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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 6/15/2008
Posts: 41
Location: Toronto
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Hi every one. I'm currently in the process of wrapping up grade 11. I made a choice back in grade 9 to try my hardest to go into computer science (something I've always been interested in, but never studied a lot of). This isn't really a "what are my chances of getting into ____," but more of a post where advices are welcome.
I took TIK20 (gr10 computer science), did really well (91%) until the teacher decided to retire in the middle of the year. The replacement teacher didn't know anything, and the course turned into a graphics design course. I finished up with a 83%. I come from an school that focuses on fine arts. I found out through the guidance counsellor that during her stay (about 7 years), no one has ever applied to any computer science program. There was one person who applied to Computer Engineering five years ago and that's about it. Which means I will probably be one of the first ones to do so.
I naturally followed university of waterloo closely because of my dream. I took the gr.11 computer science course on virtual school because it was a recommended course, and finished with a 71%. I know it's a terrible mark, but it wasn't because I didn't know my stuff. I actually didn't get my act together and ended up not handing in a lot of stuff. The things I did hand in were all close to perfect. I know that universities look at gr.11 marks, but I know it won't hurt me, but it did make me doubt my dreams.
A few important people (father, guidance counsellor, math teacher) have talked to me, and told me that while I'm still not off the path to Computer Science at Waterloo, I should always make an alternative path available to me, this was before I took that online course, so I naturally ignored them.
But as I'm finishing up my grade 11 year, I'm starting to reconsider.
Here are my courses, I haven't gotten the final marks yet, but they haven't moved much:
Gr11:
Physics- 86%
Chemistry- 83%
English Media (O course)- 91%
Functions- 90% (haven't taken exam, might drop to an 88)
Music- 93%
English- 90%
Computer Science- 71% final mark
After many suggestions of taking some business courses, I will be taking Gr.11 Accounting in the summer.
My courses for next year:
Advanced Function
Calculus
Data Management
English
Physics
Music
(will probably add Gr.12 accounting)
Anyone have any suggestions of what I should do? Is computer science something I should go into? I don't really know THAT much about it other than what I have learnt in that Gr.11 course. Of course I'm learning on my own right now, but I still don't have a lot of back ground. Is computer science (in general) a program that one should go into even if they don't know a lot about it? Or should I change my path and look else where.
Thank you for reading that, I apologize for the long post.
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/5/2008
Posts: 679
Location: Kingston and Toronto
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I have a bit of advice for you, I kind of went through something similar (with Commerce).
I allllllways wanted to go in to Commerce/Business, since grade 9 probably. I had a knack for it, advertising, marketing, presentations, accounting, etc.
I don't exactly remember everything about courses and marks in high school, but I took a business course (90-something), grade 11 accounting in grade 10 (94), then I took marketing in grade 11 (95), and international business in grade 12 (95).
I applied to Queen's Commerce, Business @ Carleton and Commerce at UTSG. I got accepted to Carleton like 4 hours after I applied, but didn't really want to go there I wanted to go to Queen's Commerce the most, and was pretty devastated when I did not get accepted. It only made things worse when I was rejected from UTSG (although I never wanted to go, it sucked to get rejected).
I had also applied for Geography at Queen's, something I have been just OK at. But I really did want to go to Queen's.
Now, 71% is not a bad mark. At least not in my eyes. If it is something that really interests you, who cares? Have a backup, or two backups! Apply for General Arts, or something else that interests you. I'd definitely say apply for CS at Waterloo.
I am now in GIS/Geography, I absolutely suck at GIS but I find it really cool. And I don't REALLY suck, but I am not great at it.
Our experiences do differ, but I just want to say, yeah it is a good idea to have a back up plan if crap hits the fan and you don't accepted for whatever reason, but don't forget about your "dream".
Uschi
Queen's '10
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 6/13/2008
Posts: 280
Location: Toronto
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Here is a short, perhaps a little biased, webpage I would recommend reading if you are at all interested in Computer Engineering. http://www.ece.utoronto.ca/prospective/what/ceorcs.htmIf you are sure you want to do CompSci, don't let one bad virtual course mark discourage you. University is much different than high school and if you are truly passionate about CompSci and work hard, then you will likely succeed. As far as grade 11 accounting goes, at my school is was a joke. I must have been absent about 20 times and never did any homework and I still got a 95 or something. I know a couple people who got 98-99 in that class. But it could be harder if you have a tough teacher. May I recommend grade 12 chemistry instead? It is a prerequisite to a good deal of programs, and if you're not sure about CompSci, you might be closing some doors by not taking grade 12 Chem.
U of T Electrical Engineering 1T1
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Rank: Student Body President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 1,210
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how did you get rejected from queen's commerce with mid 90 grades?
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/5/2008
Posts: 679
Location: Kingston and Toronto
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Redrose27 wrote:how did you get rejected from queen's commerce with mid 90 grades? I did not have a 90 average, and I only had a 78 in English, you need an 80.
