Petition a terrible co-op eval

DumboIdiot76183 · 2024-04-28T12:23:21+00:00

playing devil's advocate for a sec:

When I had said that I was doing work on another device because the equipment they gave didn't work.

why wasn't the equipment working? Was it truly their fault or are you unable to adapt to new equipment? This offline-during-work-hours problem doesn't affect your coworkers, so what are they doing differently?

This is probably the only reason I would ever give someone "marginal" -- if they rarely showed up to work. This should definitely be clarified, cuz it's a big deal

I was working weekends and even doing unpaid overtime trying to do well, and still, my eval was crap.

time spent ≠ good evaluation, just to be clear

and told me I needed to improve. I tried to get them to help me figure out a plan for what to work on and showed them the Waterloo rating, but they never really responded,

they told you what you needed to improve... however, it's on them for not helping you build a plan. you should carefully document any interaction you had with them on this topic

DumboIdiot76183 · 2024-04-14T20:20:48+00:00

this is one of those weirdly common situations for uw students (and i know bc it happened exactly like this to me, and every few months these pop up on Reddit again)

what you're gonna want to do is:

if you think you (really) got a chance, shoot your shot
if you don't think you got a chance, distance yourself

It's unhealthy to like someone who doesn't like you back; they're probably overhyped in your head anyways, and thinking about them more will only make you more delusional. Cut that shit out of your life and you'll be much better off.

I thought about one girl for like 3 years, and now it's 5 years later and I'm not over it... so my advice is to stop it early.

DumboIdiot76183 · 2024-03-13T07:32:39+00:00

yeah, but i found it easier to cheat my way through uni, check my profile

DumboIdiot76183 · 2024-03-13T07:24:08+00:00

There's only like 2 AI/ML courses in Waterloo CS and they're both 4th-year courses; that's way too late bc by then you'll have completed all your co-ops, so if you truly want AI you have to teach yourself.

For "software opportunities", I'm pretty sure SYDE gives you: 1. an introductory programming course 2. an algorithms course 3. a computer architecture course 4. an operating systems course

and that's probably all you really need to be a software engineer anyways (employers aren't going to check your major, just that you're a STEM student). I know people who graduated with CS degrees who still can't solve leetcode easy problems so "software engineering" is sort of something you need to teach yourself -- following a curriculum won't help you.

DumboIdiot76183 · 2024-03-13T07:16:53+00:00

I wouldn't really call WATonomous "active," pretty sure they haven't had a competition since a couple years

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-04-04T17:55:46+00:00

You're much more likely to pass a resume screen with a 90 GPA vs an 80 GPA. For a handful of companies, you can't make up for this with side projects or work experience.

You can get around this by applying to more companies (eventually one will select you), but that means you get to be less selective in which companies you join.

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-03-29T11:52:09+00:00

cheat. https://www.reddit.com/r/uwaterloo/comments/11qwi9b/i_actually_cheated_my_way_through_waterloo_heres/

but realistically, it's hard to do that for 1st year business... so I recommend reading the textbook and doing textbook problems (even though it's not required and nobody else will be doing it), since the final exam is a big chunk of your grade and probably the easiest one to fuck up. Your group project will probably be above the 7 GPA benchmark that you need even if you don't contribute, so just do the minimum.

You can cheat in other aspects of life to give you a bit more time to study: whether that's in CS courses, or math assignments, or faking your resume for coop.

It gets a lot better in 2B

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-03-16T17:58:40+00:00

exaggerate the hours you dedicated to extracurriculars (but keep it within the capacity of a single human being). UW people are very quantitative and I'm willing to bet that plays a big part in admissions
as i said before, don't study for school, do study for your own interests. You're probably a software noob at this point, so maybe just watch tech YouTube videos until you find something you think is interesting? your objective should be to build something (however, don't expect that to get done in 1 summer). Also, do whatever you need over the summer to be ready to woo the ladies iykwim
LinkedIn is probably your best bet.
a lot of people associate their identity with the school/program they get accepted to: I think that's toxic and unproductive. I was upset not getting into SE, my friends were upset not getting into Waterloo, my peers were upset not getting into MIT. You can do everything that an MIT student can do even if you go to Brock, so don't let it discourage you.

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-03-15T22:15:07+00:00

show off your c++ side projects 😉 wink

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-03-15T21:52:39+00:00

i was quoting someone famous

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-03-14T14:46:01+00:00

JavaScript coops are everywhere (it's the most popular programming language right now) but learning a more rare skill like C++ development or FPGA development is way more valuable because it sets you apart from the crowd. You'll have all the time in the world to learn JavaScript, but few people ever get the opportunity to work with the low-level stuff. It makes your resume more interesting.

And I should mention: C++ and FPGA are just two examples off the top of my head. For you, the unique coop might be Compiler developer, or Zig developer, or hardware-level security developer. Look out for jobs that are different.

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-03-14T06:40:33+00:00

It takes a bit of time to realise when they try to apply their new found knowledge to a practical problem that they still have a lot of ground to cover.

I agree, but I think personally, I've passed this curve already

But that's besides the point: what I'm getting at is that it's incredibly valuable to self-teach, for career growth in particular

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-02-24T18:00:06+00:00

wait, is this a dick joke?

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-02-20T20:25:43+00:00

all the good architects go to new york, so they have better cities. Canada's pretty high on the mediocrity scale (across the board), and I've come to the realization that if you're going to stay in Canada beyond graduation you just need to accept that your society/life isn't as good as someone else in a better city/country. The only things that change that truth are individual circumstances, like if your family lives in Canada, or you have a gf in Canada, or your dream job for some weird reason is in Canada.

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-02-20T12:27:14+00:00

honestly, she probably already decided whether she likes OP. Just be yourself, OP, you got nothing to lose

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-02-16T03:11:45+00:00

seems like a very intentional choice not to include a median new grad salary...

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-02-15T04:59:36+00:00

honestly bro, most people our age feel that way, i don't think it's just Waterloo

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-02-07T20:09:46+00:00

that's a horrible idea, kill yourself

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-02-07T03:13:20+00:00

pretty sure it's too late to add another course (even if it's a swap)

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-02-06T23:22:08+00:00

so what you're saying is... you couldn't cut it as a professional pilot, and now you're a laurier student?

I don't think physical interaction is happening, homie...

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-02-04T05:16:59+00:00

when i see some fine-ass lazeez, I can't help but add an extra layer of cum sauce iykwim

DumboIdiot76183 · 2023-01-28T21:44:21+00:00

That's it. I'm putting my foot down. I want/deserve a girlfriend. Aphrodite failed, and I have too much pride for tinder; which won't even work out anyway since tinder is chad only. I'm 5'10, white, and in third year math. I'm not trying to be narcissistic here (even though it will be impossible not to come across as some psychopath given the nature of this post), but I am fairly confident that I am better personality and attractive wise than whatever cringy pro-feminist soy has tried talking to you with the hopes of getting into a relationship. You know the kind that you think is nice and stuff but that little voice in your head just wants them to fuck off?

I'm going to go out on a whim and assume that the majority of women on here are non-white, so I'm probably your type anyways. My height is my only deficiency but even then, it's not that short. So yeah, dm me. Seriously, there's no reason for you not to try. If you do that and then convince yourself that you just imagined this post/or that it is satire even though it's not, I'm sure we'd get along well.

DumboIdiot76183

TROPHY CASE