what should i do ?

[implosion]

smoovee wrote:

I'm not 100% sure but if he applied to St. George they might.

yes i did apply there.

my marks for this semester Physics: 61... Chemistry: 71 ... Advanced Functions 77

as you can see... i'm staying back a year to repeat those 3 courses again. Math i am really good at, just the first 2 tests i did horribly because i was fasting (part of my religon, basically starving yourself while the sun is up) and it was pretty hard to concentrate lost a ton of sleep that month.

i know Waterloo isn't the only university to get into. but out of the universities its the one i liked the most. The campus was amazing and the lecture halls were pretty good too, only complaint was the size of one of the rooms in the engineering building on the bottom floor all the way down the hall and the small size of the dorm rooms.

I'm pretty sure i could get into Toronto for compsci. since all they want is math / English... but I'm worried because there classes are going to be huge ! even at mcmaster they said for first year general engineering you could have a math class of 600 people... i'd prefer something smaller so you could have a conversation with the prof. during the lecture.

i saw this on another post. but at UFT for computer science, they have software engineering under compsci program... if i specialized in software engineering... would i get the engineering title ?

finally, lets say i go to McMaster (might end up happening since there is no penalty for repeated courses)... would i have to apply again from undergrad to graduate studies or is it automatically accepted if your marks are good enough?

thanks ali_dada for telling me about how your path was... yeah i'd be kicking myself forever for wasting the two years... but i guess you really need the experience first ?... next semester i have my CS and CE courses.. hopefully that helps me out. but with going into university then realizing you don't like it.. i really can't afford to do that... i only have like 4000$.. and then after two years. thats like 20 000$ kinda wasted ? like sure you have the knowledge but it won't help you graduate with the other credits that you need.

Dan wrote:

For more info on the difrences between the diffrent degrees in computers/tehcnogly see tony's blog post here http//compsci.ca/blog/6-degrees-of-computer-science/

read that many times and still aren't sure of which one I'd rather pursue

P.S i was talking to one of my friends mom who is an engineer.. not sure in what... be she said with physics its either you get it or not... i was talking to my physics teacher way before and he said if you like it then soon it will click in. eg, i was telling him i love physics.. but not sure why i'm doing so bad in it.

[endless]

it looks like you had physics and math in the same semester?

i had physics before any grade 12 math and found it was hard to keep up with the math involved which everyone else knew from previously having advanced functions.

now that i have advanced functions, i am convinced that i could do a lot better in physics. since it is my lowest mark going into uni, i might retake it to bring my average up a bit.

what i'm getting at is that maybe now that you have advanced function you could do better in physics.
example: exponents and logarithms was the last unit we had in functions, in physics i could not catch on with how to isolate a variable exponent without taking the learning into my own hands via the internet.

[implosion]

yeah, math chem and physics in the same semester.... it was hell... i'm looking over physics and adv. functions... but i don't see how having adv. functions before physics would help ?... but also we skipped a lot of stuff in physics because we were behind (eg. skipped centripetal force on a banked curve).

for anyone whose in university right now... how was the change from highschool classes of 30 to (what was your class size approx.)
i really enjoy the ability to ask questions and discuss with my peers during the class. i think for next year i'll have a good chance of getting into UofT for compsci since it only wants English, adv. functions, and calculus.... but they have classes of 1000 and that worries me a bit.

[Dark]

implosion @ Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:47 pm wrote:

i saw this on another post. but at UFT for computer science, they have software engineering under compsci program... if i specialized in software engineering... would i get the engineering title ?

No, you still get a BSc and no iron ring, software engineering is mostly comp sci anyway...

implosion @ Sun Feb 01, 2009 9:47 pm wrote:

my marks for this semester Physics: 61... Chemistry: 71 ... Advanced Functions 77

as you can see... i'm staying back a year to repeat those 3 courses again. Math i am really good at, just the first 2 tests i did horribly because i was fasting (part of my religon, basically starving yourself while the sun is up) and it was pretty hard to concentrate lost a ton of sleep that month.

i know Waterloo isn't the only university to get into. but out of the universities its the one i liked the most. The campus was amazing and the lecture halls were pretty good too, only complaint was the size of one of the rooms in the engineering building on the bottom floor all the way down the hall and the small size of the dorm rooms.

