• by MIT Ivy League and Oxbridge Educated Insiders
  • Trusted by over tens of thousands online subscribers

University of Toronto Schools

School rating 3 / 5 by

371 Bloor Street West Toronto ON M5S 2R8 Canada
Day
7th to 12th
Gender
Coed

Academic

University of Toronto Schools review by .

UTS is fairly academically rigorous - the course loads are similar to those at Penn so I was well prepared for the amount of work in college in comparison to many of my peers from public schools who felt a significant increase in stress first semester. That being said, the subject matter taught at UTS is very limited. The sciences and maths are definitely favored by the administration and most students will take at least 2 or 3 upper level science credits. There are also some humanities, languages, and arts courses, but for anybody wanting to study business like myself, the only way to do so was to self-study. One of the better parts about UTS is that the learning is primarily focused on discussion rather than lectures thanks to the small class sizes. 90% of the teachers were at least pretty good at what they do - however, part of the reason they are is because they're teaching a very talented student body that makes their job much easier. The pace in the classroom is quite quick and in some classes (such as math) most of the students will learn most of the material themselves so the teacher doesn't really do much. On average, there was probably less than an hour of homework per night in the foundation years (7&8), one or two hours for the middle years (9&10), and around two hours for the senior years (11&12). There were usually weekly tutoring "parties" for different subjects, mainly math and the upper level sciences and teachers posted schedules so students knew when to find them in their offices. The school also has a volunteer-based student tutoring program that sometimes works out quite well, but other times doesn't work at all - all luck of the draw. For those who were more advanced, it was possible to take higher-level courses and do things such as olympiads or contests to challenge yourself.

College Counseling

This is definitely the weakest aspect of UTS, especially when compared to other private schools....

Sample insights on college counseling

  • They have contacts at most of the major universities and feel perfectly comfortable picking up the phone and advocating for a student to get accepted somewhere they feel is a good fit for that student. However, these counselors are certainly not magic bullets. They cannot guarantee that a student will get into an Ivy League university...
  • For those wishing to move on to Oxford or Cambridge, the provision is second-to-none. In the months running up to application and interview, every subject faculty offers classes (often run by former Oxbridge tutors) exploring further areas of their subject as well as offering advice on personal statements, interview technique and more...

Admissions - Getting Accepted

It seems like the school looks mostly for well-rounded children, but there definitely is a....

Sample insights on admissions

  • For the interview, dress conservatively. Try to be very clean and put together. Also, I was a tour guide for two years and at the end of every tour, we were asked to evaluate the candidate so if you think the tour is not apart of the process, you are very wrong. Ask questions and be interested. Also, tip for the parents: the kids speak on the tour. Do not ask their questions for them...
  • Most younger siblings have an easy time in the admissions process. I can only think of one case of a younger sibling not being admitted. About half of the students who entered with me had come from public schools. The remainder came from private K-6 schools, or had transferred from other New York private schools The Elizabeth Morrow School and St. Bernard were two of the larger feeder schools...

School Life

The students at UTS become very close due to the small number in each grade. I definitely knew everyone in my grade and 95% of the grades above and below me. There is a competitive streak amongst students, especially in the older grades as university admissions approaches, but most people are willing to help each other out. The community as a whole definitely is strong, and a lot of that comes with having known the same small group of people for so many years. The camping trips that students go on throughout the years are also very conducive to bonding. Compared....

Popular Comparisons