I’m a third year comp sci and I’ve never gone to Phils or Rare, never gone on a late night run with friends, never gotten drunk or wasted over a weekend, never goofed off at like 1am, never played pickup even though I love football ⚽️…I’m not depressed or anything, I’m not socially inept either, I can talk to people, make jokes, laugh but it doesn’t go passed surface level stuff… I stay in my room, talk to my high school buddies who live in the states and Manitoba, play FIFA, watch football (soccer)… I feel like I should put myself out there, do more side quests, meet people, stop being so scared… but then I think about school, landing internships, my fitness and find myself watching my favorite shows or doomscrolling till 3am

Materials: WUSA first year bag, 2 cheap cloth hangers, sharpie, and a lot of duct tape

This is the stuff I’m making the night before midterm :)

Bruh all my siblings met their partners at uni, my parents met each other at uni, EVERYONE is telling me uni is the one place in life you’ll be around most people your age that u can potential date, im in fourth yr and i feel like a chud, I’ve met NO ONE 😭. The past 3 yrs have just been a cycle of midterms, oh midterms are over, time for finals! No one in my classes talks to each other, what have yall been doing to meet people? This is the first time I’ve lifted my head from the books and have looked around and have realized how cooked I am- help

I am, and am confident that others will, so I invite others to say they will, so others will know they're not alone, and may become more confident in coming to campus in costume as well :D

Hey guys! Is there an app or something you use to keep track of all your assignment deadlines, midterms, exams, and other uni stuff? 😭 I need something to keep everything organized because I’m scared I might loose track of everything lol

Now, usually I wouldnt post this, but right now ive had too much caffiene and am had a heavy breakfast and heavy dinner, and watching Psych on the side so im laughing my ass off while going crazy, so i know i am probably gonna regret this post by morning, but eh might as well since at least im gonna feel good about my self for the upcoming few hours.... lol

A while ago, I made a post here about..... everything in general.

And ill be honest, things havent necessarily gotten worse since then, but they havent necessarily gotten better either. Its just been somewhere in the middle, per say. Some days are better, some days are worse, and im just sort of... going through it, i guess?

Where do I go? Who do I talk to? What do I even ask for?

Like, genuinely, I have absolutely no clue where to start. Do I go to counselling? Do I go to some sort of academic advisor? Is there someone at UW who actually helps with this sort of thing? Someone who can help me figure out why im struggling so much with things that seemingly everyone else is able to do just fine?

And like, I know the obvious answer is probably just to go and ask someone, but even that sounds so fucking awful to me for some reason. I dont even know how to explain whats going on with me half the time, let alone sit in front of someone and somehow explain everything thats been happening for the past year and a half.

What am I even supposed to say? Do I just walk in and go "hey, i dont know whats wrong with me, i cant seem to do anything properly, and i dont know what to do anymore"? Do I book an appointment somewhere? Do I email someone? WHO DO I EVEN EMAIL?

And the thing is, I dont even know what exactly im looking for. I dont know if this is an academic issue, a health issue, a learning issue, or what. I just know that something isnt working, and whatever ive been trying to do so far clearly hasnt been enough.

Ive tried making schedules, timetables, forcing myself to attend lectures, studying on my own, trying to get out more, joining things, all that stuff. And while some of it has helped a little, im still struggling with the same things, and im honestly just tired of going around in circles.

I dont want to make another post a few months from now saying the exact same things all over again.

Is there a particular service, office, person, or anything that I should be looking into? And if youve actually gone through this process yourself, how did you even start? What did you say when you first went to ask for help?

6 midterm 5 days ☠️☠️ they hate us

My lovely roommate loves getting her ass fucked on weekends at 5 a.m. Just need something that can knock me out cold. Recs appreciated.

I am deeply sorry for scaring you.

I’m posting this here in the hope that it might reach you and bring you some peace of mind.

Tonight, around 12:20 AM, I was walking out of Waterloo Park toward the main trail after sitting on a bench. You were taking a photo of the marvelous fall trees, and as I walked in your direction, I noticed you saw me and immediately started walking much faster to get away.

I completely understand why you reacted that way. I’m a 6'3" buff guy, in the dark, holding a Perrier bottle that could have easily looked like an alcohol bottle. I am so sorry for making you feel unsafe.

