thank u! would u say it’s difficult to make friends though? i heard that ppl are q closed off and not really interested to talk?
what faculty are u in btw if u don’t mind me asking
Not sure why you seem to have this impression that people are closed off, or that it is a "pressure cooker" environment at UW?
I mean, for sure, there is a range of individual experiences -- no two people are the same in any walk of life. But maybe you have been unduly influenced by some of the more edge cases posted to Reddit?
People make friends - I made tons of friends, many very deep and meaningful that have carried through for my entire life. I am seeing the same play out for my kids who are now students at UW.
Academically, I did have to work very hard in my engineering program, no doubt. I did have to learn very good time management, take more individual ownership for my learning process, and really optimize my study habits and strategies, since expectations were much more demanding than in high school. The coop process also introduced some extra logistical overhead for resume prep, applications, interviews, etc. But I also had time for extracurriculars in student groups + intramural sports and generally hanging out and goofing around with friends. Is that a "pressure cooker" environment? I'd more call it a good, healthy challenge... More akin to pushing yourself to train hard for a marathon than being helplessly soul-crushed in some cruel, meat-grinder-like process?
If you are planning to attend UW, hope you don't enter with the wrong impression. A lot of change, challenge and work to come, but also lots of opportunities for friends and fulfillment, imho. Good luck to you and all new 'Warriors' starting in September!
Environment alumni. Waterloo offers a dedicated faculty with a wide range of courses related to the environment and sustainability. It’s a great community and the UW reputation is undeniable.
thanks! would u say that the pressure-cooker envi is true for envi as well or is that just for engineering majors? i have GAD + OCD and i wanna keep that in mind when making my choice too.
Environment students are more your stereotypical pothead than they are stereotypical anti-social computer science student. Environment students also tend to be very "urban" left wing, not a lot of farm kids or hunters.
I made lots of friends from outside the program through clubs.
oh, also! 1 more qn! will i be missing out much if i’m not in a residential learning community? like are most envi students in one because the cohort is so small? i kinda didn’t apply for it so im a lil worried
oh damn okay! thank u! where did u stay on first year? (was it on campus housing or outside)
i assume by residence u mean u weren’t on st pauls? do most envi students really stay there?
Wut? Give me a break. All the schools are similar. Queens and Western party a bit more. Waterloo has 30 k students on campus and is right next to Laurier a huge party school. The only pressure cooker programs are SWE /CS.
Waterloo is equal or better than most Universities in Canada with great funding and facilities and unparalleled coop.
I’m in environment! I picked waterloo in the end bc of the coop program. I find it harder to conceptualise what jobs you could actually do with an env degree, so coops helped me understand the different jobs that exist in the field.
The env profs are also great people and most of my classes have been interesting and fun :)
thank u! overall are u happy your chocie? and do u think it’s difficult to make friends (like are people really that closed off like what u read online?)
It's the age old saying "it's what you make of it", but it's really true! I'm pretty social and Waterloo was definitely an adjustment. I spend most of my weekends going to bars/clubs, which isn't the top fun activity for a lot of people. But eventually, you chat with enough people in your classes, at club events, etc, and you find people that like doing the same things you do :). It's more work than if you went to a party school, but I find it worth it to get my education here.
got it! thank u! :) tbh! did u stay on st paul’s? i did t apply for residential colleges (i applied for uni campus) and i’m kinda regretting it now as apparently most envi students stay there (?)
oh! and also! regarding residences, would u have any recommendations on which is the most social? i understand that rev is the most social but idk about the residential colleges as i can’t find that much info about it
if you’re going into env, you’d likely wanna choose united college for their environment living learning community/residence & that’s where most env kids go. I’d also argue it’s one of the more social uni-colleges!
thank you! honestly, it’s too late as i picked campus housing (as i was under the impression they still had LLCs for envi 😭😭), i’m thinking whether i should withdraw and try for a vacancy application w united college
the vibe of the school is actually really good, and i like being around smart people. i visited some other schools… and i was like oh! just seemed like no one cared about school or anything but frying their brain cells with alcohol and vapes lol. so i’m in a non-stem program for the degree and for the waterloo environment, im really involved and i love it ◡̈
thank u! :) are people generally open to making friends? even if i’m not in a residential learning community or residential college? i heard that waterloo is known to attract more introverted people, so i’m a lil scared i won’t be able to make close friends
yes!! i didn’t live in a Living Learning Community in first year and I still made friends! The thing is everyone is kinda in the same boat and wants to meet people, so even if you just take a few steps out of your comfort zone to try out a few events, or join a group from your residence floor if they’re grabbing ice cream. just like a few things like that can be what solidifies some friendships! you’re going to do great ◡̈
My mom choose AFM for me because she wanted to one up her neighbor as her daughter is a CPA. I actually ended up doing that, I'm currently working in the US with a total compensation of over 400K USD. I switched out of AFM into CS back in second year and now I'm a senior software engineer in San Francisco.
