university of guelph
i went on a tour to the university of guelph. ironically, this university was not originally on my radar, but it was close to my home so it was always seen as a "last resort" option in my eyes. regardless, i went to go see the campus and get a feel for the university. i've found that tours are very helpful in choosing which universities i am interested in, and which i would like to rule out (these tours helped in western's favour, and hurt ottawa's.) the tour was at 10 am so we had to get up early to go see the campus, at around 9:45 we made it! my first impressions were that the campus was very green. guelph is known for its agriculture and veterinary programs so it makes sense that the school all about biology would be lush with nature. although i have no interest in those programs, it made a campus that would otherwise look very brutalist, into a campus that was easy on the eyes. 
(a path in guelph's main core, to the right of the path was a huge huge field that the tour guide said people would throw footballs and fribees on like a literal movie about going to university)
in comparison to previous tours, guelph's was less structured. other universities would divide people into their programs of interest, this way the tour guides would be able to bring people to buildings that they would be in most often if they were to go to the school, this way the tourists get a feel for how their commutes and experience at the university would be. guelph had multiple tour guides but not for different programs, instead the tour guides picked people by what row they were sat in inside of the conference room everyone originally met in. unfortunately, it meant less oppurtunity to see buildings in your program of interest that you would have otherwise seen. in my case i did not get to see any buildings for the humanities that guelph had to offer
despite this i found the tour to be on the stronger side of the tours i have already seen. our tour guide was phenomenal and incredibly engaged throughout the entire tour. she was constantly asking questions, and even talking to others while we were walking to and from different buildings. she had spent four years at guelph for her undergrad, and was on a second year of doing research with the university of guelph in zoology to hopefully become a veterinarian! suffice to say, she had lots of knowledge of the campus which made the tour feel especially engaging.
in my head guelph would definitely be a top choice for me if it weren't for a few issues it had. generally, i have been choosing universities by how much i like the campus or not. i am thinking of doing an undergrad in political science, which is a major you could find at pretty much every university in the world so i made the decision that going to a university based off how much i like the campus would not be so bad as if i was applying to something like business which has schools that would give me a huge benefit in the job market if i chose to go there. guelph definitely won in this department, i cannot stress enough how pretty the campus was just because of how much nature surrounded the entire campus. unfortunately, guelph has an ongoing housing issue. the university has grown a very strong reputation in ontario, and as a result more people have decided to enroll into the university, but guelph does not have the capacity for this many new students and has been struggling with a shortage of housing for even first year students! typically, universities guarantee residency for all first years, guelph is so short on housing that it can only guarantee housing for people who immediately commit to the school as soon as they are accepted in early applications. if you choose to commit after early applications, or don't apply early, it becomes first come first serve. this alone is quite frustrating, although i live close enough to guelph to commute, i want the independence of living away from my parents and not having that oppurtunity i believe would taint my university experience.
(east side housing. these were mainly condos that could fit four people at a time. i was told by my mom to not count on getting into a residency this nice lol)
in all i had a really lovely time in guelph! it was nice to get to go to such a walkable campus with so much greenery, and in general get out of the house and get excited about university some more! i'm headed to kingston tomorrow to see queens and sightsee some more in the city, i'll have a post up about that once im back on saturday
im half assing these if it was not obvious. my writing skills are not quite there, and ive never done creative writing in my free time. so bare with me while i find my ground for a while
i nearly passed by the onroute this song talks about. the band is from cambridge so its always a little fun seeing these song titles and knowing exactly what theyre talking about
in comparison to previous tours, guelph's was less structured. other universities would divide people into their programs of interest, this way the tour guides would be able to bring people to buildings that they would be in most often if they were to go to the school, this way the tourists get a feel for how their commutes and experience at the university would be. guelph had multiple tour guides but not for different programs, instead the tour guides picked people by what row they were sat in inside of the conference room everyone originally met in. unfortunately, it meant less oppurtunity to see buildings in your program of interest that you would have otherwise seen. in my case i did not get to see any buildings for the humanities that guelph had to offer
despite this i found the tour to be on the stronger side of the tours i have already seen. our tour guide was phenomenal and incredibly engaged throughout the entire tour. she was constantly asking questions, and even talking to others while we were walking to and from different buildings. she had spent four years at guelph for her undergrad, and was on a second year of doing research with the university of guelph in zoology to hopefully become a veterinarian! suffice to say, she had lots of knowledge of the campus which made the tour feel especially engaging.
in my head guelph would definitely be a top choice for me if it weren't for a few issues it had. generally, i have been choosing universities by how much i like the campus or not. i am thinking of doing an undergrad in political science, which is a major you could find at pretty much every university in the world so i made the decision that going to a university based off how much i like the campus would not be so bad as if i was applying to something like business which has schools that would give me a huge benefit in the job market if i chose to go there. guelph definitely won in this department, i cannot stress enough how pretty the campus was just because of how much nature surrounded the entire campus. unfortunately, guelph has an ongoing housing issue. the university has grown a very strong reputation in ontario, and as a result more people have decided to enroll into the university, but guelph does not have the capacity for this many new students and has been struggling with a shortage of housing for even first year students! typically, universities guarantee residency for all first years, guelph is so short on housing that it can only guarantee housing for people who immediately commit to the school as soon as they are accepted in early applications. if you choose to commit after early applications, or don't apply early, it becomes first come first serve. this alone is quite frustrating, although i live close enough to guelph to commute, i want the independence of living away from my parents and not having that oppurtunity i believe would taint my university experience.
in all i had a really lovely time in guelph! it was nice to get to go to such a walkable campus with so much greenery, and in general get out of the house and get excited about university some more! i'm headed to kingston tomorrow to see queens and sightsee some more in the city, i'll have a post up about that once im back on saturday
im half assing these if it was not obvious. my writing skills are not quite there, and ive never done creative writing in my free time. so bare with me while i find my ground for a while
i nearly passed by the onroute this song talks about. the band is from cambridge so its always a little fun seeing these song titles and knowing exactly what theyre talking about
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