Q: Dude, do you think it's worth going to Waterloo if you're just an average student just wanting to learn CS? I am by no means obsessed with CS or see it as my passion, but I do want to do it for a living. I'm not one to do a side projects as a hobby, but I don't mind coding for coursework. I mainly want to go to Waterloo because of the career opportunities. Someone told me I'm better off to U of T cause Waterloo CS students are the exact opposite of what I've described myself.
A: Yes and no. It really depends. This is actually a pretty hard question to answer. I wouldn't say that U of T CS students would be that different compared to UW CS students from an academic point of view. Both schools cover more or less the same topics but I don't really know how the course load is compared to each other, I will try to find out and update this later on. What I do know is that in first year at UW, you will learn Racket (this was absolutely dreadful, easy course, CS 135, but annoying language) and take calculus 1 (MATH 137) and algebra (MATH 135 - not linear algebra) in 1A. Then 1B will be some Racket (a few weeks, less than a month) then switch over to C (CS 136), calculus 2 (MATH 138), and linear algebra (MATH 136). Whereas at U of T, from what I know, you will learn Python3, calculus, and linear algebra. MATH 135 is the main course that ends up throwing every first year off because the majority of students would have never touched the material at all in high school and at U of T, you don't take it until second year, so it isn't as much of a slap in the face in first year. So your last statement is wrong since students from both school will more than likely have side projects and be fairly hard working.
When it comes to employability, I would say side projects play a major role especially for your first job, whether it is an internship or full-time position. But if you really aren't passionate about CS, I would advise you to look into other programs since if you're not doing something you're enjoying, you're more than likely to regret your decision later on in life after you've invested a great amount of time and money into CS. I have met people who spent nearly a decade completing their undergrad just because they didn't enjoy what they were doing and they regretted it.
So to sort of answer your question, it is up to you but I think that if you can get into the co-op program at UW, that will help you out a lot more in the future than U of T's PEY. Some of my previous employers (don't bother asking, I won't name them) only hired co-op students from UW, some of them were once U of T students as well but they still choose UW over their own alma mater.
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Monday, 26 September 2016
Wednesday, 7 September 2016
Fall 2016....
YAY...! Fall 2016 lectures start tomorrow... I just got back to Waterloo yesterday and moved into my room. I don't know about you guys, but I am not looking too forward to the start of the semester. I just had too much fun relaxing and working during this past summer.
Well I hope you are all ready for another semester of studying to those returning for a study term. To the first years, I hope you enjoyed orientation and are ready for your first lectures of many during your next four or five years here in Waterloo. Also, hope you don't end up partying too hard during first year. And, lastly, those who are starting their work term, enjoy your time off... I wish I was you.
Also, I hope those with a lease with Icon are doing fine and have some place to stay for the time being. To the first years, sure sucks to be you guys to be hit with something like this. To everyone else, it sucks but you should have seen it coming with 1 Columbia's and Sage's shenanigans over the past two years. This is the third year in a row that shit like this has happened. I agree that shit like this shouldn't be happening but will it stop? Probably not any time soon but the area is already over saturated with student housing, so, I'm not too sure how sustainable it would be to put up more student housing complexes. Well only time will tell.
Lastly, woot! Apple press event is today, I wonder if the iPhone 7 really will be missing a good old reliable friend. And will Apple be able to make a comeback in the smartphone market with the iPhone 7? Well, time to wait and see I suppose.
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Well I hope you are all ready for another semester of studying to those returning for a study term. To the first years, I hope you enjoyed orientation and are ready for your first lectures of many during your next four or five years here in Waterloo. Also, hope you don't end up partying too hard during first year. And, lastly, those who are starting their work term, enjoy your time off... I wish I was you.
Also, I hope those with a lease with Icon are doing fine and have some place to stay for the time being. To the first years, sure sucks to be you guys to be hit with something like this. To everyone else, it sucks but you should have seen it coming with 1 Columbia's and Sage's shenanigans over the past two years. This is the third year in a row that shit like this has happened. I agree that shit like this shouldn't be happening but will it stop? Probably not any time soon but the area is already over saturated with student housing, so, I'm not too sure how sustainable it would be to put up more student housing complexes. Well only time will tell.
Lastly, woot! Apple press event is today, I wonder if the iPhone 7 really will be missing a good old reliable friend. And will Apple be able to make a comeback in the smartphone market with the iPhone 7? Well, time to wait and see I suppose.
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