I hate that my presence ruined your peaceful moment and forced you into a position where you felt you had to rush away to protect yourself.

I just want you to know that you were completely safe, and I am sincerely sorry for disturbing your night and scaring you.

If anyone reading this knows a friend who mentioned getting spooked while taking photos in Waterloo Park around midnight tonight, please pass this along to her so she knows there was no bad intent.

My friends and I all have midterms around halloween, but we still want to do something kind of fun for halloween. Going out will take up a lot of time and we all need to study so we were thinking of doing something on campus or maybe just going into town during the day for a few hours. I know a bunch of clubs hold events, but I don’t know about many of them. What on-campus events are going to be happening on/near halloween? Any recommendations for daytime activities that we can get to kind of quickly with public transport?

Featuring my pet rock and bracelet

Pick up a copy from campus, or read on our website (now with the PHP vulnerabilities patched out)!

Has anyone applied for the Data Science Intern/Co-op role at TD for Winter 2027?

Have you heard back yet?

Also, for anyone who has done this role before, what should I expect from the interview?

We at UW Humans vs Zombies will be running a brand new spooky event for Halloween. Prior to our termly weeklong, we will be hosting a Haunted House event on campus!

Unlike traditional haunted houses or scare mazes, our event will have zombies that can and will chase you, puzzles that need solving to escape, and if you get caught you will join the horde and scare your friends. Be on campus late at night and see a themed building like never before with zombies that will be in costume with makeup.

We're hosting this throughout Halloween weekend starting Friday 9pm till Sunday 10pm at MC.

Grab a group of up to 8 players and get everyone to Sign up for a timeslot using this google form!

Hey everyone, I’m a student at Waterloo looking for my first co-op for Summer 2027, mostly in software engineering and AI/ML. I’ve applied to dozens of jobs so far but haven’t gotten any interviews, so I’m starting to wonder if my resume needs some work.
I’ve attached my anonymized resume and would really appreciate a fresh pair of eyes. Is there anything that sounds vague, doesn’t make sense, or could be written better? Any honest feedback or advice from people who’ve been in the same situation would mean a lot. Thanks!

I’m currently in 3A CS, and my employer offered me the opportunity to continue working part-time remotely during my next study term.

My main concern is the time commitment. Working 10–20 hours a week would take up a significant amount of time, and I’d probably have to take a lighter course load (3 courses instead of 5) since I’m a relatively slow learner.

The company and pay is decent, but I care more about gaining valuable experience.

Has anyone done a part-time co-op while taking courses, and was it worth it in the end?

My entire body hurts. The more I stress and get worried the tighter it becomes. I need to chemically stop this somehow.

Does anyone have doctor recommendations so that I can get a prescription? I had one from another country but stupid me didnt stock up on them when coming to Canada.

In 1A. I've never really ever been like this. Even though the beginning of the year was pretty fun; I feel so unprepared and unwilling to live my life here (thinking about why I shouldn't just drop out nearly every day).

I'm not sure how to break the cycle. I've been skipping nearly all my classes, sleeping in till the afternoon, and not really hanging out with anybody/haven't made friends I can hang out with on a whim. And it's not like I'm spending my time studying either, I can't seem to focus on that either; my grades have been so much worse compared to high school.

Any upper-years felt similarly when they first got here? How do you escape the cycle of despair?

I did pretty bad on the diagnostic quiz and ive been trying to catch up and better my understanding. I cant switch to cs115 since im in cs. I started to do all the assignments from scratch without AI and I feel like its just not clicking, maybe im inpatient or I dont have a cs mind. But even on the second assignment I find myself stuck and ask claude for help. I dont know what to do and how to properly understand ts. I feel so down right now and I just dont know how I can fix this.

Hello everyone, Im an SE 1a student and I think i got in over my head and didnt realize that I needed to be studying from day one to survive this place. I have a math midterm tmrw night and a CS midterm the next morning. The math mid is worth more, and I think it’s easier. I naively thought that a weekend would be enough for both and I already wasted Saturday. Should I try to get the weight of my cs midterm moved to the final percentage, which makes it 70% and focus on the math mid for now?

5th year SYDE here, heavily inspired by this post, important for upcoming (and current) generations. before the new waves of admission posts swarms this sub.

