u of c rez? yes or no?

[STeeLy]

Rez is DAMN FUN!!! Obviously, I'm not in U of C res... I'm out in Carleton... but you get to meet a lot of great people (well, at least in my case)... great fun... great fun.

[Phaneuf3]

awww hell yea - definately get into res... you will not regret it

7K 4 lyfe!!

[Eastern Girl]

I was in rez for my first two years and I actually really loved it. I didn't like having a roommate though. I had never shared a room before and my roommate was a little bit crazy and weird, but otherwise, it was really fun. There is always something to do, someone to kill time with, trouble to get into. It's basically a pretty good time. It's a bit difficult to get any work done while in rez, because someone will always interupt you. I could never work in my room, always had to go to the library.

About the grades, I think the importance of grades might also depend on the program. I didn't go to U of C, but I was in the journalism program at Carleton and you have to have a certain grade in every course to get into the next year of the program. If you didn't, you were out of the program. So whatever program you get into, do your research about it and make sure you know exactly what you need to do throughout your years in that program.

[RoadGame]

Originally Posted by Red Mile Style

Seriously, the most fun years of my life were spent in Rundle, Castle and Olympus.... ah good times, good times. Chances are if you went to the university between 2001 and 2006, we partied together.

I may well have cramped your style about half way through. I was a CA in 2003-04. If you happened to be on 4Oly that year... You wouldn't happen to be a former roommate or friend of Mr. Bergen would you?

I lived at home for years 1 and 2, then in 7R (trad - dorm style) in year 3 ('02-'03) and Glacier (apartments) in year 4 ('03-'04). So, I kinda got a taste of everything.

MFish: If you figure you won't go crazy on the partying (ie: you know how and when to say no) then first year rez won't kill you. If anything, with there being a bunch of other engineers around it might actually help 'cuz you can go talk to them about classes and such at 3am. When I lived on 7R there were a handful of other bio students living there and it was a huge help. On the other hand, if you aren't confident about being able to pull that off, consider saving the cash and doing rez for years two and onward (usually the worst of the crazies get booted/fail after their first year). I don't know if they're segregating first and second year students in trad though, might be worth looking into.

Apartments are a lot more sedate, usually you know a bunch of people who survived trad and you either share a place with them, or hang out with them. Going straight to apartments kinda sucks - it's like you forever feel as though you missed the big party. Also, if you can manage it with your work load (and I know engineers who did), becoming a CA is a great way to get involved, meet people, and defray the cost of rez. Getting involved in the RSA is good too, though you don't get paid much and there is a definite "us against the man" mentality that didn't appeal to me. Thin gruel that's about 40 years past its best-before date. Anyhow, as a CA you get to see the craziest of the crazy **** that goes on in rez, and the downsides of dealing with it are more than outweighed by the experience of witnessing it.

In short - for 2nd year and onward, absolutely give rez a try. For first year, it depends on your work ethic.

Hope that helps!!

RG

[MonsieurFish]

awesome guys thanks for the help so far, however imagine i didnt say this and keep the responses coming

[fredr123]

Originally Posted by RoadGame

I may well have cramped your style about half way through. I was a CA in 2003-04. If you happened to be on 4Oly that year... You wouldn't happen to be a former roommate or friend of Mr. Bergen would you?

I lived at home for years 1 and 2, then in 7R (trad - dorm style) in year 3 ('02-'03) and Glacier (apartments) in year 4 ('03-'04). So, I kinda got a taste of everything.

MFish: If you figure you won't go crazy on the partying (ie: you know how and when to say no) then first year rez won't kill you. If anything, with there being a bunch of other engineers around it might actually help 'cuz you can go talk to them about classes and such at 3am. When I lived on 7R there were a handful of other bio students living there and it was a huge help. On the other hand, if you aren't confident about being able to pull that off, consider saving the cash and doing rez for years two and onward (usually the worst of the crazies get booted/fail after their first year). I don't know if they're segregating first and second year students in trad though, might be worth looking into.

Apartments are a lot more sedate, usually you know a bunch of people who survived trad and you either share a place with them, or hang out with them. Going straight to apartments kinda sucks - it's like you forever feel as though you missed the big party. Also, if you can manage it with your work load (and I know engineers who did), becoming a CA is a great way to get involved, meet people, and defray the cost of rez. Getting involved in the RSA is good too, though you don't get paid much and there is a definite "us against the man" mentality that didn't appeal to me. Thin gruel that's about 40 years past its best-before date. Anyhow, as a CA you get to see the craziest of the crazy **** that goes on in rez, and the downsides of dealing with it are more than outweighed by the experience of witnessing it.

In short - for 2nd year and onward, absolutely give rez a try. For first year, it depends on your work ethic.

