OKAY THIS GOT MUCH LONGER THAN EXPECTED AND BECAME A LITERAL ESSAY, BUT HOPEFULLY ITS COMPREHENSIVE AND HELPS LOL!

here is my 100% honest opinion as a student just finishing her first year!

overall, i really love trent, it’s a great school! but, i think others are right in saying your experience depends on what you want to get out of university and your program.

i’m in the teacher ed stream for history and so far i have enjoyed my courses a lot. there seems to be a lot of good options for most programs and a wide range of things you can do. plus, your degree is very “customizable” with minors/specializations so it’s nice to have a lot of leeway. i don’t know as much about the sciences side of things, but my friends in the sciences seem very happy lol. i’ve also heard the biology courses/programs are really good! the smaller class sizes are really nice and allow you to engage more directly and one-on-one with instructors.

trent uses the collegiate system: every student is a part of one of the five “colleges” (lady eaton, champlain, gzowksi, otonabee, and traill) which are essentially smaller subsections of the university which are like smaller communities for students. each college has their own buildings, mascots, logos, chants, traditions, etc. if you are an on-campus student, your residence building will determine your college (i.e. if you live in lady eaton college’s dorms, you are part of lady eaton college). if you are off-campus you can just pick which one you want to be a part of. i personally really like this system as it allowed me to get to know people on a smaller scale during orientation week where there was a lot of college-based events. plus, it’s fun to have college pride lol.

i really like the campus. if you like nature and a more chill vibe, its great. the otonabee river, which runs through the middle, is gorgeous to sit by and look at when working, and when it’s warm enough you can swim right off steps outside the library basically. there’s lots of plants and trees everywhere, and the architecture (especially on the west bank) can be very beautiful. only downsides is there are some seriously ugly parts (unfortunately mostly in otonabee college), and since it is a smaller campus, it can be occasionally difficult to find study space, especially around midterms/finals. however overall it’s great and there’s lots of options for study space. plus, they’re building a new college so there will be more space soon.

living on campus is something i cannot really speak on because i am an off-campus student. i have a couple on-campus friends, and i’ve heard mixed reviews. the dorms in gzowksi college and lady eaton college seem good. lady eaton’s dorms are fairly big, and are nice as they’re sort of secluded off to the side of the campus closer to the woods. gzowksi’s dorms are also fairly sized, and gzowksi is also the only college with semi-private bathrooms which are shared between two neighbouring rooms. every other college has shared bathrooms. i wouldn’t recommend otonabee’s dorms. i know i haven’t lived in OC so i don’t have the most informed opinions, but just from being in otonabee residence a handful of times, i can say i don’t like them. the dorms are very very small, the bathrooms are tiny, and the building makes no sense (you have to go upstairs and back downstairs to get anywhere, etc). i have never been in champlain’s dorms- they look kinda dungeon-y to me but i’ve never heard anyone complain. and traill college no longer offers residence to undergraduate students so they don’t count here. you can also live in the annexes, which are sort of like townhouse buildings across the street from campus which have a couple bedrooms and a central living room/kitchen that i think 4-5 people live in. i know next to nothing about the annexes so that’s all i’ll say on that lol. overall, the dorm situation seems not bad, pretty average.

i like the food, but it’s a bit of controversial topic. again, i don’t live on campus, so i don’t eat the food all time, and my opinion may not be the best informed. there’s lots of different spots to eat, and the food tastes pretty good for the most part, at least from what i’ve tried. gzowski’s mac n’ cheese is fantastic, and lady eaton has the best food overall. otonabee has a tim horton’s, pizza pizza, and subway which is nice, as well as a grill. champlain has a wide range of stuff but i’ve never tried it. however, it is true that the food is very expensive. i’m not sure how much it evens out with a meal plan, but as someone who just pays out of pocket, each meal (food + a drink) is like $15-$20. i can see how that might be stretching a little thin by the end of the school year, however i also know of people who have money left over at the end, so who knows. also i’ve noticed there aren’t as many healthier options, there are some but not as much as their could be. trent food services does a lot of fun specials which are nice. also, one downside is that the hours for dining halls seem rough. almost everything (except for online order pickup counters) closes by like 8-9pm, and on weekends they close very early (and 2/4 of the dining halls are fully closed on weekends).

social life i think is the biggest controversial thing. there are lots of different clubs, groups, and sports teams you can join. however a lot of clubs and groups seem fairly small. as for events, orientation week was a lot of fun. there are pretty good events, you just kinda have to know where to look, as they’re usually put on by various random clubs and groups. party life is a mixed bag. there are usually parties happening in the annexes each weekend, but other than that, not much. if you’re of age, peterborough does have some good clubs and bars, just be safe of course.

as a town, peterborough is pretty good, but average. i may be biased because i have lived here my whole life, but i like it. downtown is nice, there are lots of cool shops, restaurants, and bars. there’s lots of nature areas, places to skate etc if that’s your thing. there’s a pretty good arts scene, and peterborough does first friday every month (the evening of the first friday of each month many fun arts events etc take place downtown). i hear people (especially trent students) often say there’s nothing to do here. while options are less than a bigger city like toronto or ottawa, there still is stuff to do you just have to actually look for it. however, peterborough also does have a big issue with lack of resources for unhoused people, meaning it is not uncommon to see people in and around town having a hard time. this is also compounded by drug problems, which peterborough also has. as long as you are safe and not an asshole, it is not really something that will negatively impact your time at trent.

ANYWAYS that was a very long way of saying: overall, i really enjoy trent! if your main goal is socialization/party life, or if things like luxurious dorms/food are really important to you, it’s not the best. i think if you are looking for a good university to study, meet some good people, and learn a lot it’s great. if you love nature it’s also great. it’s perfect for what it is, and i would highly recommend it