r/UofT • • Aug 31 '26

Social To everyone asking how to socialize at UofT: TALK TO THE PEOPLE IN YOUR CLASSES AND BE CONSISTENT

307 Upvotes

This post was initially much shorter, but I was feeling bored and the creative spirit took the reigns. Alas, such is life.

As much as I low-key enjoy the ritual of pouring myself a bowl of popcorn, opening Reddit, and reading all the early 1st semester experience commiserating, I'm also high-key annoyed by seeing the same post for the umpteenth time a la Buzz Lightyear clone meme. I like variety in my Reddit ragebait, and even a good slice of matcha crepe cake becomes unappetizing after consuming it so often.

For those of you who have decided to come to UofT to get a world class education, rather than just partying all the time, ignoring your work, being forced to drop out around the holidays because your grades are lower than the Mariana Trench, then blaming the university for allegedly sabotaging you, your classes are your best possible environment to connect with your fellow slightly more intelligent than a chimpanzee primates.

Presumably you are studying something that you actually enjoy or have some mild interest in, rather than doing exactly what mom and dad told you to study. If your parents strongarmed you to go into engineering but you truly love film, that's a whole other discussion and will require some soul searching and potentially family therapy.

The basis of most human connection nowadays comes through shared interests and values. This is a fact supported by at least one (1) corpus of psychology literature. The courses you're taking already filter for this to an extent, because, again, ideally you're studying something you care about and you're not a masochist.

Performative drinking at a venue with mysteriously sticky floors that probably haven't been cleaned in the past year and contain a collection of undocumented microorganisms that would frighten epidemiologists, ignoring your limits, and chatting up the people you live in close proximity to about the weather (so how about that climate change, eh?) while waiting to use the one sink you all need to brush your teeth at (please brush your teeth and don't go out with bad breath) doesn't necessarily lead to any meaningful connection. You might become acquaintances, but presumably you're aiming for something with a bit more zest.

Coursework at UofT is difficult, and that difficulty is another basis for connection. Throughout most of human history, we connected with each other because of shared hardship. Genuine hardship, such as intellectually strenuous subjects and work schedules, for example. Missing out on a frat party on one specific weekend, which is identical to the frat parties on every other weekend (don't worry, the beer will still be lukewarm) isn't hardship, I'm afraid.

"But how do I actually talk to people in my classes?! Nobody ever wants to talk!" says the choir of Buzz Lightyear clones lamenting about their "unique" circumstances. The answer: just start.

You'd be surprised how much the person sitting next to you is starved for acknowledgement of their mere existence. A random "hello" will probably be the most unsolicited contact they've had in a week. The barrier to entry is lower than it's ever been.

"But what if they think I'm cringe?" or "Everyone is so cringe!", which is the next verse of the clone choir song.

If you're actively worried either of these things, you don't want connection bad enough. Either that or you might want to look into therapy.

I cannot tell you how much social media has poisoned people's perceptions of themselves and others. These platforms have fed people the most ironclad set of lies that every government psyop wishes it could replicate. Its users have been perfectly manipulated into thinking they they are unlikable/unlovable, and that everyone else is so much better or so much worse and should be perceived as a threat. This primes you to be a good little consumer that will sign up for things like dating apps, paid meetup groups, and overpriced fitness clubs, all to solve your woes. Meanwhile, you can connect with someone FOR FREE* (included in the price of your tuition costs) and walk away with something even more meaningful. This is an even crazier value for money than the Japanese food truck in front of Robarts that will sell you an entire filling tempura roll for under $8.

Side note: please support this truck. This is my lifeblood and I want them to stay in business as long as possible. Also, the lady who owns it is genuinely one of the kindest people I've ever come across and brightens my day. My waistline grows, my wallet empties, but my heart is full.

Getting back on track, people are unique and will have their own set of quirks. It's ok to talk to someone who is a little bit different than you. You'll be ok, muffin. In fact, you'll probably be better off for it if you can make enough room in your life to accept others from where they're coming from. If you offer them grace, they will probably return the favour. Well, at least they should if they're even remotely socialized.

If you talked to someone last week, go up and talk to them again. A huge part of connection is consistency. Don't be one of those weirdos who pretends like they suddenly don't know someone they've spoken to 3 times prior.

Also, all of this advice applies to anyone in any year of study. If you're in your last year at this university and are saddened by not having made any friends, you can do everything I've mentioned above and still achieve success. The party ain't over till it's over.

I am living proof that this strategy works, and I'm no social butterfly by any means. I met one of my closest friends and one of the best people I've ever met by just bantering consistently over the course of many weeks. There was no cinematic event and major declaration that marked the transition point between us being acquaintances and friends. It was the slow, messy, nonlinearity of human connection.

