University of Guelph: what it's really like

Want to study on a green campus in Canada, with easy access to Toronto? Guelph could be the one for you!

The University of Guelph at a glance:

Amy Van Rensburg, Manager of International Recruitment at Guelph, shares what it’s like to study there.

What is the University of Guelph?

The University of Guelph is a mid-size university located in Ontario, Canada. The campus itself is very spacious and beautiful, with lots of greenery and trail walks.

The university’s specialities include business, agriculture, and animal science - in fact, Guelph is the number one vet school in Canada. The university is very research-focused, with a lot of funding available for this purpose.

There are about 30,000 students on campus in total, representing 140 different countries, so it’s a very international university.

Why apply to Guelph?

Guelph has been rated the top campus for food in Canada six or seven years straight! We have the same number of dining halls; we have lots of pubs, coffee shops and food trucks that park outside the university centre, including Canadian classics like poutine. And you can even ask the chefs to make you a dish you’re missing from home, if you have the recipe. They’ll try and make it for you the next day!

There’s also a very friendly, kind community here. When you become a Gryphon, you’re part of a close-knit community. The university provides itself on student satisfaction, so we’re passionate about making sure students are happy and healthy.

Who isn’t the right fit for Guelph?

Guelph possibly isn’t suited to someone who wants that intense city vibe, like taking the subway to their classes and living downtown.

Guelph has a campus community, and whilst this is open to the public and close to the city, it’s different to being downtown and living amongst city dwellers themselves. On campus, you can access everything you need, so it’s not essential to go into the city.

Any application tips? 

For international students, Guelph offers rolling admissions. This means that as soon as you apply, you join a queue for it to be reviewed. There are Early Application deadlines, so you can beat the bigger queue this way and get the result of your application quicker.

It’s also worth remembering your scholarship deadline might be different from your application deadline - check the university’s website for this.

Entry requirements are determined by programme here, so these can be different for each - and there are 85 different programmes. When you apply, you get a choice of up to three programmes in your application, so we encourage applying for all three. You could then get multiple offers to choose from - there’s no need to let us know your preference first.

There’s an admissions platform called Unibuddy on Guelph’s website, so you can chat to the admissions team directly if you have any questions.

What’s the location like?

The university is located in the small city of Guelph, giving a blend of city atmosphere and tight-knit town. The campus is pedestrianised and students can access everything here. Architecture students help the campus look beautiful!

It’s easy to get in and out of Toronto from here, so you can easily go see a hockey game. In Guelph itself however, there are lots of restaurants, cinemas and pubs, so there’s no need to leave the city.

What facilities does Guelph have to offer?

Facilities at Guelph include a newly renovated athletics centre with a huge climbing wall; huge expansive fields; and a big gym and fitness centre.

There is an arboretum, where students can go on and off-campus trails to explore nature in classes or in their free time.

The beautiful new science complex looks as though it has a tree which grows from the ground and into the labs, plus it features high-tech labs for the broad range of science programmes. The engineering schools have exciting facilities too, including robots, which you can see in action on our YouTube channel!

The university centre, or hub of the university, has a pub inside - not to mention that there are around 14 coffee houses across the campus. That’s in addition to the bakery, six different dining halls where you can request your choice of food from the chefs… we’re known as the ‘food campus’!

International student advisers can help students who have travelled far to settle in. We have counselling services, in a very calming green-walled space, and student support networks like the student government and various clubs you can join.

 

What is the accommodation like?

The University of Guelph has guaranteed housing for first year students, so about 93% of them choose to live on campus. 

There are about seven different halls on campus. You can choose to have a single or double room, en suite or not, request a female-only dorm, or you can even request to live with students on the same major as you. Some accommodation have their own dining suites, but you can walk to all dining halls easily from on-campus accommodation.

In second, third and fourth year, most students choose to move off campus and rent accommodation with friends in the city. 

How does the university meet the needs of students with different accessibility requirements?

The University of Guelph has a digital accessibility resource centre, where students have the option to help make digital content available to all. Our images, website and accessibility are always being updated here.

In 2018, the university became the first post-secondary institution in Canada to install BlindSquare. It’s an electronic way-finding system to help students across the campus using GPS.

We have payment plans, scholarships and other funding options, to help students who might need financial support; as well as tutoring from third and fourth year students for those needing academic support.

Want to explore more Canadian universities? Remember, Unifrog’s Shortlisting tool can help you put together a list of great potential courses.