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So I have my post-secondary decision broken down to two schools, UofT and McGill (other two schools are UBC and Waterloo). I was accepted to both for Engineering, and I was wondering if any current/past students or anyone knowledgeable on the subject have any advice on the matter.
In terms of scholarship/ bursary money I think they are about even so that isn't really a factor, nor is cost of tuition or residence. Right now I am leaning slightly to McGill, because of it's campus and reputation. In addition I have an awesome Uncle in Montreal. However, I heard that it is currently riding on it's old reputation as a good school, and has slipped slightly over the past few years.
UofT an excellent reputation for Engineering, however I've heard it is rather unpersonal. As well the campus isn't as nice as McGill's. I have family in Toronto as well, but they are distant cousins, so that is also a negative. Really the only advantage of UofT that I see is the reputation, and I'm wondering if it is really that good.
So any advice or opinions on the two schools, as I expect to be making the decision later this week.
 
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I do not know much about the schools, but judging from your OP, you seem to have already (at least subconsciously) made a decision.
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Man, I thought you meant there was a starcraft match between us.
edit: They're both top schools, you'll get a good job regardless so just choose the city you most want to live in.
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On April 29 2010 06:39 KH1031 wrote:
I do not know much about the schools, but judging from your OP, you seem to have already (at least subconsciously) made a decision.
Yeah, I've been leaning towards McGill for a while now, but UofT is making a come back.
On April 29 2010 06:40 Equaoh wrote:
Man, I thought you meant there was a starcraft match between us.
 sorry to disapoint. I am however going to call you out... since you go to one of the schools, any advice?
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UofT baby. You'd get to see me and my sexy butt
speaking of Starcraft we have JF
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Engineering?
UW is way more recognized for engineering, and we got an awesome co-op system. Lots of SC players here too....
Now that I think of it, don't come here
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I just graduated from science at McGill, the profs and research opportunities were awesome. Not sure if UofT has co-op or not, you should consider that in your decision.
You'll most likely spend these 4 years too drunk to remember anyway
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On April 29 2010 06:48 Koltz wrote:
Engineering?
UW is way more recognized for engineering, and we got an awesome co-op system. Lots of SC players here too....
Now that I think of it, don't come here
Any reasons in particular- or just general suckage?
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Calgary25981 Posts
I would agree with your analysis and favour McGill, unless your specific field is world renowned at UofT. I don't think UofT is far enough ahead of McGill in engineering to make your decision solely based on that, and the social aspects of McGill are far better than UofT. My few friends who went to UofT felt really isolated, like there wasn't much sense of community.
I think the reputation of an engineering school serves very little in engineering in Canada. I haven't heard of anyone having any amazing opportunities after graduation based just on their school's name. I'm not sure why the reputation seems to be such a huge factor for you. The way I've seen it, there's three (I would even consider an argument for two) tiers of engineering schools in eastern Canada, and both your options are in the top tier.
I attended neither school so I can't offer anything more than that.
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UofT sucks. Boring as shit, and apparently the engineering (and life sciences) students are depressed as hell unless they're geniuses that can go out and party without studying too hard for that ever elusive 4.0.
Undergraduate at U of T is terrible, they're known for post-graduate studies. Come to U of T then.
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Yeah the last two posts pretty much sum up what I was thinking. Thanks guys, and probably see you crazy Quebecers in the Fall.
 I guess I better start to brush up on my French a little.
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i did my undergrad in electrical engineering at mcgill and am now doing my masters in the telecommunication and signal processing. i find the program to be really good, and the professors to be pretty smart. Some might scare you first year to force you to study harder but that's about the worse you can get. On top of that, Mcgill's reputation is more highly recognized internationally, and montreal is an awesome city to live in, i much prefer it to toronto. We actually have a night life.
Plus! you'd get to meet awesome me, I might be even your TA in both starcraft and... some other classes ... muahhahhahahaha 
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On April 29 2010 07:12 Freaky[x] wrote:i did my undergrad in electrical engineering at mcgill and am now doing my masters in the telecommunication and signal processing. i find the program to be really good, and the professors to be pretty smart. Some might scare you first year to force you to study harder but that's about the worse you can get. On top of that, Mcgill's reputation is more highly recognized internationally, and montreal is an awesome city to live in, i much prefer it to toronto. We actually have a night life. Plus! you'd get to meet awesome me, I might be even your TA in both starcraft and... some other classes ... muahhahhahahaha
It is you that should be scared. Consider this your warning >
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Well part of the decision should be location to you (not to close, not too far . I dislike U of T becasue it's so spread out (although I don't know about engineering buildings), but both are located in awesome cities. I think you want to look at what specializations they offer as well..