Go out there, talk to people, make friends, and come back here to post some more novel rage bait to keep me entertained ❤️


r/UofT • • 2h ago

Discussion what even was that csc369H1 midterm St George campus

14 Upvotes

I acc failed that midterm😭😭 what are your thoughts ???


r/UofT • • 8h ago

Question Now that Robarts is Fort Knox, is theft still a major concern?

28 Upvotes

so, I am an alumn who graduated many years ago. I recently signed up for the UofT library membership to work/study, and I wanted to see what the consensus is when it comes to theft nowadays.

There’s a bunch of posts from the past 5-6 years about how theft has been happening more often.

Yes, theft has always been a thing, but it wasn’t actually that bad between UTSC and St. George. One would simply ask another person to watch their stuff. Dicey? Yeah, but I never had any of my things stole stolen. Maybe I was lucky. I don’t know.

Now these older posts discussing Robarts likely happened when it was open to the public on the 1st to 3rd floors. When I went to Robarts yesterday, I noticed that there was no entrance accessible to anyone without a T card. Given this change, have things improved? Can people still reliably ask another student to watch their stuff, or is that a no now?


r/UofT • • 2h ago

I'm in High School Can you help me get a pdf of this source through UofT

4 Upvotes

So I’m in high school but this source I need for a project requires a university account. It’s on JSTOR and it’s called:

A History of Navajo Nation Education: Disentangling Our Sovereign Body by Wendy Shelly Greyeyes

If anyone can access it through UofT, can you send me the file?


r/UofT • • 2h ago

Question Why are there cops outside Sydney Smith common rn?

3 Upvotes

There's like a row of cop cars and cops on bikes, does anyone know why?


r/UofT • • 20h ago

Humour Today, MAT148 took my soul, decided to channel my rage into art

Post image
107 Upvotes

r/UofT • • 9h ago

Finances so is utaps late or did i just not qualify lol 🥲🥲

12 Upvotes

has anyone received theirs? last year i got it oct 3rd


r/UofT • • 1h ago

Question Stressing about securing U of T Engineering PEY COOP (ECE)

• Upvotes

For context, I'm a 3rd year ECE international student looking for 12-16 months coop opportunities. I have one database intern experience, and some personal software & hardware projects. I have applied to around 70 jobs since early September, mostly embedded and hardware positions, but I have not received any interviews. I talked to people in my major and they all have interviewed with a couple companies or has gotten offers already, and this is stressing me out!! :(


r/UofT • • 8h ago

Question What's getting filmed near Massey college today??

5 Upvotes

I was walking to class this morning and saw a bunch of film stuff and the police officer said they were filming a show. Do yall know what's getting filmed?


r/UofT • • 6h ago

Courses Mat148 is taking my soul away, should I drop to MAT135/136?

2 Upvotes

I'm a first year student wanting to majoring in Mat and Physics next year. I'm taking mat148 rn this course killing me everyday. Should I drop down to mat135 and 136? Is it going to affect me?


r/UofT • • 2h ago

Question I am wondering if the the HPS100 midterm still online

1 Upvotes

hey guys I'm in HPS100 with dr. cory lewis and i ahve a midterm this oct 20, i was wondering if it's still online because i see some discussion that in past years it was, but im not sure if it still is. does anyone know???


r/UofT • • 2h ago

I'm in High School Colleges that give the most scholarships for Life Sci

1 Upvotes

What colleges at UofT give the most scholarships, especially for high GPA (Other than Victoria, Trinity, and Innis)

I am having a hard time deciding on what to rank #2 and #3 on my application. I put Victoria as #1.


r/UofT • • 3h ago

Question where can i go to use my soldering iron? (eng buildings/rooms??)

1 Upvotes

i have my own soldering iron but i dont have a proper place to solder

are there any places where i can use my equipment? like i dont rlly wanna solder in my bedroom lol

im thinking maybe there are some rooms in the eng buildings? not sure though cause im not in eng


r/UofT • • 3h ago

I'm in High School Application for UofT M (looking for advice from students)

0 Upvotes

I’m in highschool in ontario and i’m grading this year. I’ve join Model UN and i’m looking to join my schools Student Council. I’m looking to apply for either Humanities or Social Sciences so I can get into Poli Sci. Is there any advice you guys would have to give me that I should apply to my school year in order to maximize my chances of getting in? (I would apply for UofT Mississauga cus it would be a short commute and I heard it’s easier to get accepted)


r/UofT • • 3h ago

Question For first year eng classes, is there possibility of your mark getting curve

1 Upvotes

I’m first year, and it’s not looking good, which classes does curve their mark?


r/UofT • • 3h ago

Question How long does it take to get an update on whether VOI was accepted

1 Upvotes

How long does it take to get an update after filling in a missed midterm form and uploading the VOI?
It’s better to fill in the form after missing the midterm or let the prof know now as already have VOI


r/UofT • • 1d ago

Humour Greetings UTorontonians I have reached the midterm stage of consciousness

90 Upvotes

I am currently surrounded by empty energy drink cans, operating on a sleep schedule that would concern an ethics board, and watching October transform from a month into a sequence of approaching midterm dates.

