Computer Science Canada

lots of questions about waterloo
Author:  Horus [ Fri May 08, 2009 6:28 pm ]
Post subject:  lots of questions about waterloo
So, yea, I have finally been accepted to comp sci coop @ waterloo.

Now there are lots of questions going around my head. I would appreciate if anyone who goes to waterloo could answer any of them.

1. If you take comp sci coop and your friend takes mathematics coop is there any chance that we'll have the same class together?
2. Same as question one, except if your friend takes comp engineer.
3. How hard is waterloo math? (i've heard rumors of ppl who gets 90s in high school and comes to waterloo to get 50s)
4. If you fail the first test at waterloo, will you be kicked out immediately (again, another rumor i heard about a friend's friend, who got kicked out after taking a test @ waterloo)
5. How much spare time does an average first year have?
6. What's the average class size?
7. For coop, what's the chance of you getting into a big company such as google, microsoft, IBM and etc.
8. I've heard a rumor that in 3rd year, you have to code an operating system which means no sleep for the entire year is that true?
9. Are there many scholarship programs that you can apply while in waterloo? if so, what's the ratio of people who gets the scholarship out of the entire school?
10. I heard that there's no tests @ waterloo, just a mid term exam and final exam. Some courses have projects but professors marks very leniently, is that true?

that's all for now.

And if anyone can share their waterloo experience, it would be great.
Author:  bugzpodder [ Fri May 08, 2009 7:09 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: lots of questions about waterloo
Horus @ Fri May 08, 2009 6:28 pm wrote:
So, yea, I have finally been accepted to comp sci coop @ waterloo.

Now there are lots of questions going around my head. I would appreciate if anyone who goes to waterloo could answer any of them.

1. If you take comp sci coop and your friend takes mathematics coop is there any chance that we'll have the same class together?
you pick your courses. as long as you are in the same stream you can choose to take as many or as little courses together as you want.
2. Same as question one, except if your friend takes comp engineer.
see above.

3. How hard is waterloo math? (i've heard rumors of ppl who gets 90s in high school and comes to waterloo to get 50s)
It varies. I think its very easy. Some say its very hard. depends on ur skills.

4. If you fail the first test at waterloo, will you be kicked out immediately (again, another rumor i heard about a friend's friend, who got kicked out after taking a test @ waterloo)
Your friend's friend is an idiot. Don't listen to him.

5. How much spare time does an average first year have?
All depends on you. You can game all day or study all day.

6. What's the average class size?
Depends on a class. Goes from 30 to 300.

7. For coop, what's the chance of you getting into a big company such as google, microsoft, IBM and etc.
Your resume and interview skills matter.

8. I've heard a rumor that in 3rd year, you have to code an operating system which means no sleep for the entire year is that true?
No. Its not that hard as every CE or CS student takes it.

9. Are there many scholarship programs that you can apply while in waterloo? if so, what's the ratio of people who gets the scholarship out of the entire school?
It's not about the ratio. Your grades matter here.

10. I heard that there's no tests @ waterloo, just a mid term exam and final exam. Some courses have projects but professors marks very leniently, is that true?
For most classes this is true. Probably not, depends on the prof.

that's all for now.

And if anyone can share their waterloo experience, it would be great.
do a search.
Author:  Tony [ Fri May 08, 2009 8:16 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
bugz covered it pretty well. Although he's above average in Math, so expect a drop in grades. 70% is a good mark to have. 80% is very good to have. I would ballpark an average drop to be 15~20%. Although it really depends on your work habits.

Your friends have crappy rumors. They could have at least spread some interesting stories... like how RTOS ruins relationships, and about Pants-free zones on campus.
Author:  saltpro15 [ Fri May 08, 2009 8:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: RE:lots of questions about waterloo
Tony @ Fri May 08, 2009 wrote:


Your friends have crappy rumors. They could have at least spread some interesting stories... like how RTOS ruins relationships, and about Pants-free zones on campus.


pants free zones? you have my undivided attention
Author:  endless [ Fri May 08, 2009 8:33 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
i'm going into Waterloo CS co op as well.

to add to the questions, what average do you have to keep in order to have the opportunity of looking for a co op job? i'm under the impression it is 70% average?

thanks.
Author:  Clayton [ Fri May 08, 2009 8:58 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
Capture the flag on the 5th floor of MC on Sunday nights anyone?
Author:  Dark [ Fri May 08, 2009 9:08 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
Thanks for the FAQ lol, I got into Waterloo CS as well I might head there.
Author:  x30Jx [ Fri May 08, 2009 11:02 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
I demand to know more about this No-Pants section of the Campus.

