My Top 3 Reasons Why I Chose Our University!

I’m currently in my third year of the Professional Communication program and it’s no surprise how much I’ve loved the last three years. A question I get often is what influenced my decision to go to our university because as I like to call it “it’s a match made in heaven”! I couldn't have asked for a better place to feel like I belong and could excel. This is also a place where the community’s values and mission correlate with mine. Okay now, let’s backtrack. When I was reflecting on my decision-making process in grade 12, these were the three reasons as to why I chose our university!

If you didn’t know, our university is located in the biggest and most populated city in Canada, directly in the heart of the busy and vibrant city of Toronto. Rather than having a traditional campus, our buildings are integrated into the middle of downtown with the Eaton Centre (external link, opens in new window)  being less than five minutes away and Yonge-Dundas Square (external link, opens in new window)  on-route to many of our classes. We have almost any store or restaurant you can think of right next to us, events going on in the city all the time and even the occasional celebrity spotting on the streets. Having the opportunity to attend a university with a location downtown is a very unique experience that I knew would expose me to the diversity, culture and life of a large metropolitan — something I really valued. It also offers a wide range of opportunities for jobs, co-op and internship positions as the campus is surrounded by many companies and is a hub for many industries. Overall I knew having a downtown location is a very unique opportunity that would provide me with some really cool experiences, lessons and stories to tell (and after three years, I can confirm that I was correct, being downtown is super cool!).

While our university is well-known for a variety of programs, when looking into my areas of interest, our programs were well-spoken of and highly recognized in the industry. Especially The Creative School, which was the faculty with the programs I was applying to (and of course in my opinion, why not go to the best of the best). I’m studying Professional Communication with a double minor in politics and news studies, which covers my interests and allows me to take some really interesting courses. What set our professional communications program apart from the rest was that a lot of the methods of teaching included hands-on experience, which I really valued. Many of our professors, especially in my journalism courses, work in the industry while they're teaching, and well, you can assume how cool of an experience that is. The material we’re taught is relevant to the industry and is very practical. This was a very big deciding factor in my decision. When I looked at our program in comparison to other schools I applied to, ours stood out in various factors including the material covered, the interactive classes, the variety of courses and our professors.

Last but not least, another big factor that swayed my decision when choosing our university was the culture. By that, I mean the environment, school spirit, the culture among students and relationships between staff and students. I wanted to be in a place that was welcoming and promoted inclusion, diversity and creativity, as well as had a sense of school spirit. Our university checked all those boxes with our sports teams (external link, opens in new window) , the events we always have going on, the endless list of clubs and student groups (external link, opens in new window)  and overall the energy and vibe everyone has. I think the best way to explain this is during my first day of Orientation, everyone in my program was sitting in a lecture hall and the dean told us “look at the person to your right and you're left, these are going to be the people encourage, work with and support for the next four+ years while you’re here at our university”. It’s a real sense of community and support that I highly value, and that definitely makes the university experience a million times better.

Clearly, it's evident that I am very happy with my decision in choosing to enroll at our university. My number one tip — and what I found helped me when deciding — is to learn about yourself, what you like, what you value and the criteria that you’re looking for. After that, the decision becomes easy as it all falls into place. Our university was the perfect match for me as it fit my personality, my goals, aspirations and overall was an environment I saw myself excelling in and learning valuable life skills.

XOXO - Eva Oseen