Hi guys,

I am currently in grade 12 and am considering mac for btech next year. can someone tell me about the program? job prospects? coop? and how does it compare against engineering? should i go in for it?

any help is appreciated as i am very confused. thanks y'all

Its a joint program with Mohawk, so be prepared to travel to mohawk for your labs, usually 1 day a week.

Compared to engineering, I noticed BTech courses offer you alot of aids - formula sheets, crib sheets, etc. The material learnt compared to engineering is similar, but not exactly the same. You do not have any electives.

I know alot of people who are in BTech now either dropped out of engineering, failed engineering first year, or got rejected to mac engineering. Of course there are some that prefer it over engineering due to the more hands-on aspect to it due to the labs at mohawk.

Btech requires a 3.5 to stay into the program (I know someone who got in with a 2.1..) and Eng requires a 4.0 to stay in.

Overall, of course, I am biased, being in engineering, so wait till a BTech student posts their opinion on this matter as well

Good Luck!

Honestly, a couple of the B-Tech courses sound harder than the engineering ones >_> (My friend is in B-Tech. he seems to enjoy it)

Just finished my first year; and our courses are pretty much the same as engineering. the major difference is that our lab components are worth 40% of our overall mark in the chemistries, physics and electricity first year.

it's a lot more hands on, and i absolutely love the program.

i found that in engineering you're learning about all these concepts and theories, and in B.Tech you're actually using them to solve real life problems

btech def has more aids. example, math test u get integral tables, eng u dont. then again eng might just give u nicer numbers/trigs for u. you basically camp in etb all day since all ur classes are there. there's only one phys course and abuncha more chem depending on what field u want to get into if i recall what my friend says.

B.Tech is a little bit different from the standard Eng streams in that it is more focussed. In engineering you will spend a more time learning about broad or general areas, whereas in Btech once you finish a few general courses in your first year you will be focussing on your specific area. B.Tech does focus less on general math but more on the engineering discipline you are studying, which may be a good or bad thing depending on how you feel about math.

The co-op is included for all students which is a BIG plus! In engineering I believe you have to compete for co-op spots or earn a minimum mark to get into a co-op stream. In science and engineering, work experience is one of the biggest advantages one grad can have over another so this is pretty beneficial.

All of your first year labs are now held at Mac with some upper year labs being at Mohawk, but they have been moving labs over into the new building so the need to go to Mohawk may be further reduced by the time you reach upper years...

The downside to the program is that it is less straightforward to get your professional engineer license if that is what you are going for. You will have to write a handful of technical exams and hand in a technical report (most likely your capstone project report). The chairs are working towards accrediation which is likely not far off for some programs, considering the PEO and CEAB recently accredited a Mechanical Systems Engineering technology program at Conestoga College which is very similar in breadth and focus to the four year B.Tech.

Job prospects are very good for b.eng and b.tech. I can't speak much to the four year programs, as my experience is in the degree completion, but at a minimum I would expect a grad of either of these programs to make at least $50k per year (which isn't outstanding but you won't really be hurting for money at that starting rate).

Read up about the streams and the program itself on the website, and if it is something you'd like to do then I think you would do well to make it one of your applications. Hopefully this has helped.


P.s. - in my experience in terms of crib sheets, etc. the only courses where a crib sheet has been offered are the ones where it really isn't needed. Either program will have some professors who allow crib sheets or some form of aid, and professors who do not.

Originally Posted by 19841984

The co-op is included for all students which is a BIG plus! In engineering I believe you have to compete for co-op spots or earn a minimum mark to get into a co-op stream. In science and engineering, work experience is one of the biggest advantages one grad can have over another so this is pretty beneficial.

P.s. - in my experience in terms of crib sheets, etc. the only courses where a crib sheet has been offered are the ones where it really isn't needed. Either program will have some professors who allow crib sheets or some form of aid, and professors who do not.

First off, no, the coop program you dont compete for "spots". You just complete 1 course and you can then apply for coop postings.

And for testing, I found btech tests for first year courses fairly straight forward and with the aid of a formula/crib, it makes it much easier.. esp the math courses (1Z04 and 1ZZ5 was killer). I also saw some 2nd year circuit questions and they are not bad either.

Thanks for the replies guys!

Also, as I haven't received my information package as yet, I was wondering what average I would have to maintain in high school to still be eligible for the program? You need high 70s to get in. I got into Carelton for high 70's engineering, and they ask me to maintain atleast a 71%. Is it the same as Mac?

Originally Posted by blackdragon

First off, no, the coop program you dont compete for "spots". You just complete 1 course and you can then apply for coop postings.

My mistake I thought there were minimum requirements. In that case, in my opinion, I would suggest whatever stream/program you end up going into, you should strongly consider co-op.

Good luck!

B.Tech = Bachelor of Technology = No P.Eng & no Iron Ring
Engineering = Bachelor of Engineering = P.Eng & Iron Ring

I heard it is quite possible you can get your P.Eng if you have a B.Tech degree. However, you will have to write a number of tests. For those who graduated with B.Eng just simply have to write an ethics exam.

Also, you can easily apply for grad school in the engineering field if your GPA in the last two years are well off. I hear it is difficult to get in with a B.Tech.

Lol true, Iron Ring is a huge pro

FYI you can apply and get the iron ring after you finish the technical exams if you do a BTech, you just won't attend the ceremony, which would of course be nice to have. At the end of the day you will still have the ring. There are some errors and oversimplifications on the BTech website, but check out the presentations made for the post college pathways section and from speaking personally with grads who have completed the journey, they did get a ring.

Bachelor of Engineering = iron ring in graduating year, p.eng after ethics exam and work experience

Bachelor of Technology = iron ring after technical exams, p.eng after ethics exam, technical exams, report and work experience

If you figure that you only need to do 5 exams, and the typical eng/tech semester is 6 or so courses, you can look at it as one more semester's worth of work.
Basically you will do five exams, get your iron ring, submit your capstone report to satisfy the report requirements (or choose another of the literally dozens of technical reports done during your curriculum and spruce it up a bit), do your ethics exam (which everyone has to do) and you are almost done.
Your work experience gained while writing the technical exams counts at full credit once you have completed them, so as long as you don't procrastinate it will take the same amount of time to get the license from either program, as the work experience is the limiting factor for either stream.

In terms of graduate school, you would need slightly higher marks than a B.Eng student on average to get into a M.Eng program, but for others, such as a MBA you will be on equal footing. To be honest, given the little benefit that a M.Eng/M.Sc offers to the average engineering career you will get a way bigger return on investment from a MBA.