Université de Waterloo - Waterloo, Ontario

Stanley C.

Love and hate with this place. Lots of memories there. Can’t go wrong with this university, one of the best universities in Canada or the world. Lots of efforts to spend there but certainly will lead you to success. You need to stay strong. Took me a while to look for my graduation composite as they have moved mine from DWE to the new engineering building E6. Many nice bridges connecting the buildings. Very impressive new buildings which will definitely another step to success. Praise God for the blessings and assistance to overcome all the difficulties and lead. I

Zoe

Not perfect, but the best university I could have gone to. All the profs I had first year really cared about their students and teaching. Very flexible and understanding of your circumstances. I know we get a rep as a lame academic school that never parties, but it’s not true at all. Sure we may not be like Queens or Laurier where everyone parties hard all the time, but if you want to party when you go to university you WILL ALWAYS find people to party with. It is a bit more intense than some other schools, but you are paying for an education here so you want to get the most out of it as possible.

The people are also amazing and work to create a sense of belonging amount students. I made my best friends at Waterloo and we are now all living together.

Just to add a couple of things about the campus:
- huge campus with lots of study spaces and different facilities
- we have really good indoor bridges between building to keep you warm
- very lively, there are always events going on
- we are actually pretty good at sports and have a HUGE sports facility
- super close to tons of yummy restaurants
- A LOT of geese, and they do become aggressive in the spring
- actually a really gorgeous campus despite what you might believe
- Dana porter library can be so beautiful to study at when you’re on the 10th floor
- health services is right in the middle of campus and there is also a walk in clinic beside the uni
- they keep their campus very clean
- connected to the ion (train that connects uw to other places of the city)
- lots of grant and scholarship opportunities
- a lot of fun weird things just around campus like a museum, huge plant wall…
- lots of food options for people with dietary restrictions
- a super active student community that doesn’t make u cringe (check out club instagram pages)
- faculties steal each other’s mascots as a fun little game
and a million other little things

For those who are scared to leave home: I left my home town to go to uni and I was so scared and sad, but once I got there I realized how miserable I had been at home. My point is: leaving home is so sad and straight up scary, until you leave.

Gabriel C.

Professor Dr. Jordan Cannon made an assumption that I used AI to write a paper when I actually did not. He gave me a low mark because of it when it "sounded something like one of his colleagues would write," according to Dr. Jordan Cannon.

Edit: If it sounded something like one of his colleagues would write, wouldn't he have given me a good score? Well actually he did not because he didn't believe I wrote it. He said that he was disappointed in me, but I think the real person that he should be disappointed in is himself. Honestly, he should go back to USC.

Rita R.

"I visited the short river near Waterloo University — such a nice spot! Great to see so many transportation options around, including buses and trains." 😊

Frank S.

The space you get for studying is really good. But the chairs are so loud in the quiet study area and the power outlets are so hard to reach.

Muhammad T.

The University of Waterloo is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on 404 hectares of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates three satellite campuses and four affiliated university colleges.

Jay S.

Proud of being a student here. Through the coop program, you are more likely to explore the real job world a lot more than students from other universities. You will meet all kinds great people here -- the ones that study really hard, the ones that find awesome job, the ones that make a lot of friends, and the ones that have innovative ideas and want to change the world.

Work load: Depends on your program, the work load will be drastically different. Most engineering programs have classes from 830am to 4pm. For engineering, its very common to have team project or lab report every single term, so teamwork is very important.

Lab and equipment access: Engineering labs open 24/7 except on holidays. MME engineering also has a place where you will get free access to 3d printer, laser cutter and CNC machine. There is also a machine shop around the E5 bay area.

If you want to study engineering or cs, this is one of the best universities in Canada if not the best.

Shaikh J. B. I.

TLDR (not really): Great university but not the best. Not the cheapest, either. Usefulness of degree in job-hunting depends greatly on the field you study. Difficulty too - both academic and co-op requirements. Did not party a lot - and I'm told this isn't the university for that. Degree has some prestige factor to it among employers but "useful knowledge" depends greatly on courses you pick. As for preparing me for the real world + my job: stern no. Not by a long shot. Co-op is the only reason that worked out - don't skip it. You will regret it. Support for international students is excellent and advisors are very helpful. Food around University is excellent (not healthy): definitely miss it now. If you're on the fence - do your research on job prospects before picking a major. I didn't, and it did limit what I got out of my degree.

Long version:

I'm not an engineering student, so my take is not relevant for that.

I studied ARBUS, majoring in Econ. 2019-2024, one co-op cancelled because of the pandemic. Specialized in finance, as that's where I wanted to go after graduation.

My take is double-sided. On one hand, the Econ major is pretty demanding and math heavy. Even coming from ARBUS. Very helpful, and I do think it helped me land roles on many good Co-op opportunities as a result of that. Which, in turn, helped me with post-grad opportunities. Professors were very wise and often helped answer a lot of questions on career + life, and I often found myself seeking out their advice for many things.

ARBUS side of it all was a waste, however. Most courses felt like "compliance" courses - you take them because you need them to graduate. Despite being review-bombed, these courses are still forced on you. I did a minor in HR - I would say that was in-between Econ and ARBUS.

As for usefulness in the real world + the job I got - my degree was objectively a crutch there. It did not help in any actual roles, though you could chalk it up to the fact that ARBUS majors tend to get involved with many different lines of work. My Co-op experiences saved me there: I can definitely say I would not be working in my present role if it weren't for the experiences I built up in Co-op. Word of advice: don't skip on Co-op. You will regret it heavily when you enter the job market, post-graduation.

Support with immigration is great if you are an international student. The advisors were very attentive and gave me sound advice specific to my situation. Co-op advisors were great too - helped me land jobs and nail interviews.

Food is great - the meme of Lazeez is there for a reason. Cheap too. Rent is okay - I used to stay off-campus with WCRi due to a tighter budget. If they are still around, I would recommend the A dorms. That's the cheapest rent you will get with a bus stop to everywhere right outside. Campus is beautiful, but I never got the time to explore due to always worrying about studies or job-hunting for Co-ops. Might just be me, though.

If I could do it all again, I would have picked a better major. And, in that sense, UWaterloo would have delivered. But not in terms of price - I am told it would have been cheaper elsewhere.

I don't look back at UWaterloo as a place of cherished memories. Or remember anything fun in the 4-ish years I spent there. And it was pretty far away from loved ones in Toronto. But as a first point of contact to Canadian life? To being an adult? And to make something out of my life? I don't think I could have asked for, or found, a better teacher.