Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!sun-barr!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mitel!sce!cognos!charliek
From: charliek@cognos.UUCP (Charlie Krasic)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: University of Waterloo
Keywords: CS Co-Op Math
Message-ID: <6504@cognos.UUCP>
Date: 11 Jul 89 03:40:18 GMT
References: <8907100559.AA11482@jade.berkeley.edu>
Reply-To: charliek@cognos.UUCP (Charlie Krasic)
Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 54

In article <8907100559.AA11482@jade.berkeley.edu> 451061@UOTTAWA.BITNET (Valentin Pepelea) writes:
>In any case, it will be very useful for you to have a own computer in your
>room. Most CS assignements you will get will have to be written in Turbo
>Pascal. Metacompost Pascal is comes close enough, but using the Transformer
>

Huh?  I'm a CS student at Waterloo (2nd year).  NOT all assignments are
in Pascal.  Most of your first year assignments (about 75%) will be in
Pascal.  After that, almost none of them are.  The main languages for second
year courses are Ada and C++.  After that, who knows... courses change
all the time.

>Now let me give you a mild warning. Waterloo will first make you a
>mathematician, then a Computer Scientist. In the first two years, you will get
>clobbered with Math courses, and allowed to take only a couple of CS courses
>per term. I have two friends which enrolled into CS at Waterloo, they got great

Actually, he will get exactly ONE Computer Science course per term in the first
two years.

>grades in first year, but then failed so miserably in their second that they
>got kicked out for good. Waterloo CS is well known for its brain blasters. And
>remember that unlike in EE, your are not automatically enrolled into Co-op.

What? WRONG.  Math Co-Op starts FIRST year.  Your first Co-Op term 
is either four months after you start or eight months -- depending
on what stream you choose.  If you are NOT in Co-Op in first year, 
then it will be relatively difficult to get in later (or so I'm told...)

>you dont make it into Co-op after the first year, I strongly suggest that you
>transfer to another University. Like Ottawa for example. Our co-op programme
>is also selective, but somewhat more accessible.
>
Doubt it.  I've heard that about 80% of Waterloo math students are Co-Op.
Unless by accessable, you mean admissions. :-)  -- but of course, he's already
accepted...

>Remember that all Canadian Universities are somewhat equal in quality, we dont

Debatable!! :^) :^)

>have the discrepancy existing between the American ones. It is the co-op
>programme which gave Waterloo its reputation (or that quality of students that
>it thus attracted) so you are better off getting into another University s
>co-op programme that getting into Waterloo s regular stream.

Did he say he was in regular stream?  I must have missed that...
>
>Valentin
-- 
Charlie Krasic  3755 Riverside Dr.  VOICE: (613) 738-1338 ext.5157
Cognos, Inc     P.O. Box 9707       FAX: (613) 738-0002
                Ottawa, Ontario       
	        CANADA  K1G 3Z4     UUCP: uunet!mitel!sce!cognos!charliek