Advice / Information on U of T (and Universities in General)

Campus
I would recommend that you choose St.George because it has a wider range of courses / programs to choose from than the other two campuses. Obviously, it is always better to choose the main campus (St.George) of a university. If you prefer a smaller community, and are ok with a narrower range of courses / programs, and find that location is important (i.e. when it is closer to your home), then choose the other two campuses.

Financial Aid
It's most likely that you'll have to apply for OSAP for every year. If you qualify for maximum OSAP (about > $9000), you'll get a Millenium Bursary that worths $3000. In some cases you might qualify for UTAPS, when you have maximum OSAP but the assessed need still cannot cover your overall expenses. If OSAP and UTAPS still did not turn out to be enough, apply for College grants. There are many other grants / scholarships, which you have to research on your own.

College
Choose any college you like, it really doesn't matter much. Each college has a registrar office which provides course advicing, financial counselling, and other academic services such as Writing Centres and Math Aid Centres. It is also responsible for distributing OSAP loan documents. Of course, you don't want to choose a college that is too far away from your classrooms or residence (if you're living in residence).

Tip: If you're an Innis College student who needs help in Math courses, take advantage of the Math/Stats Centre at Innis College. It usually doesn't have many students.

Student Services
You pay incidental fees for student services and the sad thing is that they cannot be refunded. Student services include things like Health Service, Psychiatric Service, Counselling and Learning Skills Service, etc. There is also the FYI (First-Year-Initiative) that hosts many workshops that discuss many issues. There is something called the "FYI Lunch", where you'll have free pizza (from Pizza Pizza) with many students and the counsellors, usually from noon to 1pm.

Tip: There is actually no point in using these services unless you find them absolutely necessary. For example, if you're really deficient in studying, you might want to try the Counselling and Learning Skills Service. Or, if you like to get free pizza, join the FYI lunch. You do pay for these pizzas. But I find it best that you spend time on your studying instead of joining these events.

Student Clubs / Athletic Centres / Social Events
Sometimes you're encouraged to join student clubs, athletic centres, and other social events hosted by students or other organizations on campus. You might be encouraged to explore the "possibilities outside the classroom". Don't waste your time on any of these! It is best that you spend your time studying instead. In many cases, students in academic troubles or students who are forced to drop out are usually those who are too busy having fun in (or outside) university.

In addition, if you're in a relationship during your university life, you're more screwed (unless your relationship is very stable and mature).

Tip: Occasionally, there are events that offer free food to students (e.g. burgers, hotdogs, pizzas). Provided that you're free enough, try to grab some food there. You pay for them through your campus fees!

Profs
You will come across good profs and bad profs throughout your academic career at any university. All universities brag about how good their professors are, don't ever buy a word of it! The most realistic thing to do is to find out whether a prof is good or bad by yourself. I recommend that you visit www.ratemyprofessors.ca that contains students' comments on their professors.

Every year, ASSU (Arts & Science Students Union) at U of T distributes a book called the Anti-Calendar which contains students' course evaluations from a previous school year.

Near the end of your course, your prof will hand out course evaluations (during a lecture). What you do is that you give comments on the prof and the course, usually in the form of numeric ratings and open-ended & written comments.

Tip: You usually aren't given enough time to complete your course evaluations form, especially when you have many to comment on. Some profs hand out the form near the end of the lecture so that those who have classes next will not have enough time to finish it. The profs would ask a volunteer in class to drop off the completed forms to (maybe to Sidney Smith Hall, I'm not sure). For 99% of the cases, the volunteer seems to expect others to write as fast as possible, maybe because they have to run or something, and this is really disrespectful to students who are serious about evaluating the profs. Here are some suggestions to get around this problem:

1. If you expect to spend more time in completing your evaluations than most students, then be the volunteer. That way, you'll be the one who calls the shots about when students should finish the forms. It means that if you want to take your time then you can take your time.
   Moral: Be a good volunteer. Allow those who spend more time in completing their forms than you do to complete them.
2. Think of how you'll evaluate your prof beforehand, both in the form of numeric ratings and written comments. To help you organize your comments, here is a sample course evaluation form (U of T - Arts & Science only): Page 1 Page 2. If you like, here is also a sample evaluation form specifically for TAs (U of T - Computer Science only). You'll end up completing your course evaluations faster during lecture if you "do" it in advance.

