to say that innis residence is a really amazing place to live! i lived there, and i’ve heard nothing but good things about it (unlike other residences). the location is insanely convenient, there is plenty of student support available, there are lots of events with free food, and it’s just a great place to find community. i could go on and on!!

    i will leave you with some important dates to keep in mind:

    1. applications for provincial financial aid programs become available from your home province or territory around may of each year.
    2. the deadline to apply to incoming innis leadership awards is april 14.

    and yeah, i hope this helps you make your decision! sending good vibes <3

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    over and out,

    aska

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  • residence,  victoria

    bold of you to assume where i live

    December 19, 2024

    hey, im in grade 12 and i applied to victoria. i know that starez is opening in a few days, and i’ll have to chose a residence to stay in for my first year

    from your experience, what’s the best residence in victoria college (upper/lower burwash, rowell jackman, annesley etc.)

    hey there,

    thanks for asking!

    soooooo i have actually never lived in a victoria college residence. i actually live in a little cottage on the moon.

    This may contain: a small penguin standing next to a white wall

    so i’m not sure i’ll be much help on the personal experience side of things, but maybe i can point you towards some resources that might help?

    the first thing i would recommend is to tour the residences, but i’m assuming that’s probably not in the cards if you’re asking this question on here. another option would be to see a virtual tour. i think it’s cool that those exist now, and from what i can see these are high quality and have a nice user experience lol.

    you can also see videos about each of the residences at the bottom of this page, and more on the bottom of this page.

    i’d highly recommend that you do your research and make a decision based on what each one offers and how they would fit your needs. for example, do you want to live with a roommate? how many roommates do you think you can handle? do you want to live with the opposite gender? do you want a kitchen? how many people can you stomach sharing a bathroom with? (it gets kinda gross, i’ve heard).

    This may contain: the word lifes written in black and white with an image of a lizard on it

    i know that all vic students are required to buy a meal plan, so maybe you don’t think you’ll need a kitchen. but i had some friends in first year who had meal plans and realized they really missed having a kitchen, and were trying to boil noodles in their kettles. having a kitchen also means having a fridge and freezer. ice cream requires a freezer. just some things to consider.

    here’s a quick rundown of what all the 5 residences offer.

    annesley hall

    annesley hall is an all-women’s residence, which offers a music room and library. here, you’ll be living in either single, double, or triple rooms. you can see the floor plan here.

    margaret addison hall

    margaret addison hall is traditional dorm co-ed style with a common room and kitchen on each floor, floor plan here. they have single or double rooms here, and also music practice rooms, study areas, kitchenettes, and 6 common rooms.

    rowell jackman hall

    rowell jackman is an apartment style dorm with both single-gender and co-ed options. each suite has a kitchen, common room, one or two bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living room. idk what the difference would be between a common room and living room, but i guess they have both? and in this apartment-style suite, you’ll be with 3 to 7 other students, in single or double rooms.

    i was gonna say that this place seems like the best to me, but it does say that it’s mainly a residence for upper year students and first-years are only sometimes placed here in the double rooms. the rowell jackman floor plan is here.

    upper burwash hall

    upper burwash hall has co-ed single and double rooms. on each floor is a kitchenette, small eating area, and common room. washrooms are co-ed and the floor plan is here.

    lower burwash hall

    finally, lower burwash hall offers single, double, and triple rooms with “semi-private” washrooms, whatever that means. again, each floor has a kitchenette and common room. floor plan is here.

    full transparency, i just got all that info from this official vic website. sorry that i couldn’t offer you any scathing personal opinions on vic residences. but if you don’t have social anxiety, you could absolutely just send a DM to some vic student group instagram accounts asking if anyone could give their personal opinion on the residences. students are behind those accounts and will see your message, it’s just a matter of whether they have the energy to respond. doesn’t hurt to ask though!

    here. i’ll happily dox them for you: @vusac @viccollegelife @vicscarletandgold @vicorientation

    and this is how i find out vic college has an mma club?!

    if you really wanted to, you could also reach out to the vic registrar at vic(.)registrar(@)utoronto(.)ca , since they have people there who are available to help with new student transitions and answer student questions specific to victoria college.

    anyhoo. hope this was sort of helpful? wishing you the best first year ever!

