EPTAny UBC grads want to share what your job prospects have been like? How difficult was getting into a good coop?
UBC vs UofA Canadian University Help - Page 4
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bdictkam
Canada155 Posts
Any UBC grads want to share what your job prospects have been like? How difficult was getting into a good coop? | ||
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CanucksJC
Canada1241 Posts
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bdictkam
Canada155 Posts
On May 30 2011 15:59 CanucksJC wrote: UBC engi's have a hell (i mean literal hell, not 'yay lets of a hell of a time hell') of a time here, prepare yourself before coming if you do end up going to UBC engi. Can you be as descriptive as possible why that is canucks? Inform me the best you can, thank you! | ||
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Entropic
Canada2837 Posts
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CanucksJC
Canada1241 Posts
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bdictkam
Canada155 Posts
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CanucksJC
Canada1241 Posts
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bdictkam
Canada155 Posts
I think you have your information incorrect ;/ I am not even at the schools and i know that much! | ||
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omgCRAZY
Canada551 Posts
On May 30 2011 18:10 bdictkam wrote: What really? I dont believe that... How can uofa and uofc have a required 6, and ubc 8... and they are all doing an accredited program? I think you have your information incorrect ;/ I am not even at the schools and i know that much! My friends is taking engineering at UofA and he is taking 6 courses a semester too. Engineers get owned HARD compared to all other students it seems. EDIT: Oh and I have lived in Vancouver and Edmonton. Vancouver has nice weather but I HATED the grey rainy weather so I still prefer Edmonton and we have a nice sc2 scene growing here. | ||
tQWannaBe
Canada133 Posts
On May 30 2011 17:32 bdictkam wrote: What the heck... i thought eng's take 6... why would they willingly take so many??? 35 credit for first year in UBC engi, it means u have to take 6 courses one semester, and 5 courses the other, but this is just for "1"st year. 2nd year, worse since you have to take 1 more course each semester than 1st year, and it's Standard Time Table (fuck you STT, we have right to choose our own courses) which means you can add, but can't remove courses from your time table given by UBC. Well, UBC Engi is full of ass-holes (literary ass-holes) so pretty fun and I'm enjoying here UBC engineering; although if I don't get Academic Probation, I would love UBC engineering more. On May 30 2011 18:10 bdictkam wrote: What really? I dont believe that... How can uofa and uofc have a required 6, and ubc 8... and they are all doing an accredited program? I think you have your information incorrect ;/ I am not even at the schools and i know that much! It's depends on major tho, still some majors in engineering takes 8 courses per semester or they just take summer school since UBC has only 2 semester + summer school + long holiday between summer school and winter semester, not like other schools (3 semesters). | ||
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jjeff
Canada2 Posts
On May 28 2011 11:19 bdictkam wrote: I know what edmonton is like im from calgary, but i would rarely be hitting the city, id live and stay almost fully on campus. My consern was fort mac which is close to edmonton is UofA coop and jobs goldmine. Something UBC doesnt have Just FYI, I'm pretty sure that at least a few people from UBC Mech are working at fort mac right now. The coop pay also good if you are willing to go somewhere remote like fort mac or northern BC. My first coop job out of second year, in a small mining town, I'm making a bit more than 4k per month for 4 months (~50k/yr). I mention this because of your comment about making 60k at a mine in BC, and I'm pretty sure a real engineer makes a whole lot more than I do. About the workload at UBC, its pretty rough compared to other degrees. UBC has a second year program that alternates project and lecture terms, and by the middle to end of the year you'll be at school for the majority of your time. 8am-5pm class every day with only one hour break, and then you still have homework and weekly tests to study for. I think there were a couple of weeks where I was at school from 8am to 10pm each day. The project terms are great though because you learn a lot, and the professors are awesome. Working full time right now is a breeze compared to that. I'm not too familiar with other department's workloads, but they're probably something similar. Engineering is not something you can just half-ass through. I took 6 AP courses in high school scoring four 5's and two 4's. First year wasn't too bad, but boy did second year hit me hard. Be prepared. You'll have to learn how to work hard, but also have fun at the same time or else you'll go insane edit: grammar | ||
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Reflex
Canada703 Posts
On May 31 2011 04:08 tQWannaBe wrote: 35 credit for first year in UBC engi, it means u have to take 6 courses one semester, and 5 courses the other, but this is just for "1"st year. 2nd year, worse since you have to take 1 more course each semester than 1st year, and it's Standard Time Table (fuck you STT, we have right to choose our own courses) which means you can add, but can't remove courses from your time table given by UBC. Well, UBC Engi is full of ass-holes (literary ass-holes) so pretty fun and I'm enjoying here UBC engineering; although if I don't get Academic Probation, I would love UBC engineering more. It's depends on major tho, still some majors in engineering takes 8 courses per semester or they just take summer school since UBC has only 2 semester + summer school + long holiday between summer school and winter semester, not like other schools (3 semesters). the only majors that take 8 courses per semester are eng phys students, and only if they want to graduate within 5 years (which most of them don't). | ||
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sikyon
Canada1045 Posts
I'll tell you this straight up: UBC's engineering program is more well known than UoA's program, except when it comes to petroleum (oilsands) and nanotech (nanotech center). I tell you this based on my extensive co-op experience and seeing what kinds of people get hired - nobody ever mentions UoA and occasionally UBC pops up. I also lived in Calgary for 7 years and Victoria for 10. Vancouver's weather is way, way, wayyyy better. Go with UBC. It has better international recognition unless you are doing one of the aforementioned fields and it has absolutely superior weather. As to workload, engineers everywhere have high workload. Be warned: you get used to it, or you flunk out. You go to university to learn, not to be taught. | ||
