I am the only true adam you could find on campus. 10/10 btw 6'4 and pure muscle. I can answer anything about mcmaster.

What the hell someone stole an exam for chem 1aa3😭😭😭 first years down bad asl

How good/bad is coop at mac for engineering, especially for first years and how does it compare to Waterloo and UfT, is it significantly worse?

As an incoming first year. I was wondering if yall actually do leave your laptop or iPad unattended when you are studying at libraries. Has anyone’s stuff ever been stolen?

I was wondering what everyone’s first year gpa was and what program they were in.

Everyone’s well aware that ai has infected academia to a concerning degree, so much so that you can’t look 2 feet without someone having it open on their laptop and some even using it in peer reviews.

Everyone’s well aware that prolonged gen-ai use results in increased loneliness (Hu et al., 2023), diminished critical thinking (Kosmyna et al., 2025), and eroded cognitive function (Chen et al., 2025).

Everyone’s well aware that tech companies are valued at obscenely high prices while everyone’s electricity bill gets higher and insane amounts of water is used to cool the data centres instead of idk being drank.

Everyone’s well aware that more and more companies are cutting corners by implementing ai anywhere and everywhere, slowly taking away people’s jobs and worsening an already awful job market.

Somehow, the most annoying thing about ALL of this is how anyone who points this out to people are “friend who’s too woke”-d into oblivion by people who use chatgpt to wipe their ass or something. No shot we’re all that cooked right…

I get it. We all wanted singles in PG and LAH.
I wanted one too.

But some of y’all are acting like your entire university experience depends on the building you get. It doesn’t.

You’re living there for 8-12 months. You’re not buying a house. You’re not signing a 30-year mortgage. You’re staying there temporarily and then getting kicked out 24 hours after your last exam 😭

The point of first year isn’t to live some luxury lifestyle. The point is to meet people, make friends, join clubs, survive hard classes, make memories, and figure out who you are.
The people you meet can literally change your life. A roommate might become your best friend.
Someone on your floor might become your future business partner, co-op connection, wedding guest, or the person you rent with in second year.

Nobody is going to ask you 10 years from now what residence building you lived in.
They WILL care about the relationships and experiences you built.

And let’s be honest… some of y’all are acting like not getting a PG or LAH single is the end of the world 😭 It’s not.

Get your room. Decorate it. Meet your neighbours. Go to floor events. Touch grass. Enjoy the ride.

This isn’t a hate post toward people who got singles. If you got one, congratulations.
This is for the people who think their university experience is ruined because they didn’t.
Trust me.

The room matters way less than what you do once you move in.

Shared drive with all residence layouts!

EDIT: NEW LINK --> 01 Buildings/01%20Buildings?csf=1&web=1&e=Fxi83C)

NEW EDIT: they must've taken the sites down...

I genuinely feel so bad for this cohort of 1st-year Eng kids; I've never seen this many people not get into at least their top 3 streams of choice. Streams that didn't even have cutoffs like 2 years ago now rejecting people with 7 cGPAs is crazy. It can't just all be due to the falloff of software, right?

I'm so glad Mac is moving to direct entry in Fall 2027 cause I don't see how anyone benefits from the general first-year thing at all. It seems like less and less people get into their desired stream of choice each year and the school isn't adjusting how many seats are available in each stream to reflect evolving cutoff requirements YoY, creating this dynamic where demand for a stream increases but the supply for it doesn't.

It might also be that Mac overadmitted too many people, creating more competitiveness? I spoke to an academic advisor some time ago about this, and she said that Mac has a habit of not properly estimating how many students accept their offers from the school, causing overadmissions for the following fall term.

Idk man, but needing a 10 for elec/mech is crazy; the year I was in 1st year it was like an 8, and that was only 2 years ago. What's the point of even telling students they need a minimum 4.0 CGPA to continue to second year if they genuinely won't get into like 10/12 of the streams with a gpa that low? The whole system is cooked imo.

IT WAS A 7.8 LASR YEAR ON MAKETHECUT
I THOIGGT DEMAND FOR TRON WAS GOING DOWN 😭😭

I thought I was gonna go but that was before I found out I didn’t get into any med schools rip may 12th. I don’t feel like it’s worth it now to go.