    TV gif. Alfonso Ribeiro as Carlton on Fresh Prince of Bel Air dances happily. He spins around and excitedly jumps onto an end table and does a backflip into the air.

    over and out,

    aska

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  • current student,  residence,  woodsworth

    woodsworth why you gotta be so picky

    June 9, 2022

    Hi! I would like to ask something about residency. I got placed into Woodsworth College but I’m not allowed to have a place of residency there as I place it as my second choice, and most likely they’re going to place me into Chestnut. I would really love to live within my college, their ensuite kitchen is what made me choose them. I emailed Woodsworth’s residency department but they’re not giving me a clear response. Is there anthing I could do? Were there any similar cases?

    hey there,

    it’s funny that you ask, because there was a similar case to this about 8 years ago… ah, the elusive woodsworth, swerving on student residence applications since 2014 (well, probably earlier than that too). i’m not sure if that poor kid ever did get into woodsworth res, but i’ll say the chances are probably veeeery slim.

    i would recommend to email woodsworth and plead your case, but it looks like you’ve already done that. so if the application portal and woodsworth residency department are both saying that you’ll probably be put in chestnut, well… that’s probably what’s gonna happen.

    13 Reasons Why GIFfrom 13reasons Why GIFs

    if the lack of a kitchen is a real deal-breaker, you could also try looking into other housing options like campusone (although most rooms with kitchens look like they’re waiting list only right now), or renting a room off campus. on the other hand, you’ll have the rest of your adult life to cook your own meals — it might not be so bad to just spend your first year chilling at chestnut and mindlessly eating off the meal plan.

    Its Ok Bro GIFfrom Its Ok GIFs

    best of luck,

    aska

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  • residence

    if you want parties you’ll find them, don’t worry

    August 4, 2020

    Hi! I was just wondering which college is the best in terms of res? My friends all say that SMC is a party college so they all want to go there, is this true?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    there are really only subjective answers to this question. i’d only really be able to give you an accurate take on the one residence i lived in, which was not st. mike’s. which one was it, you ask?

    well some things are meant to remain mysteries.

    i have heard things about parties at SMC, but i have also heard (from an acquaintance who lived there first year) that the rooms are like prison cells and the food is … subpar. something about serving the leftovers from lunch again at dinner? is that slander? please treat this as a rumor, hearsay, whatever. i don’t want to get sued. i am but a broke student blogger; take my word with plenty of salt.

    my thing with this is mainly that if you want parties, you will be able to find them. u of t’s got frats and all. even my res, which was not in any way a party res, had its fair share of parties. in fact, i fully believe that it’s not about where you are, but who you know: some people are party people. they will have access to parties aplenty. some people, like me, are library people.

    anyway, if you want to know what people on campus tend to think about different residences, i have heard some very good things about how nice woodsworth is, in terms of the building’s design and views lol. i also know a lot of people who had super postive, very social experiences at vic’s margad res. new has the best food, hands down, and offers you a traditional dorm experience (although i can’t really say if that will be true this year). that’s about all i got.

    my final note for you: please, stay safe if you’re planning to socialize on campus this upcoming year! i worry about students passing the virus to older profs and staff, who may not have much of a choice to be on campus. not that you have any obligations to me, but i ask that you keep that in mind.

    be Boundless (but not too boundless),

    aska

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  • new college,  residence

    you’re in luck either way, new college has good food

    July 16, 2020

    Hi! I’ve been accepted to New College, and I don’t know which residence (Willcocks 45, Wilson, or Wetmore) to choose. If you were in New or know from friends, could you give me some advice? Also- are LLC’s actually helpful/worth applying for?

