Really scared about Software Engineering at Waterloo

[peiFTW]

I was accepted into the SE program at Waterloo but I'm really scared of attending the University. My marks are good I suppose. An 89% in Advanced Physics 12, 97% in Chemistry 12 (we had no Advanced!) and in Calculus AP I have an 80% at the moment. I'm scared to attend mostly because I'll be completely alone, I've always had my friends to fall back on when I've needed help in any course. When I'm all alone, and dealing with 5 or 6 different courses all at once I'm worried I wont be able to keep up or comprehend everything going on. My High School marks certainly aren't inflated (I worked hard to get that 89% in physics) but at the same time I'm worried High School didn't prepare me enough for University because again I'll be taking a lot more courses at once, and there's always exams. I definitely know SE is what I want to do and I'm willing to put the hours in but I'm quite worried that it wont be enough. Leaving PEI sort of bums me out too (my entire family is here and in Newfoundland) but I literally get queasy worrying that University is going to be too much for me to handle.

It would be really nice to hear from current University students taking similar degrees. I'd really like to hear what classes you've taken in High School and how well you did. I just want to know if there's other people who were students like me in High School who were able to handle the workload fine at the University level I guess.

[Amarylis]

Well, I can't say I know what it's like to have been accepted at Waterloo (I'm hoping to have that experience next year), but I can say that you're likely to find people in here that can probably help you with understanding some concepts, and that I wish you the best for when you attend Univ.

[Dreadnought]

Well I can't say much specific for SE, I just finished first year math at Waterloo so take this as you will. It's likely to be tough at first, but eventually you should get into the routine and things should feel normal again (you'll get used to the workload). You'll be surrounded by people with the same interests as you, and making new friends will be easy. Don't worry about feeling alone, lots of people start off not knowing anyone (I was one of them).

I can't say much about grades, high school varies from province to province and even from school to school, but the start will likely be review from high school (they should cover anything you missed, or forgot from high school). If you're a good student and work hard you should be fine. University is hard work, but its also a lot of fun if you like what you're studying.

Hope this helps!

[Tony]

Just about everyone will be in the same situation. Waterloo is very selective, so most will be going there because they worked hard enough to get in, not because of friends (out of my graduating high school class, I was the only one who went into a technical UWaterloo program (one other guy got into... something unremarkable)... and I came out of a Toronto school.

The advantage of SE (and every other Engineering degree at UW) is that your entire class is enrolled in the same set of classes. As such, it's much easier to meet people (as you'll be in the same room with the same group, all day, every day). Having graduated from UW CS, I can tell that it's the SE grads that come out with stronger social connections.

[Badsniper]

Congrats on acceptance!

Still waiting for an acceptance from software - and yes I am basically in the exact same boat as you. Our school doesn't really encourage CS or anything in the general mathematics field, so our grade 12CS class is really small. I only know one other person that applied to software and they ranked it 4th on their OUAC application... so I'm pretty sure I'm the only one even hoping to go to software at UW from my school.

So basically what the others said is true, I think it will be weird to change a routine you have been doing for so long, but like everything we will get used to it.

[fdwkid]

Ha! I see two SE friends in the same post. peiFTW I hope to see you in the same class next year and Badsniper I hope you get your offer asap!

[ComplexDerivative]

For most people living outside of the GTA, they'll likely be away from family. A lot of people in Waterloo are not from the area. You'll make friends in SE easily since you'll have classes with them for several hours a day.

For those of you who have been admitted to Waterloo SE and have accepted your offer, I encourage you to join our facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/352006421510620/

[peiFTW]

Thanks everyone for your wonderful replies and kind words about Waterloo. I also have to say I'm intimidated by everyone who's talking about how they took IB. My school doesn't have IB, it does have AP calculus though and my mark in that is around the same as the class average. Should I be worried about any of that? I wish there was a way to talk to current students and see how they were through High School, to see if I compare fine.

[Tony]

I thought UW sets up forums for admitted students every year, so that you could find some of your new classmates before the term even starts. That'd be a good place to go (not sure if that's up or not yet).