An Honest Review of Waterloo Engineering (as a second year)

[@terryzha432]

ECE class of 26 here. I think my biggest advice would be to develop a study routine that works for you. Everyone has their preference - I, for example, went to every single lecture hyper focused but did very little after class if I had no issue grasping the concepts. It has worked really well for me (good grades + not spending a ton of time after class), but I cannot recommend this to everyone because it’s not gonna work for everyone. So ultimately I think it’s very important in first year to figure out what works for you, so you struggle less later.

[@computeroid6162]

This has been my strat in highschool and has worked out so far. Hopefully I'll get in class of 2029!

[@physenjoyer]

0:40 social life 1:42 class attendance 2:20 co-op & practical experience 2:40 academics & mental health 3:11 physical health & fitness 3:56 academic performance 4:34 networking & professional development 4:56 resiliency and adaptability

[@jlau04]

thanks 🙏

[@WaffleWafers]

Interesting to hear the perspective of current students as an old man from the class of 2019. A lot of things you described I can resonate with having felt myself back in the day. Big +1 to finding a solid core group of friends as that's definitely what helped me the most with staying sane through the brutal engineering workload.

[@jlau04]

100% man!!!! Thanks for watching

[@dominikdanda7863]

UofT 2nd year ECE here, all of this advice legit applies to UofT too, crazy how much overlap there is. If anyone is watching this as a highschooler and considering UofT or Waterloo (choose UofT, its better, but I'm biased ;) ) but really the law of diminishing returns thing is huge: especially when it comes to studying! You will spend double the effort increasing your grade from 70 to 80 as you will 80 to 90! Use some of that effort finding friends, going out, just have fun. (Especially second year ECE at UofT, absolute menace)

[@jessiez7736]

May I ask what you think validated your choice to study ECE at UofT? I’m currently trying to decide between UofT engsci and Waterloo mechatronics eng (leaning towards engsci tho, I might even just transfer to ECE second yr :) Thanks

[@nonsequitur2657]

Great video and much more optimistic than the title would suggest (had me worried). About the table you had at 2:29 (for Spring 2024) - what date is that from? For Spring 2023, I saw a table dated March 10 that had 34% for 1B, and another table dated May 15 (also for Spring 2023) where CE was 59% for 1A and 66% for 2A. Your chart is for Spring 2024, but as of what date (to compare with the 2 dates I mentioned in 2023) - like, is 2024 actually worse than 2023?? (which was worse than 2022, which was worse than 2021...). Keep up the vids - very helpful

[@jlau04]

Yes the market has been getting a lot worse recently, I might make a video on that in the future. But it’s like engineering companies are realizing they can hire less engineers and still make more profits. The different dates indicate like the different cycles. Cycle 1 is March, so that’s where most people should be getting jobs. Usually it’s around 50%+. And by cycle 2 it should be around 80%+. But, unfortunately as stated before, engineering companies have gotten a bit more greedy in terms of profits so they’ve really slashed their hiring and fired a lot of their staff. It’s really unfortunate…

[@aarushjain3060]

Great Video Justin!

[@jlau04]

Appreciate it Aarush!!

[@thortremble2794]

Great video bro! Awesome opinions. You kept it real. Loved that.

[@jlau04]

You’re welcome!

[@saracordoba5987]

Being honest, I am so scared of going to Waterloo, I feel like i am not smart enough as other people with super high averages, but thank u so much for the info!

[@jlau04]

We all felt like that going in, and it’s okay. It’s just called imposter syndrome. You’ll be fine, you got this 🙏

[@adaloveless1824]

honestly same, but if we all feel like that it must be false right? Maybe we are all just scared

[@saracordoba5987]

@@adaloveless1824 I feel that way too but when I see my classmates they seem far ahead of me 😅, actually, about the imposter syndrome, I was thinking of going to Queens tron, really feel like the community vibe was more like my thing, but we will see...

