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Chemical Engineering Options
jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 7:37:06 PM
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Location: Toronto
Hi, I've just finished my midterm and it's turned out to be an 84%.

(Calculus/Vectors=91, Advanced Functions=80, Physics=83, Chemistry=84, English=72, Music=94)

I've applied to Waterloo, UofT, Western, McMaster, Queen's but haven't heard back yet.

I've gotten accepted by Ryerson for engineering though, but I really want to go to Waterloo or one of the others listed above.

What do you think my chances are of getting in? All prerequisites said low 80s, except Waterloo was mid 80s... so I'm not sure.

Thanks!
Miss
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 8:33:08 PM

Rank: Student Council
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Joined: 3/24/2008
Posts: 388
Location: mississauga
Hmm... Well, all the universities are asking for different courses, like some will only ask for calc/physics/chem and 3 others, while others will ask for advanced functions/english/chem/phys +2 others. Try finding out what your average is with the prerequisite courses.

ifrom what you've stated, i think it would probably be alright for western, mcmaster, and queen's, although I know that Queen's requires you to fill out a PSE (application form) and mcmaster might.
If you're really nervous, try sending in a letter of recommendation from one of your teachers?

And in all (brutal) honesty, I don't know whether you will get into waterloo, or u of t. Remember that getting in is only the first step, and that it's pointless to get to university if you drop out (and these 2 universities enjoy taking ur money and letting you fail). But hten again, the more rigorous the program, the better it sounds to have a degree from there right?


"My parents live in Ohio; I live in the moment." -himym.
jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:02:07 PM
Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 4/17/2008
Posts: 35
Location: Toronto
Miss wrote:
Hmm... Well, all the universities are asking for different courses, like some will only ask for calc/physics/chem and 3 others, while others will ask for advanced functions/english/chem/phys +2 others. Try finding out what your average is with the prerequisite courses.

ifrom what you've stated, i think it would probably be alright for western, mcmaster, and queen's, although I know that Queen's requires you to fill out a PSE (application form) and mcmaster might.
If you're really nervous, try sending in a letter of recommendation from one of your teachers?

And in all (brutal) honesty, I don't know whether you will get into waterloo, or u of t. Remember that getting in is only the first step, and that it's pointless to get to university if you drop out (and these 2 universities enjoy taking ur money and letting you fail). But hten again, the more rigorous the program, the better it sounds to have a degree from there right?


Thanks for the reply, yeah I'm pretty nervous lol. I got 80 in Biology so it doesn't help the situation either :S English is what set me back a lot.

I filled out all the supplementary/application stuff for all that required it and my supps are pretty good, but I duno how vague or true they are being with their average markings. Like what range low 80s and mid 80s is...oh well
aestas
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:13:54 PM

Rank: Senior Student
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Location: Richmond Hill
I have an 84% final and got into Mac and Western. You're probably going to get in once the midterms are sent out. Might I point out that Mac is has a very strong chemical engineering program (perhaps even at par with Waterloo).
jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:25:01 PM
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Joined: 4/17/2008
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Location: Toronto
aestas wrote:
I have an 84% final and got into Mac and Western. You're probably going to get in once the midterms are sent out. Might I point out that Mac is has a very strong chemical engineering program (perhaps even at par with Waterloo).


yeah man, like I really liked western/mac and I kinda want to move out of the city anyway. I'm starting to stray away from Waterloo although if I get in, I'm definitely considering it lol. Oh and how do you receive rejections? By (e)mail or OUAC?
aestas
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:44:20 PM

Rank: Senior Student
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Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 112
Location: Richmond Hill
Yeah I really like the social aspect of Mac/Western... Waterloo seemed way too nerdy for me.
Western just showed up on OUAC and Mac sent me an email... and I got accepted, not rejected. I don't think universities send out rejections this early... because they usually make another round of offers after receiving midterms.

But I wouldn't get too excited and start checking OUAC/email like crazy just yet because midterms aren't updated on OUAC (haven't even gotten my midterms at my school), and even then, it takes the universities a couple days to get them.

