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Finding Official UCalgary Course/Professor Ratings (NOT RateMyProf)

Like any anonymous review website, Rate My Professor is filled with fake positive reviews and review bombing. Sometimes, a professor just isn't there! So where can you go for extra information? You can check the official "Universal Student Ratings of Instruction" or USRIs. Many students know about USRIs and their importance to improving quality of instruction at the university. They are optional surveys done anonymously near the end of each semester through the UCalgary portal (you can only review the course if you're actually taking it) and each course has a written survey and a rating survey for various metrics. What few students know or take advantage of is that many USRI results from previous semesters are available for them to read (they are released to students if at least 20% of the section and a minimum of 8 students responded). The following information is made available (for specific lecture sections taught by each professor): Ratings on a scale of 1 (Strong...
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Staying Active (Indoors!) at UCalgary

University is a time and place to make healthy lifestyle choices that can have a lasting impact, even if you're a computer science student (your back and neck will thank you). Since you pay for the services anyway, why not take advantage of UCalgary's Active Living facilities? Staying active is important for good sleep, health, avoiding burnout, as well as countless other things. Now that it's cold out, it's a great time to take advantage of some of these indoor activities that could be a new and fun activity for you. For any of them, check in for a wristband at the Active Living Services desk. Squash and Racquetball We have the largest public racquet sports facility in Canada! Book a court online at https://active-living.ucalgary.ca/rentalsbookings/court-bookings or at the front desk (walk-in is usually fine). You can purchase a ball (either sport) for $4.75 and rent racquets for $2.50 each. The rules are simple to learn and they're both a lot of fun!
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Lucky Supermarket's Food Court: A Hidden Gem?

Serving bubble tea, pho, vermicelli, BBQ duck, gelato, and more all in one place, Lucky Supermarket Calgary's "StreetFood Kitchen" is a rare fast food experience that can appeal to a different audience than usual :).
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UCalgary Computer Science vs Software Engineering (2022)

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Gaga Pizzeria Review - Delectable Pizzas and a Friendly Experience

Did you know that a small, unassuming pizza place named Gaga Pizzeria is the #1 ranked Calgary restaurant on TripAdvisor? With a 5.0 rating as well as being an affordable place to eat, I knew I had to try it some day. And I did! Entering the restaurant, I was surprised by its small size. It has limited indoor and outdoor seating, so consider taking your pizza as takeout. The eatery is whimsically decorated with dollar bills from all over the world across the ceiling and interesting paintings on the walls. Dollar bills from all over the world
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Lessons From My First Month in University

September has ended (cue Green Day) and by now most students have developed... some feelings  (likely mixed) about their university experience, as well as some important insights. Taylor Institute I'm putting mine to virtual paper to record them for myself as well as anyone else who may benefit from them :), please leave a comment if you have any of your own! Put your class times and rooms in a calendar The "Download Calendar" button in the UCalgary portal is a lifesaver for this. I was pretty confused and lost in my first days until I figured this out and imported all my class times to Outlook. It's always useful for scheduling any other activities so you don't have to think of conflicts in your head. Bonus: Your calendar can probably send you a notification 15 minutes before your class in case you forgot about it. Leave time for lunch When I registered for my classes, I tried to leave a 1-2 hour gap around 1pm for lunchtime. I'm extremely happy I did...
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Chicko Chicken Review (Korean Fried Chicken)

Is Korean Fried Chicken as good as it sounds? Chicko Chicken is a popular Korean Fried Chicken chain in BC that recently opened its first Calgary location in Harvest Hills (next to T&T Supermarket). This location definitely has more of a take-out vibe with enough seating for only about 2-3 groups of people. I ordered the half & half (about $25) which is half sizes of two different flavours, and chose the soy garlic and cheese snow flavours (not spicy). You can also choose boneless or bone-in, but not both. I opted for boneless. Soy garlic on the left and cheese snow on the right The chicken was perfectly cooked and had a nice crunch to it. Both flavours were slightly sweet (I personally prefer wings less sweet, but it's certainly a style many enjoy and I still liked it). The soy garlic wings were yummy as expected, and the delicious cheese snow flavour was quite interesting. It had a sort of cheese powder on top that gave an interesting artificial cheese taste...
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Barcelona Tavern on Stephen Avenue

