Ask a University of Toronto (St. George) Alumnus Anything

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>I've seen similar threads around regarding McGill University and other schools, so I thought I'd start one regarding the University of Toronto for anyone who may be interested. Aside from my personal experiences as a student there, I am something of 'U of T buff' -- I have read quite widely for pleasure on the history of the institution (that is, the institutions which make up the institution: the various colleges, campuses, faculties, buildings, libraries, Hart House, etc.). I won't be able to answer everything -- I'm not so hot on 'chance me'-type stuff -- but I will try my best.</p>

<p>I graduated with a B.A. (Hons., with Distinction) in recent years, St. Michael's College. I am particularly knowlegeable, from first-hand experience, about the philosophy department and its various personalities, and as well the unique 'flavours' of the colleges (including the graduate theological colleges, which I hung around quite a bit); but, as I say, my knowledge of the University is pretty broad, and deeper than most alumni I would bet.</p>

<p>Ask away.</p>

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<p>Hello,</p>

<p>What do you think is different among the 7 colleges, like the things that would strike a person first entering them. Which would be most suitable for a life sciences student in terms of scholarships and lowest expenses for housing?</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>Thea:</p>

<p>1) As an American, my son would obviously not be a commuter student. It seems that a lot of students at Toronto are commuters. Does that negatively impact on the “fun” a student has at Toronto.</p>

<p>2) Also, in your opinion, what would be some similarly “ranked” schools to Toronto in America. </p>

<p>3) Finally, why is McGill more popular in America than Toronto, given that the schools are approximately equally ranked?</p>

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<p>ylicec, the main differences in the colleges is that it determines which residence options you have. It’s largely a personal preference and you should visit the school, do a tour, and check out some of the dorms. Three of my Ds attended Victoria College, which offers the most scholarships, and all three loved their time there. There is a variety of residence types, e.g., all female, apartment style, etc. A beautiful old dining hall, although complaints about dorm food seems to be common at all colleges. There are more options now for meal plans, I believe, than there used to be and there are certainly tons of food options in the area if you don’t want to eat every meal on campus. Trinity and Victoria College generally have the highest academic stats for entry.</p>

<p>floridadad, commuter student here means something different than in the U.S. At Canadian universities, it is common for students to live in res for first year then to find an apartment close by to share with friends. That is what people are largely referring to when they say it’s a commuter school here. Yes, there are some students who live at home and commute but that is a very small percentage. With three Ds having attended, in all those years and with all of their friends and classmates they knew, not one lived at home with parents and commuted. It’s not a common thing. Having said that, if a student wants to live in res all four years, they certainly can, provided they’re not on academic probation. Most students don’t want to stay in res. This is not an issue that should affect a decision as to whether or not to attend U of T.</p>

<p>As to similarly ranked U.S. schools, I’m not sure how to make that determination. I had one D who attended Princeton and another who attended NYU so, anecdotally, I can tell you that the quality of education was similar to what their 3 sisters received at U of T. Excellent faculty, terrific course offerings, a library system second to probably only Yale, and a beautiful campus in the center of what, in my opinion, in many ways is the greatest city in North America.</p>

<p>McGill markets itself heavily in the U.S., particularly in the northeast. That, I’m sure, is why it’s so popular with American high school students. Well, that, and the knowledge that they’ll be able to drink legally when they arrive. :wink: In Canada, although McGill is considered an excellent, respected university, U of T is widely thought of as the best in the country.</p>

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<p>On the McGill/UofT thing, it’s not just northeast USA. Ask the vast majority of people/students in Europe and McGill will be the only uni people have heard of in Canada, if any at all.</p>

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<p>Except by Toronto based Maclean’s magazine which has ranked McGill #1 in Canada for several years.</p>

<p>Another attraction of McGill for American students is Montreal. The French environment of the city, that scares off some English Canadian students, is a major factor too. An American at McGill knows that “he is no longer in Kansas”, as the saying goes.</p>

<p>Sorry, didn’t mean to hijack the thread.</p>

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<p>Sorry for crashing.</p>

<p>But among UBC/UofT/McGill, which one would be more prominent in the Asia-Pacific region?</p>

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<p>Tom, I’ll link an op-ed written by a friend, Dr. David Naylor, the President of the Univ of Toronto, on the subject. U of T, and several other Canadian universities have not participated in the Macleans survey for many years.</p>

<p>[Measuring</a> Up : What university rankings do and don?t tell us](<a href=“http://www.president.utoronto.ca/speeches/measuringup.htm]Measuring”>http://www.president.utoronto.ca/speeches/measuringup.htm)</p>

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<p>I’m not sure if you can answer this (perhaps from experiences of those around you?), but how is Rotman’s commerce program for undergrad? c:</p>

<p>Also, because I’m filling out the OUAC right now (Canadian HS student outside of Ontario; 105D), what exactly do I put for the ‘Activities’ section (list your activities outside of full-time school)? Some of my friends at UT tell me to put down all activities, while others tell me that it is only for students who took a year off school.</p>

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<p>And on the note of McGill/UT, in the fine prints, Macleans magazine stated that UT chose to not disclose all its stats, which affected its ranking. As well, UT is generally a very well rounded school, and among the top for all the areas it offers.</p>

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<p>The whole UofT vs McGill ‘thing’ is verging on pointless. Both offer very different undergrad experiences, both have their weak and strong points and both are very well respected institutions. Any decision made to go to either one should not be made on rankings as the differences are negligible, but rather what exactly you want from your 3/4 years of undergrad. I was accepted to both and choose McGill because I preferred the course structure, the location, the cost and that it is more ‘international’ is many ways, not because it was the higher ranked by a magazine.</p>

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<p>How is engineering particularly more difficult at UToronto than at a top 30 US University? </p>

<p>I’ve also heard rumors that the goal of the first year program in engineering is to get rid of as many students as possible. True?</p>

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<p>The only program that is exceptionally difficult at uoft is engineering science. And the education systems in the US and Canada are just different. Engineering isnt easy at any school. </p>

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<p>False. Again its not as hard as some people make it out to be. First year is just hard to adjust second or third year (depending on program) tend to be the hardest from what upper years have told me. Engineering science students have it much harder. IMO Do not go into engsci unless you are some sort of genius. Its not worth the effort.</p>

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<p>Maybe I can shed some light on the comparison between UofT and U.S. engineering schools.</p>

<p>I graduated from UofT EngSci -Elect option in 1987. My D is currrently in her last year at Carnegie Mellon finishing a double major in ECE and BME. We spent a lot of time talking about her courses and projects.</p>

<p>In my opinion, I had more math and physics, but she had more practical and useful learning. Even in her electrical circuits course, where she used the SAME book by Sedra and Smith (updated edition of course after 25 years!), her problem sets and tests went into more depth and practical knowledge than I did. Her labs were more useful than mine were.</p>

<p>In addition, the biggest difference was the class size and the fact that her profs actually cared how you were doing. I only spoke to my thesis Prof three times, she has profs emailing and even calling her to see if she understood the material.</p>

<p>The downside, of course, is that it costs 5x what is costs in Canada.</p>

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<p>Yes but you have to remember that ALL courses will have changed dramatically over the last 25 years. It’s the old thing of asking your parents to help with maths homework, and them not having a clue because they were simply taught different things entirely. You can’t compare course content and structure with a 25 year gap between them.</p>

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<p>That is what I had thought, that things would have changed drastically in 25 years. I was really surprised that not much has changed in the core course materials. A lot of my D’s problem sets were very similar to what I did 25 years ago.</p>

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Do colleges have a huge impact on arts&sciences students?