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Which one is better? Mac or UTM

 
Old 05-29-2013 at 09:11 AM   #16
MarkA
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Hey, as a compsci graduate this year, let me speak up a bit in defense of compsci at Mac.

As mike_302 pointed out above, compsci at Mac is a part of the Engineering faculty. The main benefit you gain from this is the excellent co-op program. I completed a 16-month internships at BlackBerry (then RIM) between 3rd and 4th year, and I can tell you that based on myself and other interns from Mac, they were hoping to hire many more McMaster students in the future. You have the option here to do 12-16 months of co-op in 4, 8, 12 or 16 month terms, which is more flexible that Waterloo, I believe. Based on the experiences I've heard about, most companies like to hire at least one longer term intern alongside one or more 4 month interns.

Also, I believe the size of the program is growing. I had heard about the year with 1 graduate before, but I'm not sure how long ago that was. This year, I believe there should be 15-25 graduates.

One final thing, regardless of what school you end up deciding on, I strongly suggest doing some reading up over the summer on logic and discrete mathematics. Of the two first year compsci courses here, no one has problems with programming (1MD3); it's discrete math (1FC3) that destroys averages and chases people away to schools such at Brock. Which is a shame, because logic and discrete math will be the basis for most of the courses over your undergrad, not coding. I think a third of my first year class dropped out/changed schools when they found out that compsci is about way more than just coding.

If you have any questions about the courses at Mac or any other info about compsci here, let me know.
Old 05-29-2013 at 10:11 AM   #17
Kudos
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Old 05-29-2013 at 03:28 PM   #18
MrPlinkett
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Originally Posted by Kudos View Post
Once you go Mac, you never go back!
So you are saying if go to McMaster you are going to have experience so crappy, you will never want to go there again...
Old 05-30-2013 at 10:16 AM   #19
lvyuan95
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkA View Post
Hey, as a compsci graduate this year, let me speak up a bit in defense of compsci at Mac.

As mike_302 pointed out above, compsci at Mac is a part of the Engineering faculty. The main benefit you gain from this is the excellent co-op program. I completed a 16-month internships at BlackBerry (then RIM) between 3rd and 4th year, and I can tell you that based on myself and other interns from Mac, they were hoping to hire many more McMaster students in the future. You have the option here to do 12-16 months of co-op in 4, 8, 12 or 16 month terms, which is more flexible that Waterloo, I believe. Based on the experiences I've heard about, most companies like to hire at least one longer term intern alongside one or more 4 month interns.

Also, I believe the size of the program is growing. I had heard about the year with 1 graduate before, but I'm not sure how long ago that was. This year, I believe there should be 15-25 graduates.

One final thing, regardless of what school you end up deciding on, I strongly suggest doing some reading up over the summer on logic and discrete mathematics. Of the two first year compsci courses here, no one has problems with programming (1MD3); it's discrete math (1FC3) that destroys averages and chases people away to schools such at Brock. Which is a shame, because logic and discrete math will be the basis for most of the courses over your undergrad, not coding. I think a third of my first year class dropped out/changed schools when they found out that compsci is about way more than just coding.

If you have any questions about the courses at Mac or any other info about compsci here, let me know.

Thanks for you answer dude! One more question, i did not apply COOP program in OUAC, can i transfer to this program later, and what requirements should I achieve in order to transfer successfully?
Old 05-30-2013 at 10:20 AM   #20
jim1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lvyuan95 View Post
Thanks for you answer dude! One more question, i did not apply COOP program in OUAC, can i transfer to this program later, and what requirements should I achieve in order to transfer successfully?
If it works the same as engineering, you just go to the coop office in "JHE A214" and fill out a form. Whether you applied for it in high school or not, doesn't matter.
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Old 05-30-2013 at 10:58 AM   #21
MarkA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jim1 View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by lvyuan95 View Post
Thanks for you answer dude! One more question, i did not apply COOP program in OUAC, can i transfer to this program later, and what requirements should I achieve in order to transfer successfully?
If it works the same as engineering, you just go to the coop office in "JHE A214" and fill out a form. Whether you applied for it in high school or not, doesn't matter.
Yep, you'd just have to fill out the form and complete the co-op course, I believe. I did the same thing, and transferred into co-op at the end of first year.
Old 05-30-2013 at 12:35 PM   #22
lvyuan95
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkA View Post
Yep, you'd just have to fill out the form and complete the co-op course, I believe. I did the same thing, and transferred into co-op at the end of first year.
Is that difficult to transfer successfully? How many GPA should I get to do so?
Old 05-30-2013 at 12:55 PM   #23
anonanon987
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lvyuan95 View Post
Is that difficult to transfer successfully? How many GPA should I get to do so?
You just have to complete the co-op course which is graded on a pass/fail basis. It is a really easy course, so no, it isn't difficult to transfer.
Old 05-30-2013 at 02:06 PM   #24
jim1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lvyuan95 View Post
Is that difficult to transfer successfully? How many GPA should I get to do so?
You just have to fill out a forum from the engineering coop office and that's it. You can do so from the first week of school.
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