Uschi Queen's '10
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Rank: Student Body Vice-President
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 994
Location: Ottawa
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You don't need to know much about CS to go into it. The first year Intro Programming course doesn't assume any experience (although there may be courses geared towards those with more experience at some schools). And do remember that the program you apply for and get into isn't the program you are stuck with forever. You can change programs if you decide you'd rather be doing something else, and very often it doesn't take any extra time. Or you can do various options with the CS degree, or combine it with something else in some way - what's available to you there will depend on where you go (nothing against Waterloo, but it's certainly not the only place you should consider). With regards to your 71% in the grade 11 course, the fact that it's because you've got great marks on some assignments and 0's on others is in some ways a good thing, at the same time you should ask yourself why it is that you didn't hand in the assignments. If it was because they were so basic and boring you felt doing them was a waste of time (I started thinking that way for some stuff going back to elementary school..), or because Virtual School really doesn't work for you, that's maybe better than just not liking the stuff in general. Finally, I'm pretty sure you can take some of the 4M business courses without a specific grade 11 prerequisite - having an extra 4U/M course will be far more useful for most purposes than grade 11 accounting. If transitioning into Science is a possibility, and you only want one 4U science course, Chemistry actually may be the best one to take, as the uni Chem courses are actually more likely to require grade 12 than the Physics or Bio courses. Is it possible for you to take a grade 12 CS course? It would be good if you could, but maybe virtual school is your only option.. It is good to keep your options open, but do keep in mind that the courses you've got now will get you into pretty much anything other than Engineering and I think most science programs.
 
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/24/2008
Posts: 101
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i would suggest dropping data management and going with ICS4M instead.. you NEED that course if you want any chance of software engineering/computer science...
i took it just for kicks but my other friend took it to get into software eng at waterloo and he got in..
your marks are good for now, and because of all your sciences and stuff you've left a lot of doors open... so thats a good thing! But yeah DEFINITELY take ICS4M if possible, and unless you are SERIOUSLY considering maths/statistics/acturial science etc.. i would not recommend data management.. waste of a credit
functions and calculus will serve you fine
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 6/15/2008
Posts: 41
Location: Toronto
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Thanks for the posts every one. I feel a lot more secure now. aztekxero wrote:May I recommend grade 12 chemistry instead? It is a prerequisite to a good deal of programs, and if you're not sure about CompSci, you might be closing some doors by not taking grade 12 Chem. This is actually a pretty funny story. I don't mind chemistry, but I certainly don't really enjoy it. The only reason I took Chemistry this year was because of the teacher. I had him in grade 10, and found him to be fascinating. I know I am giving up a lot of options by dropping this course, but I really can't stand it. I probably wouldn't have passed it this year if it was not for my teacher. Kaylya wrote: With regards to your 71% in the grade 11 course, the fact that it's because you've got great marks on some assignments and 0's on others is in some ways a good thing, at the same time you should ask yourself why it is that you didn't hand in the assignments. I didn't get with the semestered schedule fast enough. My day school is non-semestered, which means I was juggling 7 other courses and then coming home to stay up until 1 o'clock programming. I have problems with getting work in on time because I spend a lot of time on things (a bad habit that I have since been improving... slowly), as the first semester was wrapping up, I had so many half done assignments saved up, but could not hand in. I decided with a week left before exams, that I will complete the major assignments and focus on the exam, and just leave all the other things behind. Which is a hard choice that I do not regret, but it did hurt a lot. 
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Rank: Valedictorian
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 545
Location: Toronto, ON
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I think most important is to find out what Comp Sci really is, the professions and see if you still want to follow it if you're unsure. Most people don't realize this but Comp Sci isn't programming, so don't go into it thinking all your courses are going to be programming. It's a Computer SCIENCE course, so you'll be dealing with a lot of abstract math, and such.. if you want to just program, a college degree would suffice! Not to say that you won't be doing any programming if you go into comp sci, just that's there a lot more to comp sci than just programming (which is a small part of it)
-University of Toronto Electrical Engineering 1T0!
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Rank: Student Council
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/28/2008
Posts: 391
Location: Scarborough,Ontario
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Computer science in highschool is a joke, if you cant get 90%+ with your eyes closed you should probably think of another carreer. (maybe engineering since you're good at physics?)
And I'm pretty sure that 99% of the kids that go to WU for comp-sci/soft-eng are proficient in quite a few languages/ have probably gone alot deeper than the curriculum on their own time.
If you really want to get into CS/Soft-Eng, I would suggest for you to spend a bit of your summer trying to learn some fundemental concepts (nested/conditional loops,arrays,procedures,sorting etc..) and maybe pick up some Scheme or w.e teaching language they use at UW.
UTSG Life Science 12'
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Rank: Senior Student
Groups: Member
Joined: 4/24/2008
Posts: 101
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Quote:conditional loops,arrays,procedures  if you don't know what those are would you even know what ICS4M is... I wouldnt say you can get a 90 with your eyes closed.. (i did but thats besides the point) sometimes people get flustered with syntax especially in java, (i only have java and VB experience from 3M and 4M.. im not a programmer) so if you dont REALLY know your stuff you could get flustered and question your logic and go back and rewrite your program and run out of time and end up with a program that doesnt do diddly-squat when all you missed was a call or something... fail the test, bomb your mark... i've seen it happen.. comp sci is unforgiving to those who dont really understand
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Rank: Frosh
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/18/2008
Posts: 21
Location: Ontario
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gundam501 is incorrect in saying that ICS4M is required for CS, especially if you have to take it in virtual school. Kaylya is more on the mark here.
CS in Waterloo is in the Math Faculty, with lots of other options available. I would suggest focussing on your math, really getting on top of it, and then applying to CS and Math both, explaining your low ICS3M mark and talking about the studying you have done on your own. See if you can find an online programming community (e.g. compsci.ca) to help.
If, on the other hand, you don't really like math, then don't do that and don't do CS, either.
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