What is SYDE?

SYDE stands for SYSTEMS DESIGN engineering. This is very broad and even interdisciplinary. You learn a combination of software, electrical, mechanical, mathematics, human factors, and systems modelling. The program is designed around understanding how individual components interact rather than focusing on a single component. Closest program to SYDE is Industrial Engineering in UofT. Industrial was alot closer to MGMT eng, new changes were made thru 2023-2025 and now its basically the same with more emphasis on AI/ML research. If you want to do AI or ML, go to UofT. AI and ML goes for a more research-based direction, its hard to be employed in pure AI/ML modelling without like five years in that field.

Things to keep in mind:

We are not the same as SWE. SYDE isn't a substitute for Software Engineering or Computer Science. We learn programming and algorithms, but if you want to work in specialized software fields, you'll likely need additional coursework, projects, and independent study.

Human factors is an actually of the degree. You study how people interact with systems, which is useful for interface design, ergonomics, accessibility, medical technologies, and human-centred engineering.

There is a substantial mathematical foundation. lin alg, calculus, differential equations, discrete mathematics, probability, statistics, optimization, and control systems. It's not just brainstorming and making prototypes yadda yadda

You can approach problems from multiple perspectives. Instead of immediately jumping to code or hardware, SYDE encourages you to consider whether the problem involves technology, human behaviour, processes, or the interaction between them.

You have flexibility in career direction. SYDE can provide a foundation for software engineering, product management, UX engineering, systems engineering, robotics, data science, and other technical fields. This is already more broad than you can imagine. Especially if you want to focus more on mech, ece, swe courses in the later years. Personally think syde allows you to be any kind of engineer you want by the end of the degree.

As a side note, these courses that teaches interaction systems and behaviour makes you feel more human and connected. Some love it, some hate it. I recommend never feeling too cool and nonchalant to learn a little about the more HF courses. In the end, we are engineering for the people.

Some bad stuff:

Breadth comes at the expense of depth. You cover a lot of subjects, but you won't necessarily learn as much about any one field as someone in a more specialized degree. This is where you have to choose. Discover yourself, be in a field you are interested in and there will always be tons of support from the profs (they are really nice).

The degree name isn't immediately self-explanatory. Just like Industrial Eng, this even confused me in first year. Some employers may not know what Systems Design Engineering means. You might have to explain your technical background and why it matches the job. In my recent interviews, I've learnt that the Industrial eng landscape is changing to be more system design focused. But Industrial has the rep of being the easy, business eng. So until that improves (maybe within the next decade), I dont really recommend alluding to it especially with older people.

There are required courses you might not enjoy. If you are mainly interested in SWE (me), you might dislike the physical engineering or human factors content. Everything exist for a reason and its important to tone down the ego. I personally looked down to any HF related courses until the bigger pictures tied together. Human-systems with engineering concepts is incredible.

Projects can be time-consuming. Design work involves communication, documentation, iteration, and teamwork. Learn to love your teamates even if you hate them, get it over with fast. Dont make enemies and just use online resources to cover their part if they suck.

My favourite things summarized:

At the end of my degree now, its a very very good run. Here are three things I liked:

SYDE emphasizes big-picture thinking. Understanding how components interact is important, but employers also need people who can actually implement individual components.

The broad degree can help you transition between industries. On the other hand, you'll need to demonstrate the specific technical qualifications required for each new field. For example, I used to work in product design, now I work full software jobs.

The pay. Yes. The pay. Im debt free. My job lines near 6 figures. I have enough skillsets to push growth of the company and self-learning.

Conclusion:

If you are interested. Take a look at the branchings of syde here, and compare with areas of focus at UofT here. I will say if you want to be employed ASAP and during uni (get the bag), SYDE is way better than UofT. Whats different for new applicants is that there is a choice now, when I applied 5-6 years ago SYDE had no replacements in Canada. Industrial at UofT is at a good location, one thing I can say about the GTA is that you can get jobs anywhere. They love UofT. Carefully consider this degree, are you the type to see the big picture? Are you more interested in designing an entire system or specializing in one component of it? If you are here, I'm sure you will do well.

Good luck!

I haven’t gotten any interviews or anything… maybe my email is broken? Has this happened to anyone?

Thanks😊