How much do you guys like U of T?

[Guest the empty world]

Hey..

 

I'm considering application to University of Toronto for Pre-Med, and I wanted to know how you guys out there that are already attending it feel about U of T?

 

If I could get the chance I would tour the campus, but living in the States and with a lot of other stuff going on, it's been a bit hard. I've already been to Ontario and spent sometime in Toronto a few years ago, so I'm not completely in the dark..I found it a really awesome city.

 

Does anyone have any good experiences, bad experiences, or just "ok" experiences?

 

Mostly in terms of how does the environment of the university feel, how do you feel about each class and the teachers..the residential areas and just getting around the city? Did you feel comfortable your first year studying there, or was it hard to adjust? (well I understand that first year is always hard, especially being away from home..but how hard was it to adjust?)

 

Thanks for anyone who takes the time out to reply to lil ol' me, I really do appreciate it.

[Guest cheese]

hullo:

 

first of all, are you a high school student applying to u of t undergrad? or are you an undergrad applying to u of t med?

 

i just finished my first undergrad year at u of t and i had a fabulous time. i lived in rez (main campus), and because u of t is located right smack downtown of toronto, there's always something to do and so much to see. i really got the whole entire taste of toronto, and because i loved it so much, i'm going back to rez for my second year instead of moving out and getting my own place.

 

as for the university environment, there are LOTS of resources available (libraries, help groups, etc...) and there are so many different clubs and stuff so you can get involved in lots of ways. the thing i didn't find so great were the class sizes in first year. yep - the rumours are true: some (not all) of the classes are huge, and you don't really get a chance to know the prof. but first year classes are pretty general, and everybody's bound to take them. in your higher years, as people start specializing in different areas, i've heard that classes become much smaller and things get more personal. as for adjusting to the academic side of life, i didn't find it that hard (probably because i took IB courses in high school), but the people i've talked to have mixed feelings about how hard they found first year.

 

maybe it's cuz everybody in first year life science has med in mind, but i found some people ultracompetitive (i.e. wouldn't help you because then you'd get the right answer on a test and they wouldn't want you to beat them), but keep in perspective that u of t undergrad has a larger student body than other canadian schools, and besides, there's going to be competition anywhere you go.

 

here at u of t (gawd, i sound like a tour guide), you have to work hard...you want good marks, dontcha?, but you can play hard too. there's always a place you can hang out at to relax and clear your mind or whatever. i'm really looking forward to starting my second year there.

 

cheese

 

- oh yah...and if you're an undergrad applying to u of t med...sorry - don't really know what it's like...the stuff about toronto still applies thou

[Guest cheech10]

Here's my take on UofT undergrad.

 

It's huge. Find a small core group of buddies to chill with, and make friends with a lot more people, but there's no way you will meet everyone or hang out with everyone. Just be prepared for the shock due to its size. Also, classes are huge (usually). Most of my core classes were ~200-300 students in 1st year, and BIO150 and a few other courses were ~1000 students (in one lecture hall!). At the same time, there are tutorials and labs that are much smaller to help you get used to it (but these diminish after 1st year).

 

Also, you will not get to know profs in class. If you want to get to know them, go to their office hours, they're required to have them weekly by the university. Many people don't use these office hours (I was too shy to go speak to my profs because they wouldn't know me) but it's really the only way to get to know them.

 

Also, UofT is a commuter school. 80% (my guess) of the students commute to school; only a fraction live on campus. This destroys the sense of community for the commuters. So, if a school based social life is very important to you, you might want to live on campus 1st year; the friends you make will stay close for all of undergrad.

 

Some people are very competitive. Ignore them.

 

There are lots of resources (esp. libraries), but if you're in Science, you'll ignore most of them in the first 2 years except for the odd assignment.

 

First year can be a great chance to excel in your courses, especially if you've had IB or AP preparation. Try not to let your grades slip, because it's hard to make up for it (generally, there are exceptions and lots of people get into med with poor 1st year marks, but it's easier if you don't have to explain away the 1st year).

 

Study from the lecture notes. This is my personal piece of advice. Profs *only* ask questions from their lectures and readings that they have specifically identified (Disclaimer: others that I know disagree vehemently on this piece of advice, but I didn't open half of my textbooks in my first 3 years). The lectures are quite good (IMO) and textbooks have too many useless facts to be a good primary resource.

 

Buy old tests. This is very important. Buy old tests. Not to memorize the answers, but most tests at UofT are multiple choice, and old tests will give you a feel for the prof's questioning style. Very important. Questions at UofT are generally of 2 types: obscure facts, and semantic tricks. Old tests can help with both of these.

