University questions

[V]

Originally Posted by troutman

I could do all the homework assignments, but the exam questions were so hard, only a small percentage of the students could answer them. I think I got 1/150 on one physics mid-term; I was able to write down one formula, and the rest of the exam was blank.

I once wrote a mid-term where the average was 0.7%.

I wrote a final where the average was 33%. Somehow I managed to pass both those courses.

[V]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

I remember how people said Math 31 would be invaluable in Math 251 and go a long way to helping you out. I swear the entire syllabus for Math 31 was done in 3 lectures..... the rest of 251 was like being dragged for 3 miles after being hit by the bus.

253 was worse - no bus, no dragging, just a laser to the balls.

I cried at that point.

I really enjoyed Math 301 at the U of A, calculus with imaginary numbers. I thought it was cool. But I always liked math.

[Mr.Coffee]

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

Why not take Engineering at a real Engineering school? It's just up the road. Or you could head to Ontario. But why U of C?? Do they even have full accreditation??

Right.

It's amazing U of C is still overflowing with applicants to it every year. In the last week I've heard about how pretty much all of its programs are crap, garbage and you'd be better off elsewhere. Not totally sure where these assertions come from, usually straight from one's ass, but behold... its the TRUTH. Dominic, have you even walked onto the campus before? Taken U of C engineering and compared it to a bunch of schools? I know lots of U of C students in engineering right now that aren't worried about a thing. It's a good program.

Sure thing. Pretty sure you wouldn't be hardpressed to find success graduating from U of C engineering.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Sure thing. Pretty sure you wouldn't be hardpressed to find success graduating from U of C engineering.

Hmmm... Lets just say that after hearing one thing from a family friend who owns an engineering company... I changed my mind about U of C...

He said that the Civil Engineers do not even cover some basic stuff like structural Analysis... my family friend hired a Civil Engineer who got his Bachelor's in U of C and was asked to do a structural Analysis, he didn't know how to do it... Maybe the program has changed or maybe he's just a special case, I don't know... but I can say that left a black mark for U of C in my books... However, U of C does over internship for the students with above average marks (correct me here if I'm wrong), I personally find it better to go to school for 8 months and work for 4 instead of school for several years and then work a year then return to school to finish...

[Freeway]

The U of C has a good rep for their Engineering, Business, Kineseology, Psychology, Economics and Political Science programs. If you're aiming to get a degree in one of those, you might as well do it at the U of C.

[Fobby]

nm

[toonmaster]

Originally Posted by STeeLy

However, U of C does over internship for the students with above average marks (correct me here if I'm wrong), I personally find it better to go to school for 8 months and work for 4 instead of school for several years and then work a year then return to school to finish...

i am on my internship right now, and i prefer the school for 3 years, work for a year, and back to graduate, it gives you and inside track with the comapny that hires you on cause they spend a year training and developing you, which really doesnt matter now-a-days with everyone looking to hire, as well you get some great oppertunities to do interesting work, not just straight summer student bitch work for 4 months

the internship program will take anyone with a passing GPA (>2.0), all the student has to do is attend 8 sessions and do 4 reports over the 12-16 months

the best part is they look for companies for you, I had never heard of half the companies who were looking to hire interns and it really helps to see the broad range of work you can do within your program

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

But why U of C?? Do they even have full accreditation??

of course they do.................they engg program at UofC now is very underrated, and as said above, has a great core of civil profs, specifically within the stuctural side as well as the very best in project management



oh and mr.fish, drop me a pm if you want and i can try to answer any kind of question for you

[Fobby]

I wouldn't be where I am now without my internship experience. I personally like the idea of working 12 - 16 months rather then 8 months school then 4 months work etc. With a longer work term, the chance of getting invovled in a larger project is higher then working for 4 months.

Internship accepts any student with a GPA > 2.0. They do look for companies and employers out there to hire internship students.. but in the end, it's still the student's responsibilities to apply and get hired.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Originally Posted by fotze

It was called Amat 207 and 209 when I took them. Dr. Bos was the best prof ever.

Dr. Bos still rocked when I went through my 1st year. He reminded me of Dr. Emmitt Brown from back to the future.

There was also this Egyptian prof named Dr Elsabrouty that was the most unbelievable teacher I've ever had... the dean had to go to his class every year to kick people out who weren't officially registered with him.

He made advanced calculus seem like basic addition... truly remarkable.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Freeway

The U of C has a good rep for their Engineering, Business, Kineseology, Psychology, Economics and Political Science programs. If you're aiming to get a degree in one of those, you might as well do it at the U of C.

Right on. Coming from the political science program, we have grads in the top level of Canadian and all provincial governments. As well as a very very strong presence in interest groups and business.

