Hi everyone!
I was recently admitted to the Computer science (Co-op) program at McMaster. I had a few questions about the program at the university:
1. How is the quality of the content being taught? (Coding/programming)
2. How are the Co-op opportunities in the latter years? (around Canada, USA, international)
3. How does the program compare to the Computer Science programs at other universities (UofT, Waterloo, Western, Queen's,etc)?
4. Should I consider McMaster for Computer Science?
Thanks!

1. How is the quality of the content being taught? (Coding/programming)

Mediocre. It's mostly math.

2. How are the Co-op opportunities in the latter years? (around Canada, USA, international)

Lots of opportunity for code monkeys with knowledge of at least 3 languages and a portfolio to show.

The problem is, you don't need a university degree for that, as it all depends on your work outside the class. I'd just take a software program at Mohawk College, they do more actual coding and it's cheaper too.

3. How does the program compare to the Computer Science programs at other universities (UofT, Waterloo, Western, Queen's,etc)?

Same as Software Engineering: poorly.

4. Should I consider McMaster for Computer Science?

From past experiences. Their program is tiny. Courses that they take are backwards. For instance I had Comp Sci students in some of my Soft Eng classes and they had no idea what was going on, because some of Comp Sci level 4 classes are Soft Eng level 2-3 classes. They also didn't have the same requirements for those courses, so they didn't have the background.

I'm in second year CS, here's my experience.

1. It's definitely not mostly math. We do two calculus courses and one linear algebra course in first year (just like all the engineers) and two discrete math courses (with very specific computer science applications) in second year. That's it.
The point of doing a Computer Science degree is not just to learn to code. If that's all you want, then you're not looking for a university degree at all. It's more to learn the theory of computation and (from the software engineering courses) how to design projects well. That said, there are a number of really good practical courses, as well as a capstone project in fourth year.
We use a lot of Java, but definitely get to try some other languages too.

2. I'm not too sure about co-op, because I haven't done it, but you probably do want to have a good portfolio of your own projects to show potential employers.

3. I don't really know how the program compares to other universities. One major difference between computer science and software engineering at McMaster is that the computer science students get to take at least one elective every term, which makes it possible to get a minor, perhaps in a field where you might want to apply your knowledge about computer science.

4. Yes, you should consider McMaster for computer science. The program is quite small (50-70 students per year). I have not yet had any courses that were out of order. Perhaps GeorgeLucas could let us know which courses they were that were out of order and which pre-requisites were missing.

Originally Posted by lizbeth

I'm in second year CS, here's my experience.

1. It's definitely not mostly math. We do two calculus courses and one linear algebra course in first year (just like all the engineers) and two discrete math courses (with very specific computer science applications) in second year. That's it.

There's more math ahead.

Thank you all for your responses. I really appreciate it! Really interesting to see two distinct perspectives of the program. I will continue to look around and make a final decision soon enough.