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Computer Engineering (Co-op) at University of Ottawa
Ivan (Year 2)
What did you wish you knew before going to your university? What made you choose this institution over all others? What are advantages and disadvantages of your institution or campus? List any advice for incoming first-year students about your university.
I got lost many times while going to class on the first couple of weeks. I wish I knew in advance which building was which course subject. Math had its own building so all lectures related to math or calc was in that building and same goes to the other subjects. I don’t know if my university have any advantages or disadvantages but UofOttawa is in downtown so it has everything. It’s also very close by the parliament building so it’s always a good place to sight seeing. I went to Ottawa because its one of the few university with coop with my major.
What did you wish you knew before choosing your specific program? What are the advantages and disadvantages of your program? List any advice for incoming first-year students about your program of study.
If there was anything I would have changed or correct, it’s the choice of my professors. At the time, I didn’t know a very helpful website called RateMyProfessors which tells which professors are good teachers and I got terrible professors in a few classes. You have to get a good professor to learn properly or else it gets so much harder. I got through because I had lots of help from friends in the same class. I highly recommend using the website to check your professors before choosing your classes with that professor.
What was your favourite university experience?
Best experience was definitely in the common room when I was living on campus because many things would happen in that room. People would play games in it, have parties in it, and it was just a fun time overall.
What was your least favourite university experience?
There wasn’t really much a bad experience for me but I guess being cramped in lectures were pretty terrible. There were some courses I’ve had that held too many students in the class. It was like sitting on a bus filled with people.
What is the hardest part about your program and what were the steps that you took to overcome any difficulties?
My specific program was very hard because everything was all calculations. I can’t honestly decide it anymore than that. The only way to get pass my courses was to study hard and practice lots of problems. Look at previous year exams too, they will help a lot too.
If you were able to take electives, what was your favourite elective? If you were not able to take electives, what was your favourite course and why?
My favourite course was probably Digital Systems (ITI1100) because it was interesting to learn about computer languages and understanding it. It was quite difficult to learn but it was overall easier than most courses that I had.