.png)
Madeline (Year 2)
mkalda@mail.utoronto.ca
@chaotic.robotic
What did you wish you knew before going to your university?
The Blue Food truck is dangerous. It parks right across from the main engineering building, and its vegetarian poutine is HEAVENLY. A danger to my bank account is what it is. Also, incoming freshman: your applicant # and your student # are the same number, you don't have to email someone if you haven't been issued a separate student #. It's the same thing, do not worry.
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.
Even though weekly problem sets in engineering generally account for a very tiny % of your final mark, the point of them is to do regular practice and get feedback on it in order to improve your understanding. Not doing the weekly problem sets can have a big impact on your grade, as you won't understand the material as comprehensively as you should for the exams. Basically, engineering is a lot of work, and it's all kind of important/not "skippable".
What was your favourite university experience?
My group won one of the design challenges in APS111 with an idea I proposed, and we got to take home little prizes from the prize bag. I chose a tiny hedgehog eraser and now he sits on my desk. I am perhaps a little more proud of him than I should be hahaha!!
What was your least favourite university experience?
I got a 46 on the Calc II second midterm. Can I get an F in the chat? Honestly I simply did not study for it as hard as I should've.
What is the hardest part about your program and what were the steps that you took to overcome any difficulties?
To be honest the worst part of the entire thing is not being able to choose your own group for the design courses. Also, studying with other people simply did not work for me because other people are loud and often wrong. I've heard that some people really enjoy it, but I can NOT relate.
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?
GGR124 (Urban Geography) is an excellent HSS elective. If you've lived in a city your whole life, a lot of the content kind of fits perfectly in your mind because you can see it happening. Prof. Dupuy taught my section, and it was at 6pm on Wednesdays (fit into an engineering schedule!) because he was an adjunct professor with a real-person job.
Additional Comments
Go, and I cannot emphasize this enough, to CLASS!!