What makes U of T St.George so wanted?

Originally Posted by matkun

If your worried about cost.. then go for Waterloo Engineering co-op.. Canada's top Engineering university and almost 2 years of work done by the time you graduate.. Just say good bye to vacations of more than 1 week (between studying and working) for the next 5 years of your life.

U of T also has a 16-month co-op term, which is optional, that will pay plenty to cover your education and then some (if you have the marks, of course).

So, it seems that UofT st george or waterloo's the way to go for engineering. I was planning on going to one of those initially.

thanks

On another note, how is the U of T co-op program? What kind of job opportunities would be open to me as a co-op employee, if I decide to take this path?

Think about it this way...

if you go for Waterloo co-op, sure you're lose all your summer breaks, but alot of people end up working during the summer anyway -- why not get some really good experience thats related to your course of study??

Everytime I speak to somebody (even some random person) and say I go to Waterloo -- they all say "oh for engineering?"....that tells you the rep of UW eng. (i'm in science/business btw)

Originally Posted by f00kie

While I fully agree with this, I'm still wary of thinking that going to an easier school to get a nice average to get into a U of T (type) graduate program is the way to go.

I have 2 cousins that are just entering/finishing med school and they both tell me that its not worth it at all to go to U of T or any other harder Universities, they both went to McGill for biology and both wished they went somewhere easier.

I got the same thing talking to a few U of T students that i know, all are failing for getting way lower than they did in HS while people i know from other Universities are doing pretty good.

Oh and i got into U of T SG campus but i turned them down because i didnt need the extra added pressure and workload...i wanted to attend a university that would be fun as well, hence York

Originally Posted by gzajay

Everytime I speak to somebody (even some random person) and say I go to Waterloo -- they all say "oh for engineering?"....that tells you the rep of UW eng. (i'm in science/business btw)

So. True.

I say Accounting and I get a disappointed, "oh..."

Originally Posted by masterballer

I have 2 cousins that are just entering/finishing med school and they both tell me that its not worth it at all to go to U of T or any other harder Universities, they both went to McGill for biology and both wished they went somewhere easier.

I got the same thing talking to a few U of T students that i know, all are failing for getting way lower than they did in HS while people i know from other Universities are doing pretty good.

Now are these engineering students or no? If not, then what about engineering?

Originally Posted by babaji

Now are these engineering students or no? If not, then what about engineering?

lol good point, these forums are full of Eng students, my comments were geared towards the Science students/programs.

But i also know a few people who went to UTSG for other programs including Eng and Comp Sci and they both have left SG and moved to other Post Sec schools so over all UTSG is just a name, they will bust your ass and in the end you will still have a lower GPA that what you could have had at a easier school.

Don't worry for engineering because U of T and UW are pretty much the same. My friend was doing below average at UT first year, then he switched to Ryerson and got > 85 average. That doesn't mean that if you go to Ryerson from year 1 you can easily get the same mark, because it does have to with preparation. U of T will challenge you, but since you are pretty sure you want engineering and you narrowed it down to UT or UW, either of them are good, UW has co-op of 4 month terms, while UT has 12-16 month. Both have their pros and cons. Depending on what type of engineering placements can vary, from the guy with the lowest mark getting a placement to the smartest guy who doesn't get an interview.

Of course, you'll get a better mark compared to an easier school. It's all about challenging yourself. How smart can you get if you degraded yourself?

Originally Posted by jeeva86

Of course, you'll get a better mark compared to an easier school. It's all about challenging yourself. How smart can you get if you degraded yourself?

Now i like a fair challenge like the next guy but being smart does not mean a successful future if you arent smart enough to choose the right program/school.

So many people are smart and just go for UTSG just to end up getting average marks while killing themselves with studying, while other choose to go to an easier school (and by this i dont mean an easy ride, it is still hard but it is do-able) and get the most out of the University EXPERIENCE, there is more to university than just Study Study Study, most UTSG students will never get the whole experience from what i have heard and seen (friends, family members...)

