Waterloo vs U of Toronto for Mechanical Engineering

College Search & Selection
1

Which university is better for mechanical engineering, waterloo or university of Toronto?

2

My son was accepted to both Waterloo and University of Toronto and trying to compare the two programs.

Please share any input and pros and cons.

3

The two main differences will be location and co-op (at Waterloo). Both schools are rigorous and will give him a great education. Waterloo co-op will mean that he likely has to move at the end of every term. Most co-op terms are not in Waterloo. The cities of Waterloo and Toronto are very different, imo.

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  • Waterloo = more preprofessional (job-oriented) /Toronto = less so, more research/theory - but both will be extremely rigorous
  • Waterloo = not very exciting town but students unlikely to be bored /Toronto = capital - huge (with all the +/- that entails)
  • cost differential? interest in co-ops?
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We live in greater Toronto area.

If education cost is not an issue then how does 6 Waterloo coop terms every 4 months compare to 1-year PEY at UofT?

How easy or difficult is to pack every 4 months and move to home or another location for coop job and then back to university, repeat this to do 6 coop terms over 5 years?

How do you find housing for 4 months of coop if its not near your home?

For first year, Waterloo offers stream 4 or stream 8, which means you :
-first study for 4 months then 4 months of coop
Or
-first study for 8months then 4 months of coop
Is any stream option better than other (again don’t consider cost of education as benefit as I know in option 1 you get to earn money after 4 months)

6

D ended up doing only 4-5 co-ops from Waterloo due to covid. All except one were in Toronto. She rented an apartment in Toronto and sublet it during her Waterloo terms. She did the same thing in Waterloo after her second year in dorms. She used this company to store her stuff during co-op terms. Generally, people were either heading to Toronto or Silicon Valley for co-ops, so there were opportunities to pool resources for finding and affording rentals.

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