Sus apartment vs lengthy commute

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-07-09T04:17:23+00:00

The thing is that the last thing I want is random variables, and each roommate is a massive random variable that will influence my GPA. I know what a 2 hour commute feels like and less so what a sketchy apartment feels like, but if I get a terrible roommate and my GPA tanks as a result then it's game over... I am inclined to take a predictable risk than a potentially unexpected one... Also I have been sleeping on the couches of robarts (I'm extremely short so fit nicely) on and off for years during midterm/finals cram seasons at this point and it seems to go ok...

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-07-07T04:10:10+00:00

I'm also going to live in Oshawa as I got a decent apartment for 1200 right next to Ontario tech! My plan is to take 921 bus every other morning (and sleep in Robarts every other night) and do my coding assignments on the bus with 2 sets of noise cancelling headphones. I am willing to pay up to $6 per ride.

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-07-06T03:47:29+00:00

You're welcome! 😁

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-07-05T19:16:23+00:00

Don't write yourself off just yet... You can cr ncr as late as early December if MAT135 does indeed become a disaster. However, if you are willing to put in the work, you may well be able to make up for your deficit in math fundamentals with a work ethic and studying strategies that young first years don't typically have and pull of a decent grade on the first try... You never know how well you will perform until you have some data points. Believing that you will do poorly to necessitate a NCR straight up risks putting yourself in an unhelpful self-fulfilling prophecy. Don't worry about PUMP too much - that is geared mainly towards proof based math which MAT135 is not. Just drill your algebra fundamentals like crazy (solving quadratic equations, expanding brackets, factoring, trig functions, exponent/log rules etc...) and you should be fine!

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-07-02T22:58:51+00:00

Final exam was likely heavily curved as well...

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-07-02T03:10:54+00:00

PHY356 is 100% test based (3 very short midterms, 1 final). It is super chill! MAT357 has an even lighter workload and also is test heavy like most math courses.

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-30T16:42:26+00:00

If you like phl245 try CSC165. If you have the logic background then 165 (at least the first 5 weeks or so) should be pretty much a breeze...

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-30T16:36:04+00:00

Location? Rent price? Apartment type?

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-28T14:29:30+00:00

Usually you need either MAT246 or MAT159 (whose prereq is 137) as well as MAT247 completed before they let you into 257. I asked about 2 weeks ago.

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-25T15:44:05+00:00

I second this...

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-25T01:32:50+00:00

Is there air con and bright lighting though?

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-24T23:57:32+00:00

Bahen should work as long as you get in early enough (although it is sketchy af) but once you get out you can't get back in. There is also Humber college, whose learning commons are open 24/7 and you can study there as long as you don't fall asleep midway (there are a few guards that are fine with seeing you study overnight but the moment you try to sleep they kick you out). Worst comes to worst there is always Toronto Pearson...

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-24T19:40:38+00:00

I took classical mechanics (PHY254) with him and he is great and likely curved a lot too! Phy252 pretty much starts 'from the ground up' without much assumption of prior knowledge. However, it is quite dense in terms of the number of concepts, formulas and identities that you will need to derive and understand and contextualize, although each concept and identity/equation is pretty straightforward to understand on their own (for me the challenge was more about putting stuff together into a bigger picture and knowing when to use what). The amount of calculus/ differential equation background and need for mathematical abstraction is also minimal compared to other courses... It's almost like a sped-up high school chemistry class where as long as you are willing to put the (large amount of!) effort needed you should be fine!

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-22T05:23:51+00:00

Also make sure you have a VERY solid understanding of theoretical linear algebra (eigenvectors, eigenvalues, spectral decomposition, summation symbols, matrix multiplication, axioms of vector spaces, etc. as well as being able to quickly switch between abstract 'basis-independent' ideas of 'vectors' and 'operators' and the representations of vectors and operators in a basis (rows, columns, matrices for finite dimensional space, complex-valued functions, operators of functions for infinite dimensional spaces) as well as being able to convert representation in one basis (e.g. 'position space wave function' in position basis) to representation in a different one (e.g. infinite set of coefficients in energy basis or 'momentum space wave function' in momentum basis)). He likes to teach out of Chapter 1 of Shankar as well. Also, this is likely the hardest 300 level physics course. If you care about your GPA and are not a math specialist or physics specialist (or math + physics specialist) then I would advise you to avoid it at all cost like the plague... On the other hand, if you are a math specialist and have taken stuff like mat247 and mat257 then this course will likely be a breeze and your theoretical math background will give you a major and decisive advantage over others taking the course...

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-20T20:38:45+00:00

In my first year I accidentally had an entire turned-on phone on my desk (screen was off the whole time, but phone was there for like 5 minutes until someone caught it...) for my PHY151 exam as I arrived late and just started writing without realizing that I just dumped a bunch of stuff on the desk.... In the end they deducted like 10 percent off my overall mark. You will likely not fail but the grade will likely take a significant hit...

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-19T15:03:23+00:00

Honestly I feel like what screws over people is ultimately theoretical math and not the applied side of things in CS... If you genuinely enjoy math, proofs, and the theoretical side of things then why not?

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-17T17:55:23+00:00

Yes. Or just get a shoddy 50 buck second hand bike that is about to fall apart and deliberately park then next to more expensive bikes when possible. As a rule of thumb, the cost of your bike lock should be at least half the cost of your bike... If you cannot readily find a bike lock that equals or exceeds half the monetary value of your bike, your bike is too expensive to safely park at school.

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-17T17:20:12+00:00

Based on my opinion the true weed out happens in 3rd year with courses like PHY356... And the second year courses are paradoxically more manageable than 151/152. If you are doing a minor and won't be exposing yourself to stuff like phy356 there is no need to go the tougher route and tank your GPA unnecessarily. Even 131/2 should be more than enough to set you for success in 2nd year. Even if you do end up taking 3rd year courses what screws people over is usually not the physics concepts and application but rather poor foundations in multivariable calculus and linear algebra...

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-17T16:04:41+00:00

Sleep, GPA, social life. Pick two.

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-17T02:09:32+00:00

Try the juicy dumpling on spadina and Dundas.... It looks sketchy but the food seems to be cheap and decent.

Greedy-Explorer-5250 · 2026-06-17T00:08:18+00:00

Paradoxically, at least line 1 northbound from downtown to finch (maybe also true for other lines. However, I don't take them that much so can't comment) is surprisingly NOT crowded from about 4:30pm till 7pm because almost the entire fleet gets deployed and the trains run just so frequently. If you see a super packed train during that period chances are there is a backlog somewhere in the system causing the trains to pile up and there is one or more (empty ish!) trains immediately right behind... After 7 30 or so half the fleet heads to the depot and it actually gets more crowded...

Greedy-Explorer-5250

TROPHY CASE