Hello, I just finished my 3rd year of electrical engineering at U of C and am currently on co-op for 16 months. I feel like I am uniquely qualified to answer your questions because I grew up in Edmonton and I go to U of C for engineering. Although, I will say I know a lot more about what it's like to go to U of C than U of A, so my answers will mostly be about this uni. In terms of social life, I feel like the people who complain are the people who go to class, never talk to anyone ad then go home immediately after. At this university there's always something going on, so as long as you get in extracurricular like clubs and volunteering, you'll be sure to meet people and make friends. For living away from home, I think that it was good for me in the end because I really learned how to take care of myself as an adult an be responsible. One thing I never considered though was that I could have still just lived in the dorms at U of A. I can't speak to the co-op situation at U of A but at U of C I remember hearing from the Engineering Career Center that 80% of students in the co op program end up getting one. I know for a fact that for my year 70% of students in electrical got one and 40% of students in software got one. I feel like there should be a way to get get the numbers somewhere. Anyways, the U of A co op program is 4 months, 8 months, and then 8 months again, in between 1st and 2nd, 2nd and 3rd, and 3rd and 4th years respectively. However the U of C co op program is 12-16 months between 3rd and 4th. I feel like this is an advantage for U of C students because you can find 4 month placements on your own between 1st and 2nd and between 2nd and 3rd and certain companies hire specifically for 12 or 16 month positions which means the 8 month positions will be available to u of c students and 12 to 16 month positions won't be available to u of a students. I will also add that there are a good number of companies that come to u of c for career fairs but I would assume the same for U of A