amir@pro-generic.cts.com (Amir Michail) (07/09/89)
I'm going to the University of Waterloo for computer science next fall. I have heard that it is impossible to have a modem connection in residence (it is not allowed). Is having my own computer useful at all there? UUCP: crash!pro-generic!amir ARPA: crash!pro-generic!amir@nosc.mil INET: amir@pro-generic.cts.com
451061@UOTTAWA.BITNET (Valentin Pepelea) (07/10/89)
Amir Michail <amir@pro-generic.cts.com> in <4584@crash.cts.com> writes > I'm going to the University of Waterloo for computer science next fall. Oh, could not make it into Electrical Engineering? Just kidding... Congratulations for making it into Canada s top CS and EE school! > I have heard that it is impossible to have a modem connection in residence > (it is not allowed). Is having my own computer useful at all there? If Waterloo s residences are like Ottawa s, then a receptionist routes all calls made to you through an internal phone network. But you should also be able to have Bell install your own phone line in your room. In any case, it will be very useful for you to have a own computer in your room. Most CS assignements you will get will have to be written in Turbo Pascal. Metacompost Pascal is comes close enough, but using the Transformer to run Turbo on your Amiga is even better. Try also getting an A1010 (5.25 drive. Now let me give you a mild warning. Waterloo will first make you a mathematician, then a Computer Scientist. In the first two years, you will get clobbered with Math courses, and allowed to take only a couple of CS courses per term. I have two friends which enrolled into CS at Waterloo, they got great grades in first year, but then failed so miserably in their second that they got kicked out for good. Waterloo CS is well known for its brain blasters. And remember that unlike in EE, your are not automatically enrolled into Co-op. If you dont make it into Co-op after the first year, I strongly suggest that you transfer to another University. Like Ottawa for example. Our co-op programme is also selective, but somewhat more accessible. Remember that all Canadian Universities are somewhat equal in quality, we dont have the discrepancy existing between the American ones. It is the co-op programme which gave Waterloo its reputation (or that quality of students that it thus attracted) so you are better off getting into another University s co-op programme that getting into Waterloo s regular stream. Valentin _________________________________________________________________________ The godess of democracy? "The Name: Valentin Pepelea tyrants may distroy a statue, Phonet: (613) 231-7476 but they cannot kill a god." Bitnet: 451061@Uottawa.bitnet Usenet: Use cunyvm.cuny.edu gate - Confucius Planet: 451061@acadvm1.UOttawa.CA
grwalter@watmath.waterloo.edu (Fred Walter) (07/10/89)
In article <8907100559.AA11482@jade.berkeley.edu> 451061@UOTTAWA.BITNET (Valentin Pepelea) writes: >Amir Michail <amir@pro-generic.cts.com> in <4584@crash.cts.com> writes >> I have heard that it is impossible to have a modem connection in residence >> (it is not allowed). Is having my own computer useful at all there? > >If Waterloo s residences are like Ottawa s, then a receptionist routes all >calls made to you through an internal phone network. But you should also be >able to have Bell install your own phone line in your room. Let someone who lived there answer the question. Every room in Village One and Two (where Amir will probably be living, unless he got into a Church College residence) has a phone. Phones are NOT jacked, so one has to know what wires go where to connect a phone. Phone lines are party lines - there are two 'rooms' (I'm counting two interconnecting rooms as one 'room') per phone line. Modems to be prohibited for a couple of reasons - people mis-wiring modems (and screwing up or thinking they screwed up the line) and your line-mate picking up the phone when you are using the modem (there is nothing like picking up the phone to call and getting the shriek of a modem - people who don't know what this is call Bell and complain the line is bad). So, get ahold of your party line-mate and mention that if they hear this whine its your modem and not the phone. (And don't get caught :-) Oh ya, Bell does NOT install lines into the rooms, every room is pre-wired. You get a phone whether you want one or not. The line charges are already part of your residence bill; you just have to pay the long distance charges. >In any case, it will be very useful for you to have a own computer in your >room. Most CS assignements you will get will have to be written in Turbo >Pascal. Metacompost Pascal is comes close enough, but using the Transformer >to run Turbo on your Amiga is even better. Try also getting an A1010 (5.25 >drive. I don't know who you've been talking to.... 1st year CS courses (for those wanting to become CS majors) have all assignments done during fixed times in a lab full of (*shudder*) MAC II's. PASCAL is used; so is FORTRAN, MAPLE and who knows what else. This setup has been in place for at least a year or more. Thus don't go out and spend your money on hardware (A1010) or software (Transformer) that you don't need. In the upper years you'll be using alot of C (I know I did); this may change, but not soon. But it is nice to have a computer (and a modem) in your room. You can dialup the main-frames, or play games when you should be working. >Now let me give you a mild warning. Waterloo will first make you a >mathematician, then a Computer Scientist. If you want to become a Computer Scientist you'll need to know a fair amount of math. If you want to become a Computer *Programmer*, save yourself some money (and a couple of years) by going to one of those colleges (DeVry ?). fred