[the_only_turek_fan]

Originally Posted by MonsieurFish

Alright so im in grade 12 and have a few quesitons about getting into university next year. so i want to get into engineering at u of c. i think that the requirements are an average of around 80? now what exactly does this "average" have to consist of. i belive i read somewhere you need to have math 30, chem 30, physics 30, ELA 30, math 31. so im doing pretty decent in those, but what other marks do i have to hand in that will matter for me getting into university? my main concern is social cause im pretty good at math, but absolutlely blow at social. will this affect anytthing or do i not have to give them that mark?

also, how many marks do i hand in? can i only hand in 30 level marks or could i hand in couses like gym 20 or computer science 20? and does anyone know the actual requirements for engineering at u of c? thanks

I got in with a 78% average or something like that. But this was back in 2001. They always ask for a grade that is a few percentage higher than what is really required. However, still do your best in high school so you can get those scholarships.

And coming from a recent U of C Engg graduate. If you plan on doing Electrical, go to Edmonton. Calgary's electrical program is horrible. Anyone familiar with it will tell you the same. A lot of the more experienced teachers like Turner and Kaler do not teach second and third year any more, and in Turner's case he only does grad classes. Same thing with Jim Haslett. They have a bunch of new profs who have no idea how to teach. You end up learning nothing and feel that you have wasted 4 years and $20,000.00

I can't speak for Civil and the other programs. Fotze can give you better insight on that, but if you are planning on doing electrical, go some where else.

Originally Posted by fotze

That is funny, was it physics 259 or 269. Those are the two that I look back at and still shudder. I don't think it was the difficulty alone, just coming from high school with great marks and figuring it was going to be a cakewalk. I remember seeing a guy crying after a 259 midterm, and he was one of those older students (late 30's) who went back to school. It was disturbing.

First year engineering was an absolute whore. I had a 98% in Math 31 and figured I would be one of the smart ones, but when you get to University there will most likely be ALOT of smarter people from you, the smartest from the provice and beyond, so it is quite humbling. And a lot of those smart people have no qualms doing 12 hours homework a day and I did have qualms about that.

and then combine that with boozin and trying to hump.

I still don't understand that stupid Biot-Savard law or whatever it is called. 259 is not fun. It is the pre-req for ENEL 475 which was the same kind of stuff. Guass's law is still a mystery to me as well.

Originally Posted by Clarkey

This tells me that they are not teaching the material properly.

See above. We had a teacher who used to call herself Carmen. She had no English skills and she was our ENEL 361 instructor. That class is about semi-conductors and quantam physics. I got like 19% on the midterm, and was close to dropping the class. I didn't, and there were a ton of complaints to the head of the department and the dean, and so she made our final open book. In the last 2 lectures of the year she solved 4 problems for us in class. Guess which proplems were on our open book final? I got a B+ or something in the class but had no idea what a BJT was going into third year.

Originally Posted by Fobby

Engineering student takes AMAT 217/219. AMAT 217 is really the combination of Math 251 and 253. weeeee.... I also remember that my prof did the entire physics 30 course in 15 mins.

Oh yea.. Math 221 was fun as well.

It's not bad if you have Tai Dhin(sp?) for that class. Great prof. One of the best I have ever had. Very good teacher, fair exams, and he knows what he is talking about.

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

Why not take Engineering at a real Engineering school? It's just up the road. Or you could head to Ontario. But why U of C?? Do they even have full accreditation??

Electrical at the U of C is brutal. Can't speak for the others.

[V]

Originally Posted by Mr.Coffee

Right.

It's amazing U of C is still overflowing with applicants to it every year. In the last week I've heard about how pretty much all of its programs are crap, garbage and you'd be better off elsewhere. Not totally sure where these assertions come from, usually straight from one's ass, but behold... its the TRUTH. Dominic, have you even walked onto the campus before? Taken U of C engineering and compared it to a bunch of schools? I know lots of U of C students in engineering right now that aren't worried about a thing. It's a good program.

Sure thing. Pretty sure you wouldn't be hardpressed to find success graduating from U of C engineering.

Yeah, of course I've been on campus. I've also talked to many grads from the EE program at the U of C. And from everything I've seen and heard it's a really, really bad program.

Chalk another one on the board from totf's comments.

And I do know that in the past the U of C has had some accreditation problems in some engineering disciplines.

[Fobby]

Electrical and Computer engineering used to be a great program. Then they decided to make it bigger and turned it into Electrical, Computer and Software Engineering. That made it stupid.

I remember the first week in 4th year, sitting in Kalar's CMOS class, and the first thing he said to me was.. what are you computer engineers doing in this class, you can stay, but you will have to work your A$$ off because you don't have the background for this. I should have lisetened to him...

And I do know that in the past the U of C has had some accreditation problems in some engineering disciplines.

