Computer Science Canada

Group 1 High School Credits
Author:  GSP [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:38 pm ]
Post subject:  Group 1 High School Credits
What are group 1 credits? I know one is required to graduate high school in Ontario but i'm not sure what courses are actually group 1.
Also, is it possible if I have taken a course in the past that can satisfy two categories (ex. A course that satisfies both Group 1 and Group 2 <<just an example)?
Or is one course only allowed to satisfy one category?

Please list some easy, light workload Group 1 courses that I could take in grade 12 or grade 11 (preferably grade 12) or any Group 1 course that could help me in CE or CS.

Thanks.
Author:  chrisbrown [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Group 1 High School Credits
GSP @ Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:38 pm wrote:
What are group 1 credits?
I don't know, but...

GSP @ Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:38 pm wrote:
is it possible if I have taken a course in the past that can satisfy two categories
... probably not.

GSP @ Wed Jul 28, 2010 2:38 pm wrote:
Please list some easy, light workload Group 1 courses that I could take in grade 12 or grade 11 (preferably grade 12) or any Group 1 course that could help me in CE or CS.
May I suggest you either enthuse yourself with the idea of heavy workloads, or find a different field of study?
Author:  TheGuardian001 [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:40 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Group 1 High School Credits
Ontario Secondary School Credits

According to that (and assuming that's accurate,) Group 1 is "additional credit in English, or French, or an aboriginal language, or a classical or international language, or social sciences and the humanities, or Canadian and world studies, or guidance and career education, or cooperative education"

There are no courses which fall into two groups with the exception of Coop, which falls into all 3 (Although I assume it only counts for one of them, probably whichever one you're lacking.) Group 1 is languages, Group 2 is Misc. (phys ed, business, arts, coop,) and Group 3 is Sciences.

I'm assuming by "additional" they mean on top of the English course you're required to take every year. None of the group 1 credits will you much in CS. Would've been a good thing to get out of the way early, since Gr 12 language courses are far more difficult than their grade 9 counterparts.
Author:  Insectoid [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:43 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:Group 1 High School Credits
Take a CS co-op for group 1. I really didn't much like my placement but I learned a lot and got two credits out of it (albeit for four times the...time)
Author:  Tony [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:05 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Group 1 High School Credits
TheGuardian001 @ Wed Jul 28, 2010 3:40 pm wrote:
None of the group 1 credits will you much in CS.

With the exception of more English.

"None of the credits will <verb> you much..."

I'm serious about English though.
Author:  TheGuardian001 [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Group 1 High School Credits
Oops. Yeah, I tend to cut out words when I edit stuff. I edit text weird. I type out the new thing while leaving the old one there, then cut out the old stuff. It means I cut a few extra words sometimes.

But yeah, if your school offers extra English courses (Writers craft was available at my school, for example,) those are probably your best bet out of Group 1 credits. A Coop probably wouldn't hurt either, but it does mean giving up an extra course for a semester (meaning it'll knock something else out of your schedule)
Author:  GSP [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 6:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Group 1 High School Credits
Thanks for the replies everyone.
It's not that I'm not a hard worker, it's just that I did my research on career choices a little later than expected (better now than in University).

Just so everyone knows my situation right now, I decided that I wanted to become a computer engineer around January 2010 but some of the prerequisite courses
for CE we're full for the next semester.
I took both grade 11 courses that we're open and would help me for CE, which were Computer Science and Computer Engineering (ICS3U and TEJ3M respectively).

Now that I'm heading into grade 12, I will be taking Physics, English, Advanced Functions, Calculus, Chemistry and most likely Computer Engineering and Computer Science.

Now, to make my dilemma worse I did not take grade 11 chemistry, and grade 11 chemistry at summer school was also full. I will now have to take grade 11 chem during night school
of first semester of grade 12 as well as the courses mentioned above, and not to mention grade 12 chemistry in my second semester of grade 12.

Now, I realize that I planned my high school career very poorly because I do not even have a Group 1 credit.
This is why I'm asking for a course that is very light, any alternative solutions to my problem are more than welcome but this is what I plan on doing starting September.