Oh since you asked about mail... you do get acceptance letters, but I got all my acceptance emails/OUAC offers all before receiving the snail mail.

PS. Forgot to add that you're accepted into a general engineering program (in case you didn't know) at Mac/ Western and from then, you have to compete with other students for spots in chemical engineering in second year.
jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:47:41 PM
Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 4/17/2008
Posts: 35
Location: Toronto
aestas wrote:
Yeah I really like the social aspect of Mac/Western... Waterloo seemed way too nerdy for me.
Western just showed up on OUAC and Mac sent me an email... and I got accepted, not rejected. I don't think universities send out rejections this early... because they usually make another round of offers after receiving midterms.

But I wouldn't get too excited and start checking OUAC/email like crazy just yet because midterms aren't updated on OUAC (haven't even gotten my midterms at my school), and even then, it takes the universities a couple days to get them.

Oh since you asked about mail... you do get acceptance letters, but I got all my acceptance emails/OUAC offers all before receiving the snail mail.


lol yeah I've been hearing about how the girl to guy ratio is extremely low, and very nerdy at Waterloo, but it's reputation is great.

We just got our midterms today and I think they send them out around the 23rd or something. Western's a pretty big party school, I haven't checked out the student life for mac/queens/uoft though but i'm guessing it's pretty social.

Just read your PS, yeah I figured first year is pretty general everywhere.
aestas
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:56:21 PM

Rank: Senior Student
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Posts: 112
Location: Richmond Hill
I've heard good and bad things about U of T... but mostly bad for the social life. Yeah Waterloo has a great rep, but I don't think I could punish myself by going there... even though the odds are great for me (though the quality of the guys there are questionable)... If you're looking into chemical engineering though, I would definitely look into Mac (I was considering chemical eng. initially) and they have lots of research in that area, especially bioengineering if you're into that stuff... so that's obviously their strength. Waterloo is much more focused on the software/computery stuff... I guess the only thing Waterloo really beats Mac in terms of chemical eng. is that they have a large, established co-op program/
jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:08:18 PM
Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 4/17/2008
Posts: 35
Location: Toronto
aestas wrote:
I've heard good and bad things about U of T... but mostly bad for the social life. Yeah Waterloo has a great rep, but I don't think I could punish myself by going there... even though the odds are great for me (though the quality of the guys there are questionable)... If you're looking into chemical engineering though, I would definitely look into Mac (I was considering chemical eng. initially) and they have lots of research in that area, especially bioengineering if you're into that stuff... so that's obviously their strength. Waterloo is much more focused on the software/computery stuff... I guess the only thing Waterloo really beats Mac in terms of chemical eng. is that they have a large, established co-op program/


so how does coop work? Yeah Waterloo's sounded pretty smashing from most people, but like does it pay well, I wasn't too convinced about UofT's PEY program, I don't think I could deal with a work/school program like that.
aestas
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:18:08 PM

Rank: Senior Student
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Location: Richmond Hill
Chem engineers are paid well all round... I'm not a student from Waterloo, but they always brag about how the grads are at the computer/software companies (RIM, Google, Facebook, etc) and not so much the other disciplines which I find a bit unnerving...

Mac actually sent me an engineering package regarding co-op... Their co-op is basically a combination of coop/internships and you pick and choose how you want to do it as long as it adds up to a year of co-op in the end. Some examples they gave in the package was 2 coop terms in the summer of your first and second year and then an 8 month internship between your third and fourth year. Logically, I think this is a system better than Waterloo because you can build up your work experience to land a better internship. And unlike the 4 month co-op, you can spend more time at the company and getting more responsibilities given to you and actually FINISHING a project as opposed to having someone finish it up for you.

