Guelph... my chances?

[Andrew_R]

Hey guys! I haven't seen a whole lot of applications on here for Guelph comp sci, which kinda worries me as well as makes me happy Anyway, here's the dealio: I have only taken 6 courses this year, so each mark is going to be averaged into my "admission average" or what ever you wanna call it.

Last Semester
Physics = 75
Advanced Functions = 74
Philosophy = 82

Midterms this semester
Computer Science = 93
English = 84
Calculus = 64

Now if I'm correct, third round all of these marks will be averaged for my application, which brings me to approx. 78.3%...
Do I have a decent shot at getting into Guelph Comp Sci? I also filled out the SPF, had a Comp Sci Department award on it and a ton of sports MVPs and stuff... and yeah I know I'm kinda freakin out.

[Clayton]

You'll probably be fine, I had a friend get accepted to Guelph with like a 70.01% average, so you'll probably be okay.

[jernst]

When I applied for undergrad (about 6 years ago now, lol man im getting old) I got in with an avg of about 80ish percent, my final avg ended up going down to around 78-79 so I think your probably fine. (ps I'm at Guelph now for my M.Sc. and will be there for my PhD in the fall, so maybe I'll see you around )

[Dark]

With your award in CS and ECs, you should be fine. They will probably take into consideration that you like CS and are competent judging by your high CS marks.

Get your calc mark up tho lol. If you are honestly struggling with MCV4U you are going to have to work extra hard in your math courses at University, so keep that in mind :O

[Andrew_R]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll just wait and see, should know somtime in the next couple weeks... and Dark, It's not that I have a problem with math, its that I have a problem with doing the math homework lol. Last semester my Advanced Functions mark was 61 a week before exams, and I brought it too a 74 by crackin down big time. And I realize that I won't be able to get away with this at University

[jernst]

Dark @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:36 pm wrote:

Get your calc mark up tho lol. If you are honestly struggling with MCV4U you are going to have to work extra hard in your math courses at University, so keep that in mind :O

+1, I had high 80's / 90's in high school math (including calc) and still got dominated in university

[Prabhakar Ragde]

Dark @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:36 pm wrote:

They will probably take into consideration that you like CS and are competent judging by your high CS marks.

High school CS marks mean nothing.

I looked up the record of eight students in the first-year, second-term CS course I just finished teaching who had the lowest computed final grades, all failures by a long shot (the final exam in this course involved mostly C coding, with no requested program or function being longer than twenty lines). One didn't take ICS4M. One had an ICS4M mark in the high 80's. Five had marks in the low-to-mid 90's. One had 100.

[endless]

Prabhakar Ragde @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:16 pm wrote:

Dark @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:36 pm wrote:

They will probably take into consideration that you like CS and are competent judging by your high CS marks.

High school CS marks mean nothing.

I looked up the record of eight students in the first-year, second-term CS course I just finished teaching who had the lowest computed final grades, all failures by a long shot (the final exam in this course involved mostly C coding, with no requested program or function being longer than twenty lines). One didn't take ICS4M. One had an ICS4M mark in the high 80's. Five had marks in the low-to-mid 90's. One had 100.

interesting.
i have read the paper on how HS computer science may have a negative effect going into uni CS, but those figures are quite surprising.

although, i'm sure the majority of students enrolled in university CS probably took it in high school too, so that info may be a bit misleading.

[Prabhakar Ragde]

endless @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:43 pm wrote:

i have read the paper on how HS computer science may have a negative effect going into uni CS, but those figures are quite surprising.

What paper is that?

[endless]

http://compsci.ca/blog/the-disadvantages-of-high-school-programming/

[Horus]

Prabhakar Ragde @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:16 pm wrote:

Dark @ Tue Apr 28, 2009 2:36 pm wrote:

They will probably take into consideration that you like CS and are competent judging by your high CS marks.

High school CS marks mean nothing.

I looked up the record of eight students in the first-year, second-term CS course I just finished teaching who had the lowest computed final grades, all failures by a long shot (the final exam in this course involved mostly C coding, with no requested program or function being longer than twenty lines). One didn't take ICS4M. One had an ICS4M mark in the high 80's. Five had marks in the low-to-mid 90's. One had 100.

I wonder if they teach how to use microsoft in ICS4M instead of programming. cause in TIK20 that's what I learned for most of the year b4 switching to turing and didn't even get into procedures.

but i think they should look at which high school you are in to see if your ICS4M mark is valid. Like for example in the case of those 7 students' high school and just mark that school's ICS4M marks as invalid. so that for other students their ICS4M mark can still be valid and can still be big for consideration.


and @endless u call that paper...?

[[Gandalf]]

Quote:

High school CS marks mean nothing.

Getting high marks in high school CS doesn't mean you'll do well in university CS. But, on the other hand, consider someone who takes ICS4M and gets 60%. That person more than likely has a much lower chance of doing well in first year CS than someone who gets 80-100.

High school CS does mean something. If you count high school calculus for something, then you should do the same for high school CS.

[Nick]

Horus @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:07 pm wrote:

endless u call that paper...?

No, Prabhakar Ragde did

[Tony]

@Nick: huh?

endless @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:43 pm wrote:

i have read the paper on...

the word "paper" implies an academic piece of work, with research and actual numbers.

[endless]

Tony @ Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:54 am wrote:

endless @ Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:43 pm wrote:

i have read the paper on...

the word "paper" implies an academic piece of work, with research and actual numbers.

i'm deeply sorry for my misuse of the word "paper". sorry for any confusion i may have caused.