[@Gabe310m]

Same

[@arihansharma6384]

Hey Justin, it's been a dream of mine to attend Waterloo Engineering since 7th and I was finally admitted to CE a few weeks ago! I'm really excited to start attending but am having some slight trouble making some decisions. I currently have a corporate full-time tech job that pays decently well (~34/hr) and was wondering A) If I should continue working (remotely) within this role during the first-year of ECE B) Whether I should pick Stream 4 or Stream 8. I have heard that for Stream 4, since the coop takes place during the Winter term there is less external competition but also a lesser amount of jobs than Stream 8; would this mesh well with my prior work experience coming into UW and give me an edge over the other applicants, or is it not worth competing for the worse job pool? Thank you so much for your videos! They have been very helpful to me and many others I know so far.

[@jlau04]

woahhhh 34/hr is insane bro like congrats on getting in and getting a job and getting into comp eng! I would say not to continue working unless you can do like max 5 hours a week. And then if you could, do stream 8. It is far better than stream 4.

[@arihansharma6384]

@@jlau04 Thank you very much! I have the liberty of picking my own hours so I definitely think I can manage like 8 hours during the weekdays and then another 8 on the weekends. However, why do you think Stream 8 is "far better" than Stream 4? My academics aren't as outstanding as my extracurriculars so I think having my GPA exposed on my resume (which would be the case for Stream 8 I believe) might adversely affect my application. Is the difference in the number of available jobs really that significant? P.S I was also curious about the differences in cohort quality for S4 vs S8- would you say there is some selective bias leading to slightly smarter students in a specific stream?

[@jlau04]

Stream 8 definitely has a smarter cohort simply due to the selective bias. The difference in jobs is fairly significant as well. Also when you apply for ur 2nd co op, it shows that ur a first year if ur in stream 4, but if ur in stream 8, it shows that ur a 2nd, giving you a significantly higher advantage over other students.

[@krishpatel7324]

Hey there, I'm currently debating between choosing UW CE and UTSG CS. I'm mainly focused on industry and getting a job right out of undergrad, likely something related to swe or ai, however I'm still open to the idea of working in hardware space. I'm curious what your thoughts are on both these programs and which one you would suggest. Thanks!

[@jlau04]

I had the same dilemma as you. I personally do not regret going to UW CE. UTSG CS is great but it’s honestly really hard to get a Software engineering internship without Waterloo’s co op board.

[@ernestwang6437]

loo is a trap dont come here

[@aayaannaqvi9681]

Justin you are my hero

[@mattoucas869]

This video is very helpful, thanks dude :D Btw, what grades do you think are required to get accepted and get a co-op?

[@jlau04]

no problem! grades don’t matter for getting a co-op tbh unless for Bloomberg or some finance companies. I know people who hit faang and big tech with low grades in the 60’s. Doesn’t matter

[@mattoucas869]

@@jlau04 Thanks man!

[@i.n.stiktokcontents6850]

Am currently a yr2 studying electrical electronic engineering in a private uni in nigeria .. i am thinking about switching to waterloo university .but i feel luke i might not be able to cope with you guys

[@jlau04]

Just come man! You won’t regret it at all

[@reemg.abraham3495]

How many percent of your co-op salary do you have to give to the advisor or whoever helped you get the job from the staff? What happens if you couldn't find a co-op or decided to travel and see your family during one of the co-ops? Because I can't keep jumping between school and work for 5 years straight without seeing my family

[@jlau04]

you just give a flat fee of $500. if you can’t find a co op you can sometimes do we accelerate, and usually you can’t just skip a co op term especially in engineering. In CS that’s fine but in engineering that might result in disciplinary action.

[@AmitojSingh_2402]

I am going to grade 12 in september. Grades wise I am doing pretty good I'd say. I am just praying that I get into U of waterloo and also, I want to do computer engineering and work with Apple!! If y'all have any advices or tips or just general knowledge, let me know! It'll help regardless

[@jlau04]

Just try really hard in school! You won't regret it man. Try hard when you're young now and you'll thank yourself for it later when you reap the benefits of it.

