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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Hi, I'm the same person who asked this question. I don't mind hating my life because of choosing a career I don't even want. It is what it is, I guess. Practicality. I don't particularly dislike CS, although I'm not very fond of it either. I've taken a uni course in discrete mathematics, and it's "eh". I ended up with an ~80, which is good I guess? My actual point from my first question is that would there room for someone not CS-obsessed in Waterloo? I'm given the impression that all Waterloo CS students are actually passionate about what they're doing. Have you met people who are just there because they have to get a degree, not because they actually enjoy CS?
ReplyDeleteYes, there is room for someone who isn't obsessed to CS and yeah, there are some who are just here for the degree. As long as you can get the marks, you'll be fine.
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