I believe Western's coop seems slightly weaker than Mac's (but they seem to have more "connections" if you know what I mean and lots of students get jobs). The system is really similar... where they only have summer co-op employment. Then you have the option of taking an internship between your 3rd and 4th year. Again, this gives you the same advantages of doing Western's coop. Not sure if you want to take this into consideration, but all the Western students I've talked to are happy with their coop/internship system whereas not everyone is satisifed with the coop office help/resources at Mac. However, you also have to take into consideration that Mac's faculty has about 3000 people whereas Western only has 1200. This means there's less people competing for coop opportunities, especially the local ones in southwestern Ontario. But you should also realize this could backfire and mean you might have a harder time getting jobs back out in the east...

Sorry this was such a long post, but from my research, this is what I figured out from Western/Mac.

jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:21:12 PM
Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 4/17/2008
Posts: 35
Location: Toronto
aestas wrote:
Chem engineers are paid well all round... I'm not a student from Waterloo, but they always brag about the computer/software companies (RIM, Google, Facebook, etc) and not so much the other disciplines which I find a bit unnerving...

Mac actually sent me an engineering package regarding co-op... Their co-op is basically a combination of coop/internships and you pick and choose how you want to do it as long as it adds up to a year of co-op in the end. Some examples they gave in the package was 2 coop terms in the summer of your first and second year and then an 8 month internship between your third and fourth year. Logically, I think this is a system better than Waterloo because you can build up your work experience to land a better internship. And unlike the 4 month co-op, you can spend more time at the company and getting more responsibilities given to you and actually FINISHING a project as opposed to having someone finish it up for you.

I believe Western's coop seems slightly weaker than Mac's (but they seem to have more "connections" if you know what I mean and lots of students get jobs). The system is really similar... where they only have summer co-op employment. Then you have the option of taking an internship between your 3rd and 4th year. Again, this gives you the same advantages of doing Western's coop. Not sure if you want to take this into consideration, but all the Western students I've talked to are happy with their coop/internship system whereas not everyone is satisifed with the coop office help/resources at Mac. However, you also have to take into consideration that Mac's faculty has about 3000 people whereas Western only has 1200. This means there's less people competing for coop opportunities, especially the local ones in southwestern Ontario. But you should also realize this could backfire and mean you might have a harder time getting jobs back out in the east...

Sorry this was such a long post, but from my research, this is what I figured out from Western/Mac.



nono, this was really helpful, thank you! So wait sorry if I'm not understanding this but, there's a chance that even though I'm enrolled in a coop program, I might not get a coop position, the spots fill up?

also, like say for north america as a whole, does waterloo or uoft stand out compared to say mac/queens/western in terms of job hiring?
aestas
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:27:58 PM

Rank: Senior Student
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Location: Richmond Hill
Co-op is NOT guaranteed for any student enrolled a co-op program...The university doesn't pre-establish a link or a spot for you at those companies, and you have to compete against other students in your own universities as well as other universities. Essentially, it's like a job search. From what I've heard, the coop office (depending on how helpful they are) will just post open internships/coop spots that the companies have open on the university coop website and you apply. You'll need a resume, and will likely need to do an interview before they'll give you a job. Likewise, they can choose to send you home if you do a crappy job and can also choose to extend your coop term if they think you're doing a great job. I'm sure you know all about the advantages of having coop so I won't go into that.

So to answer your question, yes. They might find better candidates and you might not end up with a job. A word of advice from the people I've talked to is APPLY EARLY. I should probably mention (in case you missed this anywhere) that I'm still a high school student and all this info is basically from word of mouth and some research I did. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but that's how I believe the system works and hopefully it's a somewhat clear picture of what the system is like.

Just saw your edit...

Out of N.A., U of T is probably the best (most well known) out of all your choices. Then probably comes UW. Mac/Western/Queen's are pretty debatable since engineering is not really these school's strengths. People always fight over the rankings, and an analogy I've read is that it's like comparing dick size. Generally UT and Waterloo are the best. If you want to leave the country, you should probably go to UT. If you're staying in Ontario, I think any school is fine as long as they're accredited.
jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:36:02 PM
Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 4/17/2008
Posts: 35
Location: Toronto
aestas wrote:
Co-op is NOT guaranteed for any student enrolled a co-op program...The university doesn't pre-establish a link or a spot for you at those companies, and you have to compete against other students in your own universities as well as other universities. Essentially, it's like a job search. From what I've heard, the coop office (depending on how helpful they are) will just post open internships/coop spots that the companies have open on the university coop website and you apply. You'll need a resume, and will likely need to do an interview before they'll give you a job. Likewise, they can choose to send you home if you do a crappy job and can also choose to extend your coop term if they think you're doing a great job. I'm sure you know all about the advantages of having coop so I won't go into that.