Hope that helps!!

RG

Everyone knows Krafty...

[HelloHockeyFans]

Have you ever lived with anyone before? I imagine not. That's a key decision here I think.

It's good to get away from your parents and it's something I think every university should do, but there's a difference between living on your own and living with a roomate or roomates.

Even before trying it, I knew I would hate living with roomates, but I was forced to for a month because my apartment building (in Ottawa) experienced a fire in the heating ducts and it spread to a bunch of floors forcing building management to evacuate EVERYONE immediately.

That one month of living with a roomate was HELL. It's one thing to get along fine with someone when you're out having beers, but it's another thing when you live with the person.

Meeting people and having fun at university isn't going to be affected by whether or not you live on rez (in my opinion).

Also, you keep saying that living on rez would be cheaper than living off-campus. Are you sure? Maybe that's the case in Calgary, but a lot of the time, you should be able to find cheaper accomodations (ie. basement suite or bachelor's apartment) off campus.

If cleanliness is an issue for you, rez may not be the best choice. I have tons of friends who live in rez and their accomodations are horrendous!

[Red Mile Style]

Originally Posted by RoadGame

I may well have cramped your style about half way through. I was a CA in 2003-04. If you happened to be on 4Oly that year... You wouldn't happen to be a former roommate or friend of Mr. Bergen would you?

I lived at home for years 1 and 2, then in 7R (trad - dorm style) in year 3 ('02-'03) and Glacier (apartments) in year 4 ('03-'04). So, I kinda got a taste of everything.

Originally Posted by fredr123

Everyone knows Krafty...

Ha ha ha, I've been to your apartment on 4Oly!!! I told you if you went to the university between 2001-2006 I partied with you! My buddies and I would always buzz your place to cut through the tunnels back to castle when it was freezing outside from the rez parking lot after hotboxing my friend's car in the alley. ha ha ha! We would always try to disguise our voices so you guys wouldn't know it was us! It was always a weird voice saying "Uhhhhhh... could you let me in?"

Krafty's a good buddy of mine!!! I still talk to him once and a while, I also know him through CJSW.

Ah, maybe you know some of my past roomies as well, last year's SU execs: Mr. West, Mr.Lockwood, Miss. Smith.

That's another great thing about rez, if you're a rez rat and you want to get involved with school politics, you get the rez vote and you're in! Plus, not having to pay for any events at Mac Hall is pretty sweet! The SU gets on the VIP... stellar

[AFireInside]

Originally Posted by Red Mile Style

Holy crap, 5.5 years ago was my first year and I was on 6R....

YOU WERE ON 4R?!?!?!?

You were the only floor in rez history that actually had to hire a permanent security guard to live there because you guys were so out of control!!! All I remember is you guys pulling the pay-phone out of the wall and plugging in a regular phone and making all these out of control calls to crazy places... ripping off bathroom doors.

Ha ha ha, I got into my fair share of shanangans in rez too, but not nearly as hardcore as your floor.

That was 2R... My floor was lame.

[kevman]

How far away from school do you currently live? Personally I wouldn't do rez for the sole reason that I'm almost closer to the engineering building than rez is. I also know alot of people that litterally counted the day's untill they left rez, but I also know alot of people that absolutely love rez. That said if you're taking engineering and looking to meet people there are enough activities at school that you won't need to live on campus to meet people. If there is one thing the engineers are known for it's faculty pride. Get involved early and you'll be set...join ESS, get out on Frosh week, go to POETS, get good at Foosball (alot of free beers will come from this), Formula SAE, Concrete Tobagon, Mini Baja, etc... there are alot of things you can do in engineering to get out and meet people that are suprisingly a little too much like you. I'll say it one more time and I tell everyone that is going into engineering and that's get involved and you'll have a fantastic time!!!

Finally marks don't *really matter, especially in a boom time like this but if you're hoping to get into Mechanical engineering or another high demand department you're going to need around a 3.0GPA in first year. Once you're where you want to be it's C's get degrees...

[Sparks]

That one month of living with a roomate was HELL. It's one thing to get along fine with someone when you're out having beers, but it's another thing when you live with the person.

Remember, though, you get to submit a form with a lot of your habits/preferences on it when you apply. Stuff like:

- What music you like
- Whether you like to get up early, or stay up late
- Whether you want to study in your room or in the library
- How much socializing/noise you prefer
- How clean you like to keep your room

They then use it to pair you up with a roommate (and floor) that best suits your preferences. It generally works pretty well.