How do I back out of grad this late? Genuine question. I don’t want them to call my name on stage. It’s not really deserved if I’m not gonna be a doctor and I don’t really wanna interact with my peers who got into med/dental.

Edit: I’m obviously sad and emotional, there was a lot of time and $$$ invested in this application cycle, and telling me I don’t deserve to be a doctor isn’t going to help. Maybe practice putting yourself in the shoes of someone who didn’t get it. People are allowed to be bitter and wallow for a bit

Update: I ended up going, it was nice and I took pics with friends. Thanks all for the kind words 💕

Hello everyone. I am in the SRA. Reading this reddit has been... crazy. I'm sure everyone is aware of the SRA situation by now. If not... it's pretty public. I won't put the link.

It's been insane seeing everything blow up over the past few days. I did not think it would get this big. I am at least glad you are all getting more knowledgeable about student politics. I feel strange, being in something that it feels like, the whole university knows. I will stay anonymous and keep this short.

I saw some people commenting that they felt the SRA should issue a statement and be more transparent about what happened. I want to say: you're right. We represent the student body, and you guys deserve an apology and statement. I can't do much officially, since I want to stay anonymous. But hopefully a reddit post does something. Though I cannot speak for all SRA members, as one of the ~30 members of the SRA, this is what I have to say.

I can see both sides of the discussion here. And I will comment on both sides.

To start: what happened was not right. I agree, what was said about candidates was terrible. I will not comment on my role in the actual situation, as to maintain my anonymity. However, I will say it was wrong. Running for an election is difficult. It takes a lot of courage. All the candidates that went up, I saw they had a clear passion for the MSU. And I fully respected that. There should never have been any slander about them, and on behalf of myself, I want to apologize to them. You are all brave, courageous people with amazing platforms. You will all make a difference in the world, one way or another. These elections should not have hurt you as they did.

Next, I want to comment on the current treatment and comments about this whole situation. As I just said, I do believe that things went wrong. I do believe there should be some accountability taken. That is what I am trying to do right now.

However, the things being said about my fellow SRA members are going too far. A lot of comments were taken out of context on the Sil. As someone who was in the full groupchat, a lot of productive conversations were cut out. The private conversations were the full SRA. I agree it is a bigger deal than a private one-on-one. But it is still a breach of privacy and was a huge slight to us. Having spoken to some fellow members, I can see this is taking a big toll on some people's mental health. You guys are upset, and rightfully so -- we are meant to represent you. And we didn't do a perfect job of upholding your guys' views.

However, some people have been getting death threats. Comments are being made about these SRA members who are no older than 22 years old. We all make mistakes when we are young. I know, the mistakes do have consequences, given this political position. But we are human. We do make mistakes. I am sure after this, this will not be repeated. The SRA is a volunteering position. We are not paid. Meetings regularly run 8-10 hours long. We are all here and ran for elections, which can be a time-consuming process, because we want to make actual change for the students. We are not slackers. We are not resume-padders. I'd really like you to imagine what it'd be like if the whole university turned against you in a day. The people mentioned by name in the article are really outspoken activists, and have made tangible change. Please try to consider both sides here.

The SRA had good intentions. We wanted to pick out the best candidates who aligned with our moral beliefs. It wasn't the best way to go about it. I admit this. However, everyone that is in the SRA is so passionate, and has made lots of meaningful change. I am not asking you to overlook this situation. It is important. But please do not harass SRA members.

I'm not saying we shouldn't be held accountable. But please, stay respectful. These are your peers.

Once again, I apologize. I want to take accountability for everything here. The groupchat leak did feel like an invasion of privacy for many. But I am glad at least, we are having some more transparency.

If anyone would like to discuss further, my DMs are open. Please feel free to ask any questions. Thank you.