I'm pretty sure i could get into Toronto for compsci. since all they want is math / English... but I'm worried because there classes are going to be huge ! even at mcmaster they said for first year general engineering you could have a math class of 600 people... i'd prefer something smaller so you could have a conversation with the prof. during the lecture.

finally, lets say i go to McMaster (might end up happening since there is no penalty for repeated courses)... would i have to apply again from undergrad to graduate studies or is it automatically accepted if your marks are good enough?

thanks ali_dada for telling me about how your path was... yeah i'd be kicking myself forever for wasting the two years... but i guess you really need the experience first ?... next semester i have my CS and CE courses.. hopefully that helps me out. but with going into university then realizing you don't like it.. i really can't afford to do that... i only have like 4000$.. and then after two years. thats like 20 000$ kinda wasted ? like sure you have the knowledge but it won't help you graduate with the other credits that you need.

You probably won't get into Waterloo...I'm on the borderline with a 83% average I think too, but I know of someone who got in with a 74% average, 70% in calc, no extracurriculars...etc. I can't say anything about the big UofT class sizes, but if I was you I would change one of your choices to Ryerson. They are known as the whore of Universities and accept many people. (Cut off for comp sci is 70-74%). They also are very engaging, good coop, well known by corporate employers, etc. It's like Waterloo comp sci without all the l33t asians, and a noticeable change in difficulty. But with your marks it might be a good bet, (unless you take a victory lap and get a good math mark since u say you're good at it).

And with your money issue, take a fifth year for coop. You'll make back tuition (and usually rez) by the time you graduate, with money left over. I'm thinking between Ryerson, Waterloo, and UofT Scarborough comp sci atm, with a fear of not getting into Loo, and even if I do...I don't know if I'll be able to handle the intense math there... plus I need rez and more cash...Ryerson no rez + scholarship = 4k a year only...

But good luck on whatever you do. Oh, and write the Euclid.

[[Gandalf]]

implosion @ 2009-02-01, 9:47 pm wrote:

i saw this on another post. but at UFT for computer science, they have software engineering under compsci program... if i specialized in software engineering... would i get the engineering title ?

No you wouldn't get the professional engineer title, I lost the link but it's under U of T's academic calendar for Computer Science.

implosion wrote:

for anyone whose in university right now... how was the change from highschool classes of 30 to (what was your class size approx.) i really enjoy the ability to ask questions and discuss with my peers during the class. i think for next year i'll have a good chance of getting into UofT for compsci since it only wants English, adv. functions, and calculus.... but they have classes of 1000 and that worries me a bit.

You'll have large classes almost anywhere you go, especially in first year. However, think of that 1000 estimate as a worst case scenario that mostly applies to common courses such as, say, Psychology. With CS you'll often have more specialized classes with far fewer people, especially after the final date to drop the course. This effect is even more apparent in later years.

In the relatively large courses, you'll still have plenty of opportunities to talk with your professors, you just have to be willing to go to them. And there's nothing stopping you from discussing things with friends, who you almost always find even in large lectures. Though generally it's a better idea to listen during the lecture. There's tutorials that are more on the discussion side of things, and those are much smaller than lectures.

Dark wrote:

change one of your choices to Ryerson. They are known as the whore of Universities

Uh, no.

Dark wrote:

fear of not getting into Loo, and even if I do...I don't know if I'll be able to handle the intense math there...

Don't deceive yourself, to be a decent computer scientist you'll have to get through a certain amount of 'intense math'. If that's not what you're prepared for, go to college. That said, you don't necessarily have to be prepared straight from high school, but at least come expecting something challenging.

[Dark]

Dark wrote:

change one of your choices to Ryerson. They are known as the whore of Universities

Gandalf @ Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:48 pm wrote:

Uh, no.

Yes they are cutie, and that's not a bad thing for many people

Dark wrote:

fear of not getting into Loo, and even if I do...I don't know if I'll be able to handle the intense math there...

Gandalf @ Mon Feb 09, 2009 7:48 pm wrote:

Don't deceive yourself, to be a decent computer scientist you'll have to get through a certain amount of 'intense math'. If that's not what you're prepared for, go to college. That said, you don't necessarily have to be prepared straight from high school, but at least come expecting something challenging.

And of course math will be challenging at any accredited Uni Comp Sci program, but Waterloo math really is intense, I've compared math tests from first year Ryerson students, UofT students, and Waterloo students in comp sci, the Waterloo comp sci are killer...

[saltpro15]

well if the tests are harder then just work harder...

[[Gandalf]]

Dark @ 2009-02-11, 4:34 pm wrote:

And of course math will be challenging at any accredited Uni Comp Sci program, but Waterloo math really is intense, I've compared math tests from first year Ryerson students, UofT students, and Waterloo students in comp sci, the Waterloo comp sci are killer...

Oh really... and here I thought you were still in high school. Oh well, since you've compared math tests I'm sure you've got it all figured out.