<p>I am a Canadian student who applied to Cornell Engineering (Undecided), U of T (Engineering Science), and Waterloo (Systems Designs). </p>
<p>What are the pros and cons of each? </p>
<p>Can you compare them in terms of:</p>
<ol>
<li>Prestige (w/o looking at rankings)</li>
<li>Overall Education Quality</li>
<li>Job opportunities after graduation</li>
<li>Research opportunities (and other opportunities like paid internships)</li>
<li>Competitiveness among students and student quality</li>
<li>Work load</li>
<li>Chance of getting into a top-tier school for grad school</li>
</ol>
<p>If finances are the reason why you're choosing UofT/Waterloo over Cornell, what percentage of need would Cornell have to meet so that you'd choose Cornell over UofT/Waterloo?</p>
<ol>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Cornell, Waterloo (Waterloo is known for its excellent math, physics, and engineering courses)</li>
<li>Cornell//Waterloo</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Cornell/Waterloo</li>
<li>Even distribution probably around all of them</li>
<li>Cornell, Waterloo</li>
</ol>
<p>If money isn’t an issue…I would choose cornell…with waterloo as my saftey</p>
<p>UofT is super competitive and even cut throat. This was what I was told by an acclaimed math professor that comes by my school every now and then.</p>
<p>When I applied for college 2 years ago, I also applied to the 3 schools you listed. Since I was a Canadian with very solid stats, waterloo and U of T were my safeties. I think that waterloo is the one I would choose unless Cornell gives me lots of money. I don’t think you should really consider U of T since engineering is not really its focus</p>
<ol>
<li>Waterloo and Cornell. Waterloo is actually very recognized in engineering. I heard that many grads from waterloo get hired by Microsoft and Google. Though Cornell more known in the US</li>
</ol>
<p>2.Cornell and waterloo. U of T simply has waaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy to many students. </p>
<p>3.cornell or waterloo. Waterloo has the highest employment rate after graduation-97% But cornell would wow lots of employers</p>
<ol>
<li><p>cornell/waterloo. both have excellent co-op programs although Waterloo’s is more popular.</p></li>
<li><p>Cornell is probably more competitive than waterloo</p></li>
</ol>
<p>6.about the same. engineering programs are generally the hardest ones</p>
<ol>
<li>all of them have a good chance</li>
</ol>
<p>Wait… all probably have the same workload? So if I compare tests from all universities, would they all actually be of similar difficulty? B/c I’ve seen the U of T material and it doesn’t look too hard - the first year stuff are just a bit harder than the AP’s. </p>
<p>And Cornell (especially Engineering) is supposed to be the hardest Ivy to graduate from, so if you’re saying that Cornell isn’t any harder than the other two, then you’re saying that U of T/Waterloo Engineering is harder than all the other Ivies’ Engineering?? </p>
<p>And I heard Waterloo Engineering has large class sizes too - as big as the U of T ones. And I heard Waterloo is also competitive too (since it has so many Asians). </p>
<p>@YaleRocks: Thanks! Um, about #1, what if I’m not going into Computer Engineering? Everyone keeps saying that Waterloo grads are hired by IBM, RIM, Microsoft, and etc. but like that’s just for computer engineering. </p>
<p>And what do you mean Engineering isn’t really U of T’s focus? I thought it was like the hardest program to get into for U of T.</p>
<p>waterloo’s engineering classes might have as much people as U of T’s, but the overall undergrad population is way smaller. waterloo has about 23,000 undergrads while U of T has about 50,000. Also U of T is more of an all rounder, while waterloo is especially recognized in engineering (not to say that U of T engineering is bad)</p>
<p>Most of these people are from the United States where people only really recognize American schools. If you do look at the rankings, U of T is above Cornell and Waterloo. If you talk to the average bear in the US, they probably won’t know Waterloo and UToronto, but if you talk to people in your field, they will realize it is a great school.</p>
<p>Are you kidding? With that tuition differential? It makes absolutely no sense. Please don’t listen to kids in HS, whose world knowledge about prestige is usually based on very limited information.</p>
<p>Go to Waterloo for eng. It’s too sick.For some things you can’t make a decision on prestige…this is one of them. Waterloo engineering is very prominent in the field and develops some of the brightest minds. </p>
<p>And yea, Gates likes Waterloo a lot…they have quotes from him in their booklets.</p>
<p>Toronto is a sure no…too cutthroat and grading is dumb, and too many students. Waterloo offers everything, and they have a great CO-OP option too. Plus, its cheaper. And money should be the last concern when it comes to education in my mind…but even when you disregard that, I would personally choose Waterloo. </p>
<p>i MEAN come on…Waterloo IS Engineering, just like MIT IS engineering. You can’t compare the 2 for obvious reasons (endowment, etc.), but if Waterloo were a school in the US, it would probably be just as competitive to get into as MIT (or pretty close). It has such a beastly rep. that US ppl don’t know about, but top engineers and people in the field know about.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, that’s what matters. Your employer knows the school. Sure,they’d know Cornell. BUT, if your employer knows anything at all, they’d know about Waterloo and its amazing eng. program.</p>
<p>Viggy, I must correct your assertion that MIT IS engineering… MIT, unlike Caltech, excels in a variety of fields including many of the humanities… business, english to name a few. Most HS students, for some odd reason, think MIT is a purely engineering school whereas this is more true for Caltech and not MIT.</p>
<p>^well, what I was trying to say was that when average people think engineering schools, MIT is usually the first to come to mind. I was trying to say that, while this may be true, Waterloo’s engineering program is probably widely recognized in the actual field, which is what matters. It doesn’t matter that average Americans don’t know about Waterloo, what matters is that people in the field and people hiring you do know about Waterloo…and evidently they do. </p>
<p>But yea, MIT excels in a wide range of things. CalTech is also great, but eluded my mind when I posted that post.</p>
<p>reno888, nope haven’t applied to Waterloo eng…i am a junior and not interested in engineering, so my opinion is unbiased. </p>
<p>But if I were to choose between Cornell and Waterloo, it would be a very tough choice. Now, if you say Waterloo vs. MIT…I’d chose MIT in a heartbeat…but between cornell and waterloo is diff. Like, cornell isn’t renowned for engineering, but waterloo is within the field…so to me, logically Waterloo makes sense </p>
<p>Take away the prestige from Cornell and I don’t see that the decision is a tough one. Or add the same amount of prestige Cornell has to Waterloo and compare…not a tough decision…only thing Waterloo lacks is the $$$ and prestige (at least when talking to average Americans).</p>
<ol>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Cornell/Waterloo</li>
<li>Cornell/Waterloo (Depends on country, but Waterloo is very famous for Co op etc)</li>
<li>Cornell/ Waterloo</li>
<li>Cornell/Waterloo</li>
<li>Cornell/Waterloo</li>
<li>Depends where you get the highest grades and do volunteering.</li>
</ol>
<p>In terms of bang for buck, Waterloo
In terms of location, Toronto
In terms of just prestige, Cornell</p>
<p>I’d go to Waterloo</p>
<p>Whoever just said Cornell isn’t renown for engineering should just get the hell out. They obviously don’t know what they’re talking about. </p>
<p>Waterloo and Cornell are both very renown for engineering. But I’d go for Waterloo for cost. Get same education, location is relatively the same, but students are more competitive at Cornell.</p>