Psychology at University of Toronto (Scarborough)

Anonymous (Year 2)

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 UTSC due to the reputation of the school, and the reputation of the program in which I enrolled in. The psychology program at UTSC is definitely a notable one, but the competitive factor is fierce. A major problem that I found with my university is the accessibility to help if needed, I felt that once I fell behind, the entire world was against me and I found it almost impossible to catch up. The resources for struggling students are very limited, and if there were any, they did not spread awareness very effectively as I was not aware of them.

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 what type of program/education I had a passion for. I enrolled into a program for the sake of going to post-secondary without really having the guidance or future-planning skills I needed to understand the importance of each and every lecture, paper, and exam. This greatly hindered my enjoyment of education and my will to stay caught up.

What was your favourite university experience?

Feeling a greater sense of freedom, and responsibility.

What was your least favourite university experience?

The transition from good grades to lower grades way below my standards.

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

The hardest part about the psychology program is the amount of reading and assignments you must complete. The first psych course you need for your program consists of 2 chapters a week along with quizzes for each section of each chapter. This course also has around 12-14 assignments all worth 3-10%, so the workload is always heavy. A good step to finding more success is to try and find a way into the group chats that almost every program and/or course has. It is a great way to connect with peers, share ideas, and ask questions.

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?

PHLA11- Ronald DeSousa is a very interesting prof.

#UniversityofToronto #UniversityofTorontoScarborough #UTSC #Psychology