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Canada291 Posts
I'm two days away from finishing first year engineering at UofT. I don't think there is anything really spectacular about UofT's engineering and it's a common misconception that there are not many girls in engineering. I'm in chemical engineering and the male/female ratio is about 1:1 buuuuut very few of them are attractive 
In terms of workload, it's not as bad as people assume. If you have good work habits and are productive (dont get distracted easily), then you will have time to play on the weekend. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of those people so I had to spend almost everyday in the library. Just make friends and have a study group, that's what I did and it was actually very fun studying with friends. Playing 1v3 starcraft with friends during break and going out for dinner, and then studying a little inbetween each break. Studying time was pretty fun at times ^^. But during exams there is no time to play, it's study study study!
Just a piece of advice, do not fall behind no matter what! and unless you are a genius, don't skip classes, they're really helpful and saves you a lot of time which would otherwise be spent reading the textbook. Once you fall behind it'll get ugly.
PM me if you have any questions about uoft ^^
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can't beat american schools
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come to uoft, uoft 3-2'd mcgill in csl 2 weeks ago
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Damn they work you engineers like dogs, JF. Arts and Sci last day of class was three weeks ago and exams were finished last week.
Also to add, JF is right about the lack of attractive girls at UofT. Sure there's a bunch that look pretty good but it's definitely not like movies would have you believe
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Calgary25981 Posts
On April 29 2010 07:27 IefNaij wrote:'m in chemical engineering and the male/female ratio is about 1:1 buuuuut very few of them are attractive
There's a reason it's called fem eng.
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hmm... depends really. i would like to go to UFT when after i graduate, but i live in brampton and the travel distance/cost of gas really isnt worth it. Waterloo is good for engineering isnt it? Oh well, it all comes down to what you can afford to do, for me, I'll just go to McMasters =]
im gettin into sciences, especially bio engineering =]
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It's not just about the engineering program, or the reputation. Any university you go to will give you a very good education, and any Canadian university has a good reputation.
Look at other things. Think about anything to do with other things offered at the school (clubs, elective courses, competitions, etc). Look at the location, and all the things to do in your spare time that are nearby. Look at housing opportunities, and find something that you can live with comfortably.
I came to the U of Ottawa because I felt like the program, the school, and the location were a perfect fit for me. That doesn't mean that the same would be true for you though.
The workload can be pretty brutal some weeks, but overall, it's not bad, so don't let that be a deterrent.
I've been to both the McGill and UofT campuses. McGill is definitely better than UofT in that department (at least, imo). However, UofT definitely has some perks that McGill can't offer, and vice versa. It's up to you, but regardless of which you choose, you won't regret it.
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I feel the two universities are about even. Your success during your universities years (as well as beyond that) depends on how hard you work in the university, NOT on which school you go to.
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On April 29 2010 06:57 emperorchampion wrote:Show nested quote +On April 29 2010 06:48 Koltz wrote:
Engineering?
UW is way more recognized for engineering, and we got an awesome co-op system. Lots of SC players here too....
Now that I think of it, don't come here Any reasons in particular- or just general suckage?
Its really hard. They make you do LOTS of work, and the marks are really hard to earn. If you understand stuff front-to-back you'll do well, but if you dont intend on doing lots of practise problems and reading over notes frequently, and attending every single lecture/tutorial/lab you won't do as well as you would do in other schools.
Not much diversity in culture (majority are asians, so much that english almost becomes the minority language).
The campus is quite bland, better than UFT, worse than mcgills. In the summer its kinda cute, theres geese everywhere and trees, and benches, and chipmunks can come up to you and make you feel all nice and cuddly inside before you go to write an exam that you will inevitably THINK you did amazing on but probably only average.
I mean, Waterloo is an amazing school, the co-op opportunities are amazing, you get so much experience AND money on the side, once you graduate you WILL be set. You can even do co-op opportunities in other countries. I have sisters that went to Waterloo, one for architecture, one for biochem. They worked, on co-op, in san francisco, london england, iceland, and rome, on seperate work terms.
Thats not to mention that UW is an engineering school at heart, there are a lot more job opportunities for engineers, and employers LOVE waterloo co-op students.
Right now, im a current undergrad, in the mathematics faculty.
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Waterloo for the co-op. I currently go to UofT, and you only get a 'professional experience year', which means time off school.
At Waterloo, you finish in 5 years, but as long as you're not retarded, the 4 terms of co-op experience will greatly help you get a job after you graduate.
UofT = grad in 4 years, 1 year of coop exp.