I currently study life science at St.George and marks do matter to the school, but also the experience. I live in Scarborough, but didn't want to be too far from home ( I can't really afford it), and wanted to be able to a decent distance away so I can enjoy the surroundings. I had either Ryerson or UofT SG to fit bill. I know Ryerson was a lot easier, but the experience from St.George has been very enriching.

I joined a FLC (first year learning community) in my first year. This group took about two hours of my week every other week. It's basically a mentoring program for first years who commute. So I instantly made 20 other friends and classmates that I could go to for help. The group instantly bonded. We had a mentor that was in his 5th year (did 4 years of work at SG, then did his 5th at SC, and he didn't do too well in first year as well). He recently go into Med School at McMaster. We got to do some community work, watch the Raptors, enjoy comedy at Yuk Yuk's, play sports against other FLC's, learn how to get appropriate summer jobs, and other learning experiences.

St. George has a WHOLE LOT of programs. They also have job opportunities, volunteer opportunities for research and research opportunities. Even though I didnt do too well, I still had many favourable options for school. There is also the downtown life. There are so many places to go downtown (ie clubs).

I may not have done well, but I think that was more so based on my work ethic from moving from High school to uni. I didn't make the proper adjustments in my life style.

Thats my little rant. Picking a university should not be only based on marks (they can make or break your future) but if you don't like the school you attend, then I can't see anyone doing well there.

In response to MasterBaller: Many of the students that attend UofT are very very very serious about getting 90's, trust me, I met a whole bunch of them. If your getting info from these types of people, then what you say is true. These types of people don't do anything but study, high marks and all, you need a little more than that to get into grad school, med school, or jobs. You gotta have passion, and a personality. From my mentor his GPA he says was not comparable to the high students trying for med, but at the interview he was the most calm, and collected person. He had the personality, the likeability and wasnt stuck-up (alot of the Asian's at UofT are, not being racist I am asian).

Originally Posted by gzajay

Wow really?...what program?

Yup, really. And if you were in first year, the bill would be over 20K. (They increase tuition by 4% for existing students, but by 8% for new students)

(This is U of T's J.D. (Law) program, BTW.)

Anyone have co-op experience in regards to the engineering programs?

Originally Posted by thechampion116

I currently study life science at St.George and marks do matter to the school, but also the experience. I live in Scarborough, but didn't want to be too far from home ( I can't really afford it), and wanted to be able to a decent distance away so I can enjoy the surroundings. I had either Ryerson or UofT SG to fit bill. I know Ryerson was a lot easier, but the experience from St.George has been very enriching.

I joined a FLC (first year learning community) in my first year. This group took about two hours of my week every other week. It's basically a mentoring program for first years who commute. So I instantly made 20 other friends and classmates that I could go to for help. The group instantly bonded. We had a mentor that was in his 5th year (did 4 years of work at SG, then did his 5th at SC, and he didn't do too well in first year as well). He recently go into Med School at McMaster. We got to do some community work, watch the Raptors, enjoy comedy at Yuk Yuk's, play sports against other FLC's, learn how to get appropriate summer jobs, and other learning experiences.

St. George has a WHOLE LOT of programs. They also have job opportunities, volunteer opportunities for research and research opportunities. Even though I didnt do too well, I still had many favourable options for school. There is also the downtown life. There are so many places to go downtown (ie clubs).

I may not have done well, but I think that was more so based on my work ethic from moving from High school to uni. I didn't make the proper adjustments in my life style.

Thats my little rant. Picking a university should not be only based on marks (they can make or break your future) but if you don't like the school you attend, then I can't see anyone doing well there.

In response to MasterBaller: Many of the students that attend UofT are very very very serious about getting 90's, trust me, I met a whole bunch of them. If your getting info from these types of people, then what you say is true. These types of people don't do anything but study, high marks and all, you need a little more than that to get into grad school, med school, or jobs. You gotta have passion, and a personality. From my mentor his GPA he says was not comparable to the high students trying for med, but at the interview he was the most calm, and collected person. He had the personality, the likeability and wasnt stuck-up (alot of the Asian's at UofT are, not being racist I am asian).

Yea man, its not just marks. Marks are a part of the whole package you need to get into Med school, Law, Masters program...I agree 100% on you with that.