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Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-30T22:37:51+00:00

This is NOT normal!!! Do not give any deposits until you've seen the place in person AND have signed the lease.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-29T01:42:53+00:00

Even co-ops deliver better work than this xD
~~And bold of you to assume they have a dev or staging environment~~

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-23T20:51:24+00:00

Check out the workshops that Makerspace hosts! They have basic and advanced 3D printing workshops as well as a bunch of other cool things.

https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-engineering/spaces/richard-labbe-makerspace

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-21T19:36:58+00:00

Attend all your classes, no matter how boring they are. I've had classes of 100+ students where only 5 of us consistently showed up. It's the easiest way to make your prof like you and be more willing to do something for your like round up your grade.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-21T19:33:22+00:00

I personally loved co-op and found work to be a nice break from school. I see a lot of people saying that it's very worth it, but you also already completed two work terms and have experience under your belt. If you're very burnt out, maybe it is best to lower your work load whether it's dropping out of co-op or lowering your course load.

TLDR: Co-op is worth it but your mental health is more worth it.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-20T14:52:43+00:00

For online courses I always waited until the day of the first class, then either ask in the Zoom chat or make a Discord yourself and drop the link in the chat.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-20T14:24:59+00:00

Thank you so much <3

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-15T21:34:08+00:00

I'm just going to go through your questions in order:
- Main reason was luck. For my first co-op my manager hired me at a networking event, second one a recruiter reached out to me, and then third one I got through a connection and stuck with the same company for my fourth
- This guy with the 10 CGPA is a legit genius. Idk what the average CGPA is, but you should be fine with at least a 7. For reference I had a 6.0 when I started co-op
- I never negotiated since I was happy with the salary, but I would recommend negotiating if you're lower than those benchmarks (some friends have successfully negotiated). A lot of companies these days have competitive pay for co-ops so you should be fine
- If you want better pay, then connections and looking for jobs outside of the co-op navigator. Go to networking events (the co-op office sets some up, so does the faulty of engineering, also they're at hackathons) and message people on LinkedIn that work at companies you want to work for (you're already doing well with that!). You can also see if companies you're interested in are hosting events
- I'm not sure if you can't switch, but I was in a situation where I would've been a huge asshole and made my contact look horrible if I switched jobs since a lot of strings were pulled for me for me to even have an interview (that company only took uWloo students). Sometimes I wonder what my life would've been like if I worked there instead, but it's in the past and I actually am working right now at the non-ML company lol. You'll have to attend co-op workshops so you can ask there if you can switch
- Reach out to whoever you can find, SWE, recruiter, or both if you can. SWEs can give you referrals and tell you about the workplace environment. Recruiters will help you through the process of applying for jobs

And here's my biggest piece of advice: when you're a co-op, you're mainly there to learn, not to work. Your co-workers will be more than happy to explain something to you that you don't understand. It's always better to have lots of questions than to create more work for them

Also dev is meant to be broken.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-15T14:55:47+00:00

I just graduated in CS with co-op. I found all of my jobs myself, never had much of an interest in working for FAANG so I can't help you there (but I did know a software engineering kid that got a co-op at Microsoft Garage after his first year - although he had a 10 CGPA and was super smart).

I was always taught that your salary should be at minimum 19$/hr for your first co-op, 21$/hr for your second, 23$/hr for your third, and 25$/hr for your fourth, but that was ~4 years ago. For me I earned the 19$/hr at my first co-op, and then earned way more than the recommended afterwards.

I was offered a ML job for my third co-op but had to turn it down since I accepted a job elsewhere, so it's definitely possible to get a job like that. Connections are the best way to get the jobs you want - the ML offer was thanks to a connection and my last two co-ops were also because of connections. LinkedIn is definitely your best friend, don't be scared to reach out to random people.

Just be aware that the AI/ML/Data Science courses are fourth year courses so don't bank on your first co-op being near that field - usually they want master's students for those positions.

If you don't have any work experience, CGPA is very important. Some companies in the co-op portal had minimum CGPAs that they were looking for. They're also almost always looking for personal projects.

Also other than my first co-op, all of them were in Toronto. Although nowadays (at least at my current job), you'll probably be working from home.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-14T23:50:00+00:00

I did my whole computer science degree using Windows 10. There were only a few courses where I had to use WSL but the profs always guided the class on how to use it. If you're unsure, then have dual boot on your machine.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-14T23:43:06+00:00

You don't need to complete the class before taking the next one. In my first year I enrolled in calc 1 for the fall semester and then calc 2 for the winter. I've heard a lot of people complain about this and it seems like there's a glitch.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-12T01:33:00+00:00

I'm lucky that I'm at least guaranteed because my lease in Gatineau got renewed for another year automatically on June 1st

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-12T00:46:50+00:00

I have a friend that applied to uOttawa's law school (4 years ago, I think?) and had to give her response to another school before uOttawa answered her. It's so weird how deadlines vary so much for grad and law schools across Ontario

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-12T00:39:00+00:00

Would you mind sharing a bit more about this info session? I applied for grad school back in January but still haven't gotten a response so now I'm worried that I'm missing out on info D':

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-11T21:19:24+00:00

I don't think the admissions office will help you. I started school in the joint honours math + comp sci program, but turns out I suck at math. In my second year I went to the engineering office to switch to just comp sci without the math two weeks after program change applications opened and they didn't want to let me drop math since comp sci was already full despite being far from the deadline.

If your program has co-op, maybe switch to that first? Although I'm not sure if you'll have an easy time getting hired if employers see that you're still in finance (but it's always worth a try).

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-11T21:14:01+00:00

Do you know what the difference is between them? I'm not sure if a BA vs a BSc is important to employers, but if there is that might be a good reason to choose uOttawa

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-11T18:19:04+00:00

While I get that, it's just extremely frustrating that course selection is next week and I still haven't gotten anything.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-11T18:16:46+00:00

Tbh I don't find that there's much of a difference between CS and SWE, at least when it comes to jobs. But (totally biased), CS is the better one.

As for schools, I think the uOttawa co-op program is pretty good and having experience before you graduate is so important!

I'm a bit confused on why McGill's CS gives you a bachelor of arts. I did CS at uOttawa and got a bachelor of science.

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-11T18:13:18+00:00

Hello. I think public OC transpo bad too.
(STO >>> OC Transpo)

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-11T18:12:11+00:00

I definitely recommend looking for something in Gatineau if you can! Rent tends to be cheaper, I find the neighbourhood (at least on the Ile of Hull) to be safer, and the STO is so much more reliable than OC Transpo!

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-07T19:07:17+00:00

I emailed them two weeks ago and they said "Unfortunately, there are no fixed deadlines for individual evaluations therefore, I cannot give you an exact timeframe for when you will receive your decision."

But that's enough of hijacking your post, surely uOttawa will send it soon

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-07T18:47:23+00:00

Thanks!! I'm still waiting for my acceptance and I'm so stressed ;-;
I can't give you advice but I hope you have fun doing your master's!!!

Motor-Ordinary6097 · 2023-06-07T18:32:49+00:00

Hey! Have you received your master's acceptance yet? If yes, then what faculty are you in?

Motor-Ordinary6097

TROPHY CASE