It's seems that most of the discussions here are more about m.arch than b.arch, so does it mean that where I go for an undergraduate's degree really doesn't matter?

nothing i guess...

I'm looking at Toronto for undergraduate too and in fact, I've also posted on this forum asking for insight. Don't give up so easy, it usually takes a while for someone to respond. Your best bet may be to search the forums for University of Toronto, some interesting discussions may pop up.
As far as I'm concerned, I've visited the campus and met with some architecture people. (By the way, I'm American) The university itself is AMAZING, but I found the architecture department lacking as far as undergraduate support goes. The undergrads don't get studio space, as they do in most American universities. In fact, when I asked where the undergrad studios were, they acted like I was crazy. Overall, the facilites aren't very nice, but they've just approved a major renovation. Now, originally I thought that was a point in favor of my going there, but then I realized that I would be there WHILE they're renovating. To be honest, I don't fancy studing a high-stress major while major construction is happening! You may want to go there for your masters though, since I've heard mostly good things about it. Besides, the undergrad degree is pre-professional, which means that you'd have to go to graduate school anyway, so you might as well major in something else at the university or go somewhere else for undergrad.
Besides, most people on here say that it doesn't necessarly matter where you go to undergrad, but I'm not so sure about that myself yet!
And plus, you're a freshmen, so you have plenty of time!!:)
Have you considered giong to the states for school?
Good luck!!

whoops I guess you're not a freshman in the American high school sense! Sorry! but still, good luck!

dont go to u of t, Waterloo is much better programs

@:Johnsenl

thks

i saw the U of T posts, they say pretty much what you're saying, bad undergrad good graguate.

about going to school in the states, I was thinking about it for a while but then again 10k and up tuition for international student even if they're canadian, SAT and SAT II are not my cup of tea

@S32:

why is it a much better program?

I heard about it but

1) It's a COOP program, so it's 5 years vs possibly 3 years at any school that gives transfer credits. U of Mtl, Laval, McGill, UBC, Carleton, Uqam, Dalhousie, Ryerson...

2) They don't give one year of credits for CEGEP students so I would start as a freshman not a sophmore

3) I don't know if I have the grades to get in

4)It's not that I'm bad in English, in oral or composition, but I'm kind of afraid of the Précis test, I do thing like that in my french litt and my philosophy class but I do it french

ITo be honest I don't know much about tuition in the US. I much would it cost for a canadian student in the states?

i3aht

to be serious...

- Waterloo provides a full course load, unlike UofT in which you have to select a majority of courses which probably means they dont have a clear idea what they are trying to teach in undergrad

- as an undergrad Waterloo provides a comprehensive program which is comparable to the education you would be receiving at 4-year graduate programs

- I feel the 5 year program is worth it, the opportunity to study in rome, and 2 full years of work term experience. When you graduate your CV will make you highly desirable to employers, I wont list my work experiences, but they have been at some fairly prestigious firms in europe and north america

- what are you grades? you probably need about an 80-84% average to get an interview (also depends on your school)

- interview is the most difficult aspect to get in,

- precis is a reading test - you will be ok if you are clever

- dont get me wrong waterloo does have its problems (particularly in research), but for the money you pay it is an excellent education for someone who wants to be a practicing architect

my grades are in the mid 70's...I guess I can forget about Waterloo
but does me coming from a cegeg and not from a HS is taken into account? It does in other Universities

hey, i'm in my 4th year at UofT's undergrad architecture program right now.

architecture is only offered as a major (either in design or history/theory/criticism) at UofT, which is both a good and bad thing. it's good because you can combine it with studies in other subject areas that interest you, but it's bad because you don't get as much time undergoing the practical architectural training as you would at places like Waterloo or Ryerson.

we only get to take 5 studio courses, which are spread between your second and third years (no studios are offered for first and fourth years). the rest of the time is spent on history or theory courses, with the occasional building technology course.

the resources for undergraduates are limited. we only have access to one classroom in the building for studio, and we only recently acquired access to the small room attached to it that serves as a working space. everyone does their work at home though, because only grad students get keys to the building after hours. we aren't allowed to use the computers with autocad, etc., either.

despite all of this, the 5 studio sequence is pretty tough, and i did learn a lot of new skills in those two years. although i didn't learn as much about architecture as i would've liked, i did get to learn about other things by combining my arc major with other subjects. also, all of our faculty teach in the grad program, so it's been a good experience studying under some of them.

can i take any science minor even if arch is in humanities? how many student go on for the m arch

yes, arts and science are combined into one faculty at UofT, so there are many different subjects to choose from for your other major or 2 minors.

i'd say about 90% of my class is applying for grad school right now, and maybe about half of those applying are applying to UofT's MArch