Do Software Engineering Co-Op students also have to write an OS?
Author:  Ultrahex [ Sat May 09, 2009 9:34 am ]
Post subject:  Re: lots of questions about waterloo
Just cause I feel that questions 1 and 2 were not answered to the best of their ability...

Quote:
1. If you take comp sci coop and your friend takes mathematics coop is there any chance that we'll have the same class together?
2. Same as question one, except if your friend takes comp engineer.


1. If you take computer science co-op and your friends are in mathematics co-op depending on your stream, and the sections you select (for your classes) determines whether you will be in the same class. Since they are both Faculty of Mathematics Degrees, most degrees require the same first year math courses.

2. If your friend takes computer engineer, there is less of a chance for you to be in the same classes. The reason for this is that engineers have different required math, and computer science courses.
Author:  Prabhakar Ragde [ Sat May 09, 2009 12:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: lots of questions about waterloo
Horus @ Fri May 08, 2009 6:28 pm wrote:

3. How hard is waterloo math? (i've heard rumors of ppl who gets 90s in high school and comes to waterloo to get 50s)


There are people like that. It's not because it's "hard". It's because they don't bother to go to lecture, they don't bother to do assignments, they cram for tests the night before... in short, they act as if they were still in high school but all required elements are now optional.

Quote:

4. If you fail the first test at waterloo, will you be kicked out immediately (again, another rumor i heard about a friend's friend, who got kicked out after taking a test @ waterloo)


If you're gullible enough to believe rumours like that, you are going to be the butt of many jokes once you arrive at UW.

Quote:

8. I've heard a rumor that in 3rd year, you have to code an operating system which means no sleep for the entire year is that true?


There is a third-year OS course that involves some coding (both in CS and SE; CE is moving it to second year and changing it, but not this coming year). People who have scraped through the earlier courses and still have lousy work habits find it hard. People who have done well in the earlier courses and have good work habits do not -- although there is a certain macho tendency around here to stay up all night and boast about how hard one is working, especially in certain fourth-year courses.

Quote:

10. I heard that there's no tests @ waterloo, just a mid term exam and final exam. Some courses have projects but professors marks very leniently, is that true?


Do not assume any leniency in marking. Once again: this is not high school. We are permitted to fail people. We do.
Author:  Prabhakar Ragde [ Sat May 09, 2009 12:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: lots of questions about waterloo
Ultrahex @ Sat May 09, 2009 9:34 am wrote:

2. If your friend takes computer engineer, there is less of a chance for you to be in the same classes. The reason for this is that engineers have different required math, and computer science courses.


"Less of a chance" equals zero. Late in the CE program there may be space for an elective or two, and then you can take that with your friend. Otherwise, Engineering students take all their classes with the same set of people (their "cohort").
Author:  Horus [ Wed May 20, 2009 5:41 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
some more questions:

1. for the english test you have to take, how hard is it? can someone who gets 60s in English pass?
what if you fail the english test and also fail the english course?

2. for the advanced math courses available how hard is it? what's the benefit of going in? should i go in? i have a euclid score of 74.

3. Can you chose to take chemistry in university if u don't have gr 12 chemistry?
Author:  Prabhakar Ragde [ Wed May 20, 2009 6:04 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
1. You basically have to write five coherent paragraphs. Some people with lousy English marks pass fine, some with 80+ in English fail.

2. They're for the top 5-10%. Benefit is more challenge. You can't choose them automatically with a Euclid of 74 but you can get an advisor to sign you in in September.

