what is this magical “uni experience” everyone keeps talking about

I’m strongly considering attending UofT (UC) in the fall. What’s not appealing about a reputable, highly academic school? But i’ve been hearing that the social life is non existent. I’m a very socially inclined person and enjoy having fun and partying. I want to get that “university experience” and enjoy the school i’m at apart from getting a good education. Is it true there’s no parties? Am I going to get that type of experience there? Thx!!

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hey there,

listen, man, the university of toronto had over 68 000 undergraduate students in 2014-15. that’s 68 000+ 20-somethings all living together in the city. you really think there are no parties?

if anything, toronto is the absolute best place to be for parties, because if there’s nothing happening on campus (which is rare) something will be happening in the city, guaranteed. i’d recommend following blogTO to get a feel for the millenials’ favourite haunts in the city.

the big problem, of course, is how much time will you actually have to party most students at university don’t want to fail whatever they’re studying, and that means they’ll need to dedicate a certain amount of time to – you know – studying. the number of hours you’ll be putting in will depend on your program of study and also you as an individual.

putting that aside though, there is definitely the opportunity to party. if you get even a little involved with college life or student life generally, you’ll have no shortage of opportunities to go out and be young. formals, pub nights, club nights – it’s all there, but it’s up to you to find them and strike the proper balance between having fun and passing your classes.

i guess the tricky part is that since uoft is so big, there are few university-wide party traditions. usually, you need to look a little deeper. social and community events tend to happen on the college/school/department level, so that’s where you need to be looking.

so no, i wouldn’t say that there’s no opportunity here to be social – but at the end of the day, it is a university, so expect to keep your nose in a book more often than halfway down a Solo cup.

cheers,

aska