Hello SAForums,

It looks like all the big batches of offers have or are about to be released. I'm sure you all have questions on your post-secondary education decisions.

There is already a great 'ask me anything' thread for this subforum by greygoose who is quite a bit more experienced than me which you can find here. I'm hoping to offer a different perspective.

In particular, I'm familiar (some more than others) with programs/courses/student life/careers/co-ops/campus/transfers for Math/Eng programs in Ontario. I've jumped around many programs and feel that in terms of dispelling all the myths on 'finding your passion' and choosing the 'right program' for you, I have a lot of wisdom to offer.

Please don't hesitate to ask any questions or express any concerns you may have. I'll try my best to help.

P.S. I add on thoughts a lot after I finish them i.e. I'll finish writing something then add onto it in the middle of another thought process so you'll find a lot of weird grammar mistakes. I'll try my best to edit these out.

Okay, the answer depends on what your hoping to accomplish from your undergrad.

If you are looking to pursue graduate studies, I don't think you can go wrong with either. In fact, UT is probably the better choice especially if you're considering grad school Internationally.

However from what I've noticed, CS students generally want to enter the workforce right after undergrad. While UofT is still solid in this regard, I don't really think it can compare to UW. The best proof is to just explain my personal experiences that have led me to this opinion.

I'm currently on co-op and have numerous friends in CS who are or have been on co-op. The majority of my family and family friends have careers in Computer Science all over Toronto's largest companies. From what I've seen and what they have all told me, whenever a company knows they need an intern/co-op, they know they want to come recruit at UW. There are many IT departments in big financial institutions that are composed entirely of UW alumni. So in terms of average CS students, UW is the best place to find a solid career with the most ease, and as early as possible.

In terms of big-time opportunities, from what I've been told, there are way more opportunities for companies like FB/Google/Microsoft and California startups for UW students. I'm still not in my upper-years yet so I can't really give any of my experiences on this.

Please don't get me wrong though, at the end of the day where you end up is on you and not your school. I do think UW can give you a solid head-start though.

Lastly, just wanted to share this small experience: I did a co-op interview for a UT Alumni startup recently. The fact that UT alumni would want a UW intern over a UT one, shows a lot of the current perception in the workforce.

Do you know how difficult/common a switch from one engineering discipline is to another? Is it harder/easier between certain majors?

It depends on the disciple. Obviously if you're in Management Engineering, it's going to be near impossible to switch into Software Engineering.

I know a few Engineers who transferred disciples. Most of these people were in Nano actually. You can find which disciples can transfer to which in geral on the UW Engineering website.

Do you think mechanical engineering covers enough programming to be valuable to an employer? Obviously I won't be learning as much programming as someone in SE or CS, but will my programming skills be of value to an employer? I've been looking through the course calendar and there is very little programming in most of the options, hence why I'm contemplating a quick switch into tron or something more programm-y but still engineering.

Being a student, you probably know how each program is looked upon from within. Is Engineering at Waterloo regarded better (more prestigious) than Computer Science by students who already go there, or by professors or what not?

You won't learn much valuable programming skills in Mech. If you feel that that's important to you, and you still want to stay in the Mech kind of stuff, Tron sounds like a good option.

I don't know anyone in UTSC CS so I can't give you that great of an answer. It is the University of Toronto so you'll get that Brand Name for your resume. Other than that, I don't think UTSC is really great for anything.

Knowing your situation though, it seems like this is your best option?

In regards to transfer, I don't know if its easy or not but it's definitely do-able.

Do you know, approximately, how well you would have to do in first year to be able to transfer?

Everyone respects the Engineers because of the course loads they have.

I wouldn't really say one is regarded better than the other, especially since the best jobs right now are going to the CS, SE and sometimes the SYDE/ECE students.