University of Toronto Fall 2015

[JTMurray]

I figured someone ought to get a meet and greet forum open for those of us doing a graduate degree at U of T in Fall 2015. I'll start. My name's James and I'm entering the first year of the Master of Public Policy program in September.

 

Previously I attended Queen's where I did a one-year intensive MA in moral and political philosophy. My thesis concerned the morality of defensive killing and moral desert. If you happen to be going into an MA in philosophy I'd be happy to chat. I did my BA at Carleton (don't judge me) also in philosophy. 

 

I live in Brampton so I don't know how well commuting everyday is going to go, but I'm going to give it a shot. I don't visit Toronto often, but I figure I should start to if I'm going to be down there several times a week. 

 

Anyway, if anyone else wants to go ahead and tell us about themselves, please validate my talking into the void. I figure we'll see more people around here as they accept their offers. 

 

I look forward to hearing from you all. 
 

James

[Dedi]

Hello,

 

I am Samantha and I will be accepting an offer from University of Toronto's Cell and Systems Biology program. I will be doing a direct admit to the PhD program from my BSc (majoring in psychology and animal behaviour) in the USA.

Being international, I will have to find a place to live. I have some good housing candidates so far.

 

I have spent last summer in Toronto as a volunteer/intern for my POI. We've connected really well and I am really excited to have been accepted to a program at U of T (I also applied to the psychology program, but it appears that I will not receive an offer).

[Dedi]

I received a Connaught for international doctoral students scholarship

 

I officially accepted the offer this morning.

[lore]

I received a Connaught for international doctoral students scholarship

 

I officially accepted the offer this morning.

 

Congrats!

[windrainfireandbooks]

Hi everyone and congratulations on UofT! Yesterday I officially accepted my offer to the English PhD program at Toronto. Like lore, I am also coming from the West Coast, though the majority of my family lives in Southern Ontario. Really excited to begin, but also nervous beyond belief!

[IvanBezdomnii]

Hi all,

 

I'll be starting a PhD in history at Toronto in the fall. I'm an American, originally from NY and I am currently finishing up my MA at the University of North Carolina. I'm excited (more so for the program than the weather, haha). Although, I admittedly know very little about Toronto and Canada in general. Are there any significant differences between the Canadian and American university systems y'all are aware of? I imagine there pretty similar, but I suspect there are key differences at the same time. Either way, I'm excited to be moving to the Great White North!

[tingdeh]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm going into a PhD in History this coming fall. Lived in Toronto for most of my life, so I'm happy to answer any logistical question you folks might have!

[wtz6167]

I'm also going to attend Toronto!! Had a visit a month ago! Like it!

[surefire]

Hi all!

 

I'm actually a current PhD student at U of T, in my 3rd year. I've been in Toronto since 2010 though, as I did my MA at York. Just wanted to throw out some general advice.

 

For moving to Toronto:

- The rental vacancy rate here right now is not good, like 1.4% or something like that. Apartment hunting from another city (let alone another province/country) is not fun - and you shouldn't rent anything sight unseen! While I haven't used U of T housing services, the university is actually a pretty big landowner here in the city, so I might recommend trying to secure something through those services for your first year, then you can get familiar with the neighbourhoods and scout a rental for your future years when you're not pressed for time and unaware of the prime real estate. If you will be renting, check out the ON guide to tenant right and if you're tempted by property that isn't close to the downtown campus, for goodness sake get something near a subway line!

- I love this city, but it was a slow take for me. I didn't much like the city for the first 1-2 years I was here. I know that West Coasters have a particularly hard time adjusting (they miss the mild winters and the mountains and the bike-friendly cities). But yeah, once I landed in a neighbourhood I loved and found some sub-communities (academic and otherwise) and a good city bike and a litany of favourite spots, I came to love it here.

 

For starting at U of T:

-We kind of just had a strike yes? For those not in the know, we're actually in "binding arbitration" at the moment, and this will probably go until the end of May. At that point, we'll have a new collective agreement. I would encourage all of you to keep abreast of developments on that front, peruse the CUPE website after arbitration is done to get a look at the new Agreement and get familiar with the funds and health care and the like that is offered. To be clear, if you're a grad student made to TA, you're in Unit 1.

- You'll actually be in a grad student union as well. They offer you're base health care plan as well as a bunch of advocacy/governance/fun resources. I'd recommend getting familiar with them too!

- Get familiar with your department guidelines and expectations. Get to know your departmental coordinator/secretary and foster a very cordial relationship with them. This will make your life easier down the road. If you have a question, do a little research to try and answer it and if you can't, ask the grad coordinators. Some questions, like about how funds are administered, might seem basic and crude, but ASK them!

- Get familiar with the general U of T School of Grad Studies. Particularly, look at the general expectations that they hold grad students to AND the financial resources (it's a good idea to get acquainted with the conference funds/deadlines early) AND the resources/services offered. I would particularly recommend looking at the English Language Writing Centre (ELWS) workshops and courses offered - I would personally recommend the SSHRC workshop, if you're going to have to apply for one of those through U of T in the fall; I took that course and it made a huge difference in the outcome of my app! September is going to hit you fast and furious, and so it's best to learn about these resources now before you get the totally-normal overwhelmed mid-september feels.