3. They have something equivalent to Grade 12 Chemistry for people who need to make up prerequisites.
Author:  SJ [ Thu May 21, 2009 5:01 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
What kind of score do you need to be automatically placed in the advanced math/cs courses?
Author:  jbking [ Thu May 21, 2009 5:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: lots of questions about waterloo
There are a couple of benefits to taking the advanced Math courses, IMO:

1) If you plan on having a Pure Math major or taking courses in Pure Math, then the advanced courses tend to focus more on proofs rather than examples which may be useful.
2) If you prefer smaller classes, this is the way to go. However, beware of the shrinking class if you take this route as I think there were only a handful of us when we got to 2nd year courses. There were 6 of us in that Math 247 class of Winter '95.

I did take the advanced courses a while back, so maybe some things have changed. Cool
Author:  Prabhakar Ragde [ Thu May 21, 2009 6:49 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
You're never automatically placed into the advanced math courses. However, you can choose them when you register for your 1A courses with a Euclid score of 80 or higher. You can also choose the advanced CS course (145) with this, or with honourable mention on the CCC.

What jbking says is still true, though Math 247 had 27 people in it last winter.
Author:  endless [ Thu May 21, 2009 8:24 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: lots of questions about waterloo
hey horus and any other admitted UW students, i came across this: http://hypemb.com/

it is a forum for admitted students with lots of very useful information.
Author:  SJ [ Thu May 21, 2009 9:34 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
thx endless and PR Smile

one more question about the advanced courses, since SE is cohort, and people take mostly the same classes together, if I choose either/both of the adv math/cs will it mess up my scheduel for other classes?
Author:  Prabhakar Ragde [ Fri May 22, 2009 6:30 am ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
You can't take advanced math or CS in SE.
Author:  SJ [ Fri May 22, 2009 7:24 am ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
oh.. oh well Sad
guess thats another reason why SE is special.
Author:  Prabhakar Ragde [ Fri May 22, 2009 10:51 am ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
It's a consequence of the cohort system, and of the necessity to have some large fraction of the courses in SE taught by professional engineers. (One consulting report I saw recommended hiring Civil or Mech grads as sessional instructors, since they were cheap and plenty of them were unemployed. Domain knowledge? Not so important when it comes to accreditation, it seems.)
Author:  Horus [ Mon May 25, 2009 11:08 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
ok, i've got some more questions:

i've got the $1000 university of waterloo merit scholarship. to keep this scholarship, does my final mark have to remain 85%+ (i estimate mine would drop to low 80s cause i'm too lazy to do my assignment, but telling me yes will motivate me to do them Smile )

For the internet in residence, i've read that you are not allowed to download music/movies. but what if you get caught downloading them? do they block music/movie downloading websites? if so can you use proxy and bypass them?

for the advanced math courses, i definitely wants to go in, but my euclid score is only 74... I'm also a bit confused over the actual requirement for advanced math course, in the faculty of math book, it says requires a score of 80+, in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer science book, it says requires a score of 70+. is this a typo, or does ppl who go in computer science needs lower euclid score to get into advanced math? I also need an advisor to sign me in for advanced math, how will this work, do i do a interview or sth?
Author:  Prabhakar Ragde [ Tue May 26, 2009 6:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: RE:lots of questions about waterloo
Horus @ Mon May 25, 2009 11:08 pm wrote:

i've got the $1000 university of waterloo merit scholarship. to keep this scholarship, does my final mark have to remain 85%+ (i estimate mine would drop to low 80s cause i'm too lazy to do my assignment, but telling me yes will motivate me to do them Smile )


Yes.

No, it doesn't. I don't think there are requirements for keeping entrance scholarships above the requirements for keeping your offer, but do your assignments. One of the biggest problems incoming students have is that they don't do their assignments (which are worth only 10-20% of the mark) and then flame out on exams.

Quote:

For the internet in residence, i've read that you are not allowed to download music/movies. but what if you get caught downloading them? do they block music/movie downloading websites? if so can you use proxy and bypass them?


There are bandwidth restrictions. Blow your quota and your connection is throttled. There's an internal P2P network for popular downloads.