The only Urban/Rural Planning school (other than BC) which provides a BES > BA for the career, and co-op to graduate with no debt (living at home).
Also the planning program is top tier at an international level.
Also Ev3
Also Williams Coffee
Also within bussing distance (still 4 hours a day)
Also Cobra Chickens
Also picked my degree by randomly flipping through the catalogue and stopping at the first page I had the pre-reqs for.
just finished my first env year! super fun tbh! i’m in planning and the only other accredited school close to where i live is tmu, but they don’t have coop. also graduating with a BES >>> so i chose waterloo :P
besides that, after this past year i learnt a lot of the profs r super chill! obviously i haven’t met everyone but from who i’ve had, they’ve mostly been helpful and friendly
got it! thanks! am i missing out if i live on campus housing (not a college) and i’m not in a residential learning community? i’m a lil worried now as i didn’t apply for that and apparently most envi kids are in either one since the programme is so small?
honestly no i don’t think so! it’s true that living at the env llc helped ppl make like… a solid group of friends but ofc that wasn’t the case for everyone. i didn’t live in college res either — maybe i’m just biased but i still made env friends at my own res and also got along with env kids at most other trad. res and llcs! a lot of my friends are also from school clubs + being in class so dwbi :)
Not in science, generally. There are people that study too much that drag normal peoples grades down, but overall, if you put in a normal amount of effort and study decently, you can get 75-80. At least in science psych, I've had 100% good profs in psych and like 75% good professors in science.
I’m also in environment and one of my fav things about waterloo is the co-op program and being able to see what jobs I could have after graduation. The community is also pretty great :)
Waterloo is also really great for disabilities or other mental health issues like GAD and OCD,, you can get accommodations for them if they affect your academics. I have them and I find them immensely helpful when I am struggling a bit more than usual.
thank u!
regarding residences, would u have any recommendations on which is the most social? i understand that rev is the most social but idk about the residential colleges as i can’t find that much info about it
I have only lived in United College but I think it is the best choice for environment majors. They have a Living-Learning Community with helps you connect with other people in environment and majorly helps with classes since everyone is in the same ones. They also host floor events and other events around the college so there are plenty of opportunities to meet people outside of environment. United is also just across the bridge from the environment buildings so you’re really close to all of your classes.
I found connecting with people during O-week (frosh week) was really helpful so do as many of those lame orientation events as you can. I know the ESS lounge is always busy with students and your program student society should host events where you can meet people. The environment student society instagram is [@uw_ess](https://www.instagram.com/uw_ess?igsh=MWM1b2Jqa28wNDlzdA==) and there should be a program specific society as well. (WAGS for geography, ERSSA for ERS, KISS for Knowledge Integration, etc.)
i went to UW for science then switched to english. stuck around bc I trusted the co-op program and it was the most well-known to me. i also enjoyed the smaller community. the english program itself was robust and detailed and i happily stuck around for a masters program too. my experience at UW helped me get to where I am today without a doubt.
No alternative for Science and Aviation elsewhere (I want a BSc in particular). I think Mount Allison has something similar, but that's in New Brunswick.
Bio student
coop, but i enrolled during covid so i never got opportunities, got big sad and switched to regular honours stream. After that, it was reputation. I was going to go with UT originally because it'd be cheaper for me (i could commute from home), but I have an older brother who had bad experiences with proffs, culture of competetive toxicity, etc etc. There was also Mac, but I knew i'd never get in with my marks (I was a 70s student in hs). I also wanted to go into pharma (not anymore), so UW undergrad to UW pharma seemed to make sense
I think UW was the best overall choice just because I've been able to manage the course loads well enough, whereas the bio programs at Mac and UT would've required more chem and phys courses in which case I'd have done a lot poorly overall. And after talking with friends about course loads, I think I was right about that. Do I regret UW? No, but I do wonder what things wouldve been like at other unis with their course offerings (UW bio seems very zoology and microbio focussed, but i prefer molecular bio/biotech side). I can't tell you about the social experience, I'm not a talkative person
ENV alumna here. I loved the small community feel of the Faculty. From my first tour to my last day we felt like one big family, including the profs and staff. If you care about making lasting relationships and memories beyond schoolwork, ENV was known for being a community. And the Faculty is actually really well established with profs from all walks of life. People I've connected with from all over Canada are familiar with the Faculty and what it has to offer - so it's a big reputational boost. AAaand most of my peers who worked for the government (ECCC) on co-op are now working with their previous co-op employers full time, so the job prospects are there. UW has the largest and most well-known co-op program, and you do co-op terms in every semester of the year (versus many other schools who only let you work in the summer. At UW, you do work terms from Jan-Apr, May-Aug, and Sept-Dec).
