I've been accepted to Waterloo Computer Engineering, and I have a few questions about it :\

1) What is the graduation rate for Computer/Software/Electrical Engineers out of UW and what is it for Engineering overall. I mean by the percentage of people who graduate successfully from the program.

What is the graduation rate for Computer Science students?

2) In your opinion, is 4Stream better or 8Stream better?

3) I've heard that if I enter engineering, I will have very little time to do things such as extra extracurriculars. I'm the type of person who just hates reading/memorizing a book; id much rather sit in lectures that interest me/ that i am required to study, i enjoy that better.

The thing with computer science is there is less of the conceptual stuff and more math involved. I like that kind of stuff because it is more practical, and i can apply it (to programs/code) and learn it.

So im sure im not the only one with this dillemma of Computer Science vs Computer/Software Engineering, so if you could help me out please do

Wow that's high, Carleton was like 68% or something
How intense is the CS at Waterloo?
Is it something than average person with mid 80s out of high school can get, or do you truly have to work hard.

What if you have a passion for software engineering/IT and know some programming already?

WOW, people make it sound like its impossible. But i guess it is doable then...
If i go into Computer Engineering, can i switch to CS later?

Uhm... high? Also high? Are you seriously basing your career plans on a statistic? It's up to you to put in the work and graduate from the program, and some percentages won't change whether or not you can do that...



There are advantages to both. 8-stream gives you a longer time to build up some skills before you work, but in either case, you pretty much know nothing for your first co-op. 4-stream puts you into the job hunt your first semester, which is pretty stressful. 4-stream has less competition from other junior students for jobs. There are more jobs total available for 8-stream students. Summer semester is something that some people like and some people hate. It's kind of a personal decision, and not cut and dry.



Engineering on average has a much higher workload than CS, at least in the lower years. Engineering requires a lot of memorization/plugging and chugging. CS requires a little bit less of that.

Because CS requires less of that, it has more abstract thinking... e.g. math. Unless you're going into political science, you're not going to be able to have the advantage of applying critical thought and practical action simultaneously. So your statements there are pretty contradictory.

For CS, a lot of the practical stuff comes from co-op, less from courses. Engineering is oriented to be practical the entire way through. I think knowing the theory gives you much better understanding and therefore makes you a much better person. (I say "person" because I don't want to say "employee", which has the connotation of work only. I am not saying that engineers are worse people, by any means. My engineering friends are amazing. I think part of the reason they're amazing is they spend a lot of extra time pursuing that theory on their own time. But either way...)

I've heard 8 is better because you have two semesters of knowledge under your belt.