McMaster University, Masters of Engineering in Systems and Technology
Reviewed on Jan 24, 2025(Enrolled 2024)What Students Say
Likes
- I liked the way everything is taught systematically including the practical aspects of the courses.
- The professors are really helpful and generous when it comes to help the students.
- The laboratories are equipped with latest equipments which helps the students to understand those before heading to the practical world where we will be working.
Dislikes
- I didn't like the length of the courses offered as these were just having very basic touch to the things we should know practically and theoretically. While some of the courses were full of good lessons but mostly were having some basic engineering information.
- The offered courses are very less in number for some streams like the automotive courses are not opened in any of the terms, thereby making it difficult to choose from those.
- This is not about the university but about the place it is located in, the weather is very drastic during winters making it difficult to take part in many activities offered in winters.
Course Curriculum
10
- The courses are very easy if the student knows much about the subjects, otherwise some courses need creativity skills to complete the projects.
- All the courses have assignments and one project and the grade is calculated from the overall marks from the course submissions.
- There are many courses offered for some streams but the automotive stream has many less courses and those even doesn't open in any of the terms.
Admission Experience
- I applied to three colleges
- McMaster University: Admitted
- McGill University: Rejected
- Concordia University: Admitted
- I received confirmed admission from McMaster University and Concordia University.
- I was rejected from McGill as I wanted to study electrical engineering there but my bachelor's was not on par with this stream that's why I was rejected though I got sound knowledge of this subject from my work experience and I showed them the same.
- I chose McMaster University over others due to its global rank and good reviews. Also, it offers co-op opportunities for 1 year within the degree to gather some practical experience before graduation.
- The admission process was pretty straightforward, I just had to give IELTS and apply on the college's site then gave a video interview with pre-recorded questions. And after some time got the admit letter.
- The eligibility criteria for this university is to have a bachelor's degree in a relevant field or if not then have some relevant work experience. And have two academic letters of recommendations. Also the students need to show their IELTS result.
- The overall experience process was easy and straightforward. There were no such challenges.
- The tuition fees is credit based and each course requires 3 credits. One credit costs around $1,800. Then there are other supplementary fees and heath card costs totalling to around $2,000 per year. One can complete the degree in 1 year but need to do 10 courses (30 credits) in total to complete the degree.
- The fees is charged credit-based based on the number of courses one takes in each term.
- The monthly expenses are around $1000 dollars, in which the rent takes around $600-700 depending on the type of off-campus accommodation one wants. Otherwise the on-campus rent costs around $1300.
- The transportation is free of cost and the groceries could cost around $200 per month and other bills like communication and all costs around $50. Then there are some miscellaneous costs that could make the total go to $1000. If the student wants on-campus accommodation then the monthly expenses could increase by $600.
Class Schedule
10
- Each course has 1-2 classes of 3 hours each in a week. Now it depends on the number of courses one takes in a term. Typically one should not take more than 4 courses in a term.
- Around 50% students were Indian from my batch.
Faculty
8
- The faculty to student ratio is around 30 and the teaching methodology is very practical oriented with good labs overview and practical sessions of the theoretical part of the lecture to gather knowledge from.
- Faculty members don't assist in finding part time student roles but can help in getting TA if the student is good in that subject.
- I like the Automotive faculties as they have a sound knowledge of all the subjects they teach.
Campus Life
8
- The campus infrastructure is very good with good buildings and sports and recreational areas.
- The university offers many facilities like a swimming pool, stadium, gym, libraries and laboratories.
- My university has 2 campuses, one main and the other for MBA school.
- The students celebrate many major festivals including Indian as well. There are many extracurricular activities to choose from.
Part Time Jobs
- Firstly, there are very less chances of getting selected as a TA. For, RA, one needs to be in MSc or Phd courses.
- There are two kinds of TA, Class A (Undergraduate Students) and class B (Graduate Student). Class A has a wage rate of $30/hr while Class B TA has a wage rate of $50/hr.
- For RA and DA positions, the wage is not fixed.
- There are plenty of other jobs offered on campus for library assistants, student assistants, exam invigilators, etc. , and one needs to apply for all the jobs on the Student portal.
- Maximum hours are 40 per week for the students while the TA and RA need to work even lesser than that.
- It is very difficult to get campus jobs as the competition is very high.
- Typially students earn the minimum wage set by the provincial government which is currently $17.5/hr and the government continuously increases this minimum limit based on the inflation.
- It is kind of difficult to apply for the off-campus jobs as the students need to go and find such jobs on their own while the on-campus jobs are all posted on the student portal.
- Off-campus jobs can be found with connections or going to the shops and asking for vacancy. The part time jobs are kind of offered in the unskilled sector.
Placement
8
- The full time options are not taken care of by the college but the student alone is responsible for it. While the Placement center helps in building a professional profile of the student and helps in making CV and cover letter but doesn't directly find the vacancies and manage anything for placement. While the Placement center helps for finding internships and posting those on the Student portal.
- Students usually find jobs on LinkedIn, offline through connections and other platforms.
- My batchmates have not been placed yet as we are still on course to graduate.
- The major companies are John Deere, Toyota, Ford, Tesla, General motors, ATS Corporation, Dana Incorporation.
Accommodation
Off Campus
6
- I opted for off campus accommodation as it is cheaper and flexible. I found my accommodation using Facebook marketplace. The monthly rent is around $600-700 based on the type of accommodation needed.
- I had to look for many accommodations and I visited many places to finalize the accommodation I wanted to live in which was somewhat hectic and time consuming process.
- The place I am living in is very close to the University like around 10 minutes walk or 3 minutes by bus.
Exams
- IELTS is required to apply for this university while students can also opt for TOEFL. No other examinations are required for the admission process.
- Necessary documents are updated CV, statement of purpose, and 2 academic LORs.
- There was one video interview compulsory to give with pre-recorded questions. There is an extra fees to register for that interview.
Fees
- The tuition fees are credit based and each course requires 3 credits. One credit costs around $1,800. Then there are other supplementary fees and heath card costs totalling to around $2,000 per year.
- One can complete the degree in 1 year but need to do 10 courses (30 credits) in total to complete the degree.
- The fees is charged credit-based based on the number of courses one takes in each term.
- The monthly expenses are around $1000 dollars, in which the rent takes around $600-700 depending on the type of off-campus accommodation one wants. Otherwise the on-campus rent costs around $1300.
- The transportation is free of cost and the groceries could cost around $200 per month and other bills like communication and all costs around $50. Then there are some miscellaneous costs that could make the total go to $1000.
- If the student wants on-campus accommodation then the monthly expenses could increase by $600.
Scholarship
- There are not many scholarships available for international students. But one can apply to other scholarships made available by their home country or private institutions.
- I didn't receive any scholarship as I was not eligible for many of those offered by the university.
- Some of my batchmates received a nursery of around $1000 based on merit. I don't know about the average scholarships.