Getting Advice from other students?
Chances is that the other students (especially the upper year or graduated ones) will scare you about their profs and courses, sometimes even in an exaggerated manner. They might say something like "this prof sucks, he/she can't teach", or "you'll get killed in this course and that course." etc. The point is that different students have different comments. Just because one student thinks that a prof sucks / is excellent or a course is tough / easy does not mean that the other (or you) will think the same way. Obviously, the point of getting information / advice from anyone is not getting scared! However, in some cases, scaring you to a certain extent will motivate you to work harder.

Choosing courses / programs
In some Faculties, you have a flexibility of choosing courses. You can choose any courses, any sections / timeslot, and any number of courses you like (of course, provided that you fulfilled course prerequisites, requirements of being a full-time / part time students, etc.). Chances is that for a particular course that you choose, the section(s) with good profs will get occupied very quickly. Read the ratemyprofessor.com website and the Anti-Calendar before you choose courses!

The more flexbilities you have, the more difficult it is for you to choose courses. It requires thoughtful planning.

Tip: Obviously, you should enrol in courses at the earliest time possible. For example, if course enrolment starts at 6 in the morning on a particular day, then wake up and do it at 6 in the morning! The problem is that countless students have the same idea, so you'll most likely encounter ridiculously slow connections in SWS (Student Web Services, which is where you enrol courses in), and sometimes SWS will be down due to excessive traffic. My advice is to be patient! Keep trying to get in for as long as you can. Sometimes this can take 1 to 2 hours.

You usually choose your programs (Specialist/Major/Minor) after first year. The reason is that, first year is meant to be an opportunity for you to explore your interests by taking courses from a wide range of subjects. That way, you'll have a better idea of what programs you're interested in and strong in. Choosing programs can be difficult, especially if you're unsure of what your interests and strengths are, so it requires thoughtful planning. Sometimes it is reliable to seek course advicing from your college and the departments, but most people there will not be too helpful because 1). they don't know anything about you, and 2). they're lazy, and 3). sometimes they give wrong or irrelevant information!

So, expect to plan your courses and programs mainly on your own.

Tip: Obviously, take courses that will lead you to many possible paths.

Getting help on administrative matters
If you have questions of an administrative nature (e.g. taking courses from other campuses) that you need to ask at your college and departments, you might not get a completely accurate information! It is possible that one person tells you one thing and the other person tells you another. This is very typical of Canadians. If someone has given you an answer to your question, confirm the accuracy of the answer by asking other people the same question. In the case of discrepancies, try to get these people to talk and sort out your questions together. For example, if the college and the departments give conflicting answers to my questions, I will ask my college to speak to the departments about my questions, or vice versa.

Studying
You must first begin by understanding that studying in university is different from studying in high school. Basically, most of what worked in high school will not work in university. Here are some differences between high school and university:

1. In high school, you're told what to study. In university, you're on your own.

   Tip: It doesn't mean that you have to study absolutely everything. Besides doing the assignments and practice exercises that you're assigned, it is extremely important that you do old tests and exams before your tests and exams. In addition, be sure to focus on what matters, not everything! For example, if you're taking a Math course that does not require you to prove theorems, you can basically ignore proofs of theorems given in lectures.

2. The workload and difficulty in university courses are much higher than those in high school. For example, you have more readings to do in Arts subjects, and more practice problems to do in science subjects. Most profs will act like their courses are the only courses that you're taking so they will bombard you with a lot of work.

   Tip: It is not recommended to take 100% course load or more in a normal school year (fall/winter semester that is) unless you're an exceptional student or you're guaranteed not to slack off. Try to take no more than 80%. Normally, in U of T, students take 5.0 credits each year for 4 years, leading to a total of 20 credits after 4 years (and which, by that time, you'll graduate). What I do is that I take 4.0 in the fall/winter semester, and 1.0 in the summer semester, for every year.

