Hey Andrea. [:

One of my main incentives for applying (and eventually going) to uOttawa are the huge entrance scholarships that they give out. Did you receive any? How difficult is it to maintain the required average in order for your scholarship to continue getting renewed?

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High School Graduate '10
Will be applying to:

Hey Andrea I have three questions.

1. Is the residence on campus only given to first year students? If I were to attend uOttawa, I'd like to have residence for the 4 years that I'd be there.

2. How is the food? Seems like a silly question, but I think it's important to have good food in university.

3. Do you know if uOttawa has a good B.A psychology program?

Thanks!

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Grade 12

1. The residence at the University of Ottawa is guaranteed only to first year students who've submitted their residence papers and their deposits by the deadline - it was May 2009 for the Fall 2009 - Winter 2010 session.

May 28 was the deadline for accepting the housing guarantee issued with the offer of admission. The residences are pretty much all booked. Cancelled rooms will be offered to students registered on the priority waiting list. Use the InfoWeb to apply.
http://www.residence.uottawa.ca/en/

If you decide you do not want to go to the University of Ottawa or that you do not want residence, you can request your deposit back. You will get most of it back with the exception of roughly $75-80 that were used in processing fees.

After your first year you can apply to residence in the Apartment style (Hyman Soloway or Brooks), or you can become a Community Advisor (aka a Don aka Floor Advisor) or you can find off-campus housing which is what most students will do.

The off-campus housing billboard is easy to use:
https://web5.uottawa.ca/rezweb/search.php


2. The Food. An army marches on its stomach and an army of students is no different right? So it is absolutely not a silly question!

Chartwells is the food services provider at uOttawa. If you purchase a meal plan (if, meaning you are under no obligation to do so - even if you are living in residence) it works like a debit card. You are not paying for X number of meals per week. You pay for whatever you have on your tray at the checkout. I've paid for whole pizzas on my meal plan. Its convenient because I don't have to carry cash or make a dash for the ATMs.

Here is a look at the menu. Honestly some people love the food and some loathe it. I would suggest waiting until you get a chance to see the food stations before purchasing anything - so that you can see if you'll like the food enough first. There are a variety of station, pizza, pitas, hamburgers, stir-frys, smoothies, lebanese foods (ie. shawarma), salad bar, soups, pastries, "food on the go" (premade sandwiches), coffees, and cold beverages. Personally I love the menu but I find some items too pricey (ie. soup and sandwiches - my stanbys) I should just make them at home but I love the convenience.
http://www.foodservices.uottawa.ca/Chartwells.htm // Click on the + sign at Menus to see the selection

My favorite station is the one that's called Culinary Table/Terra VE, they serve the "homestyle" meals and they always have a meat option and a non-meat option. I'm not vegetarian but I do like the non meat options from time to time. There was one time I tried salmon in a dill sauce and it was so good! Yum yum.

There is also the Jazzy restaurant next door to the main food court. It's a buffet and it's classier style. However, the one time I did go I was dissapointed because it was pizza day (buffet of pizzas...I could have that at the main food court).

Here is the Chartwells Meal Plan brochure: https://www.dineoncampus.ca/Documents/uOttawa/Catering/En%20UofO%20broch4.pdf
However, that declicious looking roast beef sandwhich I have never seen served here - nor that tomatoes and cheese picture. But everything else looks familiar.

I live off-campus now so I cook my own meals but I also buy stuff on campus a lot of the time. I like the food but some of the prices suck.

I also eat alot at the Subways which are situated right off campus - can't beat $3 6 inches.


3. I only took one psychology class and that was in first year. I know a lot of people who are studying that here and I hear a lot of positive things about it. But I'm not really in a position to comment on it accurately. Here is a link that will inform you on the Psychology Student Association - feel free to fire off an email their way. They're the experts...
http://www.socialsciences.uottawa.ca/psy/eng/student_life.asp

Psychology Students' Association
145 Jean-Jacques Lussier Private
Lamoureux Hall, Room 353
Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5

Telephone: (613) 562-5800 extension 4176

General e-mail: psaep@psaep.com
Website: www.psaep.com // Looks to be down

And the School of Psychology itself:

School of Psychology

Faculty of Social Sciences
200 Lees Avenue, C-103
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
K1N 6N5

Tel.: 613-562-5799
Fax: 613-562-5147

psycho@uOttawa.ca

Office Hours
Monday to Friday

September to May:
9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

June to August:
9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.




