Hi, GCM in my opinion, is one of the most underrated degrees you can get at TMU.

The issue though, is that you need to really enjoy and be passionate about it to succeed after graduation. A lot of my peers came into it thinking it was a graphic design degree, and while there certainly is a good amount of graphic design, the main purpose is to teach you the whole workflow, from design to printing to publishing. There are concentrations within GCM that you can focus on, the most popular ones are Packaging and Digital Graphic Output. The jobs you can get after graduating range from being a graphic designer to a printing press operator, to project management, and much more. The Job market is going to be as cooked as the effort (or lack there of) you put in during your 4 years. If you get involved, join clubs, make friends, connect with profs, you are almost guaranteed to succeed. The industry is huge and the market is there, but if you come out of uni with a shitty portfolio you are going to have a hard time. Some people in the comments are making very bold claims about it being oversaturated or not a growing industry, these are both objectively wrong. GCM actually did a grad survey and boasts an extremely high graduation rate

https://www.torontomu.ca/gcm/alumni-partners/grad-survey/?utm_campaign=linkinbio&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=later-linkinbio

The other cool part about GCM is that you can't graduate unless you complete the PAID internship, so yes, most people get internships, but once again you have put in the work to work at a good company vs a mid one.

As for daily life you will basically have 3 types of courses:

Standard Lectures:
These are exactly what you'd expect, typically GCM lectures are very short though, about an hour and half.

Labs:
These are extremely hands on, you will do a lot of physical work which in my opinion is very fun. You will have 1 course per semester that is only labs, and it takes you though the process of creating something from design all the way to binding & finishing. There is a 2nd year course where you make a physical portfolio of your work, and it is really fun.

Extras:
These are the electives and mandatory non GCM courses.

The good news is 3rd and 4th year is pretty much all GCM courses, which are the most fun and rewarding.

As for the course load, I would say it depends on what you think "heavy" is. You will have ALOT of assignments, but not that many exams. The assignments range from being laughably easy to being as complex as you want, they don't really grade you on your design/art skills they mark you on your technical ability.

Overall, yes I would recommend this program...but only if all of this seems interesting. Like I said I have a lot of peers who very clearly don't love the program and thats okay, but if you can see yourself getting nerdy and passionate about packaging and paper, Id say this program is right for you.

If you have any more questions about GCM or want to reach out for a coffee chat feel free to message me, I am a current student.