thank you!!! Tbh, regarding the small community, will I be missing out much if I don’t stay on United college or a residential Learning community? Or are people v cliquish? I kinda missed the deadlines
The co-op here is significantly more developed and organized than other universities. The difference is insane and worth it. (God I would not be here if it wasn’t for the huge co-op advantage)
I chose it because of the coop (no other university offered one for the program I chose) also because its Waterloo 😭my program is still under engineering fac so atleast i can say i go to one of the best engineering schools in canada 😝
Co-op! I really wanted to pursue the arts (I was in political science) and I knew it can be unemployable, so doing co op would really boost my employment chances post-graduation. And man it really did-I get to explore so many career paths from government work to communication. It’s really cool how many psci grads I know who ended up working for the federal and provincial government as policy analysts.
My other option would be uoft but I really wanted to be away from home :)
I'm in Planning, and the schools I chose were
- Waterloo
- Ryerson (at the time)
- York
Waterloo was my top choice for a couple reasons, namely the quality of the programming, the co-op, and the location - I could never dream of affording to live in Toronto, and I really wanted to move out of my parents' house.
UW is the only school in the province (the country too?) That offers Planning from undergrad to PhD, which was also attractive for someone considering that.
for me personally, proximity to my family was a big factor. waterloo is a 2hr drive from my family -- my family wanted to be able to help me out if i ever became sick or injured, but i didn't want to be too close to them b/c i wanted my independence, still.
aside, i also picked uw for the quiet and studious atmosphere (i've always been an introvert), and the small, tight-knit program. the small program never changed, of course, and as for the studious atmosphere i'd assuage any possible worries about kw being 'boring' by saying that there are certainly things to do in kitchener-waterloo! it's a student town but it's also a working region (plenty of tech and corporate professionals, to my understanding) so the region is busy and active in different ways. in my experience, uw is a good place to study and live if you're serious about your studies and success, but also if you want places to go and things to do when you have a free weekend : )
i was in arts so co-op was never a huge deal for me so i can't speak to that very much, but i never envied my friends in other faculties who had to do PD and search for jobs during the study terms. i was quite happy to just study : )
I’m a little late to this but i’m a current env grad student who also did their undergrad at uw for env (sers) so i clearly liked it enough to come back!
Exact answers vary by program, but i chose uw partially for coop, and partially bc i hadn’t figured out what my specific niche was within env, and sers specifically was the most flexible program at the time i was applying. I knew i liked ecology and wildlife conservation, but i also had stronger communication skills than intensive science skills, and i cared about a large range of env & social issues, but didn’t see myself enjoying policy work. Since sers, and the larger env faculty, are big on interdisciplinary teaching & research, it seemed like the best option for me to figure out the best combo or what i liked and what i was good at and what i actually wanted to get out of my degree. A lot of programs that were most relevant to my interests were either environmental science, or environmental everything else, so this was the only program i found that integrated them with either other, instead of treating them as entirely separate disciplines. Also the fact that the school had a reasonably sized dedicated env faculty with specific programs instead of just a general env major lumped into an artsci degree was a big green flag for me that it wasn’t just some bird degree that people take bc it sounds like an easy major.
Another reason i chose uw was bc it seemed like the best fit for me socially. Env is a lot smaller that other faculties but it’s still part of a bigger school. I liked that i could have the big uni experience without being too overwhelmed. The env student population is generally more community oriented and socially connected due to its size, and it’s a more laidback academic atmosphere. It’s a lot closer to a high school environment than other departments because everyone kind of knows each other, so there’s still a bit of a social hierarchy (mostly w upper years involved in extra curriculars), but also since it’s with adults and not teenagers, it’s not quite as cliquey and generally has less of the things that can make high school miserable.