bmacintyre@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Blair MacIntyre) (07/10/89)
In article <8907100559.AA11482@jade.berkeley.edu> you write: >Amir Michail <amir@pro-generic.cts.com> in <4584@crash.cts.com> writes > >> I'm going to the University of Waterloo for computer science next fall. >> I have heard that it is impossible to have a modem connection in residence >> (it is not allowed). Is having my own computer useful at all there? > >If Waterloo s residences are like Ottawa s, then a receptionist routes all >calls made to you through an internal phone network. But you should also be >able to have Bell install your own phone line in your room. Ok, I just called the kind people at the Student Villages ( the University residence ). It is true that in those residence, they do not allow you to have modems. Oh well. Of course, not all the residences have those rules. But, there is no internal phone network ... two rooms share a party line. So, I suppose if your phone-mates didn't object, you could use one anyway! ( who said that?!?! ) And you cannot get another phone installed. >In any case, it will be very useful for you to have a own computer in your >room. Most CS assignements you will get will have to be written in Turbo >Pascal. Metacompost Pascal is comes close enough, but using the Transformer >to run Turbo on your Amiga is even better. Try also getting an A1010 (5.25 >drive. No, that is not true. In 4 years I used Pascal for 3 courses and it was always WP ( Waterloo Pascal ). Now the first year courses are on MacII's ( we had VM/CMS and PC's ) and they use god-knows-what ... the second year course ( last term ) was on a Vax8600 ( or 11/780 ) running a BSD Unix variant. They use a cornucopia of languages ( Pascal, Ada, Prolog, C, Fortran, etc. ) none of which is ( thank God ) Turbo Pascal. What have I used my computer for? Editing, word processing ( you will have to take >10 non-math courses while you are here and a large number of math courses even require essay-type assignments ), games!, and ( of course ) dialing up the school. Of course, I didn't live in the Villages, so I didn't have the problem of not being allowed to use my modem. Of course, why bother? I'd rather walk to the school and use the computers. There is no shortage of terminals ( we have _tons_ of them ) and the 9600 baud Sytek network is much faster than either 1200 or 2400 baud dialup ( no, you couldn't dial in at 9600 baud even if you wanted to ). Not to mention the fact that in first year, since you will use MacII's, using a modem is not even an option. And don't bother with the 5 1/4" drive. You won't use PC's and even if if you need to, there are lots of 3 1/2" drives around. >Now let me give you a mild warning. Waterloo will first make you a >mathematician, then a Computer Scientist. In the first two years, you will get Which, of course, is the best way to go ... :-) >clobbered with Math courses, and allowed to take only a couple of CS courses >per term. I have two friends which enrolled into CS at Waterloo, they got great Well, not clobbered ... mildly assulted maybe ... but the point is correct. You get one CS course a term for 4 terms, and 2-4 math courses a term over the 1st 4 terms. >grades in first year, but then failed so miserably in their second that they >got kicked out for good. Waterloo CS is well known for its brain blasters. And >remember that unlike in EE, your are not automatically enrolled into Co-op. If >you dont make it into Co-op after the first year, I strongly suggest that you >transfer to another University. Like Ottawa for example. Our co-op programme >is also selective, but somewhat more accessible. Wrong here. You are in Co-op when you get here, or you are not in Co-op. You can try to get in after 1st year, but it is hard. If you are not in Co-op already, and want to be, talk to someone _as_soon_as_you_get_here! You are not automatically enroled, you have to apply. But you do it before getting accepted. >Remember that all Canadian Universities are somewhat equal in quality, we dont >have the discrepancy existing between the American ones. It is the co-op >programme which gave Waterloo its reputation (or that quality of students that >it thus attracted) so you are better off getting into another University s >co-op programme that getting into Waterloo s regular stream. Shhhhhsh ... come on Valentin, you'll ruin everything!!! :-) Actually, I partially agree with that analysis. But one thing which doesn't relate to the quality of students is the UW has a good rep in the the business world, so regardless of how good you are, the piece of paper will help you get a job when you get out ( in southern Ontario/Ottawa, at least ). Of course, I could care less. I'm starting my Masters in the fall ... :-) Blair -- = Blair MacIntyre, bmacintyre@watcgl.{waterloo.edu, UWaterloo.ca} // = = now appearing at the Computer Graphics Lab, U of Waterloo! \X/ = = "There's nothing the matter with BR that a shot gun blast wouldn't fix" cge = = "It's not my fault, fatboy!" - Felder, pilot of TL Student Driver On Board =
giguere@aries5.uucp (Eric Giguere) (07/10/89)
Well, folks, I think it's time to end this discussion in comp.sys.amiga.
