Hey, I'm currently a high school student taking all university courses, my average right now is an 81%
and I'm very interested in pursuing a career in engineering, however my parents and I myself are afraid I might struggle in an engineering program at university, since the programs are hard. So I'm deciding to go to college first and get an advanced diploma in engineering technology, then join the degree completion program at Mac and get a degree in civil engineering technology.

It would take an extra year (5 years), as opposed to going straight to university and getting a degree in 4 years. I was wondering if this route is really worth it, or should I just apply straight into an engineering program at university.

I just need some advice from anyone with experience in an engineering or B.Tech program at Mac, or anyone who might know what I'm taking about.

Thanks

i dont think an 81 average would get you into macs engineering, but you still got a while to go and lots of time to boost your high school average anyways. i think if you come into university with the mindset of working hard then you should be okay. the 1st year content isnt that hard and i think everyone has the ability to fully understand if they seriously put time in. the difference between people with good and bad grades in university is mainly about the time and effort you put into schoolwork. its not something that you can just go class and get 80+ all the time like in high school. i think if you plan on working hard and stay focused then you might as well do engineering in university next year.

You might struggle at McMaster University with an 81% in high school studying engineering, but that doesn't mean you can't do it. I am not sure what average you need to get into engineering at mac, but don't base your performance in university on your high school average.

What i am trying to say is, don't get disappointed and feel that you can't do it. You have plenty of time to raise your average up and get accepted into engineering here at mac.

Another thing, if you don't get accepted at mcmaster for engineering with an 81, there are other universities that will take you into their engineering program. If you are afraid that you are not going to do well at mcmaster, you can probably do better at different universities. That's why i think it would be a waste of time if you go to college and then come to engineering. I am actually surprised that you are even thinking of going to college even though you have an 81 so far. If you told me that you have 60s or 70s and thinking of going to college, i would say you have a point. But you have an 81%, don't give up easily. I am not against college or studying in college, but i don't see a point of you going there.

As i said earlier, mcmaster is not the only university that offers engineering, there are other universities that will take you into their engineering program. If you live in Hamilton, i can see why you want to go to mac, and not a different university. You should never base ANY decision on things that are not important or things that will get in the way of other more important things. If you live in Hamilton you can apply to ryerson and go there for engineering. Their admissions average is lower than that of mcmaster, and you don't have to live in Toronto. You can simply commute, it's tough i understand, but at the end of the day you are getting a degree in engineering. I have friends from Hamilton who commute everyday and are studying engineering at ryerson.

Look, it's November and you have a lot of time to improve your grades and come to mac for engineering. Don't ever give up or let someone put you down..you want engineering? Fight for it!

Engineering is hard, but that doesn't mean that people don't do well in it. There are people with perfect GPA's in engineering, and there are others with good grades..why am i saying this? To show you that hard working and dedication will get you good grades, yes even in engineering :p
One thing to note here, i have friends who got 80s in grade 12 and did well in engineering at mac. Doing well in engineering depends on how well you manage your time and how hard you work. It does not depend on your grade 12 average.

If you don't make it to engineering at mac this year, you can go to ryerson for one year, work really hard and then come back to mac.

One last thing, i don't want you to think that engineering at other universities is easy. Engineering at ryerson for example is a bit easier than our program here at mcmaster. It's a little bit less challenging, that's all. Engineering is engineering anywhere you go, it's just that some universities have a more challenging program.

I don't see a point in you going to college, you have a decent average, keep up the good work, try your best and we hope to see you next year here at McMaster

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hey, I'm currently a high school student taking all university courses, my average right now is an 81%
and I'm very interested in pursuing a career in engineering, however my parents and I myself are afraid I might struggle in an engineering program at university, since the programs are hard. So I'm deciding to go to college first and get an advanced diploma in engineering technology, then join the degree completion program at Mac and get a degree in civil engineering technology.

It would take an extra year (5 years), as opposed to going straight to university and getting a degree in 4 years. I was wondering if this route is really worth it, or should I just apply straight into an engineering program at university.

I just need some advice from anyone with experience in an engineering or B.Tech program at Mac, or anyone who might know what I'm taking about.

Thanks

You didn't mention bachelor of technology at all in your post, but it is the title of your thread. Is that another option you're considering? I know people do switch into engineering from BTech so that would definitely be possible, provided your grades are decent.

Originally Posted by starfish

You didn't mention bachelor of technology at all in your post, but it is the title of your thread. Is that another option you're considering? I know people do switch into engineering from BTech so that would definitely be possible, provided your grades are decent.

Yeah, I was just about to say the same thing.

The degree completion program is related to the Bachelor of Technology.

Anyways, coming from someone in Civil Engineering, who knows many people who have taken various routes that you are describing:

1. The college route is a tiny bit longer, but it doesn't cut into any crucial time that will make or break your career, so don't worry about length of education: Less people are interested in hiring a 21-22 year old student who just spent 4 years inside a bunch of books. The college program gives you great experience.

2. If you decide to extend it even longer afterwards, because you really want that responsibility of approving technical drawings, then by all means, after college there are a number of options of getting your B.Eng. The Civil Engineering Technology program (degree completion) is just a great compliment to add to your resume.

3. It comes down to what kind of responsibility you want. Everyone here says you can do the Eng program if you really want to dedicate yourself ot it, and I agree with that... But ARE you going to dedicate yourself to it? Or are you going to be constantly worried that maybe that college alternative pathway was better for you? That depends on if you're really set on getting a Professional Engineering designation. If you just want to be successful in the Civil Engineering field, then you're probably better off in the College route.

Good luck with the choice! Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions. As I said, I've met a tonne of people in my program, and in my co-ops, who have gone many many different routes, and who are at different levels in the Civil field, with varying levels of potential ahead of them because of the paths they've taken.

Okay for b.tech (not degree completion, but the mcmaster-mohawk partnership thingy)
- You do a course for 4.5 years, you get a B.tech and an advanced diploma in engineering technology... also 1 year of co-op experience
- You can then apply to join PEO after you complete a few tests
- You can then get your iron ring

you'll be almost an engineer lol
The degree you would get from civil engineering technology would be almost the same as the B.tech you would get if you did the 4.5 year program. Neither of them are real engineering degrees, but both of them make you almost an engineer.

- You can then get a M.Eng or M.Sc or MBA if your grades are good and you want to

My suggestion: apply for a b.tech in process automation or automotive, if you don't like it after 1 year, you'll probably be able to switch into first year engineering if your grades are nice... also, a couple of your courses might transfer over so you won't have to do them again.


helpful link:
http://learningin3d.ca/faqs.html

I have a friend who switched from Eng to B.Tech and he's liking it alot better and doing well, he doesn't like the Mac Eng co-op office but he finds his own co-ops no problem. And my other friend in Engineering says that B.Tech lets you learn more hands on skills and work with programs and solve problems in applied ways, whereas Engineering can be alot of theory type learning.

Moeed pretty much said it all about the 4.5 years b.tech program...i just wanna add and say that if you go from b.tech to first year engineering they will not give you any transfer credits, so you will be taking all 10 core courses in first year engineering. They only give transfer credits if you go the other way around, from eng 1 to b.tech 1.

A lot of students go into b.tech with the hope of transferring into eng 1...b.tech 1 is less challenging if you switch from engineering because you already know all the math/physics/chemistry and a bit of programming. On the other hand, it's a new experience for high school students and not as easy. So if you that's the route that you want to take to go into engineering, think twice about it..

If you are struggling with high school subjects, engineering probably isn't for you. It's not really the course difficulty that is the problem (though they are harder), it's mostly the workload. Can you handle that?