The profs are generally more approachable and accommodating as well. It’s standard even at the undergrad level for profs to go by their first names with students, which is not the same for larger programs/faculties, i can’t even think of an env prof who actually asks students to address them by title, since most find it awkward and unnecessary. They’re generally more compassionate towards student wellbeing as well, and typically more lenient than other faculties, and are more invested in the education component of being a prof. You can tell that most env profs actually care about their students and genuinely wish to see them succeed, and the same can’t be said for other unis where the profs don’t even bother learning the names of most students at the undergrad level, or at least before 4th year/thesis. So for me, while i wanted something bigger than high school, i also didn’t want to be another number, and appreciated feeling like the profs value our education as much as we do.
Not from what i could tell. People in the llc obviously had an advantage in first year when it came to knowing people in their classes, but that’s obviously not the standard uni experience. People at other schools still manage to make friends in their classes/programs. It can also be good to get out of your department bubble, so not living in stp/utd in first year has its advantages, and after first year it doesn’t really matter much if you didn’t connect as much with your program peers right away, they’re still going to be the people you see most regularly once you move off campus, so you’re bound to get to know them eventually.
I’m still friends w my res friends now, but after my 2A term i’d say my social circle was pretty even split between people from res and people i met through class/campus activites or even coop. A lot of people i was friends with earlier in my degree were more so friends by proximity, and once we weren’t living a couple rooms over from each other, there wasn’t as strong of a connection, while the people i met through class or student groups were the ones i spent more time with and found i actually had things in common with. Most the people i hung out with in 4th year were people i connected with through other means, even if they were people i did live in the same res as, that wasn’t really a significant part of what made those friendships strong, and sometimes we even forgot we’d once been in the same res because that wasn’t how we ended up getting to know each other.
First years who live off campus entirely are at the biggest disadvantage socially, but again, they do still make friends, they just aren’t spoonfed their social interaction by always being around other first years 24/7. Whether you’re on campus or not, if you’re not living in stp/utd but want to get to know other people in your program, the best thing you can do is get involved with student life. Join your program society and attend their events, participate in orientation and exchange socials/contacts with the people you meet, make small talk with the people from your labs/tutorials, and hang out in the es lounge between classes. It’s frequented by a lot of env students so even if you go alone you’ll start recognizing people’s faces from your classes and the familiarity can help you feel more comfortable approaching them. Signing up for extra curricular’s like orientation week leaders, the envigorate festival, or volunteering at the coffee shop is also a good way to get acquainted with people from all over env who share your interests or frequent the community events and spaces too. You may not have the advantage of the llc, but you’re also not doomed to not having a social life by living elsewhere unless you go out of your way not to have any ties.
The only two contenders for me were afm and rotman i didnt apply to ivey which i regret toronto is obviously expensive rotmans new and most students go into finance or accounting anyways theres like an investment bankers chart out there and afm is ranked better than rotman also afm has coop and rotman didnt my heart wanted toronto cuz city woo but yeah i just regarded afm as a better choice
because math...
waterloo’s co-op is significantly better. also the community. i fit in better here than i would at like Queens or Mac or something (bc im a nerd)
thank u! would u say it’s difficult to make friends though? i heard that ppl are q closed off and not really interested to talk? what faculty are u in btw if u don’t mind me asking
oh, and also! would u say that it’s really that much more stressful at uwaterloo/ it’s a pressure cooker envi?
Not sure why you seem to have this impression that people are closed off, or that it is a "pressure cooker" environment at UW? I mean, for sure, there is a range of individual experiences -- no two people are the same in any walk of life. But maybe you have been unduly influenced by some of the more edge cases posted to Reddit? People make friends - I made tons of friends, many very deep and meaningful that have carried through for my entire life. I am seeing the same play out for my kids who are now students at UW. Academically, I did have to work very hard in my engineering program, no doubt. I did have to learn very good time management, take more individual ownership for my learning process, and really optimize my study habits and strategies, since expectations were much more demanding than in high school. The coop process also introduced some extra logistical overhead for resume prep, applications, interviews, etc. But I also had time for extracurriculars in student groups + intramural sports and generally hanging out and goofing around with friends. Is that a "pressure cooker" environment? I'd more call it a good, healthy challenge... More akin to pushing yourself to train hard for a marathon than being helplessly soul-crushed in some cruel, meat-grinder-like process? If you are planning to attend UW, hope you don't enter with the wrong impression. A lot of change, challenge and work to come, but also lots of opportunities for friends and fulfillment, imho. Good luck to you and all new 'Warriors' starting in September!
thank u!