Quote:

for the advanced math courses, i definitely wants to go in, but my euclid score is only 74... I'm also a bit confused over the actual requirement for advanced math course, in the faculty of math book, it says requires a score of 80+, in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer science book, it says requires a score of 70+. is this a typo, or does ppl who go in computer science needs lower euclid score to get into advanced math? I also need an advisor to sign me in for advanced math, how will this work, do i do a interview or sth?


There was a typo in last year's book, and this year's is not out yet, I think. It's 80+ for all students. You see an advisor in person to get signed in (and for CS 145, you e-mail me with the request).
Author:  endless [ Tue May 26, 2009 7:28 am ]
Post subject:  Re: RE:lots of questions about waterloo
Horus @ Mon May 25, 2009 11:08 pm wrote:
For the internet in residence, i've read that you are not allowed to download music/movies. but what if you get caught downloading them? do they block music/movie downloading websites? if so can you use proxy and bypass them?


i hear we have to ditch our torrent programs for when we move in, and if you get caught downloading torrents you get disconnected. However, there is a DC++ / Shakespeare we can use as PR stated, and it supposedly extremely quick (.33s to DL the average song).
Author:  Horus [ Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:17 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
if we can't torrent movies, can we watch movies online?

cause i really can't live without watching movies...

FYI: i watch at least 2 movies / week
2 movies/ day when i'm really bored
Author:  endless [ Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:52 am ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
i'm just guessing here, but i don't think online streaming of movies is illegal for the viewer, only for the website which has uploaded it. so i would imagine you wouldn't get caught/ they wouldn't care.
Author:  jernst [ Mon Jun 08, 2009 10:50 am ]
Post subject:  Re: RE:lots of questions about waterloo
I'm pretty sure it is illegal to watch movies online when you haven't paid for them, its just that often it makes more sense to go after the sites which are providing them. At the very least its not very ethical to watch something you haven't paid for.

endless @ Mon Jun 08, 2009 6:52 am wrote:
i'm just guessing here, but i don't think online streaming of movies is illegal for the viewer, only for the website which has uploaded it. so i would imagine you wouldn't get caught/ they wouldn't care.
Author:  endless [ Mon Jun 08, 2009 11:04 am ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
okay, maybe it is illegal, but wouldn't streaming a movie be the equivalent of watching music videos on youtube which infringe on copyright?

the way i looked at it was as you said, it is much easier to go after the sources instead of the viewers, and i don't see any reason how one could get in trouble for streaming something that is already on the internet.

i guess this is part of the "problem" of the availability of media with the internet, no one gets in trouble therefore it seems alright.

anyway, maybe someone who is currently at UW can answer your question better.
Author:  Tony [ Mon Jun 08, 2009 12:05 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
YouTube has plenty of copyright infringing content, as would any system with user uploaded content.

If you expect to download a lot of content, you are probably better off signing up with a major ISP and and splitting the bill with your room-mates. That way you are not restricted by ResNet rules and limitations.
Author:  Prabhakar Ragde [ Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:26 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: RE:lots of questions about waterloo
Horus @ Sun Jun 07, 2009 10:17 pm wrote:

FYI: i watch at least 2 movies / week
2 movies/ day when i'm really bored


You won't have time for that. Plus when you do you'll want to watch with other people.
Author:  Amit [ Sat Jun 13, 2009 10:40 am ]
Post subject:  Re: RE:lots of questions about waterloo
Prabhakar Ragde @ Tue May 26, 2009 6:46 am wrote:

for CS 145, you e-mail me with the request.


I received my class selection package yesterday, and it said that "Students interested in CS 145 will be admitted directly into this course if they have a score of at least 80 on the Euclid Contest or if they received honorable mention in the Canadian Computing Competition"

I didn't receive anything for this year's CCC, but last year in grade 11 I wrote the junior section and was the division champion for Northern and Eastern Ontario.

So does that count as the honorable mention in the above quote or will I have to get permission from you, Prabhakar?
Author:  Prabhakar Ragde [ Sat Jun 13, 2009 11:50 am ]
Post subject:  RE:lots of questions about waterloo
No, that doesn't count. E-mail me with lots of reasons why you should be let in.

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