Waterloo = grad in 5, 4 potential different companies
GL
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There are 6 co-op terms in UW Engineering. If you're not in programs that have 8 month co-op terms, that would be 6 different potential work experiences.
EDIT: Waterloo is awesome. (Incredibly boring, having friends really helps.)
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McGill has HORRIBLE profs for lectures, but in return the exams are considerably easier than UofT, so if you want to go to grad school with a high gpa, mcgill is your choice.
Most of my friends are in McGill engineering, and their general consensus is that the lectures are unbearable/taught by people who can't teach, but most people I know get good grades.
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Calgary25981 Posts
On April 29 2010 11:35 Jerebread wrote:
Waterloo for the co-op. I currently go to UofT, and you only get a 'professional experience year', which means time off school.
At Waterloo, you finish in 5 years, but as long as you're not retarded, the 4 terms of co-op experience will greatly help you get a job after you graduate.
UofT = grad in 4 years, 1 year of coop exp.
Waterloo = grad in 5, 4 potential different companies
GL
Waterloo is fucking garb the biggest piece of advice I can give you if you want to have a well-rounded life is DO NOT GO TO WATERLOO ENGINEERING.
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On April 29 2010 13:05 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On April 29 2010 11:35 Jerebread wrote:
Waterloo for the co-op. I currently go to UofT, and you only get a 'professional experience year', which means time off school.
At Waterloo, you finish in 5 years, but as long as you're not retarded, the 4 terms of co-op experience will greatly help you get a job after you graduate.
UofT = grad in 4 years, 1 year of coop exp.
Waterloo = grad in 5, 4 potential different companies
GL Waterloo is fucking garb the biggest piece of advice I can give you if you want to have a well-rounded life is DO NOT GO TO WATERLOO ENGINEERING.
On the other hand, Blizzard will visit (or visited? I forgot) Waterloo for potential employees (not UofT nor McGill). So think about that, too
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anyone is/was studying business?
or is this an engineer sausage fest
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On April 29 2010 07:22 ThE_OsToJiY wrote:Well part of the decision should be location to you (not to close, not too far . I dislike U of T becasue it's so spread out (although I don't know about engineering buildings), but both are located in awesome cities. I think you want to look at what specializations they offer as well..
Well, see I really dislike Alberta so my goal is to get as far away as possible for now. In terms of specializations my goal is to go into Civil Engineering, Majoring in Structural with a possible Minor in Envirionmental.
In terms of work habits I think I'm pretty good. I've learned a lot about hard work over the past year working full time. I'm no where close to a genius, but I plan on attending every class (well I say that now...), so I'm pretty sure I'll do go good.
On April 29 2010 07:28 danl9rm wrote:
can't beat american schools
Can't get pay for or get accepted to American schools . That said I'm still on the Waitinglist to Notre Dame.
On April 29 2010 13:05 Chill wrote:Show nested quote +On April 29 2010 11:35 Jerebread wrote:
Waterloo for the co-op. I currently go to UofT, and you only get a 'professional experience year', which means time off school.
At Waterloo, you finish in 5 years, but as long as you're not retarded, the 4 terms of co-op experience will greatly help you get a job after you graduate.
UofT = grad in 4 years, 1 year of coop exp.
Waterloo = grad in 5, 4 potential different companies
GL Waterloo is fucking garb the biggest piece of advice I can give you if you want to have a well-rounded life is DO NOT GO TO WATERLOO ENGINEERING.
Yeah, I kinda realized that a few weeks ago. I was never to hot on Waterloo, and besides I've been living in a town of 12 000 for the last 4 years- I need a change, not another small area.
On April 29 2010 15:10 intrudor wrote:
anyone is/was studying business?
or is this an engineer sausage fest
Well, I am going into Engineering so I asked about that, but if you have any questions about buisness then I'm sure they can be answered. A lot of this is general as well, such as campus life, girls, ect.
Thanks for all the replies, I'm pretty much 99% going to McGill. I'll wear my Hwaseung long sleeve for like the first few days, so if you see one say hi!
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Honestly McGill and UofT are both good schools. Montreal and Toronto are both pretty cool, although in the winter Montreal is WAY colder (and the hills are fucking steep as fuck).
I go to Waterloo and I like it here (the city and the campus), and the co-op system is great. But it sounds like you're already set on one of the other two. Waterloo isn't THAT small, especially since it's essentially merged with Kitchener for a population of about 300k.
If you want a lifestyle change consider McGill. If you want to play it safe and go to a good, solid university in a nice city go to Toronto. McGill has crud tons of hipsters and Toronto has crud tons of Asians. Also housing in Montreal is cheaper than in Toronto.
McGill has a great party life too.
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EPT