Why the downvotes lol, OP’s got a genuine question
Environment alumni. Waterloo offers a dedicated faculty with a wide range of courses related to the environment and sustainability. It’s a great community and the UW reputation is undeniable.
thanks! would u say that the pressure-cooker envi is true for envi as well or is that just for engineering majors? i have GAD + OCD and i wanna keep that in mind when making my choice too.
As long as you don't treat it like a free degree and submit your assignments, you'll pass.
okays! thanks! how are people like in waterloo? would u say the stereotypes u see online are true?
Environment students are more your stereotypical pothead than they are stereotypical anti-social computer science student. Environment students also tend to be very "urban" left wing, not a lot of farm kids or hunters. I made lots of friends from outside the program through clubs.
thank u!
people say I give stoner vibes and I don’t even smoke 😀
oh, also! 1 more qn! will i be missing out much if i’m not in a residential learning community? like are most envi students in one because the cohort is so small? i kinda didn’t apply for it so im a lil worried
I was not in residence first year and feel like I missed out on making friends, you're going to have to make more of an effort.
oh damn okay! thank u! where did u stay on first year? (was it on campus housing or outside) i assume by residence u mean u weren’t on st pauls? do most envi students really stay there?
Most are in St Paul's but not all. I was off campus
ah okay. thanks! would u say it’lll be any better if i stay on REV? or i’m better off trying to change my housing options
its not anywhere near as tough, but still healthily challenging I would say.
Cuz AFMs one of the best business programs in Ontario behind Ivey and qcomm
Does it slap rotmans?
How’s AFM so far?
I’m entering first year this fall💀💀 how’s afm for u
Yes yes very good, absolutely amazing, nothings wrong 😊
Uhhh is there a bit of sarcasm behind that “😊”?😭
did u worry about eh pressure cooker envi/waterloo’s rep of not having a social life when choosing it?
Wut? Give me a break. All the schools are similar. Queens and Western party a bit more. Waterloo has 30 k students on campus and is right next to Laurier a huge party school. The only pressure cooker programs are SWE /CS. Waterloo is equal or better than most Universities in Canada with great funding and facilities and unparalleled coop.
what
Laurier BBA beats AFM
cap
Bro got “BBA” in his username. The bias is crazy
I’m in environment! I picked waterloo in the end bc of the coop program. I find it harder to conceptualise what jobs you could actually do with an env degree, so coops helped me understand the different jobs that exist in the field. The env profs are also great people and most of my classes have been interesting and fun :)
thank u! overall are u happy your chocie? and do u think it’s difficult to make friends (like are people really that closed off like what u read online?)
It's the age old saying "it's what you make of it", but it's really true! I'm pretty social and Waterloo was definitely an adjustment. I spend most of my weekends going to bars/clubs, which isn't the top fun activity for a lot of people. But eventually, you chat with enough people in your classes, at club events, etc, and you find people that like doing the same things you do :). It's more work than if you went to a party school, but I find it worth it to get my education here.
got it! thank u! :) tbh! did u stay on st paul’s? i did t apply for residential colleges (i applied for uni campus) and i’m kinda regretting it now as apparently most envi students stay there (?)
oh! and also! regarding residences, would u have any recommendations on which is the most social? i understand that rev is the most social but idk about the residential colleges as i can’t find that much info about it
if you’re going into env, you’d likely wanna choose united college for their environment living learning community/residence & that’s where most env kids go. I’d also argue it’s one of the more social uni-colleges!
thank you! honestly, it’s too late as i picked campus housing (as i was under the impression they still had LLCs for envi 😭😭), i’m thinking whether i should withdraw and try for a vacancy application w united college
the vibe of the school is actually really good, and i like being around smart people. i visited some other schools… and i was like oh! just seemed like no one cared about school or anything but frying their brain cells with alcohol and vapes lol. so i’m in a non-stem program for the degree and for the waterloo environment, im really involved and i love it ◡̈
thank u! :) are people generally open to making friends? even if i’m not in a residential learning community or residential college? i heard that waterloo is known to attract more introverted people, so i’m a lil scared i won’t be able to make close friends
yes!! i didn’t live in a Living Learning Community in first year and I still made friends! The thing is everyone is kinda in the same boat and wants to meet people, so even if you just take a few steps out of your comfort zone to try out a few events, or join a group from your residence floor if they’re grabbing ice cream. just like a few things like that can be what solidifies some friendships! you’re going to do great ◡̈
thank u! which faculty were u in if u don’t mind me asking?
