Computer Science at University of Toronto (Scarborough)

Ivin (Year 3)

What did you wish you knew before going to your university? What made you choose this institution over all others? What are advantages and disadvantages of your institution or campus? List any advice for incoming first-year students about your university.

I wish I knew the amount of work that would be assigned at my school. I chose my institution over the others because of the prestige and because the program ranked the best at this school. However, the disadvantages include the extremely competitive nature of the program, by only allowing a certain portion of the first years into the program based on marks alone, and also the large amount of work that is given per course. My advice to a first year is to start strong and be prepared for anything, otherwise you may not enter into your preferred major or program.

What did you wish you knew before choosing your specific program? What are the advantages and disadvantages of your program? List any advice for incoming first-year students about your program of study.

One mistake that I would not make is to only rely on what is taught in school. Most jobs in the actual industry rely on technology and tools that are far more recent than what is taught at school. You should consider self learning to be just as important as what you learn in school, otherwise coops and jobs will be hard to attain. In general, you should take initiative outside of school to network, learn and explore, that is how you will be successful after getting your degree.

What was your favourite university experience?

My best experience would be getting into my program after my first year. First year students are general admission and based on their marks they can pick a major of their choice, and I was able to enter a specialist major for the field of my interest.

What was your least favourite university experience?

My worst university experience was being unable to study for a midterm and receiving a failing grade for it.

What is the hardest part about your program and what were the steps that you took to overcome any difficulties?

The hardest part of my course is the amount of content that is taught and the level of complexity that it’s taught at. To overcome this I took advantage of the TA office hours, seminars, and professor office hours to help myself understand the content better.

If you were able to take electives, what was your favourite elective? If you were not able to take electives, what was your favourite course and why?

My favourite course was an Intro to Probability course that I took — it was a very interesting subject.

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