Hospitality and Tourism Management at Ryerson University

Casey (Year 2)

thanh.vo@ryerson.ca

@ddaaaannnnnnnn

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 chose Ryerson because of its location. I wish I knew that while downtown is dynamic and comes with endless eating and entertaining spots, it can also be complicated sometimes because you can get lost.

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.

I wish I knew that I would have to write lots of papers. It is not a bad thing, it will be beneficial to you in the future. It's just that I didn't expect it so I was quite worried at first.

What was your favourite university experience? 

I'm a part of a cultural student group and I made many new friends from this. Student groups hold lots of events and as an HTM student, I think you might be interested in these too. It is also a chance for you to discover the Ryerson campus more (Oakham Lounge, RAC, RSU Building, etc.)

What was your least favourite university experience?

8 AM classes (and I live downtown). When I was choosing my schedule, I thought taking 8am classes would leave me more time later in day to do other stuff and be more productive. But no, I was always so sleepy that I couldn't focus on the rest of the day. 

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

To be honest, my first year at Ryerson was pretty smooth and I didn't really have any difficulties. ECN 104, ECN 204, QMS 110, QMS 210, ACC 100 are considered tough courses and here are some tips to survive! (I've never taken any of these in high school):

ECN (economic) courses: Attend classes, read your textbook and do the quizzes. In my opinion, econ is pretty straightforward. Don't give up on just because everyone is saying that it is hard. Read your textbook before coming to class to get a grasp of the concepts and do your quizzes (if there are any), many of the quiz questions are similar to exam questions

QMS (math and stats) courses: For 110, weekly quizzes are all about Excel, and you can get good marks from reading your (free) textbook. Before all tests, you will be provided with practice test questions, which is 90% similar to the actual test. For 210, weekly quizzes are really helpful in helping you make sure that you understand the concepts (but it is not too relevant to the tests). There is no practice test provided, but weekly practice questions should be enough

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?

HTH 150 (Tourism Supply and Demand) by Prof Tom Griffin (the only class that I attended every single lecture). Remember to attend classes because there are lots of in-class activities that can boost your grade. The prof is really nice and he really wants you to do well. The class is mandatory for HTM students anyways, but even if it is not, it is worth taking. You will learn interesting facts about the effect of tourism supply and demand, why you should or should not use AirBnB, why you should or should not travel more and how you can make travelling more responsible.

#RyersonUniversity #RU #Ryerson #HospitalityandTourismManagement