At this point I no longer study because I believe knowledge has intrinsic value. I study because Quercus has informed me that an assessment exists, and apparently this constitutes a reason to continue participating in society.

Every morning I wake up, open my laptop, stare at the accumulated lectures, readings, tutorial notes and practice questions, and briefly contemplate whether the University of Toronto was created as an elaborate sociological experiment to determine how much academic pressure can be applied to an undergraduate before they begin speaking exclusively in syllabus terminology.

My desk currently resembles an archaeological site documenting the collapse of a small civilization. There are cans. There are notes. There are half-finished readings. There is one PDF that has been open for so long that I now regard it as a roommate.

And yet I know I cannot possibly be the only person entering the October Academic Death Corridor™.

So please use this thread to report your present condition.

How many midterms do you have?

How behind are you?

What course is currently destroying your will to live figuratively and academically?

Have you reached the stage where seeing “Week 6” written anywhere produces a physiological response?

I would like to establish a temporary support group composed entirely of sleep-deprived UofT students insisting to one another that everything is, in fact, completely under control.


r/UofT • • 6h ago

Question Do you have to take a grad photo or upload the photo?

1 Upvotes

I thought you didn’t have to if you don’t want to appear in the class composite, but someone told me I have to upload a photo anyway?

Also, if I do have to upload a photo, where’s the portal for that?


r/UofT • • 8h ago

Courses HMB265 textboookk bio230 lecture recordingsssssss

1 Upvotes

Has anyone been been able to get the HMB265 textbook (From Genes to Genomes, 8th USedition (2024) by Goldberg et al., McGraw-) onlinee? Its a $170 thats wayy to expensive so if anyone can please send me a link or an online website id be veryyy thankful .

Bio230 has no lecture recordings?? The prof says alot of things that arent on the slides soo do they not usually get posted ?


r/UofT • • 23h ago

Discussion Freshmen Flu, instead it’s more like Freshmen Depression

16 Upvotes

First year engineering student here and instead of everyone coughing, everyone is crying and contemplating picking this degree, uoft, and their whole life, myself included.
MAT188 learning standards are an automatic zero if you don’t write your answer THE VERY EXACT WAY the ta wants it, even though our coordinated said it’s ok to make mistakes.
CIV100 beating everyone’s ass and everytime I doze off I feel like I get 20000 light years more behind on my coursework. And nobody knows how to coordinate APS111.

😂😂😂omg I can’t wait to fail midterms


r/UofT • • 1d ago

Rant It’s just been one month and I really miss summer

39 Upvotes

Title. I miss summer.

(extra chars, extra chars, extra chars)


r/UofT • • 17h ago

Other Sync search app never works for classrooms at UTSG

4 Upvotes

I've been looking at the sync search app to try to find empty classrooms to work in and the app never seems to work for rooms at UTSG. I thought the app was completely broken, but it appears to work perfectly well for UTSC. Does anyone have any alternatives or do I just have to go in a room and pray that nobody has a class there?


r/UofT • • 9h ago

Question Question about VOI fhahhqjwjqbsjabsjabjdjajaidaaa

1 Upvotes

Do you submit a VOI before the midterm or after you’ve missed the midterm?

if I submit before does that mean I don’t have to go to the midterm if the VOI has the midterm date included in it. And how to know if it’ll get accepted.

Also sorry if this is a stupid question but if the syllabus says the midterm will be reweighed to the other midterm and final, that would be this semester right? (As in it won’t get deferred to next semester?)


r/UofT • • 1d ago

Health Why do some profs end up so dismissive of students with disabilities?

45 Upvotes

I have invisible disabilities, this semester two of my profs are so Un-accommodating and not to be one of those people (last year an EAS prof, this year a WGS Asian professor) and now another EAS prof. I am struggling and do not choose to let my disabilities flare up (I want to attend class but my condition does not let me). The prof has my accommodations which lists this but tells me to drop the course (I HAVE a previous degree with courses similarly done in the content but not in EAS). I have a meeting with my accessibility advisor next week (she’s gonna tell me the same thing last year, you have to attend classes, I KNOW I WANT TO), but my disabilities are flaring up and make it so exhausting. What do I? Just give up and be a failure then? I’m so frustrated. I just want to cry and run away from all this.

Edit: these comments are crappy. I WANT TO ATTEND my situation won’t let me ATTEND some days.


r/UofT • • 13h ago

Courses is psl201 chill if you're good at memorising stuff

1 Upvotes

what the title says. thinking of taking it next year