A couple of questions about waterloo...

[Drew416]

Hi everyone, I recently got my offer of admission to UW (CS co-op) and have been doing some research on living in waterloo, I have a couple of things I'm confused about and hope someone can clarify.

1. Fees: I was searching google for detailed info on tuition fees and came across this thread http://compsci.ca/v3/viewtopic.php?t=11513&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=60. It is 2 years old and somone posted:

Quote:

We've got 3k tuition per semester, $400 for textbooks, plus say $700/month for rent/utilities/food. $3000 + $2800 + $400 = $6200.

Today, according to uwaterloo website the fees are http://www.findoutmore.uwaterloo.ca/financing/expenses.php Tuition:10k/year books:2k (or 5k/semester and 1k/sem for books). So in the last 2 years the tuition has gone up ~67% and the books have gone up 150% in price. Is this really true or am I missing something? If this is true then I'm really worried as university will become completely unaffordable for me in the next 2-3 years if cost keeps going up at the same rate.

2. I'd love to live in residence but residence seems ridiculously overpriced compared to off-campus living. I was wondering if there is a disadvantage on living off-campus? I'm from Alberta and don't know anyone from Waterloo (or Ontario for that matter), none of my friends are going to waterloo and I'm worried that if I live off-campus I won't be able to make any friends.

[Tony]

Drew416 @ Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:06 pm wrote:

am I missing something?

Yeah. If you finish reading the thread, the tuition was really around 4.5K. It might have been 3K with scolarships.

The books are tricky to account for. You pay less for used, and not all reading material is required. If you manage to sell your books at the end of the term, you get most of your money back.

Re: residence -- it is overpriced, but it's also a good place to meet people. My personal suggestion would be to spend the first year in residence, make friends, and then find an off-campus place.

[endless]

i too am kind of getting worried about the cost. not just because my parents are hogging me about the first year, but since co op costs more as well as having to take an extra year. i am afraid that by the time i get to thinking about grad school, i may have too much student loan already and don't want to add to it anymore.

Laurier and Carleton Computer Science is looking more attractive at 3/5 the cost of Waterloo.

[Tony]

endless @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:15 pm wrote:

as well as having to take an extra year

You take the same amount of school terms, it's just that co-op spreads them out over longer time. But, you can also earn ~$10,000 per term (* 6 co-op terms), less living expenses (which are negligible if you live with your parents).

[jcollins1991]

abit off topic... but was it computer science that you were accepted to? if it was, what was your average?? (i'm asking cause i applied there and haven't gotten in (anywhere yet..) cause my english mark brought down my average, and was curious what type of marks you need to have been accepted already...)

[Tony]

@jcollins1991 -- there's a topic already for that http://compsci.ca/v3/viewtopic.php?t=18937

[Drew416]

Tony @ Sun Mar 01, 2009 11:42 pm wrote:

Yeah. If you finish reading the thread, the tuition was really around 4.5K. It might have been 3K with scolarships.

The books are tricky to account for. You pay less for used, and not all reading material is required. If you manage to sell your books at the end of the term, you get most of your money back.

Re: residence -- it is overpriced, but it's also a good place to meet people. My personal suggestion would be to spend the first year in residence, make friends, and then find an off-campus place.

Thanks Tony, that makes a lot more sense. I was kinda freaking out looking at that sudden jump in tuition but I guess I should have paid more attention.

jcollins1991 @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 5:08 pm wrote:

abit off topic... but was it computer science that you were accepted to? if it was, what was your average?? (i'm asking cause i applied there and haven't gotten in (anywhere yet..) cause my english mark brought down my average, and was curious what type of marks you need to have been accepted already...)

My situation is weird because I'm doing my first year university at UCalgary right now. My highschool average in my top 6 was 93.5%. My first semester university average is 81%. I didn't expect to be accepted so early as I thought it was going to be a borderline decision but I'm guessing Waterloo weights high school marks more heavily then one semester of university.

Tony @ Mon Mar 02, 2009 4:27 pm wrote:

You take the same amount of school terms, it's just that co-op spreads them out over longer time. But, you can also earn ~$10,000 per term (* 6 co-op terms), less living expenses (which are negligible if you live with your parents).

Speaking of co-op, I heard from a friend who heard from his brother that apparently co-op employment rates at Waterloo have fallen below 50% due to the economy. Is that true?

[endless]

i've heard that co op hasn't been affected from the economy in a negative way, if any affect it is positive since it costs a lot less to have us instead of a permanent employee.
correct me if i'm wrong please.

[Prabhakar Ragde]

Drew416 @ Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:57 pm wrote:

Speaking of co-op, I heard from a friend who heard from his brother that apparently co-op employment rates at Waterloo have fallen below 50% due to the economy. Is that true?

The percentage of employed students currently (that is, students who are on work terms now, or should be) is down 1.3%, according to the President's Quarterly Report e-mailed out today (from 96.3% to 95%). This term's students (on work term May-August) have just gotten first-round matchups, so it's a little early for final numbers. I'm guessing that the figure you're hearing is the first-round matchup rate. That sounds low, but the historical norm is something like 60%, so it's not far off. I think there will be some impact from the recession, but it's not going to be calamitous. And you have to compare that against placement rates for people finding their own summer jobs...[/border]

[Dark]

Drew416 @ Tue Mar 03, 2009 5:57 pm wrote:

Speaking of co-op, I heard from a friend who heard from his brother that apparently co-op employment rates at Waterloo have fallen below 50% due to the economy. Is that true?

I don't know much about the co-op part, but if you pay an extra $1200 for co-op, shouldn't it be guaranteed that you find a placement? I mean...paying an extra $1200 a year for job placements without guaranteed employment seems lame... Any good CS student should be able to get a job

But dw about the tuition costs, if you survive first year and get a co-op job you'll make most if not all of it back

[Tony]

Dark @ Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:43 pm wrote:

shouldn't it be guaranteed that you find a placement?

It is guaranteed that you will not get a placement. UW co-op is for real industry jobs, not "placements".

[Prabhakar Ragde]

Dark @ Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:43 pm wrote:

I don't know much about the co-op part, but if you pay an extra $1200 for co-op, shouldn't it be guaranteed that you find a placement?

If you're paying all that money for tuition, shouldn't it be guaranteed that you pass all your courses and get a degree?

[saltpro15]

good point Prabhakar

[Dark]

Yeah...I might go to Ryerson instead of Waterloo simply because I won't need to pay res :\

Same position as you lol

[Tony]

Ryerson and Waterloo are significantly different. Wouldn't UofT (which is right next to Ryerson) make more sense?