Reviewed on Jan 22, 2025(Enrolled 2021)
What Students Say
Likes
- - Great community and diversity
- - Excellent quality of education (especially for CS related)
- - Transit connectivity and infrastructure of the university buildings
Dislikes
- - Cultural and Fun activities
- - Personal connection with faculty
- - Difficult coursework
Course Curriculum
10
- As i mentioned in the previous sections; course work in general is a bit tougher. but not impossible. There would be a very good mix of theory and practical learning. Learning is mostly self-driven and based on assignments.
- Would be a little hard initially to get used to the teaching style.
Admission Experience
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University of Ottawa - Masters in CS - Reject
Western University - Masters in CS - Reject
Carleton University - Masters in CS - Data Science - Accepted
University of Waterloo - Masters in ECE, AI & Ml - Accepted - Primary reason for rejections on what i believe is because of my stream switch. I had my undergrad degree in ECE, but was applying to CS programmed for Master's.
- Reputation of the Univesity and the program i got into is one of the best in the country.
Admission process: English test (requirements mentioned on website for each course), statement letters describing on why you would be a good fit, strong undergrad background, supra curricular activities.
- The admission process is pretty straightforward, but its highly competitive. -
Application process takes around 6 months on average.
- I applied in Dec 2020. Deadline would be December 31 or January 15 for most of the courses
- Got my admission letter in June 2021. No communication in the mean time. but can reach out to graduate admissions for any questions.
- Factor influenced my decision: university, course work, post graduation opportunities, cost of eduction, ease to commute to campus, safety in the city and neighbourhood, cultural fit
Class Schedule
10
- Typically 2-3 classes a week, 3hrs each. most students dont depend on classes, they just learn by themselves and reach out to professors for doubts. timings is completely depending on prof. Will be shared before the start of term.
- There would be lot on indian and chinese students. around 60-70%% of the class would be indian and chinese.
Faculty
8
- 1 professor for around 60 students. This is not a big factor because at master's level, students are more or less independent. Nothing to worry about their availability. Because we have course work portals where we can post all our questions and faculty would answer them. We would have 2-3 teach assistants as well to help with them.
- They don't directly assist in finding a job, but university has multiple programmes and community portals designed for job search. If we are exceptions in course work and close to that professor, they would be happy to refer to their connections.
Campus Life
10
- We have one big campus in the city. Multiple buildings around the city.
- We also have a ring road which encloses almost all the buildings. University housing is also close by, but mostly reserved for undergrad and phd students.
- We have a building called SLC (student life centre) where we can get into lots of clubs, sport teams other cultural activities. If we have any question, we can just go to SLC and find them. Lots of options to buy food around the campus too.
Part Time Jobs
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Lots of options to get a part-time job. I worked in the food court of university housing. We have to apply on website to get it. Best way is to find someone working there and talk to supervisor directly.
I know lot of my friends get TA/RA positions.
RA is mostly for students in research programs.
They get really good pay, around $40 ah hour, but hours would be 10-12 a week.
- 20hrs a week is the legal limit for any part-time work.
- Now a days, its difficult to find a part-time job - Mostly prefer in university food courts itself. Decent pay and good hours. Lot of people get jobs outside too, like in the malls or walmart as retail associates. Best way to apply for par-time jobs is to print the resumes and hand them over in every place we want to work for. TA/RA positions is a bit streamlined, just like how we apply for admission.
Placement
10
- Full time job opportunities are great once we graduate.
its definitely not easy to get in because of competition. but the degree is very valuable from my university, so there would definitely be a preference when it comes to short listing applications. - In my feild (Data Science), starting salary is around 80,000 CAD once we graduate. but it completely depends on skill level, previous experience and the company applying to.
- Mostly startups, banks and insurance companies
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- I found accommodation via a friend of mine. There are so many agencies in the city that help with finding accommodation, but usually expensive.
- My rent was $450 on sharing basis when i came in, but changed to $720 when i switched to a different place. Lots of facebook and whatsapp groups. Be cautious when using portals like kijiji or giving out money to some agency,
Exams
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IELTS - 7 and above in each section is desired, but depends on course applying to. Few have lower requirements and few have higher.
No GRE was required. - Statement of purpose - not like a generic question. But there would be specific questions in application itself.
- LOR - Need 2/3 reference letters from co-workers or college professors.
- No interview is required to be admitted.
Fees
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- Fees is paid per semester. Its not per course like other universities.
We can do as many courses as we can for the same fee. 2-4 i the max no.of courses students do. There is an option to switch to part-time for the last term and reduce the fee by half. I did 4 courses in one semester to reduce the load in last term and converted to part-time (this would still count as a FT term)
- 16,500 CAD per semester
- Avg. monthly expenses:
Rent: 800
Groceries: 200
Transportation: Usually free with student card from university, other wise 50/month