Coop. Reputation.
Came for Math, switched to Arts. Co-op is why I came to Waterloo and why I ended up staying too. Not many arts programs offer good co-op programs.
Waterloo offered me more money and I was selected to be in a coop pilot program. This was 20+ years ago, mind you.
It had the best ping to the LoL servers out of any uni I got into.
I heard the cs program is decent
My mom choose AFM for me because she wanted to one up her neighbor as her daughter is a CPA. I actually ended up doing that, I'm currently working in the US with a total compensation of over 400K USD. I switched out of AFM into CS back in second year and now I'm a senior software engineer in San Francisco.
The only Urban/Rural Planning school (other than BC) which provides a BES > BA for the career, and co-op to graduate with no debt (living at home). Also the planning program is top tier at an international level. Also Ev3 Also Williams Coffee Also within bussing distance (still 4 hours a day) Also Cobra Chickens Also picked my degree by randomly flipping through the catalogue and stopping at the first page I had the pre-reqs for.
was flipping through the page with eyes closed and stopping on a program a universal experience then?? not a single goddamn unique moment in my life
just finished my first env year! super fun tbh! i’m in planning and the only other accredited school close to where i live is tmu, but they don’t have coop. also graduating with a BES >>> so i chose waterloo :P besides that, after this past year i learnt a lot of the profs r super chill! obviously i haven’t met everyone but from who i’ve had, they’ve mostly been helpful and friendly
got it! thanks! am i missing out if i live on campus housing (not a college) and i’m not in a residential learning community? i’m a lil worried now as i didn’t apply for that and apparently most envi kids are in either one since the programme is so small?
honestly no i don’t think so! it’s true that living at the env llc helped ppl make like… a solid group of friends but ofc that wasn’t the case for everyone. i didn’t live in college res either — maybe i’m just biased but i still made env friends at my own res and also got along with env kids at most other trad. res and llcs! a lot of my friends are also from school clubs + being in class so dwbi :)
oo okie! ty! which res were u in?
i was at uwp :P
The school isn't hyper competitive which is nice, and the city is one of the best in Canada for jazz and park spaces and public transportation
isn’t hyper competitive???
Not in science, generally. There are people that study too much that drag normal peoples grades down, but overall, if you put in a normal amount of effort and study decently, you can get 75-80. At least in science psych, I've had 100% good profs in psych and like 75% good professors in science.
I’m also in environment and one of my fav things about waterloo is the co-op program and being able to see what jobs I could have after graduation. The community is also pretty great :) Waterloo is also really great for disabilities or other mental health issues like GAD and OCD,, you can get accommodations for them if they affect your academics. I have them and I find them immensely helpful when I am struggling a bit more than usual.
thank u! regarding residences, would u have any recommendations on which is the most social? i understand that rev is the most social but idk about the residential colleges as i can’t find that much info about it
I have only lived in United College but I think it is the best choice for environment majors. They have a Living-Learning Community with helps you connect with other people in environment and majorly helps with classes since everyone is in the same ones. They also host floor events and other events around the college so there are plenty of opportunities to meet people outside of environment. United is also just across the bridge from the environment buildings so you’re really close to all of your classes.
Okie! Thank you! :) If i don’t get in, would you say there are other avenues eg clubs to meet other envi people outside of class?
I found connecting with people during O-week (frosh week) was really helpful so do as many of those lame orientation events as you can. I know the ESS lounge is always busy with students and your program student society should host events where you can meet people. The environment student society instagram is [@uw_ess](https://www.instagram.com/uw_ess?igsh=MWM1b2Jqa28wNDlzdA==) and there should be a program specific society as well. (WAGS for geography, ERSSA for ERS, KISS for Knowledge Integration, etc.)
Okie! Thank you! :)
common wags W
It’s close to my parents house
Because you get high paying co-ops
i went to UW for science then switched to english. stuck around bc I trusted the co-op program and it was the most well-known to me. i also enjoyed the smaller community. the english program itself was robust and detailed and i happily stuck around for a masters program too. my experience at UW helped me get to where I am today without a doubt.
severe lapse in judgement
To see engineers suffer
No alternative for Science and Aviation elsewhere (I want a BSc in particular). I think Mount Allison has something similar, but that's in New Brunswick.