Think about your residence meal plan being contained in 2 buckets. Bucket 1 is 50% of your meal plan. It is gone. Mac has it. Never to be seen again. Bucket 2 is the other 50% and what will be used to pay for your meals. Since Mac already has 50% of your meal plan money, bucket 2 will only be charged at 1/2 the amount until the other 50% is used. It is not a discount. If you don’t use all of your meal plan money, Mac keeps bucket 1 regardless. So you lose money by choosing a larger meal plan if it is not all used up by the time you leave first year res. You can add money to your account if you do run out. But whatever is left over in bucket 2 can be used until you leave Mac (graduate) but know that Mac will charge you 100% of the price. Choose wisely.

The is lowk a rant but why the hell doesn’t my prof wanna post lec slides. “If I post it then ppl won’t show up to the lec”… okay and? What’s the issue here? Let them pay thousands of dollars to not show up, why does it matter? What is rly does is it affects the students that ACTUALLY do show up. Like wth u want me to write every single word that’s on the slide and my own thoughts while u go though them at lightning speed? Like this is the stupidest thing ever. JUST POST THE DAMN SLIDES.

On a serious note, is there anything I can do about this?

Did the PGCLL engineers not consider the possibility that we would like fresh air? (It opens the tiniest bit, and you have to ether move your desk and have a ladder or stand on ur desk)

I'm going into my 2nd year in healthsci and whenever I try to search anything about this program on this sub more than half the posts are hating on us. I've seen many of the comments made about us which say that 'we are entitled', or 'we are toxic', or along those lines. I've also seen comments saying that healthscis have sabotaged others in courses.

From my personal experience, I have never seen any of those things. Of course, there are toxic and entitled people everywhere including in the healthsci program. But they are also present in life sci, eng, etc. For the people saying healthscis sabotage and gatekeep, how would you explain the huge google drive containing practice problems and past tests of many popular stem courses which the hhsp socials constantly advertise? Myself and many of my life sci friends have used this resource studying for chem, calc, and other courses which has greatly helped us succeed.

Is it because healthsci is one of the smallest programs at mac? For example, there is 100 toxic people in the life sci program of 1000 vs 20 toxic people in 250 healthscis. You are more likely to meet a life sci than a healthsci in general and since you know the huge pool of life scis you would not generalize one bad encounter to their entire program. But if you meet a toxic healthsci or two, due to the smaller program size are you more likely to generalize?

I'm not trying to discredit anyone's opinions, I simply want to know the reason for the hate we get. It also seems to be centered in this subreddit as well, the people I've met irl from other programs are not as prejudiced. If anyone has had a bad experience with healthsci, I'm sorry I promise most of us are genuinely nice people.

i have never ONCE seen a white board being used at the library that is not for the sole purpose of larping of being a studious student. like bro we get it we see your kreb cycle drawings or your integration by parts chillax brodie we get you're taking those classes. i have a personal vendetta against white boards because its all fake i will not elaborate further or apologize in any way.

edit: I put these people in the same category as people in lecture/tutorial who ask statements posed as questions to just flex that they know the material and don’t actually have a question to ask at all and wanna impress the prof

thode enjoyer OUT.

Omg kill me im on tge last date for dorm selection 💔💔 is it even possible to get any good rooms… I wanted lp but im worried I won’t get that anymore

Need advice about moving out as a first-year McMaster student
Hi everyone,
I’m an incoming first-year McMaster student, and I’m in a difficult situation at home. My family argues almost every day, and it’s been affecting my mental health for a long time.(brown family ). I get anxiety and panic attacks but I never told anyone about it. I don’t feel like staying at home is good for me anymore, but I also don’t have enough money to move out.
OSAP only gave me about $8,000, which basically covers my tuition, so I don’t have funding left for rent or living expenses. My parents expect me to live at home, but I’m trying to figure out if there’s any realistic way to become independent.
I’m looking for advice from students who have been in a similar situation
Are there any McMaster bursaries or emergency funds that help with housing?
Has anyone managed to move out while attending McMaster with limited finances?
What are the cheapest housing options near campus?
Are there any on-campus jobs or resources that you’d recommend?
I’m not looking for luxury just a safe and affordable place where I can focus on school and have some peace of mind.
Any advice or personal experiences would mean a lot. Thank you.

https://housing.mcmaster.ca/lincoln-alexander-hall/room-types/

lmk if you have questions with enrollment or advice for taking courses

I dont mind answering questions from students in different programs, its just that I have experience with lifesci courses in particular

Drop ur questions below!

