Reviewed on May 7, 2025(Enrolled 2023)
What Students Say
Likes
- Flexibility is choosing the subjects and specialization, even though the degree says Electrical and Computer Engineering, students here can choose few subjects from different department, no pressure of choosing department specific subjects.
- Courses here are not too theoretical, they are a mix of theory and practical assignments.
- The curriculum is up to date with incorporation all the recent technologies out in market in the assignments and projects.
Dislikes
- Limited campus housing for Masters students, so tough competition to get campus housing, mostly will have to live in rented apartment/house which can cost more than campus housing.
- Limited opportunities of Teaching Assistants for Engineering Master students, since its mostly given to PhDs and Master of Science students.
- Campus has limited food joints, they are expanding though, but felt i had less options.
Course Curriculum
10
- To complete the degree, we were required to take 8 courses over 3 to 4 non-stop semesters. The difficulty of the courses depends on the professor who is taking the course. The courses were a very good balance of theory and practical assignments and projects.
- Positive aspect is that the courses here teach you how to apply certain research to implementation, focusing more on practical and developmental approaches. Negative side would be that the marking scheme and strictness of passing the course were tough.
- In a day there would be a maximum of 2 classes and the timings can be Mornings 10-12 pm, evenings 5-7 pm, and nights 7-9 pm.
- Average number of students in class depends on the subject; if it's a major subject that's a degree requirement, then the class can be 100-120 students. some of my other course strengths were 20-50 people.
- There were 15-20 Indian students that were enrolled in my course.
Admission Experience
- I applied to a total of 6 universities from where i received the admits and rejections; 2 universities, KTH Sweden and TU Delft, were the additional shortlisted universities, but I didn't apply to them.
- Confirmed admissions:
- University of Waterloo
- University of Alberta
- University of Calgary
- Concordia University
- College Rejections:
- University of Michigan
- Georgia Tech University
- My opinion: I think universities from the USA preferred GRE scores at that time; i didn't had one so i was not accepted in these colleges.
- I chose the University of Waterloo because of the flexibility of its degree. The Master of Engineering in Electrical and Computer Engineering degree has a vast variety of specialisation options, from core electrical to completely software engineering. I was very much interested in AI and ML since the University of Waterloo is the only university that was providing me the AI/ML specialisation, so I preferred this over other universities.
- Simple admission process: Step one was to fill in all the personal information, next uploading documents like Transcripts, degrees, IELTS mark sheets, statements of Purpose as a questionnaire, and 2-3 recommendation letters from undergrad professors or working professionals. The admission decision takes around 3-4 months.
- Eligibility criteria are a minimum score of 6.5 overall and 6 in each in IELTs. No GRE is required for some degrees; there are some degrees that ask for GRE scores.
- Overall, the admission process was great and easy and collegepond helped me a lot from the start till the end of the process.
- I applied for Fall 2022 because most of the seats were open during Fall intake, but i deferred my admission to Winter 2023. I applied to the University of Waterloo on 11-12 December 2021 and waited for the result until April 2022. I got accepted on 1-2 May 2022 and then i decided to take admission to the University of Waterloo among the other universities option i had.
Faculty
10
- Faculty to student ratio was decent and depends on the course taken; sometimes it can be 1:20 or if it's a major demanding course, it can be 1:100. the quality is not affected since each course has teaching assistants to help; they would be mostly PhD students who can help with your doubts, and even professors are good to clear any doubts.
- Teaching methodology of the University of Waterloo is learning through experiences. each course at UW is designed such that you can apply what you have learnt; most courses have major projects to showcase your creativity and skills. this way of teaching helped me in problem solving and by the end of the degree, i had done a lot of projects that connect with what the industry is currently working on.
- Faculty members do have connections with industry and they can connect them with you, but for me, i found it on my own.
- Professors like Prof. Olga Vechtomova and Prof. Oliver Schneider, whom i admire the most, helped me to get deeper into research and development in the field of Natural Language and Data Analytics and Statistics.
Campus Life
10
- 2 Campuses, one the major one in Waterloo and the second one in Kitchener (pharmacy).
- 2 sports complexes, 1 baseball field, 1 American football field, 1 soccer field, and 1 olympic swimming pool. 2 big library buildings, 1 hospital.
- Engineering Day usually happens on the day when the university was established. Indian clubs also organise Diwali and Ganesh festivals on the university campus.
- There are over 50 student clubs; some target academics and some focus on extracurricular activities like running, trekking, badminton, basketball, etc. there are also some religious and cultural societies like Hindu Society of UW, English club, etc.