[@AmitojSingh_2402]

@@jlau04 That makes a lot of sense man. Thank you so much for the reply. Also, I asked some other people about volunteer hours. . they shouldn't matter thaat much in admissoin process right ? I am at 43 rn

[@justinzhao6814]

An intellectual 😌 and a stud 🫣 good stuff

[@jlau04]

😂 appreciate it

[@iam.devangmp]

Give me a chance to UWaterloo and I'll show you how to get the most of it. Always a fan of UW.

[@jlau04]

bet

[@jairzinho_yt]

It's good in general to go to waterloo?

[@jlau04]

honestly if i could pick uoft vs waterloo again, i’d probably pick uoft cs

[@mira-bx4rq]

realistically speaking, do you think a 1st year arch eng student could study part time and keep up with studies?

[@jlau04]

wdym study part time?

[@mira-bx4rq]

@@jlau04 oh shoot I meant work part time 😭 my brain is fried from finals

[@jlau04]

oh yeah u could prolly do that

[@mira-bx4rq]

@@jlau04 great thank you so much :)

[@wacky1446]

yo can I get into UW computer engineering with an 85 average????☠☠☠

[@jlau04]

gg ☠️

[@thetrae8063]

What poster is that in the back

[@jlau04]

It’s from an anime called Your Name

[@sanjayramesh957]

Straight Facts 🔥

[@jlau04]

onggggg

[@shawns6]

is it hard to find parties and stuff

[@jlau04]

no

[@ernestwang6437]

yessir mr lauuuu

[@aarushjain3060]

hi ernest

[@thomasluc462]

I LOVE YOU ERNEST!!

[@ernestwang6437]

justin should feature us on a vlog

[@jlau04]

2B VLOG WE RUN IT

[@aayaannaqvi9681]

Omg its ernest wang

[@Vince.Z]

Nice "your name" poster in the background

[@jlau04]

thank you vince 🙏

[@sasoonhaikazian4093]

bout to start ece 1B in a month (im EE). Any tips for surviving and doing decent?

[@jlau04]

Just study hard, keep up with the content, get some good sleep, study on weekends and don’t slack off on weekends, and overall find a good bunch of people to study with because it’s tough if you struggle all alone

[@Trollermaner]

W review W manz W Kevin Nguyen

[@jlau04]

💀

[@rickliu6484]

you are my pookie bear ❤

[@jlau04]

no you 😤

[@stevenbai0724]

❤

[@jlau04]

thanks for watching Mr Bai 😤

[@spengcr]

sheeesh

[@jlau04]

yurrrrrr

[@KayaneJolaca]

UoW is overrated, and there are lots of other universities that offer a lot more to their customers/students. Just listen to Dr. Peterson to get a true understanding of Canadian universities.

[@jlau04]

If you’re looking for just an education yes. But i’d say the co-op program definitely makes it very valuable compared to other universities. That in itself is a piece of education you can’t just get from getting a normal university education.

[@user-Joe925]

Young king 🗣🗣🗣

[@jlau04]

thank you sir 🙏

[@jasonj8246]

college is a waste of money

[@m1kw]

someone doesnt have enough money loooooool

[@jlau04]

☠️ damn

[@kennyluro6059]

@@m1kwhow so please elaborate because I’m thinking of that option for hands on experience

[@m1kw]

@@kennyluro6059 its not a waste of money if it's a degree that has a high ROI. that you would have to research yourself. i'm not completely disagreeing with his statement because some majors just inherently don't provide a high ROI (if that's what matters since you need to spend money for education), but to generalize it is quite inaccurate imho. don't get me wrong, hands on experience is really useful as well. the blue collar & trades field is still a thriving and excellent option for people not wanting to go to college. just know your plan and see if it is worthwile is really my main point