Sincerely,

Andrea

Im going into my second year at uOttawa, I'm at the Telfer School. To the person that is asking about bubble tea; there is one in the Byward Market area. Its about <10 mins walk, or about 1 min bus ride.

If anyone has questions about the Stanton residence, |I can answer those since Andrea lived in 90 university.

I also can answer questions about the Telfer School of Management, profs, the nightlife, and athletics/school spirit.

Yes, one of my best friends is taking Eco and In. Dev. As far as I know you get quite a few electives. Beware you may have to take macroeconomics, which is a huge stumbling block for many first years. Micro is easy, Macro gets very difficult quickly.

I personally am not bilingual, at all. I can only speak a few words in french. But i would say the majority of people i meet are bilingual, which is very interesting. Being able to speak both languages can be very helpful; especially during frosh or when at a party.

The rivalry between uO and Carleton is very big, especially in sports. Hockey and Basketball mainly because Carleton does not have a football team anymore. Im in management and a few of my profs have poked fun at carleton.

Yes Carleton University and the University of Ottawa have many ties and academic exchanges. For example, I'm told the PoliSci club from Carleton invites the PoliSci from uOttawa to some of their events. At the graduate level many resources are shared (ie. complex and expensive chemistry and physics instruments).

Additionally, you can follow courses at Carleton even if you are a uOttawa student and vice versa. You just need to sign a Permission Form before you do.

Just don't expect to be all buddy-buddy during u101 week. That's the week where the rivalry is strongest. You'll learn some new songs and chants and you'll know what I mean....

Regards,

Andrea

Where do you buy used textbooks and approximately how much are they? And is it better to wait untill the courses start to get the textbooks or is it better to buy them before that? And the last question do you get the textbooks for both semesters at the same time or is it better to wait till second semester starts and then get them?

Hi anna,

1) Where to buy books:

There are two principle bookstores that carry textbooks. They are the SFUO's (Student Federation of the University of Ottawa) Agora and uOttawa's Bookstore. Both of these sell used books as well as new ones. The Agora advertises "reduced fees" but I think that it must depend on the subject because I've mostly bought science textbooks and those are always very expensive in my opinion regardless of where I buy them. Both of these stores sell used books but they don't have them in all titles, and their supplies are limited. Also, used books tend to be at least one edition behind what the prof will order.

http://www.bkstr.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?langId=-1&catalogId=10001&storeId=11012 // The Bookstore
http://agora.bookware3000.ca/eSolution/catalogue2/?data=01010404&entry=20 // The Agora

Agora also has a Classifieds part to their website where you can advertise your books for free, others can browse them, or you can post wanted adds. That was actually a very good service that I've used a lot.

Except one time I bought a 1st edition Physics book, I didn't think it would make much difference because the prof had ordered the 2nd edition. Turns out it was VERY different. Also he assigned problems from the book that didn't match mine! So I was marked pretty hard on the first assignment until I caught on....then I had to ask other people in the class what the problem were so I could find them in my book or copy them down if I didn't have them.

Depending on the course you may not need to buy a textbook at all. For example, Sociology I bought a course pack which is basicly photocopies of a bunch of different articles and chapters bundled together. These are usually very economical (mine was $12) and it saves you from having to purchase or borrow too many books. Your professor will inform you where to purchase course packs the first day, sometimes they're at the Repography which is floor 0 of the Morriset (library building) sometimes they're at EnviroCopy...

Finally, you can do what my boyfriend does and not buy a book at all. He goes to a study group and sort of mooches off of other people while he's there.

I don't really recommend the above strategy but he got decent marks that way.

If you have math courses I can't imagine not purchasing the textbook.

Here is the range you can expect for your textbooks: novels and plays ($8-$20), course packs and lab manuals ($12-$40 (FAT ones)), math books, engineering and science ($90-120).


The buyback: both the Agora and the Bookstore will purchase back some of the titles they sold you - but not all. And if your book is on the buyback list they will purchase it for a fraction of the price you paid. Some books are worth hanging onto and some aren't - your call.

Of course, kids are selling their old textbooks all the time. Try the marketplace on facebook, or the flyers posted on pillars and billboards all over campus, or the Agora classifieds, etc.

2) Bookbuying timing.

PRO TIP: I actually recommend ordering your textbooks and course packs online as early as possible for a few reasons. 1) They are paid for and ready for pickup, the online pickup line is shorter than the huge line to get into the stores at the beginning of the semesters. 2) You don't run the risk of waiting a long time in line only to find out the book has been sold out!