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    congrats on your acceptance! unfortunately, i’m not in new or close with anyone who’s lived in a new college res. i do sorta know a few people who were in wilson, though, and had a very positive experience in terms of making friends!

    sorry i can’t be more helpful. you can try reddit, if you haven’t already? reddit’s not always reliable, but for things like these (subjective experiences) it’s often the only place to get information.

    as for LLCs: this is such a cliche answer, but like many similar programs, they’re really what you choose to make out of them. some people join them and then don’t engage, but if you put some effort and commitment in, you’ll get more out. LLCs are great because they set you up with relevant connections— it means you’re a lot less on your own than you might otherwise be. you’ll have access to mentorship and a support system, which i definitely think are important ways to help yourself stay grounded in the mess that first year can be (oh, if i knew what i know now…).

    so if you’re interested in an LLC i would recommend giving it a try! my guess is that the programming will look a little different this year under COVID restraints, but i’m sure the teams behind new college’s LLCs are doing their best work right now to make sure you get the best experience possible.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • residence

    don’t mention the word ‘winter’ to me yet, it’s too early

    September 9, 2019

    i’m a first year student, yet I’m going to have to miss the Fall session. Can I still apply for residency as I’m going to start in January 2020 (Winter Session) and need to stay on campus? Btw I’m an international student.

    ——————————————

    hey there,

    i have heard cases of people moving in just for winter sem, yes. usually this is conditional on someone else moving out– otherwise, there may not be space. but it does happen, yknow, people vacate their rooms mid-semester or don’t even show up in the fall. there are usually a few spots. it’s just a matter of how many, and whether anyone’s vying for them. you might have competition.

    uncalled-for levels of aggression! probably just cross your fingers and hope you get a spot.

    what i’d recommend is that you contact your preferred (or your college’s) residence, and ask them about their specific policies on winter move-in. i’m not aware of any centralized information on this, so it’s probably best to just talk to those offices directly. geez. listen to me. i’m picking up the language of the bureaucracy, and i haven’t even been here that many years. this is how the end begins. someone get me outta here.

    usually i’d link you to the contact info, but it be busy times, so you can find all that stuff here.

    be Boundless,

    aska

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  • residence

    feeding two birds with one scone

    June 20, 2019

    Hi aska! Can I apply to the waitlists of multiple different residences/colleges? I’m a first-year member of University College but not guaranteed residence. Thanks so much!

    ——————————————

    can i apply to a bunch of different residences of a bunch of different colleges? i’m already a member of one university. (aska note: what is this ‘one university’? campus one? university college? what? where? who? why?)

    ——————————————

    hello friends with almost the exact same question,

    i dunno when or where this info was imparted to me (probably as an eleventh grade keener, tbh) but i’ve always just assumed your college equals your residence. i actually had to do a lil digging into whether this was actually a published rule– these kinds of questions always have me doubting myself– and according to student life, the answer to your question is unfortunately a no.

    u of t’s college system basically serves to organize our huge student population into smaller, slightly more manageable chunks. i guess this is true for residence as well, in that as long as you’re in artsci you can’t really cross over college boundaries to live in another college’s res. professional faculties kiddos, like the architects and the engineers, have way more of a range of choice, but there are also fewer spots for them. win some lose some, i guess.

    chestnut is the only residence that seems to take all u of t undergrads regardless of college or faculty. i know it’s not an option for many people because its fees are so high.

    bottom line: you’re stuck with whatever residence it is you’re stuck with. a self-evident statement, but appropriate in this context, i think. if you’re worried about not having housing next year, you can give off-campus housing a go. i did this hella long post on finding it a while back– here, if you’re interested in checking it out. the more i link it, the more i realize it’s kind of chunky. i should fix that sometime.

    as always, title ref for the less cultured, because aska loves you too and wants you in on the joke.

    be Boundless (or not really in this case :/ ),

    aska

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  • residence

    all these doors and they still won’t let you in

    June 11, 2019

    Lmao I’m a first year and I unknowingly missed my res application deadline do you know how likely it is I’ll get accepted from the waitlist? Thanks