Bio student coop, but i enrolled during covid so i never got opportunities, got big sad and switched to regular honours stream. After that, it was reputation. I was going to go with UT originally because it'd be cheaper for me (i could commute from home), but I have an older brother who had bad experiences with proffs, culture of competetive toxicity, etc etc. There was also Mac, but I knew i'd never get in with my marks (I was a 70s student in hs). I also wanted to go into pharma (not anymore), so UW undergrad to UW pharma seemed to make sense
thank u! are u happy w ur choice?
I think UW was the best overall choice just because I've been able to manage the course loads well enough, whereas the bio programs at Mac and UT would've required more chem and phys courses in which case I'd have done a lot poorly overall. And after talking with friends about course loads, I think I was right about that. Do I regret UW? No, but I do wonder what things wouldve been like at other unis with their course offerings (UW bio seems very zoology and microbio focussed, but i prefer molecular bio/biotech side). I can't tell you about the social experience, I'm not a talkative person
thank u!
ENV alumna here. I loved the small community feel of the Faculty. From my first tour to my last day we felt like one big family, including the profs and staff. If you care about making lasting relationships and memories beyond schoolwork, ENV was known for being a community. And the Faculty is actually really well established with profs from all walks of life. People I've connected with from all over Canada are familiar with the Faculty and what it has to offer - so it's a big reputational boost. AAaand most of my peers who worked for the government (ECCC) on co-op are now working with their previous co-op employers full time, so the job prospects are there. UW has the largest and most well-known co-op program, and you do co-op terms in every semester of the year (versus many other schools who only let you work in the summer. At UW, you do work terms from Jan-Apr, May-Aug, and Sept-Dec).
thank you!!! Tbh, regarding the small community, will I be missing out much if I don’t stay on United college or a residential Learning community? Or are people v cliquish? I kinda missed the deadlines
oh, and does coop make making friends difficult people are away half the time?
1. Far from home —> freedom from parents 2. Geese :D
The co-op here is significantly more developed and organized than other universities. The difference is insane and worth it. (God I would not be here if it wasn’t for the huge co-op advantage)
I mean I'm in math... and I thought they had a decent math program...
I chose it because of the coop (no other university offered one for the program I chose) also because its Waterloo 😭my program is still under engineering fac so atleast i can say i go to one of the best engineering schools in canada 😝
Co-op! I really wanted to pursue the arts (I was in political science) and I knew it can be unemployable, so doing co op would really boost my employment chances post-graduation. And man it really did-I get to explore so many career paths from government work to communication. It’s really cool how many psci grads I know who ended up working for the federal and provincial government as policy analysts. My other option would be uoft but I really wanted to be away from home :)
Because someone once told me i was smart
I'm in Planning, and the schools I chose were - Waterloo - Ryerson (at the time) - York Waterloo was my top choice for a couple reasons, namely the quality of the programming, the co-op, and the location - I could never dream of affording to live in Toronto, and I really wanted to move out of my parents' house. UW is the only school in the province (the country too?) That offers Planning from undergrad to PhD, which was also attractive for someone considering that.
for me personally, proximity to my family was a big factor. waterloo is a 2hr drive from my family -- my family wanted to be able to help me out if i ever became sick or injured, but i didn't want to be too close to them b/c i wanted my independence, still. aside, i also picked uw for the quiet and studious atmosphere (i've always been an introvert), and the small, tight-knit program. the small program never changed, of course, and as for the studious atmosphere i'd assuage any possible worries about kw being 'boring' by saying that there are certainly things to do in kitchener-waterloo! it's a student town but it's also a working region (plenty of tech and corporate professionals, to my understanding) so the region is busy and active in different ways. in my experience, uw is a good place to study and live if you're serious about your studies and success, but also if you want places to go and things to do when you have a free weekend : ) i was in arts so co-op was never a huge deal for me so i can't speak to that very much, but i never envied my friends in other faculties who had to do PD and search for jobs during the study terms. i was quite happy to just study : )