3. You don't have to go to lectures (except for cases where your prof requires you to show up at a specific lecture to do in-class work), whereas attendence in high school is mandatory.
4. You must learn to become more independent, disciplined, and responsible for your studies at university. If you sleep in class, or don't do your work, your prof won't care, you won't be pushed to study by your teachers like you're used to in high school. As a result, you'll tend to slack off more, procrastine more, and become less motivated in university. Don't let any of these happen to you! You pay for your education, so you might as well get the money's worth.
5. You will no longer be in small class settings like you're used to in high school. You mostly will have big classes in university and this is really shitty. Sometimes you might end up with 200-400 students in a lecture hall. If you'd like to ask the prof any questions right after lecture, expect to be in a long line-up with other students. Sadly, some students in line might ask questions such as "when is the tutorial?" or "where is your office?" when they're already answered in the course syllabus and/or the course website, hence they will cause unnecessary delays in asking your questions.

   Tips:
   

   1. Whenever possible, build a timetable that has classes with breaks (at least one hour) in between because this will give you more time to ask questions after a lecture. Obviously, this will also allow you to get some rest before the next lecture, and you don't have to rush to your next lecture immediately after your current one.
   2. If you have enough time, try to be the last person asking questions after lecture. I personally do not like the idea of having any students behind me in line, because I'll be tempted to ask my questions as quickly as possible, and the prof might also be tempted to answer you as quickly as possible (hence you might end up getting answers that are not detailed enough), and you'll be forced to understand the answer as quickly as possible, all because there are other students waiting.
   3. The seats at the front (or near the front) are usually occupied very quickly. If you need to sit at the front (or near the front), plan to arrive to the lecture hall at least ten minutes before lecture starts. You can achieve this more easily if you have breaks in between your classes. You must take this issue into account because there are many profs whose writings on the board / overhead transparencies are very small. Many profs usually don't care whether the students in the back can see the writings or not; they only care whether they themselves can see them or not.
   4. If you have any questions, it is best to visit your prof for consultation during his/her office hours during times that are less popular. As many students are procrastinators, they tend to put off asking many questions until the day before a test or an exam. Hence, if you ask questions on the same day, expect the prof's office to be crowded. The same situation will apply when you seek help in tutorials. Therefore, ask your questions as soon as possible (this implies that you shouldn't procrastine, as mentioned above).
6. University professors are usually less competent in teaching than high school teachers. Why? Because a). they care about their research more than teaching, and b). they only need a PhD in order to get a job as a professor. The university doesn't ever care if they have teaching abilities. This is ludricrous; just because someone has a deep knowledge in a subject does not mean he/she will know how to teach it. Sometimes you have to learn on your own, and you must develop this skill.

   Tip: If your prof can't teach, and assuming that there is no way you can switch sections, then try to get other sources of help (e.g. tutors, other students, study groups, etc). Sometimes I might still ask the prof questions, and I will keep doing so until I understand, this might put him/her on the spot but unfortunately it has to be this way.

Some Tips for Success:
- Keep up with the work. Craamming does not work in university!
- Self Assess. Identify the topics you have trouble with, and don't spend time studying what you're good at. Focus on areas that you're weak at, and ask for help when necessary.
- Don't panic. It obviously doesn't help.
- Be enthusiastic in your coourses. Studying will become really painful if you are unenthusiastic.

Note: There are many Math/Stats Aid Centres on campus, so you're in luck if you're taking Math/Stats courses. The tutors there usually provide help on a one-to-one basis on first and second year Math/Stats courses.

Residences (res)
You tend to study better if you're living in res, here are the reasons:

1. You're more focused.
2. You save the time and energy to commute everyday, which can be quite tiring.
3. (Perhaps the most important) You get more office hours/tutorial help easily. For example, if you're a commuter, and you finish classes at 1pm, but your prof's office hour is 4pm, and you need to find him/her for help, then you won't be going home until you wait 3 more hours to get your help. Quite inconvenient isn't it?