 

That's what I remember most about UofT. If I think of anything else I'll post it.

[Guest seno]

I've attended three universities. One in the US, and two in Canada and I've also visited a few in Canada as well. Although I have not attended UT I've visited it and I think the main problems is its size. It's HUGE!!! It gets lost among all the skyscrapers and I think you don't get the camraderie from other smaller schools such as Queen's or McGill and, especially, the US with collegetowns.

 

Academically, I think UT is tops but I wouldn't go there for undergrad. Stick to the US or, if you really want to be in Canada, go to Queen's, UWO, McGill etc...

 

seno

[Guest the empty world]

 

Heyy coolness. You guys are awesome, thanks so much for the long replies (especially cheese and cheech), it's starting to help me put this whole thing together. Yeah, I had a really nice feeling that U of T would be like the experience I had with Toronto alone.

 

I'm not too worried about the large classes, I guess that's just a change with those that are bound to come...but eh. I think it might be a shock at first.

 

I think I might get some credits waived with the courses I'm taking at the moment (I.B.)..I'm not too sure about getting credit for AP Exams though..

 

cheese: This is my last year of high school coming up and I'm currently in Colorado in the States..just need to get away from here for a while, even though University of Colorado has an awesome med program, I just don't think I could study comfortably here..been here way too long. I mean too long.

 

That's cool, you took IB too? I'm testing Biology at HL, well actually everything HL except Spanish and Math .. how many credits did U of T give you for that, just out of curiosity?

 

 

cheech: lol thanks again, always replying to my posts I really appreciate the tips and heads-up..yeah, I have this thing where I want to get to know the professors just a bit but if it's a new place and new life for me I think I'd be a little shy too...guess it just depends on how important the course is.

 

I've had my share of competitive people. If you ignore them, somehow you always get ahead while they're frustrated and struggling to overcome you.

 

Thanks for the advice on the notes and studying, too. Sometimes it's a nice advantage to know what type of teaching/testing methods professors use before taking the class.

[Guest Cal]

Will I be at a HUGE disadvantage if I don't have IB\AP credits?

 

And Cheech, did you just study off your lecture notes for your 3 years of undergrad????? No Textbooks at ALL???????????

[Guest cheese]

hey:

 

from what i remember, u of t only gives credit on higher level ib courses done, and if you get 5 or above on the exams. i think you can get up to 6 credits (i'm not sure on that...u might want to check with administration). i got my humanities credits (english and history)...i gave up my science credits so that i could take the first year courses.

 

oh yah, and whole sense of community thing...i personally didn't really find it to be a problem. living in rez, you have your own college, and that was my community. yah, ut is huge, but you get used to it

 

cal, no, you're not disadvantaged at all if you haven't taken ib/ap...i think the ib/ap just exposes you to the university material a little beforehand, that's all. taking ib doesn't guarantee you a high mark in first-year university. you still have to study hard

 

hope this helps,

 

cheese

[Guest cheech10]

Cal,

 

As a rule I try not to study from textbooks. I found that very few courses followed the text closely, very few profs assigned ANY readings, and the questions were always taken from the stuff taught in lecture. I did use textbooks for doing problems, but there weren't many problem sets, etc. after 1st year. In BIO150, you should do the readings before class, but mainly study off your notes, in BIO 250, the text is useless. In chem, physics, and calculus, only use the text for problem sets. Later on, only use the text for clarification of specific points that you missed/didn't understand. There are exceptions. Humanities and social science courses tend to focus on texts. And I've heard that physiology is focused on the text, but I never took it.

 

As for the sense of community, it's there if you live in res, but I commuted every year, and it was hard to get involved.

[Guest therealcrackers]

I did my grad work there, and was a TA for BIO 250 for 3 years. Cheech is right---the only things good about the textbook are the figures and the animations on the CD. You will learn the stuff from the lectures, from your friends, and from the labs---your best chance to solidify everything. As you get up to senior level courses, a lot of the material you will be using is from journal articles, so learn how to do lit searches early and well. The other thing new in the last couple of years was the addition of an essay component in BIO250 (general molecular biology, with about 1200 students btw). While this provides a few moments of genuine hilarity for the TAs marking them, a lot of people grumble about it until they realize how important it is being able to read and write in a concise and scientific manner. This will also help with the MCAT.

That being said, I'm glad I did grad work at U of T and undergrad somewhere else. You need a critical mass for a good graduate program, but for undergrad it is BEWILDERINGLY HUGE.

Good luck!