Yes, there are a lot of people here with Amigas, but somehow I don't think
the rest of the world cares. Followups are being redirected to soc.college.
If anyone out there still has any questions about UW, post there or send
me mail.
(No one pointed out that Waterloo is also the home of the one-and-only
unique Davis Centre... read my review in a certain magazine :-) )
Eric Giguere 268 Phillip St #CL-46
For the curious: it's French ("jee-gair") Waterloo, Ontario N2L 6G9
Bitnet : GIGUERE at WATCSG (519) 746-6565
Internet: giguere@aries5.UWaterloo.ca "Nothing but urges from HELL!!"charliek@cognos.UUCP (Charlie Krasic) (07/11/89)
In article <8907100559.AA11482@jade.berkeley.edu> 451061@UOTTAWA.BITNET (Valentin Pepelea) writes: >In any case, it will be very useful for you to have a own computer in your >room. Most CS assignements you will get will have to be written in Turbo >Pascal. Metacompost Pascal is comes close enough, but using the Transformer > Huh? I'm a CS student at Waterloo (2nd year). NOT all assignments are in Pascal. Most of your first year assignments (about 75%) will be in Pascal. After that, almost none of them are. The main languages for second year courses are Ada and C++. After that, who knows... courses change all the time. >Now let me give you a mild warning. Waterloo will first make you a >mathematician, then a Computer Scientist. In the first two years, you will get >clobbered with Math courses, and allowed to take only a couple of CS courses >per term. I have two friends which enrolled into CS at Waterloo, they got great Actually, he will get exactly ONE Computer Science course per term in the first two years. >grades in first year, but then failed so miserably in their second that they >got kicked out for good. Waterloo CS is well known for its brain blasters. And >remember that unlike in EE, your are not automatically enrolled into Co-op. What? WRONG. Math Co-Op starts FIRST year. Your first Co-Op term is either four months after you start or eight months -- depending on what stream you choose. If you are NOT in Co-Op in first year, then it will be relatively difficult to get in later (or so I'm told...) >you dont make it into Co-op after the first year, I strongly suggest that you >transfer to another University. Like Ottawa for example. Our co-op programme >is also selective, but somewhat more accessible. > Doubt it. I've heard that about 80% of Waterloo math students are Co-Op. Unless by accessable, you mean admissions. :-) -- but of course, he's already accepted... >Remember that all Canadian Universities are somewhat equal in quality, we dont Debatable!! :^) :^) >have the discrepancy existing between the American ones. It is the co-op >programme which gave Waterloo its reputation (or that quality of students that >it thus attracted) so you are better off getting into another University s >co-op programme that getting into Waterloo s regular stream. Did he say he was in regular stream? I must have missed that... > >Valentin -- Charlie Krasic 3755 Riverside Dr. VOICE: (613) 738-1338 ext.5157 Cognos, Inc P.O. Box 9707 FAX: (613) 738-0002 Ottawa, Ontario CANADA K1G 3Z4 UUCP: uunet!mitel!sce!cognos!charliek
brett@umd5.umd.edu (Brett Bourbin) (07/12/89)
In article <6504@cognos.UUCP> charliek@cognos.UUCP (Charlie Krasic) writes: >In article <8907100559.AA11482@jade.berkeley.edu> 451061@UOTTAWA.BITNET (Valentin Pepelea) writes: [stuff about Univ of Waterloo deleted.] Could you please move this off of comp.sys.amiga, for this has nothing to do with this newsgroup. Thanks.
papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa) (07/12/89)
OK, guys. This is an "amiga-specific" group, not the University of Waterloo bulletin board. We are interested in Amiga stuff not what's life at UW or whether you have to use Pascal at UW, etc.. How about using e-mail for UW related concerns? Thank you very much. -- Marco Papa 'Doc' -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= uucp:...!pollux!papa BIX:papa ARPAnet:pollux!papa@oberon.usc.edu "There's Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Diga and Caligari!" -- Rick Unland -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=