So to answer your question, yes. They might find better candidates and you might not end up with a job. A word of advice from the people I've talked to is APPLY EARLY. I should probably mention (in case you missed this anywhere) that I'm still a high school student and all this info is basically from word of mouth and some research I did. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but that's how I believe the system works and hopefully it's a somewhat clear picture of what the system is like.

Just saw your edit...

Out of N.A., U of T is probably the best (most well known) out of all your choices. Then probably comes UW. Mac/Western/Queen's are pretty debatable since engineering is not really these school's strengths. People always fight over the rankings, and an analogy I've read is that it's like comparing dick size. Generally UT and Waterloo are the best. If you want to leave the country, you should probably go to UT. If you're staying in Ontario, I think any school is fine as long as they're accredited.


wow, you've really done you're hmwk, thanks for the advice! Very helpful. So yeah basically it could be slim pickings for coop in the less populated cities.
aestas
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:42:54 PM

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Not necessarily, most of the manufacturing plants and stuff are out in the less populated areas anyway, so it could be a good thing, especially for a chemical engineer. I wouldn't recommend going to Western for chemical though, on my tour, their labs seemed a bit outdated. However, I do know a Western grad who went to work for Imperial Oil so it may not be a bad choice...

It's not necessarily slim pickings because you're competing with a large student population at U of T/Waterloo for jobs in addition to Ryerson engineering students. I've heard of several cases of people in engineering at the GTA who had to drop out of coop because they couldn't get a job, but I've never heard of such a case with Western. They seem to have closer ties with the town/surrounding businesses and since they have a smaller faculty, I think it's easier for their students to land good coop jobs. Several Western mech grads are working at big names such as Ford, Honda, 3M and CAMI (or something like that). Their job prospects seem pretty good so I wouldn't count any out of town university out of the count just yet.

And I guess it depends on how populated you mean. Hamilton and London aren't in the middle of nowhere and London is the 10th largest city in Canada... and Hamilton is heavy into manufacturing..

Yeah, I take this pretty seriously because I could potentially change the course of my life by picking one uni over another.
jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 10:54:29 PM
Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 4/17/2008
Posts: 35
Location: Toronto
aestas wrote:
Not necessarily, most of the manufacturing plants and stuff are out in the less populated areas anyway, so it could be a good thing, especially for a chemical engineer. I wouldn't recommend going to Western for chemical though, on my tour, their labs seemed a bit outdated. However, I do know a Western grad who went to work for Imperial Oil so it may not be a bad choice...

It's not necessarily slim pickings because you're competing with a large student population at U of T/Waterloo for jobs in addition to Ryerson engineering students. I've heard of several cases of people in engineering at the GTA who had to drop out of coop because they couldn't get a job, but I've never heard of such a case with Western. They seem to have closer ties with the town/surrounding businesses and since they have a smaller faculty, I think it's easier for their students to land good coop jobs. Several Western mech grads are working at big names such as Ford, Honda, 3M and CAMI (or something like that). Their job prospects seem pretty good so I wouldn't count any out of town university out of the count just yet.

And I guess it depends on how populated you mean. Hamilton and London aren't in the middle of nowhere and London is the 10th largest city in Canada... and Hamilton is heavy into manufacturing..

Yeah, I take this pretty seriously because I could potentially change the course of my life by picking one uni over another.


ok so since first year is pretty general, say maybe i don't want to get into chemical engineering but rather go into bioengineering, is that hard to do, because i happen to like bio more than chem, but my marks are higher in chem.
aestas
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:05:09 PM

Rank: Senior Student
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Location: Richmond Hill
Haha, it's ironic but I was considering bioengineering at one point... I've pretty much decided I want to do mechanical now (just because I'm not that fond of chemistry and processes). Well, for now at least.

