My hope is that in sharing my experiences, I can help a few people make the right decision about which school to attend, particularly for Engineering. After all, I think it is one of the most important decisions of your life, so any information is better than none.

As a grade 12 student,  I always heard stories that if you end up going to a top school like UofT or Waterloo, you will end up getting a great job at a big company. I mainly thought this was bogus until during Frosh Week when half of my groups’ leaders said they are currently working or have worked at companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple. I was instantly connected to upper years who already had first-hand experience at the top companies around the world. I also know quite a few current students who are interning at Facebook, Google, Uber, etc.

Academics

The academic rigour and prestige associated with the UofT is real. In no other school in Canada will you be able to rub shoulders with such giants as Geoff Hinton, Stephen Cook, Geoffrey Hinton, Margaret Atwood, Steve Mann and many more. Sure, you may never actually meet some of them, but the idea that people at UofT have been doing great things for decades and will continue to do great things well into the future really permeates the campus.

I have also met many people at UofT who are truly, truly, exceptional in their field, and these people get an overwhelming amount of support from the school and mentorship from faculty to carry out their research and activities. If you are one of these people, it helps to get the largest school in Canada behind you.

In 2019, majority of the top students from the TDSB chose UofT Engineering over any other program.

Financial Aid

In addition to OSAP, the University of Toronto also has something called UTAPS (University of Toronto Financial Aid). UTAPS is provided so students who would like to attend UofT do not shy away due to financial reasons. I personally have many close friends whose entire tuitions were paid off with OSAP and UTAPS together. 

The faculty of Applied Science and Engineering also provides entrance averages that are based off admission averages. More details about that here.

I do not want to share how much UTAPS I received, so here is my friends’ amount:

Minors

Did you know that you can minor in 1 of 10 Engineering minors? From Music to Artificial Intelligence, you have the chance to expand your horizons in a completely new field. The following are a list of available minors:

• Artificial Intelligence Engineering
• Advanced Manufacturing
• Bioengineering
• Environmental Engineering
• Sustainable Energy
• Engineering Business
• Robotics and Mechatronics
• Biomedical Engineering
• Nanoengineering
• Music Performance

I am personally thinking of taking the Artificial Intelligence or Business minor in 3rd year.

Location

I often see people talk about UofT as an “it” place because it is in downtown Toronto and there is so much to do. The city itself is amazing and there’s a ton to do.

Want to go skating while procrastinating for exams? Go to Nathan Phillips or Harbourfront.

Want to try different kinds of foods? Go to Kensington Market, the Annex, Little Italy.

Want to shop? Go to the Eaton Centre.

You also have the subway right next to you, so you can literally go anywhere in the GTA region.

Future Prospects

Probably the most important part of your experience is what you are going to be doing after university.

The main selling point for many prospective students is UofT’s PEY Co-op program. During PEY Co-op, you will work full time for an employer of your choosing for 12 to 16 consecutive months after second or third year.

Engineering students also have something called ESIP (Engineering Summer Internship Program). This is a 4-month summer program which can be done after finishing second year.

Both co-op choices allow students to get paid while getting industry experience. In addition, both PEY Co-op and ESIP have separate portals where companies post job postings. All Engineering students also have the choice of not doing PEY and graduating in 4 years if they wish.

Not only does the faculty provide students with job portals, but they also many resources to help land interviews. For example, currently a club called YNCN is running weekly events that will help students with their job search. From bringing employers to campus, or having resume critiques, this club does it all.

Speaking of employers, many times Engineering students will receive emails on which employers are coming to campus to pitch themselves. Here is an example of one of the emails I have received at the start of the year:

Dear Engineering Students,

We hope you had a great summer! Here at the Engineering Career Centre we wanted to highlight some exciting employer information sessions we have coming up for you over the next two weeks!

