Considering a transfer

[stenns]

Hi,
I am a first year computer science student at waterloo. I'm sort of not enjoying myself here. Its very boring and I am not very fond of the atmosphere, so I am considering transfering to Mcgill and continuing my computer science studies there. Ive visited the school and was very impressed. I am positive that the downtown-montreal atmosphere is what I am looking for, but I am not sure if I am ready to give up on waterloo's prestigeous name. Can anyone tell me what Mcgill's computer science program is like? I haven't heard much about it. Thanks

[PaulButler]

Hi stenns, welcome to compsci.ca.

I don't know much about McGill so I can't help you there, but I am curious weather it is the academics or student life (or both) that are boring you at Waterloo.

[Tony]

It sounds like it's about the apparent lack of a large-town clubscene. Though I bet that stenns haven't been to The Bomber at SLC yet. It gets pretty crazy there, every Wednesday night.

If you are greatly concerned about the non-school aspect of the University, you should be asking about Montreal itself, not McGill. Although it's true that there should be a balance of both for an enjoyable stay at the University of choice.

How's McGill's co-op program? Keep in mind that you'll likely be spending half your time working outside of the Kitchener-Waterloo area. Apply to some jobs in Montreal

[stenns]

What I don't like about Waterloo is the student life, but Im concerned the accademics aren't comparable at Mcgill. I don't think it's the club scene that I'm looking for. The thing that attracts me about montreal is mainly the jazz music scene and the culture. And plus the idea of living downtown and the huge variety of things to do there. I just think walking outside to downtown Montreal would be about a million times cooler than walking to university plaza. And maybe I would meet some people that aren't math/engineering?
As for their co-op program, I can't find much information, so I have to assume they dont have much of one. The most I could find on their website was a cs job posting board that mentions the term co-op placements. I was hoping somebody here might know more about it?
Your thuoghts? Thanks!

[Tony]

Waterloo's "plaza" isn't much of a scene. UpTown Waterloo is UW's version of downtown. King and Erb, 10 minutes from campus if you walk through the park (and don't stop to check out the bunnies or llama). It's not much in comparision to Montreal, but LCBO, Starbucks and Stagshop make my shortlist of places "cooler than plaza"

I can't really give you any details on McGill though -- I don't recall anyone going there.

[Zampano]

I really can't profess to be knowledgeable concerning the difference in student life at universities, seeing as I am still in high school, but I wonder how one can expect any one university to offer better 'student life' than another. If that doesn't make sense then how can you assume that the student life some where is better by method of the elementary knowledge cocnerning the city?

[Naveg]

I can tell you that the student life at any school will be what you make it, and is not a function of the location. If you want a party school, any school can be a party school. And if you don't, there are plenty of other ways in which "student life" manifests itself. You just need to look in the right places.

That said, if you want the big city atmosphere of Montreal (and admittedly, waterloo does not offer that), then sure, look into McGill. But city life has little to nothing to do with student life, and it's an important distinction to make. Going to a big city will not magically improve your student life.

As for meeting people who arent in math/engineering - that's exactly what student life is for. I'm in the choir and the orchestra here (I'm also at UW). If music isn't your thing, join a campus rec team, or a club, or something of that nature. You will still have to get involved at McGill if you want to be meeting people and enjoying the student life of the school. And I'd be willing to bet that their offerings are awfully similar to UW's.

You mentioned being really into the jazz scene and culture of a big city like montreal. I can sympathize with you there. I'm also really into music, and waterloo doesn't really compare with any big cities when it comes to culture. But that's really all you can say you're missing by going to UW. We're also just over an hour away from Toronto, and with a $19 round trip fedbus ticket, that really isn't bad. You can go into Toronto for a weekend and get your culture fix as often as you like. Thats what I do - just two weekends ago I was at the canadian opera company's performance of Don Carlos.

Student life and culture are definitely accessible at UW. Perhaps not as accessible as at McGill, but that's just something you'll have to balance with the quality of the education you get here, as you acknowledged. Personally, I love the fact that I can be getting an engineering education that is perhaps the best in canada and not have to give up any of my musical/cultural interests. I'm singing and playing right on campus, and Toronto culture is just a hop, skip, and jump away.

You'll have to forgive the rant - the motivation behind it is just to get you to think very carefully and gain a real understanding of what's available here before you decide you don't like it. It's just been two months - I think you owe it to yourself to take some more time to adjust to university life in general. If you still feel like you're missing something after a year say, then a transfer might be an option. But be wary of rash decisions!

[stenns]

Thanks guys.
Is there anyone on the forum attending Mcgill for computer science that can tell me about their program?

[Brightguy]

Atmosphere? Student life? A Waterloo student needs not such things; only a 24 hour coffee shop.

[Tony]

Campus Tim Hortons doesn't really have quality coffee.. and it's not even a 24 hours operation! I demand a 24 hour Starbucks in SLC.

[Naveg]

Timmy's in the SLC is 24 hours now

[Tony]

Really? I swear I saw it closed earlier this term. Might have been a weekend though. They used to be 24 hours a few years ago as well.