While looking for tapas in Calgary on a whim, I happened upon Barcelona Tavern; a Spanish-inspired restaurant that serves Paella and other Mediterranean meals. Located on Stephen Avenue, its prominent sign and bull logo draws you in. Inside is a large space with many televisions showing sports events and modern bar/restaurant decor. I didn't end up having any tapas, but I had some of the Seafood Paella ($29) which has mussels, clams, prawns, calamari, and of course "bomba" rice (a type of short-grain Spanish rice generally used for Paella).  The paella was quite delicious, and both the seafood and rice were nicely cooked. I can't speak to the authenticity as it's been years since I had paella in Spain, but it certainly didn't feel inauthentic to me. The rice was crispy on the bottom (my favourite!), and I only wish it had more seafood. Next was the steelhead trout with cauliflower puré e, blistered tomatoes, rapini, and a great and interesting swee...
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My Move-In Week

Welcome to my blog! I've officially spent my first week at UCalgary (move-in week, which is the week before classes start) and it's been my first taste of residence and residence food. Move-in day (Sunday) was the most nerve-wracking this week. There were many cars lining up for keys/Unicard pick-up (many cars getting lost as well…), and of course there is stress involved with packing everything you might need (much more so for non-Calgary students) and correctly following the precise yet confusing instructions. I would highly recommend uploading your Unicard photo in advance to skip the long line for taking a photo and checking the move-in brochure for more detailed information than the email. Lunch at the Landing (the university buffet) was free for students and their parents for the day. It was by far the busiest day, but the line-ups moved quickly. In the evening, residences had a floor meeting to go over general rules and meet the other students staying on the same f...
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IKEA Yearly Midsummer Buffet 2024 Review

Every year around June, IKEA hosts a Midsummer Buffet full of fish, meatballs, salad, and more. You have to be an IKEA Family member (which is free) and buy a $25 ticket in person on a previous day. I attended the Calgary buffet, and here is my full review!
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Rating my Experience in Each of my First Year Courses (CS/CPSC @ UCalgary)

Fall CPSC 231 (Intro to CS with Python), Required - This course was a nice introduction to the basics of programming with Python. It was fairly easy for me since I had some prior experience with coding, but I think it would be manageable for beginners too. The only downside was that the assignments were graded by a computer program, so even a minor mistake like a typo or a missing comma could lower your mark significantly. I heard that this course is better organized and taught than CPSC 217, which is the online version of it. I would give this course a 7/10 because it was good but not very challenging. PHIL 279 (Logic and Proofs), Required - This course was pretty interesting and different. It teaches you how to use logic and mathematical symbols to construct and evaluate arguments, and it required a certain way of thinking that was not intuitive at first. I took the online assessment version of the course, which gave me more flexibility but also required more self-disci...
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UCalgary Tech Recruiting w/ BobaTalks’ Jeff Nguyen

While this isn’t quite a tech blog, this post should have some important insights for any UCalgary students interested in a tech career. After seeing that  Jeff Nguyen , a recruiter in the student space, founder of BobaTalks (which provides free mentorship for students), and prolific "LinkedInfluencer" (the good kind) was going to have a booth at  CalgaryHacks 2025 , I knew I had to reach out. As someone deeply involved in both student mentorship and tech recruiting, he seemed like the perfect person to chat with about student recruiting, starting with how UCalgary students can stand out in the job market.  Q: UCalgary has good computer science courses and fantastic clubs. Even so, many students here find it tough to break into big or even mid-sized tech companies because there's not a lot of direct access to recruiters. What's your take on the best way for students in a market like ours to get noticed? Jeff : I believe that computer science is one of those fields wh...
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