   Another example is that, if your prof's office hours/tutorial hours start at 9am on a given day and you'll have your first class at 12pm on the same day, and you'd like to get help, and it takes you one hour to commute, then you'll have to wake up particulary early (before 8am!) just because of it. If your visit to your prof's office/tutorial ends at 10am and you're tired, you'll have to look for a place on campus to take a nap which is quite inconvenient.

4. There are study spaces on campus, but they're usually crowded and full of noise. It is obviously better to have a private study space such as your room in a res. Now, from the first example in the previous point: During the 3 hours "in between", you can stay in your res, relax, study, etc. then go to your prof/tutorial for help. Afterwards, you just return to your res.

   From the second example: If you live in res (assuming that it takes you about 10 minutes to get to your prof's office/tutorial location), you obviously do not have to wake up as early. Once you're done visiting your prof/tutors, and you need to take a nap afterwards, you just return to your res, take a nap, and go to your first class (very convenient!).

   By living in res, you won't suffer from the inconvenience like I mentioned in the previous point. Basically, any office hours will become convenient for you.

Tip: Your number one goal at university is not to pay as little money as possible, but to study as effectively as possible. In other words, if you have to pay more in order to study better, then by any means do so. If you try to take as many courses as possible in an attempt to save money, you might end up not doing well or even fail a course which will cost you even more money (and will increase your chances of getting into academic probation). There are financial aids such as OSAP, Millenium Bursary, UTAPS, College grants, scholarships, etc. which should solve part of your financial problems.

Hectic periods
The most hectic periods occur at the beginning of every school year because you have to deal with registrations, OSAP, purchasing of textbooks, etc. so the financial aid office and bookstores will be crowded. In order to get around this problem, you have to visit those places during times that are less popular (usually in the morning or at night).

Purchasing Textbooks
If you're buying textbooks, buy it in Discount Textbook Store located at College St and west of St.George St because it sells textbooks at a cheaper price than those from the U of T Bookstore. Obviously, you want to buy used textbooks.

Tips:

1. If possible, do not buy textbooks that are in a plastic wrap as they'll become non-refundable once the wrap is opened.
2. Buy a textbook, photocopy/scan its pages, and return it to save money. Obviously, you cannot do that for textbooks in plastic wraps. If you do that for a new textbook (which is not wrapped), you'll have to make sure that it is maintained in a condition that is as new as it originally was, or else it won't be refunded. Hence, the best target to photocopy/scan will be a used textbook. Why? Because you don't ever have to maintain its newness. If you make it older as a result of photocopying/scanning its pages, you can still return it for a refund because the cashiers don't really know how new it was when you first bought it. It doesn't make sense for the cashiers to check for any deteriorations on the used textbook like they would do for a new textbook, because it is a used textbook (it's normal that it is deteriorated!).
3. Buy textbooks from other students as they are most likely cheaper than those from the bookstores. The only problem is that it is too difficult or even impossible to refund the textbooks to them.
4. Go to www.tusbe.com. It's a website for used textbooks exchange.
5. Order textbooks from somewhere else, if possible. The bookstore ordered the textbooks and then set them to unreasonable prices.

CGPA / Academic Probation / Expulsion from University
Trust me, academic probation is something that you don't want. Universities require students to maintain a certain CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) throughout their academic years. If you fall below the CGPA requirement at any point during your academic years, you'll be in academic probation. If your CGPA continues to be low, you will end up being suspended for a year, and 3 years or even a refusal in further registration in your Faculty for subsequent failures of meeting the CGPA requirements.

Tip: Try to get a CGPA that is as high as possible during your first two years of university. That way, you'll be safer in your upper years. It is important to note that it is quite difficult to get a high CGPA in upper years. It is common sense that if you get a high CGPA in your first two years, then even though you get low marks in your upper years, you're still safe and be able to graduate.