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Chockeh wrote on 2014-01-19 17:10
Hey, I'll be graduating college this year and I'll get my Diploma of College Studies (the american equivalent would be an associate degree) in May. The next step would be getting my bachelor's degree, but I'm kind of conflicted as to which school to go to. I narrowed down the choices into three possible options:
The first one would be McGill University. It's one of the most prestigious in Canada, and would the Montreal equivalent of UBC and UoT. The problem is that the engineering department in this school kind of sucks since it's not the school's first priority. The school doesn't fund the engineering department enough, so they are more theory-driven than most schools. There is also the fact that I may have to take another year of CEGEP in order to complete prerequisites (3 math and 4 science courses) that were not covered in my department. The plus side to that is that I'll be able to completely fund my tuition fees since I can work as a technologist or technician while taking the prerequisite classes at nights.
Pros:
-Prestige
Cons:
-The engineering department is very mediocre
-More theory-driven
-I may have to take another year to do 7 prerequisite classes
-Bigger classes
The next on the list would be Concordia University. The engineering department in this school is pretty decent compared to McGill's. This school also has prerequisite courses that isn't covered in my curriculum (3 math / 3 science). They have a balance between theory and practical classes.
Pros:
-Balance between theory and practical classes
-Decent learning system
Cons:
-I may have to take another year to do 6 prerequisite classes
The last one on the list would be l'École de technologie supérieur. They are a french engineering school that is very focused on a more practical education. The students that come out of here are more prepared than the students from other schools. They also recognize that I'm from a technology department in college, so I won't have to take any extra courses. The downside is that, as a french university, I may have a bit more trouble finding employment out of Quebec (not that I want to leave or anything). That being said, they have a better job placement than most schools, and they are affiliated with big companies such as Bombardier, General Electric, and Ubisoft.
Pros:
-A really good school for engineers
-Really good job placement
-More practice-driven
-I can go their straight after graduating
-Smaller classes
Cons:
-French
As you can see, it's kind of like a struggle between getting recognized for attending a prestigious school, or getting a better education. As it stands, I don't really care about prestige, so I'm leaning towards ETS, but that may bite me in the butt if I want to work outside of Quebec. What do you guys think?
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Yoorah wrote on 2014-01-19 17:57
I think it's more of a question of whether you wanna stay in Quebec. If you like it there, and if ETS really does have good job placement rates, then by all means, go that route to save yourself 1 year. Prestige is good, but it's not worth spending an additional year on your bachelor's degree. And honestly, not many employers will even care about said prestige after you work for an engineering firm or two--they'll care a lot more about the companies you've worked for, what you did while there, any impressive accomplishments, etc.
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Campylobacter jejuni wrote on 2014-01-19 18:01
I'd go to ETS without a doubt in my mind. In the end only the morons will be the ones to turn you down based on a lack of prestige, but the competent ones will be those who turn you down due to lacking skill.
Also the people involved in picking their engineers are possibly as aware of the lacking engineering department of that otherwise prestigious school as you are, so it wouldn't necessarily be a competitive advantage. It may even be a disadvantage! I mean seriously ETS has affiliations with giants of the Canadian industry so the industry is probably well aware of their merits.
As a sidenote our local trams are Bombardier-products.
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BobYoMeowMeow wrote on 2014-01-19 18:08
ETS if you're staying in Quebec.
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Osayidan wrote on 2014-01-19 18:21
Do ETS, do at least one good job in QC for a few years and then it won't matter if you leave.
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800mans wrote on 2014-01-19 19:45
Do ETS if you're staying in Quebec. Having an engineering-tailored school is pretty beneficial. I'm at UBC engineering atm and well our first year classes feel more like physics than it does engineering. We don't really learn much engineering *skills* but mostly theory behind it. Well I guess it's just first year. I don't think you'll get bitten in the arse if you leave quebec. If you're able to translate technical language from french to english and vice-versa that'd be more of an attribute than a con.
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Lan wrote on 2014-01-19 23:55
I demand you join me in the University of Ottawa. (If not do what seem best)
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Chiyuri wrote on 2014-01-20 01:32
basically.. wait 1 year before you can do an english school and get less education in what counts, or go right away to a french one.
Time is precious, make good use of it
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Chockeh wrote on 2014-01-21 03:14
It seems like ETS is a good idea. I'll be going to the open house on Sunday to check things out.
Quote from Lan;1189515:
I demand you join me in the University of Ottawa. (If not do what seem best)
I wanna keep my Quebecois discount. :<
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Chockeh wrote on 2014-01-30 23:35
I went to the open house for ETS. Holy shit, it's amazingly futuristic. I even gotta play with the Occulus Rift. Also, I discovered one other benefit. You get 3 internships that last 4 months each (can be extended to 8 for more $$$). The first one starts on the first year and the last one is on the fourth (final). If you add all the salaries up (you start with about $13-$14/hour for the first internship and about $23/hour on the last internship depending on the employer) you get about $39 000, which is more than the price of our tuition fees for 4 years (it's $1126 for 12 credits and I have a total of 123 credits to do, so tuition cost about $11541.40).
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Chockeh wrote on 2014-02-20 03:48
Looks like I got accepted to ETS on my first try.
:cheer: