Guelph Students - Area of Application

[t.o007]

I was wondering where i could find the courses i would have to take for the various areas of applications at University of Guelph.
I know what the area of app. is all about, but i can't find any link or info about what courses are available to take from each of the areas of apps.

[jernst]

I haven't taken any undergrad at Guelph, (finishing my msc degree there right now) but from what I understand in their calendar, the area of application is just any area other than computing at the school. This page lists all of the other areas: http://www.uoguelph.ca/registrar/calendars/undergraduate/current/c10/index.shtml . Look for the minors, since this is where the area of application is chosen from. (At least thats what I understand from this page: http://www.uoguelph.ca/registrar/calendars/undergraduate/current/c10/c10bcomp-info.shtml#c10BCOMP-honours)

I think all it is for is to try to give you some exposure to courses other than comp sci to ensure you are well rounded, it sounds like it is similar to declaring a minor.

[t.o007]

hey thanks for the info, though i was looking for like a list saying for area of app, what to take, like a guide but its okay

So how's the campus at Guelph, student life, academics, do u know how good the rez's are?
Ive heard the ratio of comp sci coop students to jobs is 5 jobs available to each student, is that true?

[Tony]

but if the same jobs are cross-listed to U Waterloo, U of Toronto, etc. students, then the real pool you are competing against has a less favourable ratio.

[jernst]

t.o007 @ Mon Feb 23, 2009 11:24 pm wrote:

hey thanks for the info, though i was looking for like a list saying for area of app, what to take, like a guide but its okay

So how's the campus at Guelph, student life, academics, do u know how good the rez's are?
Ive heard the ratio of comp sci coop students to jobs is 5 jobs available to each student, is that true?

I like Guelph campus very much. The computer science department seems to be a fairly existing place. Many profs have been getting good grants and the labs are being renovated for new projects. I have no complaints about the quality of the profs who teach comp sci, they all seem very knowledgeable and teach very well. I've been to a few grad student functions and they have been pretty fun (comedy nights etc). I've also been to workshops on writing and teaching since I'm a grad student and they were very well done as well. Theres a fairly well established undergrad comp sci club that seems to organize regular events like lan partys, bowling nights etc. (http://socis.ca/)

I don't know much about the rez life at Guelph since I'm not living there. (I actually commute from KW). I also don't know much about their co-op program since I was never an undergrad there. (I originally went to WLU for undergrad). There are usually good opportunities for other types of random work around the school though. We often receive emails passed around from other departments or local companies looking for short term computer students to do various projects, so there is some opportunity for extra money at times.

[Segmentation Fault]

I had a very bad experience with Guelph Co-op. My first co-op term there were almost 50 people looking for jobs and only about 30 jobs posted. I luckily got a coop with a last minute posting as a preventative maintenance data enterer for Wastewater Management at the City of Guelph. That's right Wastewater. I dropped coop after that. The place smelled viciously, it hung on your clothes (Depending on the building) and they had no idea why I was even there (to be fair the person who hired me quit when I started). The worst thing about it was that there were no learning opportunities. The only good thing is that they paid relatively well.

On the direct opposite end, all of my friends that fall that were in that co-op stream had amazing experiences working for RIM, Sybase, etc. One I know decided to accept an offer for a full time position at RIM after his degree and is now a Project Manager.

And I have never heard anyone complain about coop positions since. So I might have just been unlucky. So the deal with co-op at the University of Guelph is don't work at wastewater. You won't enjoy it.

In terms of your area of application. If you want to make it easy for yourself, just take a look at minor's available and either do a minor or enough courses from one of the minors to fulfill your credit requirements for your area of app. Otherwise, talk to your academic advisor and she'll give you ideas of what you can do and you can ask her if you can make up a more custom area of application.