I have had an incredibly wonderful experience at the University of Toronto. The quality of Faculty, the passionate professors and diverse opportunities for personal growth have far exceeded my expectations. The campus itself is breathtaking, and the strong sense of community makes it a truly remarkable choice for an unforgettable college experience.

Honestly, my time here was amazing. The school offers plenty of programs, interesting activities, and great facilities to support students. The campus is attractive, providing a favorable environment, affordable housing in a convenient area, and friendly professors who genuinely care about their students.

Although it was quite challenging and competitive, I was undeniably supported by my professors and a plethora of resources alongside amazing technology and equally supportive peers. However I would plead for a little more flexibility in regards to the workload.

At UofT and universities in general there is quite a big change in learning styles and UofT is no different. Here you have to keep yourself accountable for studying, attending lectures, marking notes, networking and more. Campuses can be difficult to navigate but there are apps that can guide you. Classes vary greatly in size based on the specialization and year of study per class. For example first year classes are always extremely large and they get smaller from there. At UofT everyone is striving to be the best which can create a very academically competitive environment. However, making friends is also east as you can sit in lectures and converse with the person next to you and become friends or though tutorials and labs. Generally speaking, there are profs that will not be very helpful in a course and you may have to teach yourself that course but T.As can help and there are other resources available. Other profs are ready to help if you reach out and do a wonderful job at teaching.

The University of Toronto offers multiple opportunities to students and proves worthy as a high-ranking university. It has a lot of extra-curricular activities and in-program opportunities that are being provided but are not advertised well, hence, students do not know that these exist. Because there is no perfect human being, there are also professors who are unable to cater to the needs of students. They do not accommodate students who are struggling and can be inconsiderate.

I really enjoyed my time at U of T, but the nickname of U of Tears is very real, especially depending on which department you’re in (engineering, cs). I really loved my professors and many of my classmates once I got to 3rd year, but the first two years were brutal with trying to make friends in 1000+ student classes while also struggling to even keep up with assignments and tests. However, once the classes got smaller I really thrived and enjoyed the professors. They generally are all very passionate about what they’re teaching and can often be very open to just discussing the course with their students. I also loved how international the student body is. I met people from everywhere in the world, from every inhabited continent, and loved the culture of the student body. However, the administration needs to revamp the mental health services and the structure of courses severely.

The biology program at UTM is not bad but definitely could be much better. The faculty does not care at all about the students and you are treated like a number. The school knows that most students go into the program to get into medicine, but they provide 0 support on how to get into medical schools. Additionally, many courses are a little unfair so it’s hard to get a GPA for medical school. However, it is UofT so you have access to so many resources and amazing facilities all over the Toronto area. Also when you graduate the opportunities that come from this school are amazing, so if you stick with it it’s kinda worth it in the end.

The school is a good one for people going into a field straight after post secondary education. However, if you plan on doing higher education, it’s is a good idea to steer clear of UofT. Despite their great standing globally, grade deflation is an ongoing issue within the school. Aside from that, it can be considered a world class education, with great professors and ample learning and growth opportunities!

Overall I really enjoyed my time at U of T but I think it took all 4 years for me to come to that conclusion. Adjusting to such an academically rigorous environment as an international first gen student was definitely one of the biggest challenges at first, since in some cases it feels like you’re expected to know how everything works at a university like this. I mainly experienced this feeling in my 1st and 2nd years where the work seemed overwhelmingly difficult and resources seemed inaccessible but U of T did also provide a community that helped me through that. Taking advantage of the U of T resources from 1st year would’ve made a huge difference for me because things are hard but there is help. In my program in particular I was surprised at how much most professors wanted to help me and see me succeed especially since in my mind they’re experts with busy lives and careers. Classes became more fun when I focused on getting the most out of them. I do think something can be done about prerequisite courses though because I thought I wouldn’t make it at first because of how long it took me to be able to do courses I enjoyed, did well in, and chose (3rd year). I think student life would be better if students didn’t feel like they have to perform 100% of the time and if things were less competitive. In my program it sometimes felt like no matter how hard I studied I’d still not do well in the exams and to this day I don’t know why but I know that wasn’t uncommon especially after my 2nd year 1st semester where 4 of my 5 courses had a class average of C. It was difficult since the school is huge but after finding a community student life became way better (club, residence, sports, etc) because there were people to relate to and learn how to ‘adult’ with. I also really loved how diverse the U of T community is because I got to learn so much from people and share culture. As a black student though I do wish U of T had the same supports they have now as they did when I first started (a bigger effort was only made to consider the black student experience after the 2020 BLM protests). I’m glad to chose to come to U of T and I’m excited for my future career in research especially with how many research opportunities I was able to access through U of T. I will say though that with my degree it seems necessary to do a second degree to secure a stable and long-term job of a certain pay grade.

UofT is an excellent school for students interested in science, art, and math. It offers an inclusive environment with many extracurriculars. The professors are very adept at teaching their subjects and are always available to help out students.