Part Time Jobs
- TA and RA are tough for master's course-based students, as these positions are mostly take by PhDs and thesis based masters students. RAs are still an option if the professor loves your skills and research knowledge.
- Pay rate of TA/RA positions were 45 CAD/hr
- Other on-campus jobs include part-time employees at food services and scorekeeping in varsity sports. The hourly wages are 17 CAD/hr
- Maximum allowed work for a student is 20 hrs per week, but this thing changes based on government decisions.
- A campus part-time job is kind of tough, as there are a lot of competitions among the students of other nearby colleges and our own university, as these jobs are open to everyone in the city.
- Students usually earn 17 CAD/hr in their part-time job. It can be tough if you are looking for part-time opportunities in Walmart or any outside food joints, as the competition is tough, but people usually manage with their studies. There are various ways to apply to part-time opportunities. if campus, you can hand over the resume to the manager; apply through the portal by submitting the resume; and if you are lucky, then they might schedule a short interview. if you clear the interview, you will be offered the job. For TAs and RAs, you approach the professor and he might take one or two rounds of interviews or tasks to accept you as TA/RA.
Placement
10
- 80-90 per cent of the students from the University of Waterloo get placed within 6 months of their graduation.
- The average salary is 80,000 CAD, based on the current market and recession, but this was higher before.
- Through networking, job market events, and linkedin, mostly through references from alumni, we also have the UW work portal, where students can apply to jobs in Canada and the USA.
- Placement experiences of my batchmates were struggling, due to fewer opportunities out in the market, but all of us were getting interview calls and most of them got placed within 4-5 months of their graduation. Some of them work in banks like CIBC and Citibank; some work in consulting firms like BrainRidge consulting, some got placed in USA-based companies like OP labs.
- Vector Institute, Alberta Machine Learning Institute, Google, Amazon, and OP Labs are some of the major companies that hire from my programme.
Accommodation
Off Campus
8
- When I was a student, i used to live near the university, not in campus housing, as it was tough to get into. I and a friend rented an apartment for the first 8 months, and then for the next year, 4 friends rented a whole house with 2 bedrooms, 1 hall, and 1 kitchen. We found both the accommodation through facebook marketplace.
- First apartment rent was 600 CAD per month; second house per head rent was 550 CAD per month excluding the utilities. After including the utilities, it can be 700-750 CAD for both the accommodations
- Winter was the major challenge in finding the apartment, Canada's winter being harsh and we had to visit before confirming the rental place; it was tough to travel in such harsh winter.
- Try your luck in campus housing; if not, stay near the university for the university vibe, though rent would be higher but would be helpful in winters.
- Both the accommodations were a 10-min bus ride to the university or a 20-min walk to the university. Most Indian students stay near the university.
Exams
- For admission to the University of Waterloo's Master of Engineering in ECE, only IELTs test is required. For some courses, like the Master of Science in Data Science, which is a competitive course, the GRE may be required, but for me only IELTs worked out.
- Statement of Purpose through a questionnaire is required, as is a Resume, Letter of Recommendation from 2 people (colleagues or previous university professors), Official transcripts and a degree. Interviews were not part of the admission process.
Fees
- For me, the total tuition fee charged for the 4 semesters i took was 56,000 CAD (3 full-time semesters and 1 part-time semester). Flexibility here is that you can complete a master's in 3 semesters as well then your fee would be 48,000 CAD. Per semester fee for me was 16,000 CAD. I didn't take a hostel since it was tough to get into, but for hostels, it's 3200 to 4000 CAD per semester (4 months), depending on the locality of the hostel. The tuition fee includes all amenities like sports, gym, laboratory, library, etc.
- Fee payment was semester-wise but it's flexible here; you can pre-pay the tuition and the system automatically deducts the fee.
- Monthly expenses, including rent and groceries, will range from 1000 to 1500 CAD per month. rent in Waterloo ranges from 600 to 1000 CAD, from shared space to a private room in an apartment. Transportation was included in the tuition fee. Rest 400-500 CAD are regular expenses which include groceries and food.
Scholarship
- Yes, I received a scholarship during the course; it was an academic excellence scholarship. The name of the scholarship is the ECE Master of Engineering Award of Excellence and Scholarship.
- Award amount is 1000 CAD
- One of my friends did receive one; this scholarship is given top 3 students who scored highest in their previous semesters.
- Since people can graduate in any of the 3 semesters in a particular year, the top 3 students per semester.
