<p>I've got accepted into Life Sciences in UTSG, St. Mike's college. I basically did no research when I was ranking the seven colleges and only ranked them based on how nice the name sounds (and now I have no idea why I thought St.Mike's sounds the nicest also. lol).</p>
<p>Besides being in different residence and hence varying in distance from each faculty, how else does the college matter? Is there really any disadvantage to be in St.Mike's compared to, say, Victoria? If not, why are most of the college choice discussions on Trinity and Victoria?</p>
<p>The colleges each have their own atmosphere and stereotypes. Location matters too, depending on your faculty. Trin and Vic are the hardest to get into, so typically the smarter people go there. Trin is known as elitist and Vic is known as artsy or hipster. </p>
<p>It won’t really put you at a disadvantage. It’s just a matter of personal preference.</p>
<p>Colleges don’t really matter. It just matters mostly if you are going to stay in residence. In this case, some colleges have more nicer rooms and single rooms than others. I know in first year, many students at Trinity will have single rooms. But if you want more modern housing, Woodsworth has very new buildings. </p>
<p>It is true that it is harder to get into Trinity or Vic, but that does not mean that everyone in those colleges are extremely smart (trust me, I’ve met some questionable people). Also, I know for a fact, that every college will have its smart people (probably the same amount as those in Trin or Vic). Some people pic Trin because they like the “Harry Potter” feel (I’m not kidding). Trin is known to have high-table dinners where students dress up and wear robes to dinner. </p>
<p>One thing I will say is that you should pick the college where most of your classes center around (especially if you live on res). For example, if you live in Vic and you are a science student…there is ALOT of walking if you have to get down to Lash Miller, Bahen, ConHall or med sci everyday! Same if you live in New College and have all humanities courses that are up near Vic. UofT is a large campus so you can end up walking almost 20 minutes to get from one side to another.</p>
<p>One other consideration, in addition to those mentioned, is the number of scholarships available. Vic and Trin, in addition to having the highest admissions standards, also have traditionally had the largest number of merit scholarships available. So, if you’re a top student, your chance of getting awards/scholarships each year is likely higher at those two.</p>