You'll probably get along great with your roommate, too. Out of four roommates I've shared a room with, there was only one time where we didn't really get along (we were obviously badly matched). Even that last case wasn't a big deal - I just moved into a single room halfway through the year. If you want to live in res, like to socialize, are easygoing & flexible, and have a good sense of humour, I wouldn't worry about the roommate thing.

[FlameFanStuckinEDM]

I would definately recommend living in Rez. I moved to the UofC from a small town in 97/98. It was my first time away from home. There were 2 friends from high school that came to the UofC with me. We didn't live together though, but they were a big help in the first few days of getting to know all the new people. I lived in Rez all four of my years. First two were in Trad on 5R and then the last two were in Cascade (it was just built and I was one of the first to live in it, so I had a brand new mattress, yay!)

The people I met in Rez are the only people I really keep in touch with now. I even met my wife in Rez. We lived on the same floor, so if everybody tells you that floor romances don't work, I am living proof that they do. As has been mentioned earlier, there will be many other people in the same classes as you so you will always have someone to compare notes with if you wish.

It will really be up to you to determine if you have fun at Rez or not. If you get out and interact with the other students, you will probably love it. I played on the Rez Wars hockey team all four years and I loved it. It was especially fun to go to the UofA and witness all the mayhem that occurred in the Rez there. As far as marks go, if you can be responsible then you will get good grades. If you can't say no, then you might get into trouble.

It really was the greatest time of my life, especially first year. I will sometimes think back to that year and wish that I could go back just to experience it again.

[Superfraggle]

I lived in rez for 1.5 years at the U of A, and 1 year at the U of C. It's a wicked place to be when you're starting out for getting to know people, convenience, social life, etc. As has been mentioned, though, studiousness tends to suffer, so it'll take a real effort to do well in Engineering. I know several people who've done it while doing the rez thing and done great, but there's always those who don't fare so well also.

I say go for it! But go in knowing that you do have to make time for schoolwork in Engineering (I'm in English - NO problems there. )

10 Mac 02/03, 8 Schaffer Fall '03 at U of A
5R 04/05 at U of C

[Igottago]

I went to U of C and lived at home with the parents...I regret it..not that it was a terrible experience, I still had fun and met a lot of people, but I think getting out of the house, and experiencing the university life full on is something no one will ever forget. I ended up still hanging around a lot of my high school friends, who did the same thing, just lived at home and went to university in Calgary. I did it the safe way and feel like I missed something. I should've gone to school in another city. Trying to make up for that now.

[fredr123]

People really seem to be missing some of the benefits of living at home. If that's an option available to you, then it can save buttloads of money. Many of my friends who lived at home for at least part of their university studies are no further ahead than me financially. They're looking at buying cars and houses while I'm stuck with student loans out the ass.

Living on campus, it's hard to avoid parties and other debauchery. It takes a strong-willed soul to partake in moderation and still maintain some focus on studies. Diving into the rez scene could spell the end of your studies.

Kinda like dating your high school sweetheart and eventually marrying her. Sure it was the safe bet and the familiarity was comforting (living at home or off campus) but you can't help but wonder sometimes what kind of experiences/trouble/STDs you missed out on (living in rez).

[SeeGeeWhy]

Answer me this:

Do you want to go to school to learn or to drink?

By answering this, the solution to your dilemma will be abundantly clear.

[kevman]

/\ You mean you can't do both? That would explain some things...

Reading theses posts would almost make it sound as if you can't have fun at school unless your in rez. I'm not in rez, I didn't go away for school and I defiantly DON'T regret my decision. Life is what you make of it and that's all there really is to it.

[ernie]

I passed out on a couch in U of C Res once coming back from The Den. I didn't know anybody who stayed in Res. Still no idea who let me in or how I got in. It remains a mystery to this day. On the same night one of the guys I was drinking with passed out underneath a tree on campus. I woke him up when I spotted him the next morning on my way home to shower.

[troutman]

Rent a house with some other students. Hang out with friends at Rez when you want to blow off steam.

Best of both worlds.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by blankall

I lived in UVic res. Like a lot of people have said, it was the best time of my life. Not so good for the marks though. The opportunity to live away from home, will help you mature a lot as a person though. Definately noticed this about 4 years out of university when comparing friends who had and hadn't moved away.

As I was saying not so good for marks, about 1/3 of my res floor flunked out w/in the first 2 years. Really depends on if your the kind of person who can handle living in a structure free environment.

Haha thats totally my worry. Ive visited buddies in rez and I always leave feeling so jealous. But I know my love of the nightlife and the troubles I have focusing on studies. Its pretty much a safe bet Id flunk out of school.

And so far Im fine with it. Study all week long, then on the weekends go hang out with your buddies in rez. You meet people just from partying with them, and then you see them around campus. I bet rez would be an awesome time, but I still have fun despite not living there.