Like skip breakfast, lunch or dinner? cuz these groceries prices are becoming unaffordable🫩

year 5 finishing up polisci degree. just got out of a year one fem lecture. i feel like such a chud

Have you guys seen this old bald white guy who asks women on the train about their ethnicity over and over again? Just walks up and down the aisle asking women if they’re Scottish or Irish? I’ve seen bro like 5 times and he’s high key scary

Ok so I left a comment on the poll that was posted a few hours ago, but I’m posting this for here for more visibility because think we need to have a genuine serious conversation about the whole deferrals process. As it stands, it seems like the current “no questions asked” format is about to be canned (likely something similar to the HS format to replace it) thanks to the blatant abuse of the system by so many students. That poll is close to 50% of students selecting that they deferred because “they didn’t feel ready” and I’m sorry but that is going to harm so many students in the future.

For context, I’ve just written my last exam after 4 years here in engineering. I have been fortunate enough to never have had to defer an exam, but I know several of my friends have deferred for legitimate reasons (family member death, emergency surgery, influenza), and I am genuinely worried for future students that a massive crackdown on deferrals is going to happen, which will almost certainly lead to many students getting valid deferrals rejected.

As mentioned before, nearly 50% of students per the poll deferred because they “do not feel ready”. I’m sorry but genuinely grow up. Genuinely how entitled can you possibly be that you think you just get to kick the can down the road because you didn’t manage your time right/were too lazy to study, while everyone one else still has to write it at the scheduled time (newsflash: 95% of those who didn’t defer also have insanely busy schedules! You are not special because you are busy! If you do genuinely struggle please go through SASS to get the help you need, as much as people complain about them they are genuinely wonderful people that will help you). I mean I’m sorry and I’ll sound like an angry old man but you will not last 2 seconds in the real world if you constantly tell your boss that you don’t want to go give a presentation because you are not ready.

On top of the current abuse because people feel that they “aren’t ready”, I think many people who defer due to illness are not debilitated to the extent that they cannot physically write the exam, and I think this is what is going to cause the most harm to students going forward. As I’m sure you all know, our healthcare system is under great strain (not gonna get into it all here but I think we all know why). If the uni moves to a system where a doctors note is required to defer no matter what, we will see a MASSIVE influx in students trying to get doctors notes. Unfortunately, the only way I see this ending is with doctors beginning to reject mild ailments such as colds (I’m sorry but a cough and runny nose is not preventing you from writing an exam) to limit the influx of students who are taking VALUABLE LIMITED RESEOURCES AWAY FROM THOSE WHO NEED IT (again: how entitled can you possibly be), and unfortunately there will inevitably be students who are genuinely ill who will unfortunately get lumped in with the abuser crowd and have their deferrals rejected when they actually need it.

Idk maybe I’m being too much of an “old man yells at cloud” about “these kids and their damn entitlement” but unfortunately I think we are probably past the point of no return on this issue and that massive overhauls to the deferral system are incoming which will hurt so many students who actually need the system. Like I said earlier, I just finished my final ever exam, I’ll probably never step foot in a classroom here again, but I am worried and care about the future students who are going to get harmed by a lot of you guy’s current abuse of deferrals.

Idk I’m curious if you guys think similar or if there’s something I’m missing but yeah we need to talk

Fair warning, this is a long story.

I wanted to share something that happened recently in the Bioscience building because I honestly think people should be aware.

A friend of mine went into the women’s bathroom (next to Infosci), and while she was in a stall, a man entered. He started acting completely deranged and was throwing himself against the stalls. He then climbed up to look over at my friend while she was inside.

When she looked up and saw him staring at her, she screamed. At that point, he tried to get into her stall from underneath (feet first). She took that moment to run out of the stall and get out of the bathroom.

Another girl was about to go in, but my friend stopped her and warned her there was a man inside. She ran back to us and explained what happened. When we went back to check, by then there were already people outside the bathroom and security had been called.

We were then brought into a separate room so my friend could report what happened while the man was still in the bathroom. Only after that we were told that he had been escorted off campus.

What’s really frustrating is that, no police were called and no identity was taken. That means there’s no way for students to recognize him if something like this happens again.

My friend is safe now but this could have gone very differently if she didn’t have that chance to get out. If he had tried to get inside head first, I don’t think the story would have been the same. I’m so glad he was a dumbass under the influence.

This also doesn’t seem like a one-time thing. I personally know someone else who experienced something similar in another building (Morrisset). Early in the morning, she went into a bathroom and a drunk man came out of a stall.

With all that said, I feel like the response from the security wasn’t enough.

We pay a lot per semester to be here and we should feel safe using something as basic as a bathroom. Given that the campus is downtown and easily accessible, I really think stronger measures should be considered (like needing to tap your student card to access buildings or the bathroom AT LEAST).

Just wanted to put this out there so people stay aware and look out for each other. It truly was a scary situation, this was the first time we decided to not go to the bathroom as a group because of office hours. Lesson learned, never let your friend go to the bathroom by herself.

I remember being in this sub back in high school, trying to find as much info as I could about the program, but there honestly wasn’t much specific info. So I want to be the person I wish I had when I was in high school, and
even during my first few years of the program.
If you have any questions about the program, feel free to ask! I can answer anything from first year to third year :)

Edit: I’m seeing a lot of repeated questions so pls look through the thread first!!! Tyy

As discussed in my introduction post from yesterday, we're starting a megathread to consolidate questions from our future GeeGees.