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bdictkam
Canada155 Posts
You seem really bias.. but i can maybe see why u are coming from it. I know you guys are preping me for the workload but im ready for it, really i am. I kinda look forward to it actualy..I have the drive to be dedicated. Why do u think UofA doesnt get mentioned? The engineering faculty is rated wayy higher world rankings wise then the school overall, its the 2nd biggest school in canada too and get premium funding... i dont get it... Can u mention your coop experience in more detail? What leads you to think less of UofA? On all the engineering school ranks i saw UofA is almost as high as UBC, and higher then your waterloo, but i know these rankings arent really that good.. i perfer peoples opinons so maybe you can elaborate what makes UBC over shadow UofA so much? | ||
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sikyon
Canada1045 Posts
I don't know why but I've never heard an employer mention that they wanted to hire an employee from UoA. UBC is actually mentioned - I believe there is a certain prestige associated with schools. Given that I have worked in companies that primarily had people comming out of eastern (ontario) Canada, I think that it's a less biased sample than a company ranking you would get in Alberta or BC. However, I will say that if you go to UoA you will probably have an eaisier time getting a job in Alberta, and if you go to UBC you will have an eaisier time in BC getting a job. That's just the power of proximity and networking. I would wager that UoA gets less exposure because possibly many of its graduates end up working in Alberta anyways. These rankings they use... are useless. The only real rankings that should concern an undergrad student are student satisfaction surveys and employer reputation surveys. Surveys based on Research, etc are useless in getting a job out of undergrad because you won't be doing that if you don't want to go to grad school. Universities are ranked this way because the job of a University is not to teach students but to produce research. Teaching students what they do on the side. In this way funding doesn't really matter either - do you think you'll see a dime of it other than in new buildings? I'll say this for waterloo: We do not have great graduate research. That's why we place so low on world university rankings. However, if you ask employers on their opinions of the actual graduates are, it is extremely high. I'll give you an example. Consider the ARWU rankings. http://www.arwu.org/ARWUFieldMethodology2010.jsp The methodology used is completely based on research. Do you think an employer gives a rat's ass about how good a university's graduate program is if they are looking to hire undergrads? Watelroo engineers are extremely well regarded because of our co-op program. I've worked with engineering students from other schools before, including UBC but not UoA. I can't objectively rate their actual training since I have different career goals (graduate study) but I can say that compared to Waterloo engineers they were less professional, their work was less polished and in the end these are the kinds of things employers look for. Honestly I don't think that you can make a bad decision either way between UBC or UoA. They are both good schools and this sort of drives at what I was getting at about the workload. How successful you are depends wholly on how much effort you put into learning, applying what you've learned and how much you actually try to do work. Some schools will give you benefits (after going through it, I am a big proponent of co-op programs) and honestly the biggest professional benefit you will get from going to UoA vs UBC is networking with nearby companies. Consider carefully if you would like to work more in companies located in Edmonton, or Vancouver. Before I go to bed, I'll leave you with this example about the workload: I have a few friends who say that they havn't really learned anything in Engineering and they don't think they'll ever use it, even in an engineering job. I think they're full of bullshit. I take what I've learned every day on a co-op job and try to apply it. I'm working on designing a new process? Fuck yeah calculus and fluid transport. You have to actually want to use what you've learned when you get out there in the field. Also, don't take factors such as weather and living conditions lightly. How good you become is not determined by how good your program is, but by how well you perform. It's alot easier to be motivated in Vancouver than in 4 feet of snow. | ||
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bdictkam
Canada155 Posts
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Chromyne
Canada561 Posts
On May 29 2011 14:07 OpticalShot wrote: I personally thought I'd be doing nanotechnology, so I applied to UW nanotech engineering and UT engineering science. I chose the latter, discovered that nano isn't exactly what I wanted (and I never truly understood quantum mechanics anyway), so in third year I chose a different major. Whoa, I had the same opportunity when applying for university except I chose UW Nanotech (UT wouldn't give me scholarship details until I accepted their offer >_>) You missed out, it's a lot of fun (well I guess you didn't because you realized you wouldn't have enjoyed it haha). OP: Just from an outsider's perspective, I would choose UBC. I hear about UBC much more than UofA, and undergrad reputation does matter to a point in Canada. Also, BC is a beautiful province and the weather is, for the most part, amazing (compared to the central provinces). | ||
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bdictkam
Canada155 Posts
mech eng civil eng petro eng If you have statistics or real industry experience that would be great! | ||
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bdictkam
Canada155 Posts
I paid the deposit for both schools and had lately from influences in life changed my idea and decided to go to UofA. However apparently residence services is telling me they have no room left. I am absolutely crushed cause i was set!! Do any of u know how often residences open up spaces? I was thinking of living with people i know in edmonton until res opened up. Do you think living on res is really that important to enjoy the school atmosphere? What are the downsides of living off campus? | ||
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CholmesInk
United States139 Posts
 and from the looks of it you will save money, and ratheyon (sp) is right there as well to start your carrier when you graduate! but congrats on getting accepted and i hope your future is bright!BTW the CSL team for the UofA is alright! <3 CholmesInk | ||
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