    ——————————————

    hey,

    unfortunately as a fellow student myself, there are certain things i don’t have access to. one of those things is waitlist sizes, and it can be pretty difficult to estimate likelihood of getting off a waitlist without those. class waitlists are an easy estimate, res and admission waitlists not so much. on top of that, it’s hard for me to even poke around without knowing which residence it was you applied to.

    sorry, bud. really wish i could be of more help but this is one of those things that there’s no real rule for. or at least, i’m not aware of one. hopefully at least they gave you a time window of when you might hear back? i know for other students it’s been late june/early july.

    i would recommend that you give the residence in question a call and see if there’s anything concrete they can tell you. otherwise, you may want to start looking into other options. having been in a tough housing spot myself, i did this snazzy lil (read: actually quite long) post on off-campus housing a while back. your potential residence may be able to refer you to other resources as well, as i’m sure they encounter this circumstance pretty often.

    wishing you the best of luck sorting this out. i know it can be tough. as always, lemme know if there’s anything i can do to help.

    over n out,

    aska

     

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  • residence

    when the hecK

    June 5, 2019

    When the heck do first years pick a residence

    ——————————————

    hey friend,

    i can’t find any specific info on this, but as far as i can tell, you… might already be past the deadline? the myres portal is where you’re meant to apply, and it lists march 31st as the deadline. apparently the latest date for offers to be sent out is june 3– if you log in with your utorid, you’ll be able to see it.  i dunno if you got any emails or what, or really what your situation is, but i feel like you probably should have been notified earlier? at least, i remember getting an email about it when i was admitted.

    no need to panic though– you still definitely have options.  if you’d like, you can still apply (i think)– they’ll just put you on a waitlist. you can also start looking for off-campus housing, which isn’t a terrible option either. it can be a little harder to make friends off-campus, but for me residence was a mixed bag anyways and you don’t ~need~ to be on res to meet people.

    not a long post cause i know next to nothing about your circumstances, but if you need further assistance my ask box is open!

    i couldn’t find a gif for this post and am too tired from my summer 9-5 to keep trying, so here’s one i like from the gif dump i keep:

    over n out,

    aska

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  • Chestnut,  residence

    almost too specific

    July 23, 2018

    What are some tips for choosing a room at chestnut residence? I heard the elevators rarely work or break down a lot. Is that true and if so how often? Also how often are fire drills? Do the rooms offer some sort of soundproofness like regular hotel room doors do?

    ———————————————

    hi!

    i’m not too familiar with how chestnut works, but i’ll try my best.

    according to their website, there are various living learning  communities and themed floors in chestnut. there are some floors that are open to students in all programs of study and some that are for specific programs (for example, there are engineering floors, life science floors, humanities floors, etc). there are also floors for people with shared interests. there are also floors for people with the same interests, such as the arts and culture floor and the health and wellness floor. the living learning communities are a good way to meet people with shared interest or people who you might have classes with. i suggest that you go through the list of living learning communities that they have listed on their website and pick a floor based on the community that you’d like to be a part of.

    as for your (very, very, almost too) specific questions, i really have no idea. you should contact the people at chestnut directly and check out their FAQ.

    i hope this helps!

    nuts GIF

    xoxo,

    aska

    PS- yes, i know that those are walnuts, but i couldn’t find any chestnut gifs.

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  • engineering,  first year,  residence

    but can you engineer a home?

    February 28, 2018

    Hey there,

    I’ve applied for engineering at U of T and it’s my first choice. I’m also really interested in living in the Innis College res but they claim they only take engineering students with averages above 96% !! Due to some personal issues my grades this semester weren’t excellent and my final admission average will probably end up being between 92 and 93. Is it worth putting Innis as my top choice to be considered for it or is the point completely moot? If not Innis, I’m also fairly interested in Vic, or failing that New, both of which claim to only have “limited spaces” for engineers. How do they choose which engineers get to live in college res, and do I only get considered for my top choice? I would like to avoid living in Chestnut if possible.