This thread is specifically for those users who will apply or have applied to the University of Ottawa to discuss different admission issues and ask current uOttawa students for help and advice. If some questions are recurring, I will add them to this post along with the best answer.

Please note that posts in this thread are not official advice. Additionally, some advice relevant in past years may no longer be relevant. If you have serious concerns, they should be raised with Admissions directly at admissions@uottawa.ca

Useful Links (Check these before posting!)

Admissions Page

Deadlines for Admission by Program

Admission Requirements for Ontario High School students

Admission Requirements for Quebec High School students

Admission Requirements for Quebec CEGEP students

Admission Requirements for Canadian students outside Quebec/Ontario

Admission Information for International Students

Update 2020-12-02: Some early admissions have been sent out, check uoZone to see if you've been accepted and remember to accept your offer in OUAC!

Why do they make it impossible to get involved in research as an undergraduate (before your honours thesis) ?

Why is the only “program” USRO, but you have to cold email 500 professor before getting a single response. Why don’t they have a portal where profs who are willing to do USRO/take undergraduate students could make a posting? And they also got rid of funding so profs are less likely to take students now. USRO is also crazy selective, why don’t they have any other programs like UROP at uofT or USSRI at Western? So many other universities in Canada have summer research internships as well as opportunities during the semester.

Question as in the title. Would you change your field of study, if so to what (and why)?

im a little fella in grade 11 in quebec hoping to apply to uottawa this november! long story short, i suck at french and i live right on the border so why not?

but lately, it seems less likely and i think im gonna
get a big slap in the face!!

id like to try for health science, biomedical science, or biochemistry, but i assume theyre incredibly competitive.

say i had an average of about 85-90%, would it be likely that id even get in or should i stop thinking about it and accept my fate at cegep..
are acceptance rates low??

hi there! i’m F22 and just started my masters at uottawa after moving to ottawa in july. is there any way to make friends outside of undergrad societies? i feel too old for the undergraduate spaces but too young for most of my cohort and other masters students. sorry if this is wonky i don’t really use reddit but im pulling out all the stops here 😭

about me!

- soon to be victim of being hit by an electric scooter on campus
- kinda freaked out by the size of the squirrels here
- discovering why people from ottawa don’t love oc transpo

Title says it all. Some guy, 40 ish, def not student with no backpack or anything just wandering around looking at stuff on desks. Very sus. Don't leave your stuff unattended guys.

EDIT: Reported it.

bro is it just me or the urge to skip every single class this year is there. I think i’ve attended a total of 10 classes this semester. I just think there’s just no point in commuting an hour just to hear the prof read off their slides when I can just teach it to myself anyways, but then I feel so bad skipping but man I CANNOT 😆

Students were left in the dark during a terrifying situation today, and I’m genuinely angry.

What happened today was already terrifying, but the way the university handled it made it infinitely worse. There was little to no communication while this was unfolding. Students were left guessing what was going on, relying on rumors and texts instead of actual guidance from the institution that’s supposed to keep us SAFE.

People were literally just leaving campus because no one knew what else to do. No clear instructions, no updates, no reassurance, just dead silence. In a situation where safety is on the line, that is completely unacceptable.

And somehow, so many students didn’t even know uOsecure exists. That’s insane. How is an emergency alert system effective if a huge portion of the student body has never even heard of it? This has been a massive institutional failure.

There were moments where people didn’t know if they should stay, hide, or run. That kind of confusion in a dangerous situation is EXACTLY how people get hurt. The university should have had clear, immediate communication. We got nothing. We still have no confirmed updates on what actually happened.

What’s even more frustrating is that now I feel less safe, not more. It’s not just about what happened today, but knowing that if something like this happens again, we cannot rely on the administration to handle it properly.

This needs to be addressed. Not brushed over, not vaguely acknowledged. Actually addressed. Because students should not have to fend for themselves during something like this.

Do better. Seriously.

I know we get the finals schedule today. Anyone knows what time?

Also, i catch a plane in december and was wondering what to do if my exams fall after that date. Is the only option to defer it?

How many of you actually feel like you get value from going to classes which you couldn't get from reading the slides/material?

I feel like I've only felt the need to do so in more instinct heavy classes like elem real analysis or calc 3 but I literally did not show up to a single one of my CS classes last semester and still scored good for all of them which feels wrong and unfortunate for an institution that's meant to promote education.

Look. I know this sounds stupid, but I was genuinely curious 😭 because I drive 2.5 hours each day from Toronto to Mac

Or do most incoming students stay on campus

Just wondering as I haven't met much people here who watch anime or read mangas. Anyone here watch anime? 😭

My boyfriend and I are arguing about this: he thinks people start studying a week or more before their exams and I think most people start 3 days or less before an exam, lmk!

(First year btw)

I didn’t want to think this was the case, but nope, these people in my program are using AI to INTRODUCE THEMSELVES AND MAKE SMALL TALK on Insta. That trademark “therapist-speech” I’d expect from Gemini. No way your social skills are this bad. wtf.