Location: United States
I was accepted to UT and I will probably attend. The trouble is I am very bad in large lecture classes. I will go to office hours and take advantage of many of my colleges services, but I was wondering if there was anything I could do on campus such as a smaller advising program or a chance for a mentor. I am afraid I will fail out next year. I was thinking of joining a sorority to make friends. I need help.
for the last time people – joining a sorority is never the answer. do you like matching tank tops and scrubbing cars in bikinis? what about the music of jack johnson and dudes in flip flops? if none of these things sound appealing, you may want to reconsider.the idea of joining a sorority to make friends. these may not be friends you’d want to make.
so what to do? on the friends front, as cliche as this may sound, check out this list of many many clubs to join. you will meet people during frosh week (puking brings people together) and during your lectures/tutorials. the best thing about U of T is the multiple opportunities you’ll have to make friends. there’s all kinds of people that go here. it’s a veritable baskin robbins of personal identities. i wouldn’t sweat it.
on the academic front, while your college will offer a bunch of getting accustomed to university type sessions (essays, tests, exams) during the first few months, it’s up to you to seek out help from your TA’s and profs. here’s a bunch of resources you should hit up:
*your college writing centre – trained professionals will go over your essays with you and improve them
*counseling and learning skills centre – in case you need someone to talk to (they also have tutors available)
*1st year academic registrar – available for any personal appointments you can make with her on course selection, program options, ramen noodle recipes, etc.
*program secretary – for specifics as related to your program
tons of first year students have the same concerns that you have. (and i’d stay away from the over-confident ones.) i’ve got faith in you baby. we’re going to make it through this long night together.
cheers, askastudent
6 Comments
Ivy
http://www.uoftsororities.com/
Check out the site. Fall recruitment is coming up and if you want to join a sorority, you should feel free to see for yourself what we’re like and not listen to the stereotypes anyone who’s not a part of a sorority may give you.
Embry
I am not a part of a sorority (as I am a dude, but whatever) but I told a couple of my female friends about it and they are checking it out. As a guy, I’m not gonna lie – cute girls in cute tops drinking beer is obviously appealing and the potential for fun entertainment is there. But the same can be said for any harem – I mean, group – of young college ladies. I had a class last semester and there were a bunch of girls from a sorority and I only knew it because they sometimes wore shirts with greek letters on it. I even had a tutorial with 2 of them. They were some of the nicest people I’ve met at U of T. I got to find out that they have pretty intense academic programs (apparently you have to have a specific gpa to remain a member), they volunteer and fund raise a lot and do a lot of fun trips to visit sororities at other schools. Of course they party and have a good time. They just seemed better at balancing it all. I know they do a better job of it than I do!
My friends who are checking it out said so far so good – they each could picture themselves as part of it when a month ago, neither could.
And as for puking bringing people together – I might prefer having friends who I had more in common with than upchucked wings and beer served on the sidewalk!
Beth
“joining a sorority is never the answer. do you like matching tank tops and scrubbing cars in bikinis? what about the music of jack johnson and dudes in flip flops? if none of these things sound appealing, you may want to reconsider.the idea of joining a sorority to make friends. these may not be friends you?d want to make.”
This is a false portrayal of sorority life! My sisters are not partying, beer drinking maniacs! My sisters support me and have been there through the toughest times of my life. Yes, there are some sororities that are stereotypical but to say that ALL of them are is an insult to anyone who has benefitted from a sorority! Also to associated drinking and partying with sororities is uncalled for. I have meet more people who are not apart of the greek life who do drink, smoke, etc.
Jimmy
I think the response was trying to stress that there are more options than joining a sorority. One of the routes is through a club (which has a worst stigma than a “greek” group). If you love astronomy, don’t be ashamed to join an astronomy group. If you love anime, don’t be afraid to join an anime group. If you love building cement canoes, don’t be afraid of joining that group. Basically, try to look at every option possible when seeking out friends; U of T is huge and finding an organization that meets your interests is quite easy. Heck, if you can’t find the one you want from the hundreds of organizations, start one yourself!
Sarah
Honestly, The sorrority girls are a wonderful group of people. The groups emphasize that you are a well rounded individual ensuring that you attend charity and social events, while maintaining a strong GPA requirement. Yes there are many clubs at Uof T that offer specific “intrests and hobbies” such as anime as was previously mentioned but people, for the most part, are well rounded and are into a variety of different . And to be honesty, among doing charity work and maintain a strong GPA you also want to have friends.. Lasting friendships. It’s great that clubs are available to people but the snowboarding club won’t be there as a mentor… to give you insight into profs, the Toronto area and student life in general. Occasionally, you may even want to go to a party? most students do… so why antagonize sorrorities for having parties as that is what most 20 somethings living on the own would want to do on a Friday night!
Good luck. If you want to join, join. But check out their causes, GPA requriements, cost and get to know the girls before you make any preconseved notions whether they be good or bad.
Sarah
different interests* and to be honest* (sorry i am a math major lol)