1st Semester
Physics
English
Advanced Functions
Computer Engineering
Grade 11 Chemistry (Night School)

2nd Semester
Calculus
Computer Science
Grade 12 Chemistry
OPEN (Likely a Group 1 course)

And as for Insectoid's advice, co-op would be good for me, but co-op for one period, is definitely a waste of time, since most placements in my area take about 15 minutes to travel to.
Also, I would have to apply to co-op and that would just be something else to do, I would rather take a any other regular Group 1 course.

I know that my 1st semester is very jam packed and will be incredibly hard, but I can handle a lot of hard work.
This may come as a joke but I really want to go to University of Waterloo, I am a pretty bright student in computers, hardware mainly and I think I can pull it off.

As jampacked as my 1st semester is, it is exactly what Waterloo wants to see, student's with heavy workloads, a lot of ECs, etc.

I'm confident I can do this, any advice?
Author:  Tony [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 7:12 pm ]
Post subject:  RE:Group 1 High School Credits
Make sure that CE is something that you actually want to do

http://compsci.ca/blog/choosing-between-computer-science-and-computer-engineering/

Best advice for Waterloo admissions is to put extra effort into your English mark, other _required_ courses (I don't think CE or CS are required), and solid marks for your "top 6". Given the same average, you are better off with all marks being in the 80s, rather than some 90s pulling up some 70s.

Technical students typically find English less interesting, but the effort is worth it. It might be more of a challenge with having English in your more-difficult semester though.

Grade 11 Chemistry is not a strict requirement for grade 12 class, but that depends on your school, teacher, and your ability to pick up material in science classes. I've taken grade 12 Biology without grade 11 version. Though since Chem is a required course (I think it is for CE), make sure that you get to take it.
Author:  GSP [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:15 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: RE:Group 1 High School Credits
Tony @ Wed Jul 28, 2010 7:12 pm wrote:
Make sure that CE is something that you actually want to do

http://compsci.ca/blog/choosing-between-computer-science-and-computer-engineering/

Best advice for Waterloo admissions is to put extra effort into your English mark, other _required_ courses (I don't think CE or CS are required), and solid marks for your "top 6". Given the same average, you are better off with all marks being in the 80s, rather than some 90s pulling up some 70s.

Technical students typically find English less interesting, but the effort is worth it. It might be more of a challenge with having English in your more-difficult semester though.

Grade 11 Chemistry is not a strict requirement for grade 12 class, but that depends on your school, teacher, and your ability to pick up material in science classes. I've taken grade 12 Biology without grade 11 version. Though since Chem is a required course (I think it is for CE), make sure that you get to take it.


Thanks, very helpful information and I know that high school CE and CS are not required but my teachers keep telling me how recommended they are and the fact that I'm lucky that our school
is even running those programs.

Also, I've heard of high schools letting students take courses without the prerequisites to the course, but that's usually for courses that don't relate or require the previous course as much.
With Chemistry, I doubt I will be able to get an approval from my guidance department, but again, thanks for the help and info, I'll keep you guys updated and hopefully I'll be in Waterloo next year Smile

PS,
I am still not sure what course to take to complete my Group 1 credit, any ideas?
Author:  andrew. [ Wed Jul 28, 2010 8:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: RE:Group 1 High School Credits
Tony @ Wed Jul 28, 2010 7:12 pm wrote:
Chem is a required course (I think it is for CE)
All the CE programs I applied to at different universities had SCH4U as the prerequisite.

Also, you should really try to teach yourself as much grade 11 chem as possible because it will be extremely hard going straight into grade 12, at least at my school (although we do have a reputation for having crazy hard chem courses).
Author:  X Abstract X [ Wed Aug 04, 2010 12:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Group 1 High School Credits
Hey there. I just graduated this year but, in grade 11 I realized that I didn't have my group 1 credit either. I was able to talk to my guidance councilor and with the Principal's approval, I was able to use my grade 12 advanced functions credit to fill the group 1 requirement (a lot better than taking Spanish, right?). I think you can use any extra credit in one of the required areas of study. For example, you only need 3 math courses so a 4th math would work. Or, you could use a 3rd science because you only need 2 sciences to graduate. You should definitely talk to your guidance councilor about it, I'm not an exceptional student or anything so it should be pretty easy to get this done.
Author:  GSP [ Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Group 1 High School Credits
Thank you abstract for your advice, i'll talk to my guidance councilor.

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