    As a backup plan to all of that, I have a friend who was slotted into SMC and did some last minute emailing and got switched to UC. Is it likely that residences might have extra space if I try something like that?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    according to the innis res website, if you want to live on res at innis, you’ll have to rank them first when you apply for res via myres (the residence portal), or they won’t consider you. i’m not sure where it says that innis only takes engineering students with averages about 96, so i can’t really confirm if that’s true or not. either way, i think that if you want to live at innis, you should rank it first anyways. if you don’t get in, it won’t be the absolute end of the world, since the magical res people will place you in your second or third choice.

    that being said, i’m not sure whether vic or new also requires that you rank them first. i would get in touch with their res offices specifically to ask. here is the link for vic and here is the link for new. if they don’t require that you rank them first, then it would be a good idea for you to rank them second and third after innis.

    as for your friend who switched into UC, i’m not sure how that would work. this is something that you’d have to contact the specific residence offices about.

    applying for res can seem kinda confusing, especially since there is a completely different website and portal that you have to go through. you will need to log onto myres, confirm your interest in residence, and rank your residences before march 31st. for more info, you can check out this link.

    i hope this helps!

    tommy wiseau lets go home GIF by The Room

    xoxo,

    aska

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  • Chestnut,  first year,  residence

    res-earch

    January 31, 2018

    Hello,

    I am enrolling in UofT’s Faculty of Arts and Science Program for the fall semester of 2018, and I wanted to ask how I could choose the Chestnut Residence as a preference on my OUAC application? It only gives me the options to rank the 7  Faculty of Arts and Science colleges. Also, if I want to live in Chestnut, what college would I be considered a part of?

    ——————————————

    hi!

    when applying to the faculty of arts and science, you have to also apply to a college. though most people who live on res do live at the res that corresponds to their college, it’s not required.

    after being admitted to u of t, you will be prompted (in my year, it was via email. i don’t know if that’s changed) to apply for res. in the application, you’ll be able to pick between all the different residences (college affiliated or not). if you want to live in chestnut, this is when you would pick chestnut (if i remember correctly, it was also a ranking system, so you’d have to rank chestnut first). check out this link for a more detailed breakdown of all the different college affiliated residences and this link for more info on chestnut.

    if you live in chestnut, you can be a part of any of the 7 colleges. the college you belong to isn’t just where you live, it’s also the admin and resources that you can access. for example, if you needed to talk to a registrar, you’d get in contact with your college registrar. for the most part, there aren’t too many major differences between the colleges, but i still suggest doing your research.

    investigating basketball wives GIF by VH1

    so, basically right now, you need to rank the 7 colleges (after doing your research)wait until you’re accepted to u of t, and then apply for residence!

    i hope this helps, good luck 🙂

    peace and love!

    aska

     

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  • residence

    kin you find me housing?

    July 4, 2017

    I am a prospective student of U of T St.George campus undergrad. I received a late acceptance email from Toronto (I was waitlisted). I accepted my offer to queens, but i wish to change to Toronto. If I was to transfer, would I have the capability to go into residence? And would I have the option to choose which residence housing to go into? Is it too late for the 600 dollar deposit?And are there spots left to go into residence at all? The faculty I would be going into is Kinesiology.

    ——————————————

    hi!

    that’s a sticky situation, but i’m glad you’re considering transferring to u of t!

    i’m not 100% sure if you’d have the capability to go into res. while u of t does have a first year res guarantee, they would usually give you next steps for applying to res in your acceptance letter.

    if i were you, i’d get in contact with the faculty of kinesiology and ask them what the next steps for you would be. they would have way more information than me and they would have faculty specific knowledge (i’m in artsci, so i don’t have tons of info on other faculties, unfortunately).

    i would also get in contact with u of t’s housing services. they would be able to help you find a place, whether it be on-campus residence or somewhere off-campus.

    it might also be helpful to check out this link about residence in general.

    i really hope this helps! good luck!

    xoxo,

    aska

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