Detailed information can be found here: 

https://engineeringcareers.utoronto.ca/events-calendar/

———————————————————————————————————————— 

GM (General Motors) Information Session

Date: Tuesday September 17th

Time: 6-8PM

Location: GB244 (Galbraith)

Target: New Grads (4^th year students seeking a full-time position)​

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Inertia Information Session

Date: Tuesday September 24th, 2019

Time: 6-8PM

Location: GB304

Target: PEY Co-op (Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Science/ Biomedical Systems)

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Hatch Information Session

Date: Thursday September 26^th, 2019

Time: 6-8PM

Location: BA1180

Target: Open to ALL students in Engineering & Sciences ( ESIP, PEY Co-op & 4^th year students seeking a full-time position )

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Mercari

Date: Monday September 30^th, 2019

Time: 5-7PM

Location: GB120

Target: ESIP &  New Grads (4^th year students seeking a full-time position )

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Zebra Info Session

Date: Monday September 30^th, 2019

Time: 6-8PM

Location: BA1170 (Bahen Centre for Information Technology at 40 St George St, Toronto, ON M5S 2E4)

Target: Open to ALL students in Engineering & Sciences (1^st -4^th years, recent grads and PEY Co-op)

SIGN UP HERE: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

RBC Capital Markets

Date: Tuesday October 1^st, 2019

Time: 6-8PM

Location: GB303 (Galbraith)

Target: PEY Co-op Students

Sign Up : (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Huawei

Date: Wednesday October 2^nd, 2019

Time: 11AM-1PM

Location: GB220

Target: ALL: Students in their final year, PEY Co-op Students & ESIP Students

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Deloitte

Date: Thursday October 3^rd, 2019

Time: 6-8PM

Location: BA1180

Target: PEY Co-op Students

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Intel

Date: Tuesday October 8^th, 2019

Time: 5-7PM

Location: MC102

Target: OPEN TO ALL: New Grads (students in their final year), PEY Co-op &ESIP

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Huawei

Date: Wednesday October 9^th, 2019

Time: 11AM-1PM

Location: GB220

Target: ALL: Students in their final year, PEY Co-op Students & ESIP Students

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

IBI

Date: Wednesday October 9^th, 2019

Time: 6-8PM

Location: BA2175

Target: OPEN TO ALL: New Grads (students in their final year), PEY Co-op &ESIP

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

ICF Next

Date: Thursday October 10^th, 2019

Time: 6-8PM

Location: BA1180

Target: New Grads (students in their final year of study)

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Plan Group

Date: Tuesday October 15^th, 2019

Time: 6-8PM

Location: MC102

Target: New Grads (students in their final year) and PEY Co-op

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Ecobee

Date: Tuesday October 22^nd, 2019

Time: 6-8PM

Location: MC102

Target: OPEN TO ALL: New Grads (students in their final year), PEY Co-op &ESIP

Sign Up: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Isaac Operations Info Session

Date: Wednesday October 23^rd, 2019

Time: 6:00PM-8:00PM

Location: BAB024

Target: Open to PEY Co-op Students

SIGN UP HERE: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

 

Isaac Operations Info Session

Date: Thursday November 14^th, 2019

Time: 6:30-8:30PM

Location: BA1180

Target: Open to ALL students in Engineering & Sciences (1^st -4^th years, recent grads and PEY Co-op)

SIGN UP HERE: (deleted the link to prevent spam)

The Community

I think one of the biggest surprises to me about UofT Engineering was the Skule Community. I cannot explain how hype and welcoming it is. I first experienced this during grade 12 when I was invited to Pre-F!rosh at the campus. Pre-F!rosh is a perfect introductory event to connect you with fellow UofT Engineering students and provide an overview of what life on campus will be like. I think this was one of the sole deciding factors which resulted in me accepting my offer from UofT. In addition, everyone in my Pre-F!rosh group also accepted their UofT offers as I met them again in September. This goes to show that they also saw themselves belonging in this community.

Here is a video from my Pre-F!rosh.

Here is the 2019 Pre-F!rosh video.

There are also many other events throughout the school year which help retain the social life of Skule.

Conclusion

My goals with this post are to open some light on what UofT Engineering offers. I myself did not know half of this information before applying so I feel like that this is very beneficial. Hopefully this post will help others with their decisions on where to apply or which offer to accept.