[Note: This is an old post and while many of the reasons remain true some of the data is old. A new post from 2017 is not available! Top Reasons to Study Computer Science at UOIT]
This Saturday, March. 3, 2012 from 10:00am-2:00pm UOIT will be hosting its annual Winter Open House for prospective students interested in studying at UOIT. This year myself and Dr. Christopher Collins will be coordinating the Computer Science lab tour. As the undergraduate program director for Computer Science, I will be providing a 30 minute overview of the Computer Science programs (comprehensive program, digital media specialization, digital forensics specialization) while Chris will be in the undergraduate lab where a number of our undergraduate students. The students will be available to give demos, answer questions and showcase Computer Science at UOIT.
I have participated in UOIT recruitment events for the past 5 years and I have answered a lot of questions from potential students and their parents. One of the most common questions that I get asked every year is:
Why should I choose to study Computer Science at UOIT?
In response to this question I thought I would write a blog post outlining the top 4 reasons:
- Co-operative education
Students studying Computer Science at UOIT can enroll in co-operative education during their 2nd year of study. What makes co-operative education at UOIT unique is that our students have one work placement that is 12-16 months in length (in addition to one or two placements that are 4 months long). Having a longer work term provides students an opportunity to not only experience working for a company but also allows them to contribute and become active participants in that company. The reason? It often takes 2-3 months for a co-op student to get up to speed and be able to contribute therefore longer work terms mean less time getting up to speed and more time being actively involved. - Small class size
In the UOIT Computer Science program there are ~30-40 students per year. For all of the Computer Science courses (CSCI course codes) a large class is ~60 students. Have small classes also means more opportunity to know your classmates and your professors. - State-of-the-art campus and technology
UOIT opened in 2003 and has a brand new campus and state-of the art facilities. All students at UOIT receive a laptop with program specific software. In the case of the Computer Science program all students receive a dual boot system with Windows and Linux preinstalled. - Hands-on enthusiastic teaching
The UOIT Act states “It is the special mission of the university to provide career-oriented university programs…” [UOIT Act]. Our computer science faculty are aware of this mandate and approach teaching with this in mind. For example, many of our courses have practical group projects that reinforce core computer science fundamentals. Some of the hands on projects include: iOS application development, database applications, compiler construction, web application development and more!
For more information about Computer Science at UOIT you can visit the website (http://cs.science.uoit.ca) or view my slides from the Open House:
What about the graduate programs
Great question. The post focuses on our undergraduate program in Computer Science but we also have a MSc and a PhD program as well (http://www.science.uoit.ca/graduate/computer-science/). I’ll try to create a post regarding graduate studies in Computer Science at UOIT soon but in the meantime if you have specific questions please post them.
I’m currently in Grade 12 and inside an Ontario University. May you please tell me a bit more about the co-op program specifically for computer science? What are the chances of me making into a co-op program? What is the percentage of computer science students who go into co-op? What companies hire from UOIT computer science?
Thanks,
Darren