Reconsidering my choice

[Night]

So this past Monday I accepted my offer to Carleton for Honours Computer Science (Stream: Computer Game Development). However, shortly before that (i.e. last Wednesday), Guelph had re-assessed my application for co-op in Software Engineering and offered me it. However, I accepted my offer to Carleton and then two days later (yesterday) Guelph sent me a letter with more in scholarships than Carleton (equal to the amount of scholarships between Carleton and UW Geomatics).

This was my original (post my withdrawal of my application to Western) application "ladder", with the admission decisions after:

Waterloo - CS Co-op --> Alt. to Geomatics w/ Co-op
Guelph - SE Co-op --> Admitted
Carleton - CS Co-op --> Admitted
Carleton - Interactive Multimedia (IMD) Co-op --> Eligible for Admission

I've seeked insight here before, and Tony said to ignore scholarships unless they were 50~100% of tuition (I think?), but aside from that, I'm still stuck.

- I've decided against UW because I'm not sure if I'd want to take the chance of taking the program and than hating it 2 months in, and it doesn't really lead to what I was originally planning to do.

- I've "kind of" (i.e. 98.5% sure) decided that I'm not going to go for Carleton's Multimedia program (as I'd also have to call Carleton and hope that there's still room as it's a limited enrolment program, and I think I'd rather do something more software-related, for now anyways; the Multimedia program isn't as well known and gives you a wider range of skills but less in-depth).

Now, I've narrowed it down to these two:

Guelph - Software Engineering
Co-op? Yes
Scholarships: $9000 ($3000 in first year, $2000/year for three years regardless of average) + approval for their Work-Study Program
Bursary: $2000 (first-year only)
Pros: Nice campus, good food, nice residences, program seems appealing, able to switch from SE to CS fairly easily, near relatives (Kitchener-Waterloo area), a good number of friends between Toronto/Guelph/Waterloo area schools, campus environment was great, lots of green space, scholarships + Work/Study program opportunity, Living-Learning/Academic clusters/communities, Guelph itself is fairly reputable
Cons: Not true SE program (more "application-focused" CS program, though switching to CS itself is easy), Guelph's Computing programs seem less reputable than other schools (but still good from what I've heard)

Carleton - Computer Science
Co-op? Yes
Scholarships: $8000 ($2000/year, renewable at A- standing)
Bursary: $1000
Pros: Fairly nice campus (saw it during March Break when it was thawing), good food from what I had seen/tried, structured program, nice city (Ottawa), Game Development course in each year (my main interest, but I'm also interested in Software Development itself)
Cons: Didn't care too much for the residences (small, gloomy, unclean; have to share and clean bathroom with 2~3 others), meal plan is buffet style but can't take food out of cafeteria (aside from non-cafeteria food), school has mixed reputation, no family nearby (closest is home or in Quebec, which is still ~4+ hours away), few friends between Algonquin/Carleton/uOttawa (3~4)

So that leaves Guelph for Software Engineering, and Carleton for Computer Science.

- I enjoyed Guelph's campus/residences/environment more than Carleton's, but Guelph's program appears less reputable (but still good). I feel like I would enjoy attending Guelph more (as it was originally my second choice anyways if Waterloo didn't work out), but I welcome any input. I think my only issue with Guelph is the program's reputation, but I've heard that it still isn't too bad of a program so I'm considering switching my choice (I have until June 1st to decide, preferably ASAP).

I feel like Carleton's program is a little bit "better", but I think that I'd enjoy my university experience better at Guelph. Is there anything that I'm not considering that I should be? Thanks.

(If there's any confusion, I'll clear it up tomorrow; I'm writing this before going to bed.)

[Tony]

My thoughts on this is that you should put yourself in an environment where you can enjoy yourself and do your best. If you learn more than "a little bit 'better'" worth of reputation at a place where you don't get depressed by "gloomy" residence and cafeteria food (in my later University years I've learned to put great value on personal mental health), then you are net better off.

Besides, the reputation of institutions is subjective, and people outside of Ontario likely haven't heard much about either of those Universities... if anything at all.

[md]

Carleton also has me, I like to think of that as a major bonus.

[Night]

md @ Thu May 24, 2012 10:18 pm wrote:

Carleton also has me, I like to think of that as a major bonus.

Aside from just your presence, how do you feel about Carleton's program and residences?

[md]

Night @ 2012-05-26, 11:22 pm wrote:

md @ Thu May 24, 2012 10:18 pm wrote:

Carleton also has me, I like to think of that as a major bonus.

Aside from just your presence, how do you feel about Carleton's program and residences?

Residences I can't comment on since I haven't actually been in one in a long time. There are a lot of new buildings though (they are pretty much all new...) and from what I've heard from other people they are quite nice. Carleton's CS program has some good profs but beyond that I couldn't say (being in Software Engineering). Campus wise the Carleton campus is one of the better one's I've seen and is very easy to get to/from.

[md]

Oh, and Carleton's grading system is a little screwed up which makes it rather difficult to maintain an A- average unless you get A-'s or better in every course.

[Night]

I've decided to switch to Guelph's SE program for a variety of reasons. I plan on keeping some form of "blog" about my time there, so I'll probably share it with the CompSci.ca community later on for any people who are wondering what the program's like since there's little information about it.

[Tony]

Awesome idea. After you have a few posts up, ping me with the links -- I've got some good places to link to such content from.