Originally Posted by ashleighp

You have the benefit of the experiences you had while travelling and that will stay with you while you're in school AND after. Your friends won't have that option for a long time now because they most likely have quite a bit of student debt to pay off. I'm 25 and just started at Mac last year - I knew that university wasn't for me at 17 and most of my friends (and my little sister) have already graduated. Some are in grad school. My husband is 27 and is just starting his degree this September. A couple of years can make a big difference in how well you do in school - and how well you'll do when you're done as well. PLUS you'll make lots of new friends at McMaster as well.

It might be a bit early but i think i really admire you
I know experiences count a LOT in life and i might be somewhat better than my friends in school.
However , both of my parents are postdocs and over the past few months they started to give me those looks you know ... like somehow i disappoint them and tarnish their name as i still havent started univ. yet. They have some really high expectations and i just want to prove myself to them.
I just really dont know what to do anymore.

Originally Posted by Moghue

Why would you want to do this? The workload at one university is enough, let alone two.

This isn't high-school/public-school, no one cares if you take time off to pursue other activities.

I'm pretty sure they'll realize that once September hits.

Originally Posted by Moghue

Why would you want to do this? The workload at one university is enough, let alone two.

This isn't high-school/public-school, no one cares if you take time off to pursue other activities.

I dont really want to do this but judging by the behaviour of people around me (especially my parents) i think that i somehow disappoint them. I just dont want them to look at me with some sort of shame and be proud of me instead .

Originally Posted by Tsunade

I dont really want to do this but judging by the behaviour of people around me (especially my parents) i think that i somehow disappoint them. I just dont want them to look at me with some sort of shame and be proud of me instead .

You think they'll be proud of you when you're getting sub-par grades in your courses due to overloading and when they see things starting to affect your social life and your health? I don't think so. Please set realistic goals for yourself, and everyone will eventually align with them.

Originally Posted by herBs

You think they'll be proud of you when you're getting sub-par grades in your courses due to overloading and when they see things starting to affect your social life and your health? I don't think so. Please set realistic goals for yourself, and everyone will eventually align with them.

I know what you're saying is most likely true but i just dont know what to do anymore and the future looks
kinda dark.. oh well .

Originally Posted by Tsunade

I know what you're saying is most likely true but i just dont know what to do anymore and the future looks
kinda dark.. oh well .

Actually, the future will only look like what you make it out to be. If you're not going to be optimistic and make the best out of your situation given your scenario, then sure it'll be kinda dark.

Originally Posted by herBs

Actually, the future will only look like what you make it out to be. If you're not going to be optimistic and make the best out of your situation given your scenario, then sure it'll be kinda dark.

i'm about to cry, haha (not because of anyone here) .... but yeah i guess i just have to be strong and look forward positively

Most (if not all) of the four year Engineering programs already have between 37-40 units per year. This means that if you try to spread it out over 3 years you'd be overloading by A LOT. Even if you do take some courses over the summer there are only a few that are even offered, and even summer school has a maximum number of units you can take. Also you have to realize that a lot of courses have prerequisites that make it impossible to take it in 3 years, and trying to get permission to get them waived and to overload every year (especially if your grades are suffering) is a big headache. Plus you'll run into a whole lot of timetable conflicts that are gonna be impossible to solve.
So the short answer is no, you really can't finish in 3 years in engineering.

You also have to realize that the engineering programs are hard enough as it is. Trying to overload and do summer school every summer will only lead to a bad gpa and you will likely burnout. You really have to think about how the stress will affect your health.

But anyway, the fact that you took 2 years off from high school isn't a big deal. I know quite a few people who entered university a few years later than most people. And 2 years isn't a big age gap. There are no deadlines in life of when a person is supposed to graduate from university.
The only issue you seem to have is your parents/relatives giving you a hard time about it. But if you try to please them then you're the only one who's gonna suffer. (And you're probably never gonna please everybody, trust me. Everyone has their own opinion on what you're supposed to do with your life.)

Are you really stressing about ending a bit later? Geeze. If you can't get over this small insignificant matter, I wonder how you will deal with first year of University. Here is a pro tip since you obviously need it during the upcoming year: http://wellness.mcmaster.ca/counselling.html .

Originally Posted by *spark*

Most (if not all) of the four year Engineering programs already have between 37-40 units per year. This means that if you try to spread it out over 3 years you'd be overloading by A LOT. Even if you do take some courses over the summer there are only a few that are even offered, and even summer school has a maximum number of units you can take. Also you have to realize that a lot of courses have prerequisites that make it impossible to take it in 3 years, and trying to get permission to get them waived and to overload every year (especially if your grades are suffering) is a big headache. Plus you'll run into a whole lot of timetable conflicts that are gonna be impossible to solve.
So the short answer is no, you really can't finish in 3 years in engineering.

You also have to realize that the engineering programs are hard enough as it is. Trying to overload and do summer school every summer will only lead to a bad gpa and you will likely burnout. You really have to think about how the stress will affect your health.

But anyway, the fact that you took 2 years off from high school isn't a big deal. I know quite a few people who entered university a few years later than most people. And 2 years isn't a big age gap. There are no deadlines in life of when a person is supposed to graduate from university.
The only issue you seem to have is your parents/relatives giving you a hard time about it. But if you try to please them then you're the only one who's gonna suffer. (And you're probably never gonna please everybody, trust me. Everyone has their own opinion on what you're supposed to do with your life.)

I understand that summer school has its limitations and trying to convince the faculty to allow me to overload school term would be really hard but i'm just gonna have to give it a shot. I tried to convince myself to let things take their time but i really couldn't do it. I also know that my social life may take a hit but i guess one must sacrifice something to gain something else.
And besides i have my first year to make myself comfortable to univ. .... and i also figured that instead of taking courses in summer i can just stay home and learn the core material so i wont have to worry about them when school starts and i'm taking overloading.

I know that i'll almost certainly end up disappointing someone but i'm one of those people who'd do anything to make people like them (like chandler-f.r.i.e.n.d.s) .... I just have to try and make it work .
Lets see what i'm made of .

Originally Posted by AvacadoLover

Are you really stressing about ending a bit later? Geeze. If you can't get over this small insignificant matter, I wonder how you will deal with first year of University. Here is a pro tip since you obviously need it during the upcoming year: http://wellness.mcmaster.ca/counselling.html .

haha thanks ... i;ll definitely go for personal counselling. i'm really messed up .

Originally Posted by Tsunade

my social life may take a hit

may? take a hit?

You won't have a social life if you try to attempt what you are thinking.

A lot of people feel the burnout in 3rd year, I can only imagine how quick it'll hit you.

Originally Posted by Moghue

may? take a hit?

You won't have a social life if you try to attempt what you are thinking.

A lot of people feel the burnout in 3rd year, I can only imagine how quick it'll hit you.

I accept it ... besides judging by how shy i am , i highly doubt i'll have much friends anyway

You can go ahead and try if you like but I'm just trying to warn you that it probably won't work out because of the permissions and physical constraints. I know a person that had an awesome gpa and had a hard time trying to overload by just one course. I also have a friend who tried to simply take a few upper level courses ahead of time to free up some space in fourth year, but found out that it wasn't possible because of conflicting cores, so all that trouble went to waste. You can try talking to an academic counselor but I can almost guarantee you that they'll tell you it's impossible.

It would just be a big disappointment if you try to overload and take a bunch of courses every summer and then find out that it really won't work out even though you've already put so much effort (and probably gotten lower grades than you otherwise would be able to achieve).

Unless you're really really smart don't overload yourself and try to rush your degree. Many people have trouble getting by on a normal load