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(I live in Ontario Canada)
I need to send my university applications in by the end of this weekend and I still have some tough decisions to make and I hope that TL can help me make them!
I am planning on applying to 5 universities but I have only narrowed my choices down to 6 :s. The 6 choices are Honours chemistry at Laurier, Waterloo, Carleton, Ottawa, Trent, and chemistry at McMaster. Although I consider Trent an epic fail fall back, and I only am considering Trent because I have an(irrational?) fear of being denied from everywhere else.
My average and school admission averages
Carleton: 73-75% My: 83%
Laurier: Mid to high 70's
Waterloo: High 70's
Ottawa: 72-75%
Trent: Minimum 70%
McMaster: 77-80% My: 81% (only school that requires physics out of the 6)
My questions are...
1) Are my fears of not getting in anywhere irrational? I have 1-10% over the grade range mentioned on each site for the program.
2) If you attend any of these schools, what is the student life like? How would you rate your overall school experience? How are the residences? Is there lots to do in your spare time? How are the proff's? Class sizes?
3) Is there a point in applying to honours courses over non-honours courses? Are they MUCH harder to get into? I know they have less enrolment numbers and a higher needed grade average, but will that make a large difference when I am over the admission average by 5-10%?
Hope you guys can help me make a more informed decision! 
P.S I have checked the internet for a site rating universities on student experience it would make sense that there would be one, but I couldn't find any if anyone knows of one please post it!
*editted in average*
Great site:
http://www.utours.ca
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Kennigit
Canada19447 Posts
1) what is your actual average?
2) I go to Carleton. I love it. It's cold as fuck during the winter in Ottawa but theres a great social environment and my profs are 100% better than at RMC. There is tons to do if you get involved - frosh week is pretty good but some stuff you need to be proactive about searching out for yourself. Theres a club for everything though. Classes vary in size - i have a system's programming course with 250 kids and a math class with 40. You don't have to worry so much about that because you will have a tutorial session for classes that is like 20-30 ppl tops.
3) You can always transfer into an honors program once you are here based on your marks but i think it's probably easier doing it from high school (your marks will drop in first year).
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Calgary25998 Posts
Cut Laurier or Carleton. Done.
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No Queens??
1) Are my fears of not getting in anywhere irrational? I have 1-10% over the grade range mentioned on each site for the program.
Well... in general I think most of those universities will accept you with that average. I wouldn't worry at all about getting in. No sense in it. Having said that always have a backup school that you know you'll get in.
2) If you attend any of these schools, what is the student life like? How would you rate your overall school experience? How are the residences? Is there lots to do in your spare time? How are the proff's? Class sizes?
I attend queens, but have travelled to carleton and university of ottawa... Both are cool schools with a nice student life (Don't know much about profs/courses though). Queens probably trumps them in both areas.
3) Is there a point in applying to honours courses over non-honours courses? Are they MUCH harder to get into? I know they have less enrolment numbers and a higher needed grade average, but will that make a large difference when I am over the admission average by 5-10%?
Honours looks better on your transcript? I don't think its a huge difference unless you're trying for a masters/phd, but if you've got the smarts then why not?
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your fears are sounding pretty irrational from the limited info you provide
i can only tell you a bit about waterloo
-waterloo is obviously the most reputable of the lot (in fact i think it's the most reputable amongst executives/organization leaders type ppl)
-lots of asians, with an ever-increasing number of 'fobby' asians (basically if you don't wanna look like a nerd start working on your hair and shit)
-things can get boring if you don't hang with the right ppl
-don't stay there over winter breaks because it will get extremely dull
-science-related programs, -especially- engineering programs, have some pretty awful girl to guy ratios, chemistry might be one of the better one's to be in though, i'm not entirely sure
that's all i can say about waterloo, and all this comes from talking with friends
not many good things i can say, but being such a reputable and strong school is definately the biggest plus
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on an irrelevant note , The OPs quote is funny because your is misspelled :O
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1.
Don't worry you'll get in.
Doesn't sound like those programs are particularly competitive.
2.
I go to Waterloo and the student life differs drastically based on what residence you get into for first year. My res (REV) was pretty social since everyone on one floor got to know each other very well, so I made a lot of friends and there were tonnes of parties. But from what I've heard, the other residences are generally quieter and less social.
Class sizes are pretty big for most required courses in first year, with 250~ people in my first year chem lecture.
And there's definitely lots to do in your spare time :3 A lot of people play SC, and there's a TL LAN party roughly once a term.
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also i want to add that OP is probably not applying to queens because the admission requirements are too high?
iirc queens requires a minimum of 80 in english, math, and calculus for many of their science programs
not to be racist or anything, but the 80 in english really screws a lot of asians out of queens rofl; several of my asian friends with 85-90+ averages all have lower than 80 in english
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Also Op has info. from previous blogs to those asking. Also, are you sure chemistry is hard, or is it just you not applying yourself enough?
(from this blog) http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=84266¤tpage=2
Because I'll say from experience i scored poorly in my Chem II AP at my high school, but did well at my uni, because i was more motivated / university had better resources i could use to study.
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On January 09 2010 09:05 HeavOnEarth wrote:Also Op has info. from previous blogs to those asking. Also, are you sure chemistry is hard, or is it just you not applying yourself enough? (from this blog) http://www.teamliquid.net/blogs/viewblog.php?topic_id=84266¤tpage=2Because I'll say from experience i scored poorly in my Chem II AP at my high school, but did well at my uni, because i was more motivated / university had better resources i could use to study.
Well since im doing a victory lap in highschool I have learned A LOT better study habbits and techniques. I am also retaking chemistry an I am getting way better mark (obviously it's my second time rofl).