I know the chemical + bioengineering at Mac is somewhat competitive, you're going to need around an 80% first year average to get into it. They first admit you into chemical engineering and then from those people, they let in ~25 people into the program and they do this by a competitive basis. However, these numbers may change but this is last year's insider's info. I'm not too sure about Western's bioengineering program... but I would assume you're safe with a 70% average... since mech is their most popular discipline. If you can boost your final average up to 85% ( at Western), I believe you're guaranteed any discipline you want not to mention a decent $1500 scholarship. However, like I said, since Mac has a very strong med school and a very strong chem program, I highly recommend going there if you're interested in bioengineering.
jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:15:04 PM
Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 4/17/2008
Posts: 35
Location: Toronto
aestas wrote:
Haha, it's ironic but I was considering bioengineering at one point... I've pretty much decided I want to do mechanical now (just because I'm not that fond of chemistry and processes). Well, for now at least.

I know the chemical + bioengineering at Mac is somewhat competitive, you're going to need around an 80% first year average to get into it. They first admit you into chemical engineering and then from those people, they let in ~25 people into the program and they do this by a competitive basis. However, these numbers may change but this is last year's insider's info. I'm not too sure about Western's bioengineering program... but I would assume you're safe with a 70% average... since mech is their most popular discipline. If you can boost your final average up to 85% ( at Western), I believe you're guaranteed any discipline you want not to mention a decent $1500 scholarship. However, like I said, since Mac has a very strong med school and a very strong chem program, I highly recommend going there if you're interested in bioengineering.


lol so i guess getting an 80%+ average is somewhat a chore? is that usually what 90% highschoolers sink down to? darn that sucks for me cuz for the most part i'm an 80s student. :S
aestas
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:22:33 PM

Rank: Senior Student
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Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 112
Location: Richmond Hill
I wouldn't give up hope, not everyone wants to go into bioengineering. The student I talked to has a 80% but he said that he knows at least 5 people have an average lower than him. I'm going to reiterate what he said to me. He said to think about where in class you stand, if you're an above average student, you're not going to drop that much. He said the biggest thing was trying to balance a social life with the work. If you can do that, you're gold. (He rebounded from a 65% to an 80-something which made his overall average around an 80%).

If he's reading this, I don't want to take all the credit and just want to say thanks for your help again.

However, if you're not big into risks (like I am), you could always go to Western where an 85% is pretty much a guarantee. But then again, I have other (post grad) motives for choosing Western (well haven't made the final decision yet) so I'm a bit biased ;)
jp1390
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:37:07 PM
Rank: Frosh
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Joined: 4/17/2008
Posts: 35
Location: Toronto
aestas wrote:
I wouldn't give up hope, not everyone wants to go into bioengineering. The student I talked to has a 80% but he said that he knows at least 5 people have an average lower than him. I'm going to reiterate what he said to me. He said to think about where in class you stand, if you're an above average student, you're not going to drop that much. He said the biggest thing was trying to balance a social life with the work. If you can do that, you're gold. (He rebounded from a 65% to an 80-something which made his overall average around an 80%).

If he's reading this, I don't want to take all the credit and just want to say thanks for your help again.

However, if you're not big into risks (like I am), you could always go to Western where an 85% is pretty much a guarantee. But then again, I have other (post grad) motives for choosing Western (well haven't made the final decision yet) so I'm a bit biased ;)


oh and would it do me good to take a refresher course before starting university, because i'm in semestered schooling and chemistry is kinda vague to me.
aestas
Posted: Thursday, April 17, 2008 11:43:12 PM

Rank: Senior Student
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Joined: 3/4/2008
Posts: 112
Location: Richmond Hill
I took my maths and physics last year, so I plan to do some hardcore review in order to get back up to speed.


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