Good morning (ish)!
(Sorry that the title of this is such a mouthful)
Here I am, taking a break from the relatively gruelling task that is studying for Phys 158. (Edit: It’s been about two months since I first started writing this post.. sorry about that)
A lot of incoming first years have been asking the very loaded question: Totem or Vanier (or Gage or Rits). Which is better?
(First of all, I’m going to preface this by saying that I am pretty biased towards Totem, as a current totem resident BUT I’m going to be as neutral as possible here. This also means that I know the most about Totem so I’m sorry if the details on the other residences are a little sparse)
Let’s organize things nicely in little charts!
(Sorry they’re kind of lackluster.. there are only a few major pros and cons for each)
Totem/Vanier (Traditional style first year res):
Totem and Vanier both offer single and shared units.
Fun fact: If you’re in a shared unit (ie you have a roommate), if they move out/switch rooms etc, you probably won’t get a new roommate. (Most people who move in in the middle of the year get single rooms .. I can imagine that moving into a shared unit in the middle of the year could be disruptive or just more difficult) This means that you’d be paying the shared unit price, but you get a huge room. (I’ve heard that to guarantee that nobody will move into your room, you have to pay an extra $300-$400 or so)
Rits/Gage:
In terms of Rits and Gage, you have the luxury of having your own kitchen (this could be a pro or a con).
From what I’ve heard from people living in Gage/Rits, there’s less of a house/floor community because you really don’t have to leave your unit and interact with floormates (but despite this fact, you definitely should get out and meet people!!)
Rits:
– Now considered to be a part of Totem Park (basically the same location)
– The community bus that goes to Wesbrook Village (where the Save On Foods, Liquor Store, Menchies is) is right outside (great for lazy people like me who’d rather take the bus than walk twenty minutes..)
– Rits is split into multiperson units, with a shared kitchen and living area.
Gage:
– Best location on campus, in my opinion
– As a first year, your classes will mostly be around central campus
– Close to the SUB and bus loop, as well as the Village (where you can find a bunch of restaurants and the discount bookstore)
– The Gage Towers are quite old, but the lobby is absolutely gorgeous. It feels like a hotel lobby (which makes sense since they do rent out some gage units as hotel rooms for conferences over the summer).
– 4 units per floor, and each unit has six rooms (ie 24 people per floor)
– This year was the first year first years were placed in gage (because there was a lot more interest in first year res this year), so the entire North Tower of Gage was all first year students.
NOTE: You can switch rooms once you’ve been assigned.
In August when you get your room assignments, you’ll notice people who are going to start posting their room numbers/locations looking to switch, so at the end of the day, everyone I know ended up in the residence/building that they wanted.
Hope this was helpful!!
Let me know if you have any questions at all and I’ll be sure to either respond or write another more detailed post.
Happy Saturday!