However, you can still make changes to your schedule well into September (deadline is 22 to add/change course selection). Therefore, you may end up changing sections of the course or dropping a course entirely during that time. So don't unwrap anything if it's sealed in plastic until you're sure 1) you're sticking with your schedule and 2) you have the right book. So wait until the first day of class, the prof will usually have a copy with him and you'll know for sure. The moment you unwrap that sucker you've reduced it to used book status.

And so you have your books ordered, you don't want one in the end? Return it for your refund. Be aware of the individual return policies though. The Agora and the Bookstore aren't affiliated so they have enterily different deadlines and conditions (ie. plastic wrapper intact).

3) As for the winter semester, maybe just order them over the Holidays? Who's to say your winter semester will stay the same as what it is right now. You could change your courses, change programs, change Faculty, etc. So I still say order your books online for the convenience but do so in December and they'll be ready for you when you return. =)

Besides, I don't think professors even order in the books for their courses until they have to - so I don't know if you would find the right textbook - unless the course is also offered in the Fall semester. However, the profs order the books, meaning that different profs can order different books for the SAME course - the different comes down to the course section (A, B, C, etc.) - order the right one.

Finally, in the Bookstore at least, the books are seperated by course codes and have little papers labelling them. There are always Required books and Recommended books. If you buy any buy the Required ones, don't bother with Recommended.


Sincerely,

Andrea

Hi traveller,

1) Electives.

The number of electives depends on your program of study. If you were to tell me which program(s) you're considering I can examine each of them and shed some more light on that.

Generally though, you get to pick electives from a set list. For some programs that list is very big and your electives can be from any discipline offered at the University of Ottawa. So long as you have the prerequisites for the course and there is space in the course you can register to it. Bear in mind in higher level courses 3rd, and 4th (sometimes even 2nd) it can be hard to find seats because the majority of seats are reserved for students belonging to that discipline and who need the course to graduate. The few seats that are for students from all other disciplines can fill up very quickly.

Some programs, you must pick your electives from a preset list. For example, my program, software engineering has one, count 'em, ONE elective.
Here is the course sequence so you can see what I mean: http://www.engineering.uottawa.ca/downloads/pdf/sequences/SEG_2009_2010.pdf

My other electives have to be picked from a pre-approved list. For example, my science electives have to come from the Faculty of Sciences and not the Faculty of Health Sciences or Arts.

However, engineering is a very structured program because it is a professional program and requires extensive learning and sometimes even more credits than the usual 4 year program (eng 132 credits vs 120).

In your first year you should take whatever 1000-level courses are compulsory to your program and then "fill-in the blanks" with electives.

So just let me know what your program is and I will break it down. However, your academic advisor at your Faculty is always your number one resource. I'm just some person on a forum. =)

2) io parlo italiano e francese ma parlo male

Phonetically, this ressembles French quite a bit. Sounds like you speak Italian and French but not well. Is that correct?

3) Boyfriend at Carleton eh?

It's not like you'll be tarred and feathered.... but if your boyfriend wanders into our neck of the woods... we might chant at him. Oh noes.

Seriously though, u101 week is to help you get to know your classmates so that you have some familiar faces come classtime. Some classes are pretty big after all.


Learn some chants, tease your boyfriend: http://www.charlatan.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15095&Itemid=151
Uh oh they left out a line. The last lines for THE U OF O ON CARLETON goes "How did it get that way?" respond by yelling "HOW DO YOU THINK?" lol lol lol good times.

As an aside: Carleton's chant doesn't work perfectly because uOttawa or U of O is not Ottawa U (Ottawa University) that institution is Kansas.
http://www.ottawa.edu/

Ottawa University
4370 West 109th Street, Suite 200
Overland Park, KS 66211
913-266-8600
888-404-6852
admiss.kc@ottawa.edu
kcpep@ottawa.edu


And say goodbye to your voice after u101 week. =)






Regards,

Andrea

Departments have their own chants too. Health Sciences would wait until they met up with another group and let them chant first. Management (Telfer) had "You'll all work for us!" we had "You'll all die without us!" and we would just well that over and over until we unleashed the water balloons and stink spray.

Sciences got us back though, we interrupted their BBQ with an ambush of sorts and they retaliated with ketchup and mustard. It was so funny!