Do Students Look at Reviews of University to Decide on Future University

April 19, 2022 Post a Comment

Written by Miranda, student

Choosing a university program can be a daunting task. A big challenge is not knowing what to look for and how to properly distinguish between them.

Factors to consider when choosing a university program

What interests you?

Your interests are one of the biggest factors when considering a academy program. Studying subjects that interest you makes university life a lot easier and definitely more enjoyable. While knowing your interests can make it easier when selecting courses, many times it'southward not equally easy to pinpoint what you want to study.

To help, some universities have programs that combine multiple interests such as Arts and Scientific discipline or Waterloo's Environment and Business concern and Science and Aviation programs. Deciding on a general area of interest will narrow down your search to those universities that offer your program(s) of involvement.

Co-op or an internship is another big cistron y'all should to consider when deciding on a program.

Practise you lot want to graduate with piece of work experience?

Co-op or an internship is another large factor you lot should consider when deciding on a program. Co-op programs work for some but not for others. People who want to gain work feel, get an ideas of possible careers, and don't mind an additional year generally prefer co-op. The drawback is that it typically takes away your free summers – you're either studying or on co-op at whatever given time.

Some students adopt their summers off, or are thinking of graduate programs or medical school and want to finish their degree faster. Such students by and large look into programs without co-op. So, your want to do a co-op/internship programme (or not) will help you further narrow down your choices.

In addition to that, dissimilar universities do co-op/internships differently. The University of Waterloo mostly has a 4-month cycle where students are on co-op for 1 term and back to school studying for another and the wheel continues. Other universities have summer work placements, 12-month internships, or other formats of work experience. Again, your preferences tin can help to further narrow your choices.

Co-op students.

How practise you want to learn?

Most universities offer some sort of hands-on learning, which allows you to better understand concepts past seeing them in activity. Some students learn better when they get to perform a task themselves.

Easily-on learning can include experiences such as labs, field trips, student teams, study abroad, co-op and internships, studio courses, and more. When researching universities, look for details virtually what experiential learning opportunities you'd be able to benefit from. This volition let you to filter your list of potential programs based on whether or not they offer a more traditional classroom fashion of learning.

How strong are your loftier school grades?

Your grades, and the courses you've taken, will bear upon the number of programs available to you. Certain university programs require you to have grades in the mid-90s, while others admit students with averages in the low 70s.

Based on your electric current and expected grades, you tin can check out programs that will work for you lot. That'south why it's expert to enquiry program requirements in advance, and then work toward achieving the grades needed to exist admitted to that program.

What's the campus vibe?

While studying and grades are a large focus of university life, they're definitely non the simply things. Extracurricular activities such as residence life, sports, clubs, student government, volunteering, etc. will play a huge office in your university experience.

Some students prefer sure sports to be available at their future academy; some prefer a school with all-encompassing activity options; and others don't care as much. And then, check out some of the not-academic factors to consider when choosing a university.

And if y'all can't visit a particular university in person, check out their social media feeds or virtual tours to get an idea of what campus is similar.

Students hanging out on campus.

What kind of degree do y'all desire?

Programs with the aforementioned name tin differ significantly between universities. One factor that can vary is the degree that you will earn when you graduate.

As an instance, the University of Waterloo offers a Available of Information science (BCS) or Bachelor of Mathematics (BMath) to graduates of the Informatics program, whereas the University of Toronto offers a Available of Science (BSc) to Computer Scientific discipline graduates.

The academic focus of degrees with similar names is likewise likely to change from programme to program. For example, the Geomatics program at Waterloo emphasizes analyzing data and automation, while Geomatics Engineering at York University focuses more on engineering concepts and surveys.

Depending on your interests, you can narrow down your search past selecting universities that cover concepts that align with your goals. If you tin, cheque out the required courses for the programs you're looking into – they'll give you valuable insights into what you'll learn.

If you lot have a strong preference for a particular degree upon graduation, enquiry which universities offer that degree for your plan(due south) of involvement. But recollect, when you lot graduate, employers are typically more interested in your skills and potential contributions than the proper name of your caste.

Learn more about programs in each faculty

Kinesthesia of Arts
Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Surroundings

Faculty of Health
Faculty of Mathematics
Faculty of Science

What other factors should y'all consider when choosing a university?

Cost

Coin is a factor for many students, and unlike university programs have dissimilar tuition fees.

There are fiscal assistance options that can aid, such as authorities bursaries and loans, scholarships from the university, and co-op programs, which can too aid kickoff the cost.

Your career

This ties back to your interests. Depending on what yous want to do later you lot graduate, you can narrow down your program search accordingly.

Reputation

The reputation of universities and programs might exist a cistron for some students.

If these are factors for you, eliminate those choices that might not adapt your needs.

How I decided what university program I should have

When information technology was time to choose a university program, I had no thought what I wanted to study, or where I wanted to go. After attending the Ontario Universities' Fair, I was finally able to narrow downwardly my list of preferred universities based on experiential learning opportunities, distance from my hometown, admission requirements, and the city.

Hands-on learning and academy location were big deciding factors for me. Knowing these priorities helped me narrow downwards my decision!

Next, I created a list of some of my written report interests. This list included a wide variety of passions from law to world issues, and much more in between. Throughout my final twelvemonth of loftier schoolhouse, I was very confident that I wanted to pursue a career in constabulary.

Withal, it wasn't until a Academy of Waterloo rep visited my high school that I realized I was really interested in their International Evolution plan. The programme not only combined all of my interests, but also included an international feel.

Another factor that helped me narrow down my conclusion even further was visiting campus and asking questions during campus tours. If you are unsure about a program or institution, I would highly recommend visiting the campus. Touring the campuses allowed me to visualize myself not only studying at that place, just too living at that place. It was my campus bout that ultimately helped me decide that I wanted to study International Development at the University of Waterloo.

Eventually, with a lilliputian enquiry and many campus visits, I determined the program that was right for me! Follow these tips and tricks to help discover a program that'south correct for you. Good luck, and happy searching!

Tip: Employ our application checklist along with our admissions viewbook for researching the programs y'all're interested in and keeping rail of the steps for applying to them.