r/UCalgary • u/Unable-Salt5219 • 21h ago
To the new students
Hey yall, I know there sre alot of new people because were about a month and a bit away from fall 2027. As a person that joined last year there was a post I saw that was similliar to this that helped me out alot, so im just here to give out some pointers.
Disclaimer this is just from my own experiences, if you have any other advice please add in the comments
The redditors are most likely not advisors. That sounds harsh but what im trying to say is book a meeting with an advisor if you have any questions. They are more suited and have more resources to help you than the guidance you would get from this subreddit. They know more about enrollment, other pathways, requirements, etc.
The campus isn't that big once you walk around it but at first it can get overwhelming. There is an digital interactive map (here) and in MacHall there are maps like they have at malls. Most of the time you wont need to go to building outside of your faculty (with the exception of electives) but some major spots you should now is
• machall - the main cafeteria that is like the center of the campus, when I first started I used machall as a way to find all my classes,
• Hunters - often a great study place and often used one way or another and connected to tfdl
• TFDL - the library on campus and the printing. Also connected to hunters and have great study spots. Make sure your considerate enough for the silent floors or just dont go there
• for stem students, EEEL - Where most of the labs are.
I find during orientation to find your classes beforehand was helpful and generally because the first week usually not heavy course load to just wonder and explore the campus was pretty helpful, and you can ask someone but even some of the profs and upper years dont know everything so they may not know how to get there (me and my friend were looking for a classroom that didnt exist for 30 min and even when he asked a prof they thought it existed too)
The buildings on the main campus, beside from EEEL, are all connected with tunnels, so in the winter and colder parts of the fall you dont have to go outside, but so note its a longer walk. That is to say, if you do go outside it can get very slippery, around campus by the door heading outside there are buckets full of sand that you can use, my friend brought a plastic bag and stored some sand in it to bring around campus with.
Ucalg have a few interfaces that you will be using.
• D2L is the major one for assignment submission, grades and general communication (if your prof dont use email), there is also a contact list where you can find your prof and ta contacts if you cant find it and they also often post the course overview and outline on it for your reference
• Mycalgary is another one for any admin needed (like paying tuition, seeing your sechdule, receiving your final room assignments and your overall final grade as well as a GPA calc, etc.) A good note my friend found is that on your sechdule you can find your weekly sechdule that shows you times, and roomnumbers of your classes (ill see if I can post a picture of what it look like from my a last year)
• outlook and one drive and generally the Microsoft is the main system. For emails, presentations, pdf, etc. Will most likely be used those.
Thoes are the major one some other Commons one I found is webwork and r studios (stem/stats focused) but they will teach you how to use them in class
Social life. Ngl the social life here is not the best, especially when your new and overwhelmed but as long as you stay open you will find your people. Plus one of the first weeks of each semster they do a club rush where you can go around and learn more about the clubs and the fraternity/soroties and meet like minded people or try new things. We also have an outdoor centre and ice rink and alot of intramural and things of that sorts, while I only frequent the ice rink im sure if you frequent the other places you could find some people to hangout with. Nut also note some people come here just to study, do there classes and get there degree, so if theyre not open on becoming friends, dont take it personally
Use your resources. Go to your professors or ta office hours even if it just to introduce yourself or to network. Talk to your group memebers or lab partners and ask questions. Even when it comes to buying textbooks (which you should always wait until the first lecture to see if it mandatory, most of my classes last year it was not) buy it used or at bound and copy, its significantly cheaper.
The course outline/syllabus is a very creditable resource that tells you your learning outcomes, how your grade is calculated, your prof and ta contacts info, class policies, important dates, etc. And ask questions, your ta, lab coordinator, prof, classmates, dont waste your time being clueless and use the resources that is given to you. As well being a student at uofc gets you alot of outside academic resources like the pass, free entry to the gym and sports facilities, some coverage at the ucalg health facilities (dental, eye care, guidance counselors, etc.) If your paying tuition here, use whats given to you.
- General respect. Dont go to lectures just to talk really loud the whole time, and try not to talk the whole time especially if its unrelated to the lecture. If you whisper to your friend asking for clarification or smth thats fine, but note that this isn't like highschool and people pay for these classes so just respect their time and the prof time and hardworking on putting together their lectures. Also once again, silent floors, keep them silent, it is a shared study space after all.
PLEASE clean up after yourself, dont make other people do it, and dont listen to stuff really loudly without headphones. Also if you come late dont disrupt the whole lecture. Just general respect for others, staff and the campus. This goes for everyone, be patient, alot of people new and old will be looking for classrooms, stairways and going through crowded halls so just be patient.
- TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF - This is the biggest one. I know not all of you are going from highschool to uni but most of you are and you need to take care of yourself.
Plan your time, make sure you're not overcomitting and but also that your not falling behind but also that you have some personal time to decompress. Make sure your well feed and well hydrated. Make sure you sleeping and dont feel guilty if you need a break. Burnout is real and it happens to almost every first year. Just remember, there is no point of getting this degree if at the end of the journey you treated yourself like shit and hella burnout and no longer have motivation to do anything.
And the biggest thing, dont compare yourself to others. My friends told me they compare themselves to me because of my grades while im out here comparing myself to another friend who have higher grades them me. Someone will always be better than you so just focus on your progession and your own journey and you'll find a way to succeed.
I would add a section about forms and living on campus but I have no experience on that so hopefully someone else can comment on that and hopefully others Upper years have more notes. I know this is a lengthy read but hopefully this help you out of your first few weeks,
Goodluck on your first day in fall, snd yall got this