 

General:

- Relax. Seriously. Take some time to relax. If you have a job, try to quit a few weeks before you start - I didn't do this and came to regret it. Take some down-time.

- Talk to people in your cohort as well as established students. Talk about the classes and supervisors you're hoping for and LISTEN to senior students who advise you on these. Talk about your research interests - even if your notions feel half-baked, this is a great way to develop them. And yeah, talk to your cohort and don't be a competitive dick. You will probably need the camaraderie and goodwill of your cohort mates - I know that U of T has a bit of a rep re: competitiveness, but don't buy into that.

- Start some recon on potential supervisors and the general faculty in your department. Read through some of their recent papers and take note of where ppl publish and what methods they like. This is good insight into the departmental culture.

- Cultivate good habits re: sleep and gym and eating and the like.

- Launch a social media presence, if you don't have one. Craft a Twitter account and start following faculty and scholarly associations. Tidy up your LinkedIn page or build your own little website to link to. Look into good self-organizing apps - I use workflowy for to-do lists and Zotero to keep my citations in shape. These are awesome tools that are easy to maintain, so START them know, and then you just have to worry about the easy upkeep!

 

Feel free to PM me with questions. And WELCOME to U of T!

[RunnerGrad]

Hi all,

 

I'll be starting a PhD in history at Toronto in the fall. I'm an American, originally from NY and I am currently finishing up my MA at the University of North Carolina. I'm excited (more so for the program than the weather, haha). Although, I admittedly know very little about Toronto and Canada in general. Are there any significant differences between the Canadian and American university systems y'all are aware of? I imagine there pretty similar, but I suspect there are key differences at the same time. Either way, I'm excited to be moving to the Great White North!

 

A few things are different.  First of all, UofT, like almost all universities in Canada, is publically funded.  Quest is the only private university that I'm aware of in Canada, and it's unique in a number of other ways as well.

 

Also, MOST PhD programs require a Master's degree first.  Now, that's not always the case for all of the PhD programs at UofT (as you can see from Dedi's acceptance straight to the PhD program without a Master's), but the normal progression in Canada is Bachelor's -> Master's -> PhD.  Certainly in my field, you won't get accepted to a PhD program without a Master's.  But it does vary by field.

 

With respect to life outside of the university, Canada is different from the U.S. in a number of ways.  First of all, we have universal health care, where basic medical care is covered by provincial health care plans (however International students will obtain their own health insurance through the university, since they are not covered by provincial health plans).

 

Same sex marriage is legal throughout all of Canada.  Even in our military - it was actually legal within the Canadian Armed Forces before it became legal throughout the country.  Our military also allows women to serve in all of the military occupations, including the combat arms and on submarines.

 

Depending on where you've lived in the U.S., you may not be familiar with certain colloquialisms or words used to describe various things.  For example, "pop" is widely used in Ontario, as opposed to "soda" or "soft drink."  A "toque" is a winter hat/wool hat.  And there are other examples.

 

The second most common language people speak in Canada, besides English, is French.  Although Toronto is so multicultural you'll hear a lot of other language more frequently spoken than French.  Certainly I hear a lot of different Asian languages on campus at UofT and while travelling on public transit.

 

Guns are a lot less common in Canada, although we do still have gun crime and illegal guns being used by criminals.  It's a lot less typical for your average Canadian to own a hand gun and keep it in their home.  For example, the people I know who own guns own rifles for hunting or sport.

 

Right now the Canadian dollar is performing poorly compared to the American dollar.  Not so good for Canadians looking to go to the U.S., better for Americans looking to come to Canada.

 

Gasoline/petrol is more expensive in Canada.  Actually, most things (except certain foods) are more expensive in Canada.

 

Like Surefire, I'm happy to answer any questions about UofT, Toronto, or commuting to Toronto from outside the city.  I just finished my first year as an MPH student at UofT, and as I don't enjoy living in big cities like Toronto, I commute into Toronto when I need to be on campus (which has generally been about three days a week).

[blaine241]

I just got an offer to the MScPl program and I'm heavily considering it. I actually already live right across the street from the bookstore, but it's a terrible tiny place so I sort of want to upgrade. I may live further from campus and bike in so I can have some luxuries...like laundry, or a window that doesn't face a brick wall, or walls/ceiling without raccoons (student housing is rough out here). 

[kats]

Hello, my name is Kiera and I have also accepted an offer of admission to a graduate program at U of T! I will be studying Speech-Language Pathology in the fall, and am very excited to attend such a great school! That being said, I was wondering if anyone could give me housing advice regarding the residences? I am currently living in Tokyo, originally from Saskatchewan, and the most of Toronto that I have seen occurred during a 5-hour layover.  Thus, my knowledge base is limited so I was wondering if anyone could inform me about Graduate house and Chestnut residence? Through my limited research these two seem like the best options for graduate residence, however I am used to living on my own and am worried about a resident environment. Thoughts?