Summary for Questions

Well, I guess our MASAT Facebook page has been fired-up with lots of questions from the juniors as well as some seniors. So, here is some summary of some very popular and important issue to take note:


[1] Start of Fall 2011 class
      - Monday, September 5th > Orientation program for First Year students begin.
      - Thursday, September 8th > Engineering lectures begin.
      - Monday, September 12th > Arts and Science lectures begin.

     *other important dates - check this PDF files HERE


[2] Temporary Resident
To First Year students, as you guys will flew in earlier than your residence (assuming most of you stay in residence) or you rental-house check-in date, you will most likely being placed to a hotels or apartments until the check-in date. Although it is quite hard to find a cheap room for such a long period (approximately 5-7 days, assuming of August 26th being the earliest day of arriving), MASAT members will try their best to find some way to minimize the cost but still manage a comfortable living space. So, lets hope it will be done. If not, we'll figure something else out.


[3] Off-Campus Housing
An off-campus house or resident is very hard to find, at least for a reasonable price. So, us seniors can't really just go out for one day and find one that suits your money. So, to juniors who wish to live off-campus, and asking seniors to find them one must be patient as it is subject to availability. And it really depends on how much you're willing to spend, the location, the layout of the room and the list goes on.

So, it is advisable for you to take it yourself if you can. Try kijiji.ca or craiglist.ca or places4students.com or many other rental house listing (Google it), where people often post ads about house rental. We seniors can help by contacting them and managing the contract while you are not here. Check out this UofT website too. http://www.housing.utoronto.ca/.


[4] Icputoday.com
Check out this website, created and managed by the seniors of "International Canadian pre-University" programs at Taylor's College. Browse through it to find very important information posted there.

Since Malaysian students who are going to Canada do not consist of only ICPU students and students under scholarship, this website opens up its scope to other Malaysian students as well hence covering an even broader topics. Not only is it an information centre, it is also a place where Malaysian students share their experiences studying and living in Canada. Behind this website are Malaysian students who are currently studying in Canada at various universities.

[5] Banking
There's a lot of banking institution here in Toronto. The top four being Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Toronto Dominion (TD Bank), Bank of Montreal (BMO), and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC). There's HSBC too (the only bank which has its branch in both Canada and Malaysia) but it is too far away and there's hardly any ATM around.

So newcomers, you can decide which bank you want to register for. As far as I understand, all these four offers Student Account, which has some benefits. And all these banks do have ATM scattered all over Toronto. I personally use TD Bank. But, as I said it depends on you. Just choose one and you're good. Though some seniors do said that you should choose RBC as there's more ATM and you don't have to pay the service to send money from Malaysia to Canada (or the vise versa, can't remember it).


Well, I guess it is too much for this post. I'll post up another Summary for other issues later. By the way, enjoy the holiday as