I’m an American citizen applying to University of Toronto and I was wondering if anyone could help me choose between campuses on the app? I’m applying as a sociology major, so I’m not sure if one of the three campuses are better. I’ve heard that St. George is the best, but the hardest to get into. I have a 4.4 weighted GPA and a 31 ACT score. I’m not sure if I would be better off applying to Mississauga or Scarborough. Also, which which colleges within St. George are best? There’s so many decisions/rankings in the Toronto app, so I’m pretty overwhelmed, and any help would be awesome!
So I’ve pretty much decided that St. George is my top choice, but now I’m having trouble ranking the colleges. I’ve heard that Victoria is the best, but also the hardest? And that’s pretty much all I know…
You should be able to get into St. George. I went to Trinity, so I think that’s the best, lol, but generally Trinity and Victoria are considered the best. Victoria gives out more merit money (but nothing like merit money that US universities give out). You need to rank Trinity or Victoria or Innis as your first choice to have any hope of getting into that particular college.
@bouders , what really sets the different colleges apart? I know that some give out merit money. Residence styles are different. There are foundation classes affiliated with each college, I understand. Are members of a particular college exclusively eligible for those classes/programs? Or could someone from, say, Woodsworth take Vic One classes? Is it more about bragging rights/college pride? Are some colleges more cohesive and community-oriented than others? My high school daughter likes the concept of residential colleges, but we’re having trouble figuring out exactly what it means in the context of U of T.
@ShrimpBurrito The different programs are open to anyone. Some courses may give enrolment priority to members of a certain college. This means that members of that college may be able to enrol 1 to 2 weeks before other people. A member of any college could apply for Vic One or Trin One or… But, you have to be accepted to Vic One (or Trin One or…) to enrol in their classes.
The colleges are the place where the student’s registrar and bursar will be. It is also the place where they can dorm in first year (and later years if they meet the criteria) and can eat in the dining hall while they are a student. U of T is a federation of the different colleges.
Each first year student is guaranteed a place in residence as long as they accept their place by the deadline and pay the fee by the fee deadline. Continuing students may be allowed to stay in residence, but each residence has different rules for continuing students. The rules can be difficult to sort out. For example - my son is in Trinity College. Trinity students are allowed to stay for the next year as long as they get a GPA of 3.7 or greater. Only about 5% of all students get such a GPA. If they don’t meet the GPA threshold, they can enter a lottery for residence space, but only IF their parents don’t live within Metro Toronto. If their parents live within Metro Toronto and their GPA is lower than 3.7, they are out of luck. Some spaces are also held for students who hold a position of leadership within the college. My son’s first year roommate’s parents live in South Korea. He didn’t meet the GPA threshold, so he entered the lottery. However, he wrote down the address of the college, instead of South Korea, as his permanent address. By the time he realized his error, and got it fixed, he was at the bottom of the waiting list and had to scramble to find a place to live.
Thanks so much, @bouders. That does help paint a clearer picture. I appreciate your contributions here, as insider info about U of T is rather scarce.
@JennaMcKB1, best of luck to you.
@ShrimpBurrito You’re welcome. I forgot to emphasize in my last paragraph that the rules for returning students are different for each college - and can be as complex as Trinity’s, but with totally different criteria.