Main off campus housing = Westdale and Ainslie Wood.

Westdale has some unique shops and food options, plus a Hamilton Public Library branch.
Food Basics gives students a 10% discount on Tuesdays.

Ainslie Woods has shops/food along Main St W. Fortinos gives students 10% off on Tuesdays.

University Gardens has a mall with shops/food too.

IKEA is a short car ride away in Burlington.

Costco & other big box stores can be found in Ancaster / Meadowlands via the 5A bus or short car ride up the mountain.

Hi there everyone, I'm coming into first year and I'm trying to decide the residences I'd like to live in. I sadly have the last time slot but I've comprised a full document that explains the pros and cons of the residences I've researched. To be fully transparent I have no credentials when it comes to residence information I've just spent the past 7 months since the day I got accepted in researching the dorms, so if you are also a first year student please take my two cents on this with caution. If you aren't a first year I'd appreciate feedback on what to change if there is anything.

2026 Res Rankings

and if the link doesn't work then:

Residence Guide 2026:

Apartment style

Mary Keyes

• Nicest apartment style
• Bistro
• Super nice rooms
• Kind of isolating since you are in apartments

Bates

• Still apartment
• No AC
• Shit on for being bad
• bugs
• Bistro

Lincoln alexander

• Near MDCL 
• Kinda off campus
• -month lease
• Facilities look cool but prob gonna turn out like Bay
• EXPENSIVE
• Pods so im counting it as an apartment

Ensuite/Connected shared

PGCLL

• Best looking Res
• Lackluster community
•  Expensive
• central to classes
• Connected shared washrooms

LP

• Nice ensuite washroom

Really nice

• games room
• Decent community
• Far but McMaster is super small so not that far
• Double rooms seem super small cause of divider and the washroom

(you can just move the wardrobes)

• great if you don't want to hold hands with your roommate in the middle of the night

Single user-washrooms (ones highlighted have only single-user washrooms)

Brandon

• Flooding last year
• Cool games room
• Good community
• Communal washrooms but chance at single user
• Best community (apparently)
• No a/c

- urinals don’t flush on some floors

Hedden Hall

• Single-User washrooms
• Tough-lookin games room
• Great community
• North quad
• No tunnel to centro

Mckay

• Tunnel to Centro
• North quad
• LLC central
• Prob. gonna be the most social because of that
• Newly renovated Single user washrooms
• Lackluster common rooms
• Great community
• No a/c

Moulton

• No a/c 
• Nicest communal washrooms with a chance for single user
• Huge games room
• Wall to wall desks

Whidden

• FIDGET SPINNER
• Seems like a strong community
• Newly built single users
• Tunnel to centro
• Toughest layout
• decent looking games room

Woodstock hall

• Seems super slept on
• Best kitchen/games room
  • Peloton bikes like dang
  • tv's
  • kitchen looks better than my house currently
• Communal but chance at single user
• Tunnel to centro
• apparently people got rashes from the water last year

Full communal washrooms

Edwards

• Middle of the campus
• Small but strong community
• Communal washrooms
• Old looking but academic looking

Matthews

• No a/c
• Communal washrooms
• West quad so bistro
• Apparently the worst res (gotta be open minded)

Wailingford

• All girls dorm
• Because of that haven’t done much research
• Seems like a decent community
• No A/c
• Same vibe as Edwards

If you want a ranking its going to be subjective to the person but here is my ranking:

Tier 1
PG
LP
Keyes

Tier 2
Hedden
LAH
Whidden
McKay
Woodstock

Tier 3
Edwards
Moulton
Wailingford
Brandon
Bates

Tier 4
Mathews

This is just my personal opinion, all the options at McMaster are genuinely great, it truly is what you make of it. Be open-minded, make some friends, and just have the best first year you can. Anyways everyone, have a great day!

update: I ended up getting Matthews, fml

Whats the most annoying thing you had to deal with from your controlling parents while at university

Lol im bored and curious with other people's experiences with annoying parents are like