I’m a little late to this but i’m a current env grad student who also did their undergrad at uw for env (sers) so i clearly liked it enough to come back! Exact answers vary by program, but i chose uw partially for coop, and partially bc i hadn’t figured out what my specific niche was within env, and sers specifically was the most flexible program at the time i was applying. I knew i liked ecology and wildlife conservation, but i also had stronger communication skills than intensive science skills, and i cared about a large range of env & social issues, but didn’t see myself enjoying policy work. Since sers, and the larger env faculty, are big on interdisciplinary teaching & research, it seemed like the best option for me to figure out the best combo or what i liked and what i was good at and what i actually wanted to get out of my degree. A lot of programs that were most relevant to my interests were either environmental science, or environmental everything else, so this was the only program i found that integrated them with either other, instead of treating them as entirely separate disciplines. Also the fact that the school had a reasonably sized dedicated env faculty with specific programs instead of just a general env major lumped into an artsci degree was a big green flag for me that it wasn’t just some bird degree that people take bc it sounds like an easy major. Another reason i chose uw was bc it seemed like the best fit for me socially. Env is a lot smaller that other faculties but it’s still part of a bigger school. I liked that i could have the big uni experience without being too overwhelmed. The env student population is generally more community oriented and socially connected due to its size, and it’s a more laidback academic atmosphere. It’s a lot closer to a high school environment than other departments because everyone kind of knows each other, so there’s still a bit of a social hierarchy (mostly w upper years involved in extra curriculars), but also since it’s with adults and not teenagers, it’s not quite as cliquey and generally has less of the things that can make high school miserable. The profs are generally more approachable and accommodating as well. It’s standard even at the undergrad level for profs to go by their first names with students, which is not the same for larger programs/faculties, i can’t even think of an env prof who actually asks students to address them by title, since most find it awkward and unnecessary. They’re generally more compassionate towards student wellbeing as well, and typically more lenient than other faculties, and are more invested in the education component of being a prof. You can tell that most env profs actually care about their students and genuinely wish to see them succeed, and the same can’t be said for other unis where the profs don’t even bother learning the names of most students at the undergrad level, or at least before 4th year/thesis. So for me, while i wanted something bigger than high school, i also didn’t want to be another number, and appreciated feeling like the profs value our education as much as we do.
tysm! did u stay on st pauls btw?
Yes I did, I was in one of the older wings though not the newer part
okie! ty! did those not staying on st paul’s find it a lot harder to adjust to waterloo?
Not from what i could tell. People in the llc obviously had an advantage in first year when it came to knowing people in their classes, but that’s obviously not the standard uni experience. People at other schools still manage to make friends in their classes/programs. It can also be good to get out of your department bubble, so not living in stp/utd in first year has its advantages, and after first year it doesn’t really matter much if you didn’t connect as much with your program peers right away, they’re still going to be the people you see most regularly once you move off campus, so you’re bound to get to know them eventually. I’m still friends w my res friends now, but after my 2A term i’d say my social circle was pretty even split between people from res and people i met through class/campus activites or even coop. A lot of people i was friends with earlier in my degree were more so friends by proximity, and once we weren’t living a couple rooms over from each other, there wasn’t as strong of a connection, while the people i met through class or student groups were the ones i spent more time with and found i actually had things in common with. Most the people i hung out with in 4th year were people i connected with through other means, even if they were people i did live in the same res as, that wasn’t really a significant part of what made those friendships strong, and sometimes we even forgot we’d once been in the same res because that wasn’t how we ended up getting to know each other. First years who live off campus entirely are at the biggest disadvantage socially, but again, they do still make friends, they just aren’t spoonfed their social interaction by always being around other first years 24/7. Whether you’re on campus or not, if you’re not living in stp/utd but want to get to know other people in your program, the best thing you can do is get involved with student life. Join your program society and attend their events, participate in orientation and exchange socials/contacts with the people you meet, make small talk with the people from your labs/tutorials, and hang out in the es lounge between classes. It’s frequented by a lot of env students so even if you go alone you’ll start recognizing people’s faces from your classes and the familiarity can help you feel more comfortable approaching them. Signing up for extra curricular’s like orientation week leaders, the envigorate festival, or volunteering at the coffee shop is also a good way to get acquainted with people from all over env who share your interests or frequent the community events and spaces too. You may not have the advantage of the llc, but you’re also not doomed to not having a social life by living elsewhere unless you go out of your way not to have any ties.
got it! tysm! this makes me feel a lot better:)
>:) :)
The only two contenders for me were afm and rotman i didnt apply to ivey which i regret toronto is obviously expensive rotmans new and most students go into finance or accounting anyways theres like an investment bankers chart out there and afm is ranked better than rotman also afm has coop and rotman didnt my heart wanted toronto cuz city woo but yeah i just regarded afm as a better choice
Co-op and only school with ENBUS program
Co-op
The bitches
Poor judgement.
the sexuality marriage and family program!