I've just recently completed my 2 years at CEGEP in Montreal and I've chosen University of Waterloo as the university where I'll complete my studies in Software Engineering. In this post, I'll be giving my thoughts on University of Waterloo, University of Toronto and McGill University for their Engineering program.

First of all, I'll speak for McGill since I'm a Montreal resident and my brother goes to McGill. There's no doubt that McGill has the name and its longer history. Many scientists made large discoveries in this University, Rutherford being one. Many people come out very successful but that doesn't mean everyone is. With the name it has, the admission standards are extremely high for out of province students. Students are expected to maintain a high average (~90+%) in order to be a competitive applicant. As for CEGEP students, the standards are much lower. In order to be competitive, CEGEP students are expected to have above 27 CRC. This would be an average of approximately 78%. Despite having an easier time getting into the program,it remains to be one of the programs with the largest drop out rates. A cool way to think of it is by imagining yourself in class. Between yourself, the person to your left and the person to your right, one of you will drop out. The drop out rate is high because the education is very hard. Being friends with many current undergraduate students in their engineering program, I have learned that the program does not offer the highest education quality compared to UofT and UW. The exams are also known to be hard especially in first year in order to filter out students. The job prospects for McGill Engineering graduates in general isn't terrible. It depends on the individual and what relevant experience they have related to their field. Apparently, there are internships posted by McGill that allow students to find companies willing to offer them one. Only Mining Engineering has a coop program which can be beneficial for job findings in the future. As for the location, McGill is located at the center of downtown Montreal. Being a very vibrant city, McGill students have easy access to the popular night life that Montreal has to offer. Overall, McGill University definitely stands out among all of the Canadian Universities and I would recommend it for anyone who enjoys studying as much as they do partying. In terms of education, it lacks the quality of education to compete with UofT and UW.

As for University of Toronto, I think it's right for me to say that you pay for what you get. Having one of the higher if not highest tuition fees in Canada, University of Toronto offers a prestigious Engineering program with a variety of different options to suit student's needs. Unlike McGill, UofT stands out with their Engineering program, ranking themselves in the top 50 Engineering Universities in the world. The quality of education is amazing without doubt and its name is known worldwide. The university offers many different programs such as the regular Mechanical Engineering, Chemical etc. but it also has unique programs such as Track One and Engineering Science. Track One is a general first year Engineering program for people who are still indecisive about what they want to study but know they want to do Engineering. As for Engineering Science, this is a path taken by many that leads to programs such as Aerospace Engineering and Biomedical Engineering. It is often known as an enriched Engineering program compared to the others and is acknowledged as one of the world's most prestigious engineering programs. UofT also has PEY(Professional Experience Year) where students take a year off to gain hands on work with an employer. With over 250 employers, 2nd or 3rd years students can participate in PEY where they can earn on average 44,000$ during their 12-16 month internship. There's no doubt that this gives UofT graduates an edge over other University graduates simply because they have more professional experience in their relevant field. Toronto itself is also a vibrant city just like Montreal. Being Canada's most populated city, it is known to be extremely multicultural. Like Montreal, there are many activities available for the students which allows them to conveniently loosen up during their studies. All in all, it's safe to say that University of Toronto  has earned its name and offers a solid path for anyone who is looking into Engineering.

Last but not least, University of Waterloo has definitely got to be my favorite between these 3 universities. It has a lower tuition fee compared to University of Toronto but higher than McGill. It is ranked in the top 30 Engineering schools in the world, a fact that can't be disregarded when choosing between these 3 universities. In terms of programs,UW offers unique engineering programs unlike McGill and Toronto. For example, the first Management Engineering class will be graduating in 2013. There is also System Design Engineering, Nanotechnology Engineering and more. What makes Waterloo stand out the most is its cooperative education program. This is one of the main reasons that most students chose this University simply because relevant experience is so important nowadays in order to find a good job after graduation. Coop allows students to have 6 semesters of hands on experience in their field and also the possibility to try out different jobs unlike PEY where it's one year with 1 job. With 6 different semesters, students can choose to work as Software Developers, Quality Assurance, Project Managers and more. Their coop program has connections to over 3500 employers worldwide.  This also allows students to network, giving them more possibilities to land their dream job after. Despite being a 5 year long program, each program is tight in the sense that their cohort program makes everyone in the same program have the same schedule, making the class like a family. The Engineering students form a strong community since they are such a small program (~120 students per program) and everyone knows each other.  On the other hand, Waterloo is nothing like the city of Toronto and Montreal. Being 80km away from Toronto, it's in a quiet region with not too much to do and it doesn't have a large social scene. To sum it all up, Waterloo has a fair balance between a strong education and preparation for future employment and definitely deserves to be one of the world's best engineering schools.