Despite the windy, gloomy weather, thousands of prospective students flocked to the St. George campus for the annual U of T Discovery Day on Saturday. It was a day full of the usual white and blue balloons, information booklets, and of course, freebies.

A steel drum band played in front of Convocation Hall, while engineering’s Lady Godiva Band countered by blasting out the Sesame Street theme song.

The engineers, along with the U of T Formula SAE racing team, showcased their 2001 and 2002 cars, delighting the crowd with their roaring engines. Paul Friday, a member of the SAE racing team, was impressed with the number of people that came out to the event. “We’re trying to promote people to come into engineering and show them stuff they can do after school. It’s a really good way to get experience…anybody can join!”

The Athletics department showed off their skills with karate and kick boxing demonstrations and a mini-golf contest. True Blue and Blue Blaze, the two Varsity mascots, were also out and about showing their spirit. “U of T is an awesome school!” said Blue Blaze.

The French department was giving out cheese, crackers and bottled water to entice prospective students into taking a mini-quiz. Tours of the campus were also available to students throughout the day. The highlight of the tour was the new state-of-the-art Bahen Centre for Information Technology.

The spectacle of the day was the Alumni Homecoming Parade. The noon-time parade commemorated the university’s 175th birthday.

Nicole, who came from Oakville with three of her friends, was very impressed. “We woke up early to come here, but it’s worth it. Everybody is really friendly. The campus is really nice and has a lot of interesting things to offer. It’s all a new experience.”

Kevin, Brian and Ronald, all in grade 12 and interested in engineering, were less energetic about university. “We know some people who are really not happy with the fact that they are going to grade the OAC and [grade] 12 courses the same, but, you know, what can you do about it? Our grades are not good, but they are not bad…we’ll try our best.”

With the issue of the double cohort looming over every high school student’s head, Discovery Day “is the day that you come on campus and really find out what you want and meet the people you really want,” said Florence Silver, director of student recruitment.

Silver said U of T has been very busy preparing for the double cohort since 1998. “In 1998, our intake in first year was 6,738 high school students. In this September, we took in almost 11,000 students in first year. We’ve been growing and growing and pushing the boundaries. So of course, next year…we will again take 10,000 new students in first year.”

In addition, U of T has added 2,600 residence spaces, put in new buildings such as the Bahen Centre, and is planning to hire 1,000 professors over the next five years.

As for admissions, Silver emphasized that the university will be fair.

“Some of our students will be a year younger, but the fact is we’ve always had some very young people coming to the university, so this isn’t something that new,” she noted.

Photograph by Gill Cerbu