They did have some problems with Software Engineering, but that was a few years ago.

[JiriHrdina]

I was in the last group of commerce students that had to take both Math 251 and Math 211 to gain admission to the Faculty of Management. 251 was hard but 211 was really what kicked my ass. Matrices, Vectors, Imaginary Numbers.

WTF!

[SeeGeeWhy]

Dr. Rosehart is a bright spot in the Electrical Engineering department.

The U of C built a crapload of new facilities for the EE's and their software and computer programs are accredited now. In a few years it will be doing some very good work.

[skins]

I'm currently in 4th year Civil Engineering at the U of C. a few thoughts...

Originally Posted by fotze

It was called Amat 207 and 209 when I took them. Dr. Bos was the best prof ever.

Dr. Bos was one of my favorites too. like many Math profs, he's really really wierd.

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

Why not take Engineering at a real Engineering school? It's just up the road. Or you could head to Ontario. But why U of C?? Do they even have full accreditation??

you are grossly misinformed. U of C's Engineering program has been accredited for many many years, and although some programs at U of C are sub-par, Engineering is not one of them.

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

Engineering school used to be cool. Now it's just a bunch of loser bookworms...

hey! I take offense to that! although there are a good number of "loser bookworms", most of the people in engineering are fun, sensible people who like to get drunk.

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

Engineering at University is strictly for showing you can jump through hoops. It does not teach you what you need to know to make a living.

wrong again. I just completed an internship term where I spent most of the time doing structural analysis and design. I found that there were many things I learned in my classes that I used on a daily basis, and I know I'm not the only one.

Originally Posted by STeeLy

He said that the Civil Engineers do not even cover some basic stuff like structural Analysis... my family friend hired a Civil Engineer who got his Bachelor's in U of C and was asked to do a structural Analysis, he didn't know how to do it... Maybe the program has changed or maybe he's just a special case, I don't know... but I can say that left a black mark for U of C in my books... However, U of C does over internship for the students with above average marks (correct me here if I'm wrong)...

well he should have hired a civil engineer grad who specialized in structural engineering. There are many facets to civil engineering (like structural, environmental, transportation, geotechnical, project management), and different students choose different specializations. For example, I'm taking a minor in structural engineering, and will end up taking about 7 or 8 classes in structural analysis and design in fourth year alone. I have a friend doing a minor in environmental engineering and she isn't in any of my fourth year structural classes. also, the internship program is open to anyone who has completed 3rd year and has a 2.0 GPA or higher (which is below average for 3rd year engineers).


and finally, for Mr.Fish: there is a minimum required grade to get into the program, but if the program is full, then they'll take the applicants with the highest average. the courses you mentioned are exactly the ones that I applied with. 1st and second year there are definately some weeder classes, like the above mentioned physics classes, but if you can make it past that, you'll be fine. 1st year is general (everyone takes the same classes) and then you apply to get in to a department. much like first year, the students with higher GPA's will have a better chance of getting into the department of their choice. when I applied Mechanical was the most competitive.

it doesn't get any easier in 3rd and 4th year; you just get used to how much work is needed to succeed.

good luck!

[V]

Originally Posted by skins

hey! I take offense to that! although there are a good number of "loser bookworms", most of the people in engineering are fun, sensible people who like to get drunk.

Things must have changed, then, in the last 5 years. When I was in engineering, Eng Week was pretty much a bust, since I'd say only 10-20% of the geers participated. We should've filled the bars, but that really wasn't the case. Most guys were more worried about their classes than anything else. Losers.

wrong again. I just completed an internship term where I spent most of the time doing structural analysis and design. I found that there were many things I learned in my classes that I used on a daily basis, and I know I'm not the only one.

Maybe the civil side is different, although I've got a few friends that have graduated from civil in both unis, and they tell me the same thing. I can tell you that if you want a job in the electrical consulting industry you learn virtually nothing of value. Why do I need to take courses on digital processing, assembly line code, communications, and on and on and on? The only course that would have been of value was cancelled. That's crap. I can tell you I don't spend a lot of my time at the office calculating the derivative of a complex equation.

[skins]

Originally Posted by Dominicwasalreadytaken

Things must have changed, then, in the last 5 years. When I was in engineering, Eng Week was pretty much a bust, since I'd say only 10-20% of the geers participated. We should've filled the bars, but that really wasn't the case. Most guys were more worried about their classes than anything else. Losers.

last year, eng week was pretty good (civil won!), although I didn't participate as much as previous years. I guess it varries b/w departments.

[quote=Dominicwasalreadytaken;558552]Maybe the civil side is different, although I've got a few friends that have graduated from civil in both unis, and they tell me the same thing.quote]

I think it depends what industry you work in. I did some work in the land development industry, and they had engineers doing work that they could have done right out of high school. I guess it varries.