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On January 09 2010 09:38 peidongyang wrote:
Apply to Carleton. They usually accept you 3-4 days after you apply. Almost as easy as Trent lulz.
Waterloo is a bit more interesting. Depending on what program, your average requirement would be from high 70s, to mid/high 80s for eng, all the way to 90s (accounting math cutoff in 09 was 96 avg lulz). Either way, you'll need decent marks and a good AIF to get into Waterloo.
That being said, you can always apply to UoT or Queens. Calculus and Vectors is one of those very easy classes to get good marks in. Since you're applying for Chem, if your Chem and English marks are good, you could probably make it into UoT or Queens.
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I had a similar fear of not getting in, and from my own personal experience, it's completely unwarranted. Even if your average doesn't meet their requirements, if the course isn't full, they will let you in, they won't turn down a tuition like that. You should look at their requirements more as: "What you need to safely get in to this program." Even if you were 1-5% below the requirement, I would still expect you to get in, so don't sweat it.
You didn't list Brock as a school you are considering (that's where I go - I'm a Brock Badger (lol)), I am studying to get my BA Honours in Psychology. The first introductory Psych. course I had was huge, over 300 students, but now that I am in my second year (I'm 20), the courses have become much smaller.
As far as I know, if you want to go on to graduate school, you need to be in a honours program. Honours programs just require that you maintain a higher grade average, so I would definitely recommend entering into one. The requirements are possibly a bit higher, but nothing drastic, an 80% average will pretty much guarantee admittance. PM me if you got any other general Q's.
P.S. University is far, far better than High School 
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I got a PM from a person by the name of "samachking" and he told me of this site http://www.utours.ca which will be useful for me and anyone else looking for university advice.
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On January 09 2010 08:26 nAi.PrOtOsS wrote:
1) Are my fears of not getting in anywhere irrational? I have 1-10% over the grade range mentioned on each site for the program.
2) If you attend any of these schools, what is the student life like? How would you rate your overall school experience? How are the residences? Is there lots to do in your spare time? How are the proff's? Class sizes?
1) As long as yours changes don't look crazy horrible, apply anyway. You don't want to regret not applying to a certain university or program.
2) Waterloo - What blue_arrow said. Waterloo isn't the most exciting place in the world, but if you have the right group of friends, it can be a lot of fun. I'm not big on parties or pubs, so most of my time is spent either by myself or at a friend's house chilling.
1st year residences like REV are a lot more sociable, with Village1 being a little less so. UWPlace is much more quiet, and don't know much about the colleges or MKV... so in the end it's more about what you enjoy more, though you may not have a choice in the matter (priority is given to seniority).
Classes are usually larger (100+) and I'm guessing the the quality of profs is average like most universities.
I like Waterloo mainly for the co-op program and the friends. I think as long as you like your program and have good friends to hang out with, it'll be fine.
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1) Based on the numbers you provided, I would say it seems extremely likely that you will get accepted somewhere (I highly doubt that this year it is significantly more competitive than previous years). That being said, its always good to have a back up, since you definitely don't want to have another year off.
2) I've heard good things about Waterloo/McMaster, can't say much about the rest.
3) Can't comment on how much harder it is to get in. But I would recommend doing an honours degree as it keeps your options open for the future. You can probably transfer to/from honours once in the program as well, but its easier just to start in it.
Is there a reason why you are applying to only 5? I realize that it costs more to apply to more universities, but I would also recommend considering chemistry programs at Queens/UofT/Western/York assuming their cutoffs are not too high. Have you considered co-op at Waterloo as well? I believe that they offer chemistry co-op. Any interest in chemical engineering?
Macleans magazine always runs a large ranking of Canadian Universities in November which includes information on student experiences etc. Unfortunately I just threw out my copy yesterday, and it appears you can't fully access it online.
Note: I majored in chemistry/biology from York, feel free to PM me as well.
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Hey, OP.
1) Are my fears of not getting in anywhere irrational? I have 1-10% over the grade range mentioned on each site for the program.
TOTALLY IRRATIONAL! I have the same feelings last year during University Application time. If you have 10% over the recommended avgs, I honestly don't believe you can get rejected. For the program that I applied to where I had like a 10% avg over, I got in pretty much instantly.
However, if your mark is only marginally over the recommended, I'm not quite sure, as I'm not aware of what kinds of supplementary applications you have to fill out for these universities.
2) If you attend any of these schools, what is the student life like? How would you rate your overall school experience? How are the residences? Is there lots to do in your spare time? How are the proff's? Class sizes?
Can't help you here, as I am currently studying York University.
3) Is there a point in applying to honours courses over non-honours courses? Are they MUCH harder to get into? I know they have less enrolment numbers and a higher needed grade average, but will that make a large difference when I am over the admission average by 5-10%?
Can't help you here... but I do think that it would be a good thing being in an 'honours' program.
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I am current in Waterloo engineering.
Waterloo is not a great school for sciences; unless you want to do co-op, I would avoid this school.
Out of all the schools you mentioned, I think McMaster has the best science program (I'm not 100% sure, I'd read Maclean's or talk to an adviser. Also, McMaster has the best reputation in sciences; I am surprised that you do not have UT on your list.
As for your concern, every university will say they admit students based on a variety of factors, but that's really for those who are on the line. A thing to note is that the admission average is only an estimate (either based on last year, or calculated based on past trends), it will vary from year to year. However, if your average is 10% higher than the minimum requirement, I would not worry at all.
UW is not as lively as Laurier; but I think it may be better for students in Arts and Sciences (versus those in engineering and math). All in all, Waterloo is not that great...
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EPT
