The University of Toronto

About The University of Toronto

Campus: Facilities, Residence and Location

The university offers personal support services. Among them are: personal counselling, community programs, recreational facilities, theaters, women's centres and student housing services. Their academic services include leadership development programs, writing labs, academic counselling and many others. Campus residences can hold an estimated 6,400 students, and undergraduates who are starting their first year in the university are guaranteed housing assistance by the institution. Each college in the university also has its own dining and residence halls in diverse areas of the campus.

Student Services and Student Life

The students are given many options to balance their studies with other activities that contribute to a more well-rounded academic experience. The importance of community involvement is emphasized, as well as sports that are funded by the university, such as hockey, football, track and field, basketball, and soccer. Other past time activities are also given importance, and the heart of their recreational lives revolves around Hart House, a place where they can gather around and do everything -- from swimming, playing billiards, debating, listening to a concert, having a haircut, reading in the library, dining, and visiting the art galleries. Hart House is designed to maintain a communal and holistic atmosphere among the students.

Other areas of interest can also be explored. Students can choose arts, community service, culture, environment sustainability, hobbies, global interest, leadership, media, work and career development, politics, and student government unions or councils.

Academic Programs

The main undergraduate faculty of the University of Toronto is the Faculty of Arts and Science. Its other programs are in the areas of Applied Science and Engineering, Music, Nursing, Pharmacy, Physical Education and Health, Architecture, Dentistry, Forestry, Information, Law, Medicine, Public Health, Public Policy and Governance, Social Work and Theology.

Rankings

According to Maclean's magazine, the University of Toronto is the number one medical-doctor university, and it has maintained this position for twelve consecutive years. It places 18th in the Global University Ranking of Newsweek and 24th in the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Aside from this, it has placed second to Harvard for the number of produced co-authored or authored articles. It is also a consistent player in the top 5 U.S. universities that have the most citations given from many researchers around the world.

Notable Accomplishments

There are many notable achievements of the university. One of the most well-known breakthroughs that it has made is the discovery of stem cell research and insulin. Other of its most notable accomplishments are: multi-touch technology, the assimilation of Cygnus-X-1 as a blackhole, the Uranus moons of Caliban and Sycorax, the dwarf galaxies of Andromeda I, II and III, the supernova SN 1987A, computing technology, glycemic index, and Pablum, which is an infant cereal. Literary Criticism and Communication Theory also originated from this university.

Famous Alumni

Among its most notable alumni are Prime Minister Willliam Lyon Mackenzie King, all 14 Justices of the Supreme Court, President of Trinidad and Tobago Noor Hassanali, eBay's Jeffrey Skoll, writer Michael Ondaatje, and Peter Newman.

Toronto Information

Toronto is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario. With over 2.5 million residents, it is the fifth-most populous municipality in North America, and the 46th most populous in the world. As Canada's economic capital, Toronto is considered one of the top financial cities in the world.

Toronto's climate is moderate for Canada due to its southerly location within the country and its proximity to Lake Ontario. It has a humid continental climate, with warm, humid summers and generally cold winters, although fairly mild by Canadian and many northern continental U.S. standards. The city experiences four distinct seasons with considerable variance in day to day temperature, particularly during the colder weather season.

Toronto is a major scene for theatre and other performing arts, with more than fifty ballet and dance companies, six opera companies, and two symphony orchestras. The city is home to the National Ballet of Canada, the Canadian Opera Company, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Notable performance venues include the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Roy Thomson Hall, the Princess of Wales Theatre, the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Massey Hall, the Toronto Centre for the Arts, the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres and the Hummingbird Centre.